Comment by TheSpiceIsLife | Hacker News Reader

Comment by TheSpiceIsLife | Hacker News Reader

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> B: But how would you do that while keeping the decentralization?

Nobody (in the general sense) actually cares about decentralization; it serves no utility in and of itself. People only care about the ability to easily transact regardless of borders.

> Me: Cash has the same theft-irreversibility issue

I'd argue this isn't entirely correct. A cash holder can insure against theft of cash kept on premises, and in transit to a deposit facility; professional services can be hired to transport cash. As far as I'm aware these protections don't exist for cryptocurrency

> The comment only works if you assume Bitcoin is only used for speculation

At this stage it appears to me that is it's only (major?) legitimate use. Other uses probably include money laundering, and the exchange of value between parties involved in illegal activities, or for the purposes of evading regulations.

Your first and third points are refuted by Wikileaks: it's legal to contribute to them, but centralization made it possible for the US government to apply financial chokeholds to US banks that it made it impossible for Americans to do so electronically. So yes, if you care about using a currency to "transfer value to legal recipients who are far away", then you would care about centralization and its ability to prevent that capability.

>A cash holder can insure against theft of cash kept on premises, and in transit to a deposit facility; professional services can be hired to transport cash. As far as I'm aware these protections don't exist for cryptocurrency

You're referring to an optional add-on to cash that is not inherent to it. The act of holding cash does not automatically get you the protection of someone replacing it when you're mugged, and neither does Bitcoin have automatic replacement.

There do exist services that will thusly insure cash. But there's no inherent reason why it can't be provided for bitcoin too, it's just that the market isn't bit and mature enough for people to have sought it out (though Coinbase claims to have it).

In any case, the whole issue of "insurance in transit" is kind of obviated for an electronic currency too, at least with respect to physical theft.

> Nobody (in the general sense) actually cares about decentralization; it serves no utility in and of itself.

What evidence do you have to support this ridiculous claim? The vast amount of interest in cryptocurrencies seems to indicate otherwise, not to mention the use of all kinds of decentralized cryptographic protocols.

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