I thought lemmy would be the kind of place that'd support ways to pay for things that don't need to be approved by a government. not all laws are just.
Realistically: it requires exchanges, large amounts of power, etc.
Plus, governments have little interest in making illegal behavior easy. Many of the economic costs of bitcoin are that its an easy way to make stolen goods inaccessible.
If all bitcoin had to be purchased and sold in cash without credit cards or electronic banking I think it would make far more sense as a form of e-cash. But as it is, I think it damages society more than it benefits - which is the easiest justification for outright banning commercial usage of it.
Yes, I agree there is a stigma around bitcoin because of the amount of scams and ransomware that is around them but I don't want to delegitimize decentralized currency.
Currently the options are really bad because of the amount of resources they consume and their use as an investment option. I really wish there could be an option to have money outside of government control.
All I need is some quarters and I can start my laundry without waiting half an hour for the centralized blockchain ledger's global state to acknowledge the transaction.
That's true, cash can be a more private alternative to electronic transactions but I also want an electronic counterpart, something with private and public keys. I am not knowledgeable enough on currencies and transactions to know how the system would work
Blockchain will never be a good system of private transactions as it takes too many resources to run it and you have to fork it all of the time because the chains get too heavy. That much I know and agree with.
I want an alternative and currently after the grift made because of crypto, no one wants to innovate in a private and decentralized currency. In truth, I haven't searched that much for an alternative.
The problem isn’t just the nature of blockchains, the problem is the uses to which such systems will be put. The explosion in ransomware fuelled by bitcoin et al isn’t something that can be replicated with physical cash at the same scale, for example (consider why you want electronic cash in the first place). Similarly, the need to “be your own bank” will always expose you to a greater risk of fraud and theft and loss, because being a bank is harder than people seem to think.
I wanted this "electronic cash" to make it easier to carry cash without ending with lots of coins in my wallet. The point of being your own bank seems dangerous and too convoluted to make it more convenient.
I guess I will keep trying to use cash whenever I can and call it a day.
So I realise that this is very euro-centric and the majority of people on earth don’t get this sort of convenience, but… fast and easy interbank transfers and contactless debit and credit card payments just do all the stuff that most people want out of electronic cash, and transaction logs are a small price to pay for a substantial reduction in risk.
Knowing the where, who and why of every transaction. In other chain I agree cash is a good alternative but without an electronic component that I would prefer.