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Comment by resolutebat | Hacker News Reader

Remind me again, what concrete, non-criminal financial problem does blockchain solve better than the alternatives?

Not op, but I want to make private payments through the internet in the same way I can privately use cash in the real world.

I’m not enamored with crypto per se, but as far as I know only crypto in general (and Monero in particular) are working on solving that problem.

The banks are also working on that problem through things like Venmo and Zelle. Tech companies like Apple and Google and PayPal have payment services too.

But those aren’t private, right? There’s an entity in the middle that can see all the purchases I make.

If I use one of those to send you $500 right now, the entity in the middle can see that I sent you $500 but nothing more.

That's too much for me. It adds up to that entity having a record of all my transactions, who they're with, and how much they are. Def not private like cash.

Is it just the principle of it, or would fully private transactions solve an actual non-criminal financial problem?

A product that's a violates my principles _is_ a problem.

More practically, being surveilled creates a data store about my life that can last forever, theoretically. It's hard to conceive how that could be used if (when) that data gets mishandled. Might as well not leave a trail.

Yes, I hope the tech world gets very involved in this. Bitcoin is a horrible product for a cash replacement, since it is not private and the price fluctuates dramatically. We really should have a digital dollar or some gold, etc backed digital currency but it is absolutely essential that it is as or even more private than cash.

Say you are from a third world country. Your family back home needs money, but a bunch of red tape and fees in the traditional finance system (sending money to a third world country often raises KYC/AML questions and wire transfer fees are high) make it difficult and expensive. Moreover, in some countries with unstable currencies such as Lebanon and Argentina, the banks have to offer government mandated exchange rates that are wildly off the effective rates; there have even been cases where FX deposits were forcibly converted to the local currencies at these unrealistic rates. Rather than go through all this, you can just send BTC and sidestep all the issues.

I think you're expecting technology to solve a political problem. That doesn't work; those same countries probably wouldn't think twice about making it a crime and putting you in prison for working around it.

It solves the same problem gold does, except it is easier to transport and exchange.

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