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Comment by bhaak | Hacker News Reader

Price action is boring.

I'd rather see usecases for cryptocurrencies linked here, not the same article every time Bitcoin surges above an arbitrary number.

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I think a lot of coinsceptics don't own much cryptocurrency. Once I began to have more BTC in my wallet than USD in my bank account it suddenly became more convenient to make purchases online with the BTC.

Just like we have the pound, yen, yuan and dollar, I don't think any cryptocurrency will ever become the One World Currency. But when it works, it works. Just my 2 cents ...

The only use-case for crypto is that it fills in the gaps in demand that the global banking system creates. There are a lot of people who are left out or kicked out of the banking system, but they still need financial services, so the demand remains.

e.g. An IPO is too expensive, so a company pursues an ICO. Or a family in Venezuela needs money so they receive bitcoin. Or college kids wants to buy LSD so he sends the payment with bitcoin. Or a paedophile wants to buy child porn, so he pays with bitcoin. etc.

The second use-case for crypto is as a commodity investment for its first use-case.

I think the drug and pedophile examples are in poor taste because, unfortunately, people have been purchasing both illicitly long before the introduction of cryptocurrency.

All money is amoral. It changes hands without judgement.

Money is just paper. It’s the system behind it that gives it meaning. The banking system is not amoral, it does not want you to use its money for illegal activities.

Cryptocurrency has no morals, the system behind the money is all machine. You don’t sign an agreement that says you won’t break laws when you create a Bitcoin wallet, for example, but this is something that happens when open a bank account.

Good point. But money does not equal finance nor banking, it's just the medium in which they operate. Signup for a cryptocurrency exchange and you will need to sign a similar document to your bank's, where you agree to provide your real identity and are informed as to the legal limits of the cryptocurrency you can purchase. To me, buying something illegal with a bitcoin you bought on a legal exchange, is no different than buying something illegal with a hundred dollar bill your withdrew from your bank account.

Money doesn't commit crimes, people do.

Here's another use case: https://lightning.engineering/pool

Store of value to protect against inflation is a huge value proposition. Of course, it's still volatile now.

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