Hacker News Reader

Comment by jqpabc123 | Hacker News Reader

Totally upside down and backwards.

Crypto is all the bad parts of a CBDC and none of the good parts. A CBDC will eliminate any argument for crypto ... with the exception of paranoia ... which is unfounded since crypto keeps a public record of everything you do.

View on HN

>A CBDC will eliminate any argument for crypto

So a US CBDC will be decentralized, permissionless, transparent, non-censoring, and run on open-source software based on an open specification?

No, it will a be a stable currency that people actually use without even thinking about it to make instant money transfers at zero cost.

Because stable currencies do not exist in the world of cryptos? Dai [1], Rai [2], and USDC [3] are some examples that are all stable, and all dramatically different from each other.

Fees are currently as low as $0.03 on Ethereum layer-2 solutions (!= side-chain) [4]. The fees will further fall as the technology improves, and once L1 gets (data-/dank-)sharding and other L2-scaling oriented upgrades.

[1] https://makerdao.com/en [2] https://reflexer.finance [3] https://www.circle.com/en/usdc [4] https://l2fees.info

Fees are currently as low as $0.03 on Ethereum layer-2 solutions

Fees in crypto fantasy land are irrelevant to most people.

How much does it cost to pay your rent or buy food in the real world?

Fiat transactions often carry fees. If you buy a product online or receive revenue from e-commerce the fees are around 2-5% + 50 cents.

Crypto is probably not going to beat domestic interbank dollar transfers for small amounts, these transactions can be regulated down to zero fees like we see in the EU and UK.

Crypto is probably not going to beat domestic interbank dollar transfers for small amounts

Thank you. It's probably not going to beat domestic interbank dollar transfers for ease of use either. With a CBDC, most consumers will only notice new capabilities and faster money transfers --- at zero cost.

Back to the original point: A CBDC will eliminate any argument for crypto --- except for paranoia.

And about paranoia --- imagine the outcry if government decided to store every transaction you ever did in an immutable public database?

There are reasons to use crypto aside from a domestic interbank dollar transfer: trading a digital asset, registering something on a globally shared ledger, international transfers or transfers to non-bank accounts, anonymous cash-like digital transactions, smart contract functionality, to name a few.

Forcing citizens to use a CBDC is straight out of 1984 playbook.

Forcing citizens to use a CBDC is straight out of 1984 playbook.

FUD anyone?

Citizens won't be using a CBDC --- at least not directly. Everything *citizens* do will still be denominated in good ole USD just like always.

The CBDC will be used behind the scenes by banks and the Fed to speed up and modernize the banking system --- to replace the antiquated ACH system that was originally designed in the paper check era.

Basically, a CBDC will allow digital wallet like features to be seamlessly added to every existing US bank account.

Governments are proven oppressors, Every single mass abuse of human rights, war, genocide has been carried out by government. Taking the power of the purse from government is the next big human rights issue of our age, rendering taxation by inflation impossible, and empowering individuals to hold government accountable.

Thank you for saving us from the evil of government. In the meantime, can I pay rent with crypto?

If your landlord decides to accept crypto, sure you could.

So in other words --- not likely --- not without charging you an additional fee.

Your landlord doesn't exist in crypto land either --- and he will quickly grasp the fact that doing business in crypto has real world costs.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com