Literally nothing on the positive side is a weak position. Bitcoin has provided many positive things for many users, and blockchain/consensus has many promising applications beyond finance. WorldCoin’s main pitch is not financial, but based on proving human identity in a world full of AI fakery. But that’s a different discussion.
> Bitcoin has provided many positive things for many users, and blockchain/consensus has many promising applications beyond finance.
Sorry but no it hasn’t; and no it doesn’t. 15 years now and nothing concrete for many reasons that have been eloquently expounded on many times. If that changes let me know.
Transaction fees have spiked in the past to like $60 direct plus $200 in energy wasted. The GDP per capita in the worst-off African countries is like $200. You think they should spend 6 months of GDP per capita to make each transaction just because a lot of people are trying to make payments? Even today it's like 1% of GDP per capita per transaction in direct fees. It's inadequate for a large flea market or a midsize Costco let alone a global payments network for the underserved. Onboarding everyone onto Lightning would take 75 years and trillions of dollars in fees, plus the entire block reward.
Not to mention the worst off are the most affected by volatility, and this thing flails around like a balloon you forgot to tie off. And 'similar projects' just get hacked or rugged constantly.
Honestly how dare anyone recommend a system like this to the most vulnerable?
They're much better served by something like M-PESA.
The reality of the situation is that only the people in wealthy countries are in a position to, and can afford to, speculate on this silliness. Those people are already adequately served.
The vulnerable deserve real solutions and this is at best and most charitably a distraction from their development.
The idealistic purpose of distributed ledgers is to democratize money creation. Right now money creation is in the hands of a financial elite who, perhaps with best intentions and perhaps not, observably engage in considerable self-dealing. I'm willing to bet the average person would be flabbergasted if they understood how bank loan origination actually works, to say nothing of how Treasury auctions are structured in a way that makes it impossible for them to fail.
We can imagine a world where some, for example African, community could monetize its own productive capacity in an internationally current way that doesn't put it in debt bondage to bankers in the USA or China while costing them a double digit vig. I think that would be an improvement over the status quo and some form of cryptographically trustable distributed consensus is currently the most plausible way to get there. Any centralized ledger, no matter what form it takes, indisputably privileges its controller.
> The vulnerable deserve real solutions and this is at best a distraction from them.
There already is a real solution and Moneygram with Stellar have already done this to enable instant, cheap, worldwide payments with USDC; available today. [0] Especially with countries that have their currencies devalued.
A year ago you had the chance to ask them anything or give them questions about your concerns and do something about it. [1] As expected all talk and no action.
> Even with plenty of time, you (arcticbull) didn't attend the 'Ask me Anything' session to question them or attempt to stop them with your suspicions.
Believe it or not I have a job where I'm paid for, among other things my opinions. Demanding I show up and provide a service for free is not likely to be met affirmatively.
If you want my time, you're welcome to contract me, but I'm not cheap.
I get a lot out of these conversations here, it helps me understand consensus and challenge my own opinions, but this is strictly hobby.
> ... instant, cheap, worldwide payments with USDC.
USDC doesn't need a blockchain lol, if you just want a USD balance you can just open an account with Circle and move it around between accounts at Circle free of charge. Like PayPal has done forever.
They only have a blockchain because it was hip, and maybe because they're idealistic - but mostly because they're looking to avoid regulation. It's just regulatory arbitrage. For the use case you enumerate here, it's strictly not necessary.
> Believe it or not I have a job where I'm paid for, among other things my opinions. Demanding I show up and provide a service for free is not likely to be met affirmatively.
You're giving your 'opinions' for free here almost every day, so you are already wasting your own time regardless.
> USDC doesn't need a blockchain lol
It does and it is on many blockchains. Works anywhere, worldwide, instant, fast and cheap.
> if you just want a USD balance you can just open an account with Circle and move it around between accounts at Circle free of charge.
Not everyone has a US bank account and can have one to do that, especially those in other countries outside of the US and in countries that have devalued currencies. The whole point as to why USDC exists.
So regardless of your complaining and as expected, all talk and zero action.
