35 crypto companies got together to make a change dot org petition called “Bitcoin Deserves an Emoji”.

F that

  • TootSweet@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    14
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    3 months ago

    If you want the name of a payment techology that isn’t snake oil, isn’t blockchain-based, isn’t a cult, doesn’t claim to be a currency, doesn’t work on proof-of-work or proof-of-stake, but actually does provide certain privacy guarantees for your basic purchasing needs, is cryptographically secure, and can be used with only FOSS, I recommend looking into GNU Taler.

    The only downside is that it’s not really supported anywhere at all yet. But I do hope it becomes a real thing some day.

    • index@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      3 months ago

      isn’t blockchain-based, doesn’t work on proof-of-work or proof-of-stake

      These things weren’t introduced as a gimmick they are used to solve specific problems.

    • deafboy@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      3 months ago

      GNU Taller is pretty fragile, though. One bank issues unbacked tokens and the credibility of the whole system goes down the drain. It’s the current financial system, just rebranded. Also, it promotes taxation which automatically makes it a cult & scam.

      • TootSweet@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        One bank issues unbacked tokens

        1. The Taler protocol has bank auditors built-in.
        2. Your hypothetical would just as much apply to existing debit cards.
        3. Unbacked tokens. You mean like Tether? (Let alone Terra.)

        Also, it promotes taxation which automatically makes it a cult & scam?

        The fuck? How does Taler “promote taxation?”

        Fuckin’ Libertarians.

        • deafboy@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          3 months ago

          Unbacked tokens. You mean like Tether?

          Exactly like Tether. USDT was never backed 1:1 by USD. They don’t even try to deny it anymore. They admit it’s backed by “various assets, including BTC”, which smells like a market manipulation.

          How does Taler promote taxation?

          “Customers can stay anonymous, but merchants can not hide their income through payments with GNU Taler. This helps to avoid tax evasion and money laundering.”

    • radamant@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      14
      ·
      3 months ago

      Please describe how I can send the money to my mom in Russia (disconnected from SWIFT) with GNU Taler today. I’ll wait.

      • TootSweet@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        3 months ago

        I don’t know how I could possibly have been more explicit about it not yet being ready for any real-world use cases than I was.

        • radamant@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          10
          ·
          3 months ago

          It will never be ready. It doesn’t even make sense. To transact with real fiat like the US dollar, you’ll have to go through an official on-ramp and an off-ramp of the respective government. And to do an international transaction you’ll have to use one of the widely accepted systems like SWIFT. GNU Taler doesn’t appear to address anything like that. Anyhow, my comment was made with the premise of this whole thread in mind, i.e. “Bitcoin is stupid” or “snake oil”. Yet there’s no alternatives to what crypto provides. So is it that stupid after all?

          • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            3 months ago

            How wasteful!

            Anyhow, today I’m going to resume using a currency backed by oil and nukes, which encourages consumption on purpose. I will then either exploit workers by investing in a for-profit business, or get poorer.

            But someday, in the future, economics will work the way I expect them to. That’s when I’ll switch to something better!

            • iopq@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              3 months ago

              Russia has had oil and nukes and it didn’t stop the ruble from collapsing in the 90s

              Maybe reexamine your assumptions