• PTSDwarrior@lemmy.ml
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    5 days ago

    If I were to become in charge of a post-Trump USA, crypto would be outlawed and anyone who creates crypto will be either given the death penalty or a slow death in a cement box in El Salvador. Crypto is evil and has allowed the evil in this world to flourish. Anyone who is pro-crypto here, I will figure out who you are and you will be on my list for the future.

    • Pulsar@lemmy.world
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      5 days ago

      You can say the same about any technology advancement. The fire, wheel, black powder, electricity, radio, tv, internet, crypto, AI, etc. The problem doesn’t reside in the technology but in the people exploiting it for evil intentions.

      • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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        5 days ago

        Jesus christ it’s always the same excuses for the useless, planet-destroying grift that is bitcoin.

      • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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        5 days ago

        So what’s the positive uses of crypto then? You listed many things that are immensel useful like the wheel, fire, electricity, etc. Do you think crypto fits in that category?

        • Rin@lemm.ee
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          5 days ago

          Monero will:

          • never allow a gov to fuck me over by freezing assets
          • facilitate truly anonymous transactions over long (and short) distances.
          • enable me to mine it, allowing earn money from the power generated by my roof that’d do nothing otherwise. (in addition, it’s asic resistant, meaning it can’t be mined with GPUs well, only CPUs, which basically everyone has)
          • forego NFTs
          • Honytawk@feddit.nl
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            4 days ago
            • Monero will just allow other instances (including itself) to fuck you over.
            • That is just ripe for crime and terrorism
            • You are just trading (wasting) electricity for money at a bad rate
            • Cool, so they don’t fall for one of the blockchain scam, just all the other ones
        • RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          I know this is AI but I get tired of answering this question so this suffices:

          Here’s a breakdown of some notable positive uses:

          1. Financial Inclusion & Accessibility: Reaching the Unbanked: Cryptocurrencies can provide access to financial services for individuals lacking traditional bank accounts, potentially fostering economic empowerment and participation in the global economy. Lower Transaction Fees: Cryptocurrency transactions can have lower fees than traditional banking, particularly for cross-border payments, making it more affordable to send money internationally. Faster Transactions: Transactions can be processed much faster than traditional methods, sometimes near-instantaneously, benefiting businesses and individuals needing quick transfers, especially across borders.
          2. Enhanced Security & Transparency: Blockchain Security: Cryptocurrencies utilize blockchain technology, which is inherently secure due to its cryptographic nature and decentralized verification process, making fraud and manipulation difficult. Immutable Ledger: Once a transaction is recorded on the blockchain, it cannot be altered, ensuring transparency and auditability of financial activity. Privacy: While transactions are recorded, they are often pseudonymous, providing a degree of privacy for users, unlike traditional systems that may require extensive personal information.
          3. Innovation & Efficiency: Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Crypto is the backbone of DeFi, which aims to build more open and accessible financial systems, including lending, borrowing, and trading platforms. Smart Contracts: Blockchain enables the use of smart contracts, self-executing agreements that automate processes and reduce the need for intermediaries, improving efficiency and reducing costs. Supply Chain Management: Blockchain technology can enhance supply chain visibility and traceability, improving efficiency and accountability, and reducing fraud in the movement of goods.
          4. New Opportunities & Investment: Potential for Appreciation: Cryptocurrency can serve as an investment vehicle, with the potential for significant returns, though also carrying substantial risk due to market volatility. Diversification: Crypto can add diversification to investment portfolios, as its price movements are not always correlated with traditional assets like stocks and bonds. Fundraising: While Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) have become less prevalent, blockchain technology offers new avenues for fundraising for businesses and projects.
          5. Other Potential Uses: Governance & Voting: Blockchain can facilitate more transparent and secure voting systems, potentially improving democratic processes. Digital Identity: Blockchain-based digital identities can enhance security and privacy in various online interactions. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): NFTs have enabled new forms of digital ownership and creative expression, particularly in the art and collectibles space.
          • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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            5 days ago

            Innovation & Efficiency

            Given the entire way mining under PoW is structured, no, it’s not efficient at all. The more miners, the more adoption, etc. the more power is used and the more rare earth metals are wasted producing the exact same amount of BTC every minute. It becomes less efficient the more it is adopted. It’s completely insane.

              • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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                5 days ago

                We are talking about Bitcoin, a PoW crypto. And let’s say you want to go broader anyway, bitcoin is represents over 60% of the entire crypto market and is the face of crypto. “But let’s just ignore that.”

                • RedditIsDeddit@lemmy.world
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                  5 days ago

                  Sure in the case of bitcoin you are correct, but Solana has the most activity amongst ANY chain and Ethereum is huge too…

                  • LandedGentry@lemmy.zip
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                    5 days ago

                    Over 60% of the crypto market uses PoW. You cannot gloss over this problem. Yes that’s not the same as activity but this is a massively wasteful technology. And let’s not pretend Solana, ETH, etc and other PoS systems are exactly light on power consumption. They’re just a lot better.

                    The scaling issue also goes well beyond PoW. More adoption = less efficiency.

        • mudstickmcgee@sh.itjust.works
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          5 days ago

          Just an anecdote but never the less.

          A couple of years ago I got a job at an animal shelter in a country that’s not the one I live in. For this I was paid 400€/m in cash to cover my bills back home during the time. So I went to the local BTCatm and even though they charge an insane markup (15/20% iirc) it was still cheaper than the “minimum fee” charged by the bank/western union.

          As useful as the electricity or fire? Probably not. But as a tool for low paid workers that go to another country and is sending money home to their families without having to pay half of it in fees it’s pretty usefull.

        • orosus@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          I don’t want to say crypto in general, but Bitcoin in particular was born after the 2008 crisis, as a decentrized form of money, meaning storing value against the inflationary fiat money that the goverments can print in a centralized manner, destroying all your savings. I think any technology that empowers decentralization is positive. Same as fediverse. And in the case of bitcoin, having a decentrized money it’s a really positive tool for freedom to avoid centralizing the power in the governments. But I am curious on knowing why you say that there is no positive uses.

          • Rekorse@sh.itjust.works
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            5 days ago

            Why do you think freedom and decentralization is always good? I don’t think bitcoin improves lives and the majority of people view it as gambling rather than currency. Sometimes its useful to get around local regulations or to pay slightly less in fees that would normally go to a bank. Its just a different western union money transfer and yet people on here are talking about it like it represents freedom and the individual spirit or some nonsense. Its main use is to scam people out of money. Its secondary use is to facilitate purchase of illegal goods. A very small fraction of the whole is people using it as an actual currency.

            I’ll put it this way, a small fraction of responsible heroin users does not make heroin as a whole a good thing.

          • Saleh@feddit.org
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            5 days ago

            Well, the decentralization of Bitcoin only lasted so long. Now it is in the hand of a few large “mining” corporations who can afford the hardware and have access to cheap electricity.

        • Guacamole@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Original purpose of BTC is to prevent government from controlling and inflating the supply of money. You can’t make 1000 BTC from thin air and put it into circulation. There is no company or CEO that controls it, it’s in control by the open community. That’s regarding BTC, other cryptocurrency nah