• Sailor Sega Saturn@awful.systems
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    ·
    5 months ago

    I agree decentralized currency is great.

    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.

    • Programmer Belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      5
      ·
      5 months ago

      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

        • Programmer Belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          5 months ago

          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.

          • rook@awful.systems
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            4
            ·
            5 months ago

            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.

            The technology involved is (almost) irrelevant.

            • Programmer Belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              ·
              5 months ago

              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.

              • rook@awful.systems
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                4
                ·
                5 months ago

                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.

                  • rook@awful.systems
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    8
                    ·
                    5 months ago

                    You realise that all electronic currencies will necessarily involve transaction logs stored in someone else’s computer? Even Zcash and monero, which have clever anonymous transactions, allow selective disclosure of the details of those transactions if you ever find yourself at the wrong end of a criminal investigation or tax audit. Moreover, their anonymity guarantees are not perfect (the IRS has certainly paid big bucks to chainalysis for de-anonymisation, for what that’s worth).

                    Unless someone magically invents a software artefact that can’t be duplicated (don’t hold your breath, I’m serious about the magic) there’s no escape from this fundamental requirement.