• BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        They only “use it” to transfer the funds. Once they have it, they cash it in. No criminal is keeping it in crypto form. They use it the same way they use Apple gift cards.

        • Victoria Antoinette @lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          tally sticks were debt tokens. people used them as money out of convenience, and would exchange them for cash if it was possible.

          • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            An easy way to tell if it’s “real” money or not is to see if goods are ever priced directly in it, where it isn’t just directly indexed to the exchange rate of an established currency.

            Hint: Even places that accept crypto payments don’t do this. The crypto price fluctuates based on the moment by moment exchange rate to the local currency.

            • Victoria Antoinette @lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              tally sticks denoted debt in Britain, and were used directly as money out of convenience, but they were themselves denoted in roman currency iirc.

              • Rekorse@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                5 months ago

                Can I ask what the point of arguing semantics here is?

                Maybe you have put in the effort to figure out all the avenues to use bitcoin to pay for things, but its not easy and you sound more like a drug addict scrounging for metal and bottles, and then wondering why noone else is interested in your hustle.

                Why do you care if people call bitcoin real or not anyways? For most people its not real, for you I guess it is, does that make sense?

                • Victoria Antoinette @lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  if someone is making a semantic argument it’s those who won’t accept that Bitcoin is money as surely as any other form of money we have ever used.

                  • Rekorse@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                    5 months ago

                    What’s the difference between something having monetary value and it being currency then?

                    I dont see the difference between the bitcoin I could buy drugs with online, and the ps2 I trade my weed dealer 15 years ago for drugs.

                    I dont understand what greater point there is to be had here besides, “well technically anything is currency”.

            • Victoria Antoinette @lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              sumerians denoted everything in silver shekels but trade was done will all manner of commodities, including barley grains. your theory of money sounds like it comes from the Adam Smith cult.

              • hark@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                Are barley grains a currency? I’m not understanding your argument here. In a practical sense, cryptocurrencies are far too volatile to use as a currency and the “stable” coins are tied to things like the US dollar. Well, I should say allegedly tied because “stable” coins like tether haven’t been audited to actually prove it’s tied to the underlying.

      • bc93@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Money refers to some token which is commonly accepted as a form of payment for goods and services and for the repayment of debts. In some contexts - dark web marketplaces, for example - certain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Monero are money. In the context of the physical world, generally cryptocurrency isn’t considered to be money, but rather a security - a tradable financial asset, but not a form of directly usable money - the asset has to be exchanged for e.g. USD to be spent.

        In this way, cryptocurrency is a bit like WoW gold. I can’t pay for my rent with it, and I can’t really buy any physical property with it, so it’s not money in that context, but in Azeroth, it’s money. I might be able to exchange my digital asset for real money or physical assets, but only in black markets.

        Hope this helps

      • s_s@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        If you’re “invested” in cryptogoboligook and you’re not ripping someone off–guess what?–you’re the mark.

        Regardless, you can generally use money to buy things.

        You can’t buy anything with crypto because it’s 15 years later, and “mass adoption” is never happening. It’s “fake money”.

          • s_s@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            People certainly don’t treat crypto like money.

            And I suppose that’s where our conversation has to stop because you’ve now outed yourself as willing to say any outlandish thing to support crypto.

            Because I do not believe you can actually think that.

          • Pratai@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            The only ones that treat it as money are in on it. Otherwise, you could go to a Best Buy and get a TV with your crypto-card.

            • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              5 months ago

              I hate to be “that guy” but your definition of money is a little constrained. By that definition, the only “money” is the money of the country you’re currently in. Can you walk into a bestbuy and purchase a TV with Yuan?

              You’re likely trying to say “Can you walk into a normal store of an appropriate country and pay with that currency” but even that is flawed, as certain stores don’t accept credit/debit, or don’t accept cash.

              • Pratai@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                No, because it’s not legal currency. Are you getting it now?? Valuables aren’t all accepted currency….

                Your argument is DEEPLY flawed.

              • Pratai@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                And what does that tell you? That maybe those things aren’t legal currency??

                • uis@lemm.ee
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                  5 months ago

                  Then US Dollar isn’t legal currency everywhere outside of USSA. You can’t just go to shop and buy groceries with it.

                  • Pratai@lemmy.world
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                    5 months ago

                    It’s exchangeable. Go to a money exchange and see how much your bitcoin is worth.

                  • Pratai@lemmy.world
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                    5 months ago

                    No goalpost has been moved. Currency is clearly defined. So whatever other valuable item you try and offer up as an example will be dismissed as well.

          • oatscoop@midwest.social
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            5 months ago

            Crypto is an un-backed and unregulated security – the value of which fluctuates wildly. Turns out most people don’t like being paid in something that can drastically lose value in the span of hours.

            The few people and institutions that accept crypto as payment either immediately convert it back into real money or are “investors” treating it like the security it actually is.

              • oatscoop@midwest.social
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                5 months ago

                “unbacked”

                I’m assuming those quotes are referring to fiat currency. Faith in the solvency of the issuing government, widely agreed upon exchange rates, and regulated prices of goods are all forms of backing. Sure: you can argue that’s “not enough” but crypto “currencies” don’t even have that. Hence why their values fluctuate by the minute – which defeats the entire purpose of “money”.

                unregulated

                … government controlled central banks and entire bodies of law exist to do just that. Nobody is regulating crypto.

                Crypto lacks the features that make money “money”. It doesn’t have a relatively stable, agreed upon value. It’s not easily exchanged for goods or services. It technically can be used as “money” but that’s true of anything – trading cards, a pile of gravel, etc.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        With real money you can take out a loan. Kinda the whole point of money, it represents value that is owed.

        While crypto loans would be technically possible it would be a foolish thing to do since it’s effectively a short on something that could increase in value. Real money has a small but steady (well, ideally) inflation so you can be confident in taking out a loan and not having to worry about the currency doing something crazy like doubling in value resulting in you owing double the value than you initially borrowed. This is not the case for crypto so it’s simply not a viable currency for financing anything.

        Since it’s not viable for financing, it’s not a real currency and never will be. Like is someone supposed to take out a business loan in real currency, convert it to crypto, pay someone else who would then have to convert it back to real money so they can pay back their loan? Why would people want to do all of these conversions back and forth to and from crypto? Because they like the risk of the value dropping for the brief time they’re holding onto it?

      • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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        5 months ago

        Regardless of your personal opinions about cryptocurrency, that is absolutely what this post is referring to by saying fake money for criminal.