Quick background/bias for me: I’m very skeptical of the crypto‘s applications; and as this article states, the only intrinsic value is ‘illegal purchases’ and currency speculation. All of the article’s examples are really strong (each has some nuances and references that could be discussed at length). However, this does not cover all potential use-cases. And crypto only needs one, two, or a few proper applications to become legitimately used by everyday people.
A good example is payments: visa/credit transactions are better suited for small, frequent transactions, but what about comparing this to wire transfers? The current financial system is built around an infrastructure that has slowly evolved over decades (centuries, maybe?) to leverage middlemen to verify legitimacy. There are various payment/transaction types, perhaps there’s one that crypto will potentially break through?
Regarding public demand and government regulation: currently there’s no ‘legal’ use-case for crypto, which automatically sets all the regulative bodies against it. If interest, applications, and demand continue and eventually succeed, regulators will have to participate.
As long as people are interested in the technology and investing, the search for applications will go on. It could be good and make financial transactions better for the world of users. Maybe it will remain an illegal haven for funds and continue to be a black market currency. Time will tell.
Quick background/bias for me: I’m very skeptical of the crypto‘s applications; and as this article states, the only intrinsic value is ‘illegal purchases’ and currency speculation. All of the article’s examples are really strong (each has some nuances and references that could be discussed at length). However, this does not cover all potential use-cases. And crypto only needs one, two, or a few proper applications to become legitimately used by everyday people.
A good example is payments: visa/credit transactions are better suited for small, frequent transactions, but what about comparing this to wire transfers? The current financial system is built around an infrastructure that has slowly evolved over decades (centuries, maybe?) to leverage middlemen to verify legitimacy. There are various payment/transaction types, perhaps there’s one that crypto will potentially break through?
Regarding public demand and government regulation: currently there’s no ‘legal’ use-case for crypto, which automatically sets all the regulative bodies against it. If interest, applications, and demand continue and eventually succeed, regulators will have to participate.
As long as people are interested in the technology and investing, the search for applications will go on. It could be good and make financial transactions better for the world of users. Maybe it will remain an illegal haven for funds and continue to be a black market currency. Time will tell.