What’s the difference between a useless cryptographic token and a useless piece of paper if there are people willing to give me things I want for either?

The piece of paper you’re talking about is useful to exchange goods.

The cryptographic token is not because it’s too volatile and transactions are costly.

There is a reason the only things using Bitcoin as an actual currency are illegal things, buying credit card numbers or paying for ransomware.

That’s just not true. Monero, litecoin, bch… transactions cost less than a penny. No one uses bitcoin for illegal things anymore (it’s tracable and forever on the blockchain, people use monero instead) but if they were wouldn’t that mean bitcoin is useful for exchanging goods?

I use crypto for a bunch of legitimate things like paying for my VPN, phone bill, donating to foss projects etc.

I use it because it’s more private, faster and more convenient for me. I can always have it with me, use it from any place, any time, for anything I want with no hidden fees and no one can seize, freeze, track or control my money. If you think that thoes things are valueable only to criminals you must have lived under some 1st world rock for a while.

Create a post

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:


This community’s icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

  • 1 user online
  • 59 users / day
  • 169 users / week
  • 619 users / month
  • 2.31K users / 6 months
  • 1 subscriber
  • 3.28K Posts
  • 67K Comments
  • Modlog