peculiar

>> a single consumer vs __an insurance giant__

Exactly. And that's a result of regulations.

In summary, respecting market forces is more efficient than regulation and gov monopoly.

>> They are doing the equivalent of printing their own monopoly money in the garage and then selling it for real currency...

> Pretty much what the central banks are doing around the world.

Exactly. So why choose the currency of a couple of dudes over the central bank's one? Show me an ethical cryptocurrency with equal opportunities for everyone and no taxes in a form of pre-mining, decreasing block rewards & other stuff like that and I'll be the first one to use it.

Well, actually US is not the only country in the world. There are places with zero chance to get any VC funding. I have even seen a funny acceleration program that offers $300 (three hundred bucks) for 10% of a startup (and there was a huge list of requirements the company and founders should meet). That's ridiculous. ICOs open a window of opportunities in such places. That's a pity though it is discredited by been used for scams.

Ether is not like oil at all. You only somewhat need ETH. Nothing stops you from using ETC. Or starting your own fork (either private or public). Your contracts will work there just fine.

On the other hand, it is not likely you can deploy some magic oil machine in your closet with almost 0 investments and start producing $5c / barrel oil.

There is a GNU project [1] that's basically an electronic cash. It has no restrictions on what you use as currency (fiat, gold, bitcoin). But the government cannot track what you buy. At the same time merchants can be taxed, so there should be no issues from the legislation standpoint.

[1]: https://taler.net/en/

>> can someone explain why anyone would need this?

> Imagine if Facebook was decentralized. You could own your data.

But is blockchain really an effective solution for this kind of use cases? Can't you own your data without it? Isn't it too expensive and redundant? I can see a value in a blockchain based DNS alternative (though it would be useless without mass adoption). But Facebook killer platform in my opinion can have only one reason to use blockchain: just to use blockchain.

There is a saying that goes "If it's not broke, don't fix it". What problem are we solving here exactly by replacing a centralized Shopify / Amazon / E-bay by the solution you've described? Is it better from the common user's perspective?

I have no idea how that's working out for Germany. But I was under the impression that Europe gives away social benefits to the refugees (at least at the initial stage). While the author of the parent comment (I expect) is self sufficient from day 1 (otherwise, he / she wouldn't be allowed in, right?). It's not like the government of the US is spending people's taxes on him / her. He / she paid for the interview with the embassy, paid for the visa, then was paying taxes and spending money locally buying food / clothes / etc. (thus creating / supporting new jobs).