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Comment by cdmckay | Hacker News Reader

Crypto doesn't solve any of the actual problems here.

These kids can't access any services because they don't legally exist in government systems. No birth certificate means no school enrollment, no healthcare, no social grants.

You think a 15-year-old footballer who can't play in tournaments because he has no birth certificate is going to be helped by Bitcoin?

What school is letting them enroll because they have a hardware wallet?

This is a civil administration problem that needs government solutions: streamlined processes, digital systems, reduced fees, and political will.

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They are definitely getting fucked by not getting the documentation they are owed, no two ways around it.

However I don't see the binary extremes you see.

The undocumented people can pool together and start their own schools. They can start their own soccer league. They can hire a pooled doctor. They can put some amount of stored value into a crypto account, which might be better in some cases than hiding gold in a hole or something, because they aren't going to be able to access banking.

And yes, that situation sucks, and it's wrong, and it encourages apartheid-light, and is not an acceptable solution. But in the meanwhile, it would be better for them than nothing and it is something they might have the agency to do.

I think what you are describing is incredibly optimistic and unlikely, not to mention inefficient.

The counter there is that it takes a lot of optimism to be more optimistic than the ANC, an incredibly amount of inefficiency to be more inefficient than the South Africa government, and not much luck to get higher likelihood than sitting around waiting for some bureaucrat to give you birth certificate this year.

Why not just use cash at that point? Crypto doesn't make it any easier to create your own social institutions. It just adds volatility, complexity, and risk.

So the government creates a problem, and you think more government is the solution? Bizarre. Yet the 15 year old can find a teacher and pay them directly, they can buy and sell services globally and get paid. Yeah, bitcoin doesn't solve any problems..

Can't you just say that about any less than perfect solution? Bitcoin has been used to facilitate illegal drug trafficking, which is a problem. Yet you think more bitcoin is the solution? Bizarre.

So there's already a lack of a stable, functioning government, and the solution you're touting isn't currently a reality, why? In the US when there's little friction in a marketplace people in some communities resort to using Tide laundry detergent as a medium of exchange. There's nothing stopping them from using bitcoin or cryptocurrencies currently, but navigating a market place, finding qualified teachers, finding motivation to use what little resources you have to use a novel medium to pay for teachers in a place with no opportunity, etc., doesn't seem too easy. One tool alone doesn't usually solve any problems.

> One tool alone doesn't usually solve any problems.

I completely agree. The world of developmental economics has had so many great "One tool to fix everything!" ideas, but at the end of the day, they generally don't add up to much without a functioning government that's focused on serving its citizens.

So in 2025, what self-hosted options does a 15 year old have to manage his finances using Bitcoin? Assume he gets a monthly paycheck of 0.00125 BTC. How would his employer pay him? How much would be eaten up by fees?

Back in 2013, I loved the idea of Bitcoin. Then I actually tried using it. Such a pain. I switched to Coinbase until I gave up entirely on crypto around 2017 and became highly skeptical it was going to change the world as promised. I would love to hear that the world of self-custodied Bitcoin has become less onerous.

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