Do Cryptocurrencies Provide ANY() Real-Economic Value at All?
3 by pgesmm | 4 comments on Hacker News.
Dear all, I am aksing myself if cryptocurrencies provide ANY "real-economic value" AT ALL! I would be glad if anybody could convince me of APPLICATIONS where cryptocurrencies provide any real-economic value. My thoughts: - By "real economic" value creation I consider eg the introduction of the "SEPA Instant Credit Transfer" schemes (pan-European credit transfers in <10 sec). This creates real economic value by minimizing both (i) speed and (ii) fees. This really benefits general society. - Q1. What is the benefit of using cryptocurrencies over such schemes? I see none. On the contrary, cryptocurrencies add an ADDITIONAL (and therefore, if not yielding a benefit, by definition unnecessary) LAYER. - Q2. Why should cryptocurrencies exist at all? Every country already has its native currency. Why introduce another one? (In fact, why MULTIPLE ones?) Suppose you want to transfer USD-->EUR. Why transfer USD-->BTC-->EUR instead? This incurrs (i) 2 instead of 1 currency trafo risks and (ii) 2 trafo fees. - Q3. "Smart contracts". All (democratic) countries have courts in place to settle legistlative disputes between two parties. What's wrong with this arrangement. Again, blockchain-based "smart contracts" would just an ADDITIONAL (unnecessary) LAYER. Conclusions: - ALL you need for the creation of future "real-economic value" is the INTERNET. Currencies are in place. Legislative institutions are in place. You just have to further digitize. There is no need to add additional (unnecessary) cryptocurrency layers. Comments: - I am not anti-crypto (owned quite a bit until I came to above conclusions, and definitiely consider it valuable at least from a academic perspective). I just can't see how "it is useful" beyond "speculation". - I don't accept explanations like "Bitcoin is Gold 2.0", "Hedge against inflation" unless they are really founded. To me these sound just like made-up hype narratives. Best regards