this post was submitted on 29 Aug 2023
55 points (100.0% liked)
Technology
37707 readers
244 users here now
A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.
Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.
Subcommunities on Beehaw:
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
We've found plenty of problems for the blockchain. We've set up a whole system of cryptocurrencies based on it, serving millions of people who want to avoid tax, scam others, launder money, and purchase a signature in a blockchain pointing to a JSON file pointing to a JPEG!
For people in countries with terrible financial institutions and inflation in the three digits, cryptocurrency has been a great method to store value, especially compared to the local currency. In Turkey or Argentina you'd have more money left if you invested it all into bitcoin five years ago compared to keeping it in a local bank. Rich people will use real currencies for the same effect, but in time of financial crisis foreign currencies can quickly become available in very limited supply. Cryptocurrencies solve this by making the process as digital as possible, if you can find a company accepting your degrading currency, you can turn it into something that's not great, but better than whatever the fuck your government is doing to your money.
Most of what you describe is the inverse: Problems for which blockchain is the cause, or at least part of the problem.
That a speculative digital asset with no tangible value could perform better than other objects of investments, including currency, should not be surprising, that’s just group psychology and concerted effort to make people want to invest in intangibles.
Argentinian currency might be tangible, but its valuation isn’t.