"this parallel financial system can also serve a tangible social good, offering an onramp to the financial system for people who would otherwise be left out. In countries where the vast majority of the population is unbanked, national currencies are no longer a safe store of value, remittances comprise a hefty portion of GDP, and international sanctions complicate connections to the global economy, a virtual currency that doesn't require an intermediary to approve transactions can be a vital lifeline for survival"

Bitcoin is poised to blow up Africa's $86 billion banking system

[–] Tehhund@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

This isn't Reddit, you don't have to turn every discussion into a fight. I'm genuinely interested in cryptocurrency for reasons such as the article you linked: there are areas where traditional finance genuinely has failed to meet people's needs. Providing a medium of exchange for the unbanked is a great example of something it could possibly help with, and I think that's a good thing if it happens. But we should also be able to talk about the problems with cryptocurrencies and the cases where it doesn't work as well as traditional finance. And if this prediction doesn't pan out and cryptocurrency doesn't become a major way of banking the unbanked, we should be able to consider what could accomplish that goal. It might be a different cryptocurrency, or a new thing inspired by cryptocurrency, or something that has nothing to do with cryptocurrency. After all, cryptocurrency is not a goal in itself.

[–] corvus@lemmy.ml 1 points 9 months ago

I've never been in Reddit so I can't talk about it but I wouldn't have been so harsh if you hadn't already stated that it seems only useful for illegal and immoral activities when it's so easy to find, if you are "genuinely interested", that it's not the case.