> the number of "true believers" I'm seeing here is astounding to me.
Because maybe when you see crypto, you see scams (SBF, Terra, etc). When we see crypto, we see legit decentralized asset like Bitcoin or massively successful open source project like Ethereum.
> After a decade of use the tech hasn't found many real world uses
Or maybe, there are legit uses but you are ignorant because of your bubble? I compiled some examples here long time back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32406095 (and this has only grown since)
> money laundering, tax evasion, and other financial criminality
That just depends on your pov ("freedom fighter vs terrorist"). If someone is trying to protect their wealth from Venezuela, Putin, Taliban or other despotic regimes, that is still "money laundering" in those regimes' eyes. See my examples above.
> I have no trouble sending fiat money where I need to at the click of a button
My colleague begs to disagree. He can send fiat USD to his native country but official exchange rate is suppressed and he loses a lot of value through fiat channels.
> I don't understand how intelligent people can continue to believe this stuff is the future of finance.
I don't think this will supplant finance as much as augment it. Also, maybe you haven't yet had real conversations with intelligent people who believe in crypto?
> it's something something human nature
Yup. Wanting to escape oppressive regimes with your wealth. Or freedom to protest your government's tyranny (imagine the uproar if Trump had frozen assets of all the BLM protestors in the summer of 2020. Now see what happened when Canadian goverment froze the assets of truckers).
Because maybe when you see crypto, you see scams (SBF, Terra, etc). When we see crypto, we see legit decentralized asset like Bitcoin or massively successful open source project like Ethereum.
> After a decade of use the tech hasn't found many real world uses
Or maybe, there are legit uses but you are ignorant because of your bubble? I compiled some examples here long time back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32406095 (and this has only grown since)
> money laundering, tax evasion, and other financial criminality
That just depends on your pov ("freedom fighter vs terrorist"). If someone is trying to protect their wealth from Venezuela, Putin, Taliban or other despotic regimes, that is still "money laundering" in those regimes' eyes. See my examples above.
> I have no trouble sending fiat money where I need to at the click of a button
My colleague begs to disagree. He can send fiat USD to his native country but official exchange rate is suppressed and he loses a lot of value through fiat channels.
> I don't understand how intelligent people can continue to believe this stuff is the future of finance.
I don't think this will supplant finance as much as augment it. Also, maybe you haven't yet had real conversations with intelligent people who believe in crypto?
> it's something something human nature
Yup. Wanting to escape oppressive regimes with your wealth. Or freedom to protest your government's tyranny (imagine the uproar if Trump had frozen assets of all the BLM protestors in the summer of 2020. Now see what happened when Canadian goverment froze the assets of truckers).