this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2024
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Asklemmy
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You're buying pornhub premium, aren't you? Unfortunately, I also wanted to buy something from a site that only took crypto as payment.
I ended up creating an account on Coinbase, which required a whole bunch of personal information from me. That was very concerning, but they seem like one of the few crypto sites that aren't totally shady. It's apparently a law they must follow to tie my personal information to all my crypto trades to prevent crime or something. After they verified my government IDs and bank account details, which took a day or so, I was authorized to buy crypto.
I bought the exact amount I needed. It took about 35 minutes to confirm the transfer, and only then did I realize coinbase takes a fee, which means I actually had less than I needed. I buy slightly more crypto, wait another 30 minutes for all the super cool futuristic cryptoblock hashing to be completed, and now I finally have enough crypto to buy that $20 thing I wanted.
I tell coinbase to send my 0.0000018364929038484920385 coins to xhfhfosnjwifbgnsoahdbfiaojdbfidhsbdmfodhsbd and the site eventually confirms the transfer after yet another 30 minutes of hashblocking.
It took me about 2 days and $30 to buy something for $20 using crypto, and I have never hated crypto bros so much ever for believing this is how all payments will work in the future.
Edit: I forgot to add that ever since then I receive a dozen crypto scam emails a day.
Why would you hate someone for their beliefs? Is it really such a bad thing to hope and advocate for a future where government doesn't control the value of your money?
I get it philosophically, but..
crypto = no underlying value (unless it was a 1:1 ratio with some measurement of electricity like a bond almost, ideally being a unit of energy we exchange unto itself)
so for now..
money = government
Plus, we'd need someway to independently run, manage, and maintain an autonomous system outside of the government controlled infrastructure. Which, unless we make serious energy/education/resource breakthroughs is not going to happen anytime soon sadly.
Some good points there. I would say money is value backed by (state sanctioned) violence while crypto is money backed by a proof of electronic work.
Ultimately humans create value. Simply using crypto gives it value. Government money(fiat) only has value because people and and organizations agree it has value.
Monero is a crypto that tries to be like cash in its anonymity and commitment to nontracking. It has legimate and 'illegimate' uses just like cash. You can buy VPNs privately with monero or you can buy dark market goods.
Monero is to cash as lemmy is reddit. Similar to how social media platforms like facebook and reddit are prone to the network effect so is money.
It's a good philosophy but that's just it. Crypto should've remained closeto it's philosophical roots.
The government legalizing manipulation of crypto by making them "assets" ruined any real implementation by tethering it to the fiat currencies. So crypto is now a moot point sadly that doesn't retain it's original anarchist intentions.
I know a lot about Monero and Ring Token technology. Used it plenty. Doesn't matter. Still tied to fiat and manipulation by proxy. Even if private. What's the real issue with this tethering you ask?
Authoritarian Control
Governmental overreach being able to examine any of your accounts and almost see a one-to-one with your deposits is a red flag. No, they cant see the amounts on the other end (Monero's private ledger). But all security is an illusion, especially for the now government backed tech like this. Eventually Ring tech will be broken by AI, ML, Quantum, or many. Plus, the exchange reports your purchases and sells that data too (legally now).
Even if you use LocalMonero and do it in-person, you have IP Addresses (bc no VPNs usually), messages between seller and buyer, and purchase amounts potentially all under the authority of private entities. Unless you've some serious connections.
All the government has to do is make it illegal to participate in crypto at all and now it becomes dead tech again (for better or worse).
Thank you for your input though! Not trying to be defeatist or an alarmist. Just a clarification on my opinions of where the hypothetical train went off the rails.