upvote
You are not wrong that secret ingredient is crime, but I think the single largest use of crypto out there is tax evasion. When traveling Asia in 2025 I've met several people who worked for western companies and got paid in tether. Western companies pay flat consulting that avoids payroll taxes / etc and employees skip taxation from whatever country they are in. On the trading side we have ETH wrapping everything and enabling trading of most financial assets.
reply
Yea I just don't see any real benefit and it has been almost 20 years. This is why I immediately lose respect for anyone who still peddles crypto even though there were some well meaningful people in early days.
reply
People in countries with crazy inflation can use usdc wallets to avoid the inflation. Plus pay for US goods like a Netflix subscription without losing 30% on the exchange.
reply
As the decentralised crypto experiment shown us, hierarchical trust has its benefits.
reply
Well as I got older I understood that what anarchy-libertarians are saying is not what they think.

When I was younger I thought they really are against hierarchy and that society should be equal in all aspects.

But as it turns out, they are against current hierarchy as they don’t have much to say in this setup. But once they would get to be “in” and calling shots that’s where their world views change.

reply
dont forget buying drugs ;)
reply
Most people just buy drugs with regular money.
reply
The one class of purchases that you really don’t want immortalised in a public ledger, right?
reply
My wealth may be decentralized, but my body is in one location and pretty vulnerable to the 5 dollar wrench. Putting some emergency money in a foreign bank account and a bag is a much better option if I wanted to flee a country.
reply
these randoms assuming foreign banks accept every human is really funny, enjoy your bubble and ignorance. There are normal people that cant even have a bank account in their homeland.
reply
"There are normal people that cant even have a bank account in their homeland"

And I feel for them but 2 wrongs don't make a right. Crypto is not the answer for that problem.

reply
> There are normal people that cant even have a bank account in their homeland.

And approximately none of these people's problems have been actually solved with cryptocurrency.

reply
Indeed. They have instead been solved by mobile-phone-based systems like Mpesa in Kenya and neighbouring countries.
reply
And, how, do these disenfranchised / persecuted people turn their not-in-the-bank money into WhateverCoin ?
reply
By giving cash to a shady backstreet exchange guy? Or maybe using a payment kiosk to top up a mobile phone / whatever other service the P2P seller can get the money out of.

But more likely scenario is they have friends who let them use their bank accounts (but don’t have friends who let them use their good overseas bank accounts, so not that useful).

reply
> these randoms assuming foreign banks accept every human is really funny,

Did I imply that? Creating a bank account in my country is an adventure on its own. If I got 50 USD in my wallet, I can exchange it somewhere and pay for food and whatever. My crypto account requires a computer, an internet connection, and someone willing to take it (no one around here).

reply