It's effectively just one. To make illegal transactions. That's a long list of things: drugs, hiding wealth, evading currency controls, extortion, and so on. Otherwise, existing currency and transfer mechanisms are more or less available and convenient.
Normal, real G7 currencies moving full percentage points in a day is a big deal, 10% moves in a day are very rare, 20% is a once in a lifetime event.
You would expect the different cryptocurrencies to move in different directions and speeds depending on their relative prospects. Instead you have these crazy days where they all go up 5-10% or down 5-10%, over and over. I hold about 8 of them in my wallet and yet still see pretty normal 10% daily moves.
The closest thing this reminds me to is trading bank stocks in 07-08 when everyone was gambling on which would go out of business.
A currency that regularly moves this violently is not an inflation hedge as a savings instrument store of value, nor is it a useful medium of exchange as how do you agree on a price when its moving by the hour.
It is clearly not a unit of measure either given that all the crypto apps report the value of your portfolio in.. fiat. Even these crypto give aways as exchange sign up bonuses or conference prizes are always worded as "$5 of ETH" or "$500 of bitcoin", haha.
A currency that can move 5% on a Sunday afternoon (again) because of an Elon Musk tweet (again) is not something to be taken too seriously (still).
Consider that by comparison, when the UK voted to Brexit, which was not what polls indicated.. a huge economic change with profound generational implications for both GBP & EUR ... GBP-EUR only moved 7%!!
It's as electronic as a stock, as purely abstract as a piece of gold, as resistant to inflation (theoretically) as anything having an intrinsic value that won't depend on currency.
Ofc, criminal transactions are also supposed to be eased but you know what, I think a bank made entirely to dodge annoying regulators will have a bit more success than an amateurish exchange: they'll give all your info, and therefore all your public transactions at the first little threat, while a big bank like Credit Suisse, would try to leverage lobbying power at first.
Stocks are ultimately anchored in a company, and it's ability to pay dividends to it's owners. The historical average of the value creation for S&P 500 for dividends are about 40% so it's not an amount that can be disregarded.
Since crypto doesn't have any similar mechanism, and all of the value is instead tied to what other persons want to buy it for, I argue that it's better to compare it to an online casino rather than an stock market. That would be more fair for those that are new to investing.
Edit: Wait! It is so and Bay Area has been selling this pyramid scheme for years. lol.
Your argument boils down to "Only criminals use Tor"... Not very useful.
1) https://kb.newegg.com/knowledge-base/using-crypto-on-newegg/
Bottom line is - one size doesn't fit all...
I was assuming US persons doing a transaction in the US. If you are in another country, there will be other retailers that offer services in your currency. Also NewEgg supports transactions in many currencies.
you might not be a US citizen
Citizenship is not relevant to purchasing items for online retailers.
assuming you have a credit card
Debit cards can be used just as easily. Fewer protections, but it works just fine. Also PayPal, etc.
Proof of payment is basically instant, is globally accessible
This is true with credit card, debit card, paypal, etc.
I don't have to jump thru the 'verified by visa' bullshit
This is hardly an issue. Takes a few seconds, a total non-issue for 99% of people who just want to purchase something.
Also, no spending limits - I've ordered equipment from newegg and payed for next day delivery, only to have the equipment show up late because my visa 'helpfully' twigged an 'unusual purchase'
Yes, there are fraud detection features for credit cards. I'm pretty sure this occurs very rarely. If you don't like this, use a debit card or paypal with a bank account.
I've also had banks tell me there are daily spending limits on debit card that are too low to buy a high end system
I have never run into this because I never use my debit card, ever. However, it seems this be fixed by calling your bank and raising your limit permanently.
Bottom line is - one size doesn't fit all...
That's right. Crypto might be right for you. But 99% of consumers who want fast, easy, and simple mechanism for purchasing items at any retailer, credit or debit will be the best choice.
and in the end, you walk it back to "Crypto might be right for you". Which is what I've been saying all along. I don't claim crypto is right for everyone/everything. Just that there may be times when it is right for somepeople/somethings.
Says who? And if its a 'feature' - why can't I opt out? Default limits on debit cards are non-intuitive to say the least.."you have $10 in the bank, but can only spend $5"
I'm glad you get to decide whats good and bad..really, it must be such a burden having to make that decision for everyone.
Because if you want people to switch from credit/debit/paypal to crypto, the idea is that it needs to offer some tangible benefit.
There are people in the US who cannot get a credit card easily.
Yes. Debit or Paypal can be used then. The only clear benefit I see from crypto are people who are completely unable to get ANY bank account. But still with crypto, you need a way to purchase it. Not easy without a bank account, but possible if you can find a way to buy it with cash.
This seems to be the crux of our conversation. I _don't_ want people to switch unless they're ready to take the risks. Crypto is still in its infancy, is definitely not ready for mass market. But I don't think that means we should totally give up on it either.
I see it sorta like the stock market. Picking stocks is (more)risky, so I stick to index funds. Sometimes I'll throw some beer money at a 'pick' I like, but that's the extent of it. (still salty I missed AMAT at $110 because 'wire transfer')
Crypto is the same way - sometimes I throw some beer money at it. I'm not claiming it's right for everyone, or the be-all-end-all. Just that its worth exploring.
P.S. - I was a Paypal 'early adopter', worst experience of my life. They still have $200 of my money, because at the time they had no way of dealing if your email account went away. I guess its gotten better since then.
It's totally reasonable to ask how useful something is for you. However, other people might have other answers to that question. For instance, if existing solutions suited everyone - why are zelle and venmo so popular? Hell, I zelle money between MY OWN accounts at different banks just cause its faster, cheaper and easier then the alternative ACH/Wire transfers.
Edit: Hmm - if I could zelle to my brokerage account I probably wouldn't have missed out on that AMAT I'm salty about. :-P
But let me ask: why use zelle to move money between accounts? Why not crypto? Or let's say you're sending money to a friend to split a check or something; would you use crypto vs any of the other "cash" transfer mechanisms?
I don't think that existing financial systems can't and shouldn't be replaced with something better, but so far cryptocurrency ain't it. I should also say that I'm not particularly susceptible to the ideological arguments on its behalf, which seem to be a big bonus for many. Maybe it's just not for me.
My bank/brokerage doesn't take crypto. So Zelle is the next best thing given how slow and expensive wiretransfer/ACH is. (Wasn't wire transfer supposed to be 'fast', it generally seems slower then ACH?). And yes, I do use crypto to send 'cash' to friends.
I do agree wholeheartedly with your statement crypto isn't ready 'for the masses' yet. For one thing, no coin can handle anywhere near the transactions Visa can. But I don't see that as a reason to vilify it, shut it down, or pretend that only criminals use it.
In HN vernacular, I see crypto's as 'startups' - some will pan out, the vast majority won't. Hopefully, each generation of coin will improve on the ones before it.
as for "just not for me" - I'm only putting beer money in. I think most of us that have been in it for a while are in that position. Certainly none of us are out mortgaging our houses. Being skeptical of the hype is a good thing. Maybe in a few years/generations crypto will be in a place that's more useful to you :-)
edit: formating s/any/and/
There was this idea, back at the start, that crypto would bring a new era of low-fee finex (especially for people in countries suffering under exploitative currency manipulation). The dream was that you'd be able to freely and cheaply transfer digital currencies and avoid the hardship of happening to live in a country that's experiencing high inflation. However, it seems like every time a crypto currency gets enough support and utilization that it might really be an alternative to the local currency, that popularization also pushes up transaction costs or exchange rates above the fiat finex rates. So we get the world we have now where all the big currencies have high costs and aren't even practical for transactions in the wealthy world, much less the developing world.
To me, it really feels like a repeat of the system that crypto folks critique: the banks. They too are uninterested in providing low-fee transactions, despite their energy costs per tx being far, far lower. The general idea is that they are greedy (and obviously banks are) but I'm very sad that crypto hasn't produced many real world examples to demonstrate that the banks are obviously greedy in this way.
There is also the problem of transaction volume. No coin can currently handle anything close to the number of transactions the visa network can.
Sadly, as much as I hate how its being pumped, that was one thing doge got right - cheap and fast. And for years the price was stable. This made it really nice for transfers between exchanges.
Anyway - glad to hear its going down. The Eth gas prices are really showing how much of a killer transaction costs can be. (On top of all the places that stopped taking Bitcoin when the xfers got so expensive)
Your perspective is limited. Check out my general intro [1] and other articles [2].
TL;DR: at least one legitimate use case is to keep up with inflation.
Why do you think that will happen?
The "get-rich-quick, evade-taxes, and evade-scrutiny" thing is front and center of the whole intent of cryptocurrency. How long has it been going now, 10 years? How much longer?
It would be nice to have a crypto-currency where real people can use it like real currency. However, to be able to do that would mean eliminating the danger that a mere typo or some unintended consequence of "code-as-law" would wipe someone out and give another an insane windfall-- all in a millisecond.
I think the cryptocurrency can work, but it has to have sane and civilized features. These have to be designed-in from the beginning. Otherwise, it's just an endless libertarian circle jerk.