Is it curmudgeonly to be uninterested in searching for problems for an overhyped solution than is sadly lacking in them? Well, fine, then I’m happy to be a curmudgeon.
Moving to a cashless society has some real drawbacks when it comes to privacy and freedom.
Digital cash that can give us the befits of paper money without the privacy drawbacks of CBDCs or 3rd party middlemen isn't a bad thing at all.
I wish crypto could improve society, but it can't.
That said this is a neat hack. Reminds me of what the Kong folks were doing, I bought a couple of bills as a sousvenir. [1]
a dollar is a voucher for the US economy and the actual value was transferred on an immutable ledger, i.e. append-only physical reality of the universe
Vouchers already exist - they're called cashier checks.
> transferred on an immutable ledger.
Which isn't universally a good thing. If someone steals your voucher, there is no recourse. If someone steals a cashier's check, I can call the bank (and sovereign authorities).
Said differently, one is not equivocally better than the other. There's a tradeoff.
> Wish Hacker News wasn't so curmudgeonly about crypto and actually tried to imagine the multitude of ways it would improve society if adopted.
I wish crypto advocates would stop being such apologists on HN. It's not productive. Make your statement, explain your rationale and defend your position.
...you mean, the way you can melt a coin down for its metal value? You can use the paper for its value as... paper?
I'm not convinced "you can wipe your butt with it" makes a good case for its value, tbh
