>Now tell me, what institution is going to make a holder of cryptocurrency 'whole' again if something goes wrong with their wallet or the block-chain itself?
There will be crypto lending banks and multi-sig custodial services to fill that use case.
The code and math is open source and has been available for a decade.
Unbelievable how HN has tech dinosaurs that can't be bothered to check all the open source implementations available for the particular problem/use csse they are seeking to solve. That is so 2009.
Tell that to citizens of Greece when the banks took 20% of everyone's life savings a few years ago.
Tell that to the 3B people in the world who live on less than $2/day and banks will not deal with them.
You make claims that traditional payment systems are more efficient.... but did not include an energy calculation to maintain those banks, armoured cars, and infrastructure as compared to bitcoin energy consumption.
People living on $2 a day generally don't have reliable access to computers, electricity, internet or the technical literacy necessary to navigate the cryptocurrency minefield.
Crossing into personal attack like this breaks the HN guidelines and demonstrably leads to worse, as demonstrated below. Please don't. Maybe you don't owe better to someone else who you consider wrong, but you do owe better to the community.
The fact is that 20% of the world's poorest has a smartphone and is in many cases more valuable than running water or sanitation.
Within 10-20 years we will have 50km range wifi, with solar powered batteries and ultra low cost computing power and many more of the poor will be brought into the connected economica world via smartphones, long range power and internet tech and micro transactions with ultra low fees powered by tech like bitcoin (cash).
The last startup I worked at 3 years ago sold Android smartphones for $5 USD.
Unbelievable that I get called out of touch when the author is a couple years behind the curve. Nice vision and imagination, man.
This reply is itself a good example of the flamewar style: low substance, hot topic, irritable rhetoric. I understand the temptation to post this way, but on HN we're trying to eke out a small space not dominated by it.
The idea here is thoughtful conversation. You're welcome to participate in that, but not to turn it into something different, which is what flamebait and flamewars do.
My theory is that HN people feel they "missed the bus" which causes cognitive dissonance because "we're techies and edgy startups af".
Combine the feeling of missing out on 10,000% financial gains and you have a case for thr worst kind of disgust and cognitive dissonance.
The truth is that most of the people in this space who "know crypto/blockchain" are clueless and missing the point.
If you refer to cryptocurrency or blockchain as a concept instead of just saying POW or bitcoin (cash), then you missed the point from the beginning and you are blind to what is coming next.
I know many cases where small employers were left paying 100k's after taking on a woman for a position, and just a few months later 'she got pregnant'.
- employer had to fork over 12 months of pay
- employer had to disrupt their business and hire another person
The employer struggled to eek out their own profit to feed their own family and meet their obligations.
This is a common scam that some women will get a job, with the intention of juicing the parental leave AND then we they are supposed to return to work.... they instead quit.
This scam has cost my friends a lot of money and suffering because these women are predators and care not of others, but getting something for themselves.
Do you have the employers names and any documents or court records to show that this is what was uncovered? Why were your friends not able to determine the quality of employees during the interview and on-boarding process? Have you actually read the FMLA? They would have had to work their for quite a bit of time before requesting leave, and even then there are additional requirements:
I was denied FMLA when I got full-time custody of my kids. Not saying that you are, but you come across as a biased person trying to stereotype and generalize women. FMLA does not only apply to women either.
The world does not revolve around US law. Where I live, you just have to surpass your probationary period to qualify.
My apologies for being biased by sharing a story of how my friends lost 100k's, next time I guess I should bring documentation and court cases before daring to tell you about something that happened. /s
And why the heck would I tell you the name of my friends business to effectively give you my identity?
The scam I outlined is common enough and you will hear it happen if you ask.
A variation is that women will take their 12 months pay from a business, and then a certain percentage decide they do not want to work and then do not go back to their jobs.
Whether it applies to men or women both under FMLA law has no bearing on the morality of executing this scam. I'm not sure why you even pointed it out and what you're trying to say with that information.
What is the % of people that bought smokes, alcohol and other harmful substances.... and could not pay back?
What about the % of people that bought iPhones on credit and could not pay it back?
The number needs to be taken as a comparison to other purchases (it is Credit after all) to see whether it is higher or lower than the typical credit card purchase.
At least with crypto (or any forex) you have purchasing power vs. Buying over priced meals, useless gadgets and drugs such as coffee, wine or cigarettes
To all people who think this is about 'risk management some questions to ponder:
- how is buying a currency like the Bolivar allowed (50,000% plus inflation)
- coinbase limits purchases to about $100/USD per week...how much risk is really being exposed?
- why is buying depreciating liabilities such as computers, software, harmful drugs (smokes, alcohol, coffee) and overpriced meals and fashion accessories acceptable? (Doesn't alcohol hinder purchasers health and make it harder to pay back due to death and other problems?)
-Where was their "risk management" when they socialized their bets in the 2008 crash?
- why do they keep extending lines of credit to the USA gov for the purchase and sales of billions of dollars of yearly foreign arms sales?
Now, considering that bitcoin is MEANT to replace banks as its modulus operandi and enable p2p transactions (ie: cutting out middlemen - banks!).... it becomes apparent what they are really doing: trying to stop the leviathon and holding onto their business model.
Observe their actions, not their words and then their intentions will become clear.
There will be crypto lending banks and multi-sig custodial services to fill that use case.
The code and math is open source and has been available for a decade.
Unbelievable how HN has tech dinosaurs that can't be bothered to check all the open source implementations available for the particular problem/use csse they are seeking to solve. That is so 2009.