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Comment by jsutton | Hacker News Reader

Hundreds of years ago, you could transfer money across the world just like you can now. It would just take having the right connections and a lot of time. Does that mean our global banking system is unnecessary?

Bitcoin et al unlock a potential economic powerhouse the likes of which can be comparable to the internet. Just because you can do mostly everything that blockchain tech provides without one, doesn't mean it isn't incredibly valuable.

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>Just because you can do mostly everything that blockchain tech provides without one, doesn't mean it isn't incredibly valuable.

If you can already do everything that it provides that's pretty much the definition of not having any extra value. This is just extending the hand waving. What transactions will you be able to do with cryptocurrencies you can't already do with the modern financial system?

Exactly that, you can do secure financial transaction without the modern financial system. I would say that's incredibly valuable, and the vast majority of people who don't have equal access to the modern financial system would probably agree.

I live in Europe, this is thus irrelevant for me? Why are all these Americans buying into these currencies then?

The ones no-one imagined before. Just like few people saw social networks coming, it's currently hard to predict what can be done when huge number of people is connected in networks of value. But a few examples can be: borderless financial system; programmable instruments, derivatives by just about anyone; stable-coin (a stable reference currency)

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