Crypto currency. Bit coin's primary use case is crime, money laundering, drugs, assassination, ransomware. For normal transactions, it's too slow and expensive, but for crime, that's not a problem.

Also, USD is not a recent tech innovation.

[–] silentjohn@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

For normal transactions, it’s too slow and expensive, but for crime, that’s not a problem.

I'm no lover of Bitcoin, but this is just false. Using the Lightning Network (basically a Layer 2 application on top), transactions are near instant and cost only pennies.

Using the Ethereum network and L2s, which has an energy expenditure less than that of your dishwasher, you can move money instantly and for basically fee. There's a reason big corporations like Visa and countless others are heavily investing in and building on Ethereum: it's faster and cheaper than legacy tradfi rails. Also, it's a pretty good way to get aid to Gaza and other war-ravaged countries, pay for privacy-respecting email and VPNs, etc.

primary use case is crime, money laundering, drugs, assassination, ransomware

In fact, crypto has moved on from 2009-era use cases: https://ethereumadoption.com/usecases/

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I admit I haven't been keeping up recently. These are relatively new changes then. I remember when a transaction cost $25 and 7 minutes. (Or was it the other way around?) In any case, that wasn't practical for anyone except organised crime, which is largely where it got that reputation. And the fact that crime is still a major user.

[–] silentjohn@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago

These are relatively new changes then

Not really. Lightning has been around for many years. Ethereum transitioned to Proof of Stake back in 2022. Layer 2s on Ethereum went live in 2021-2023, continuing on and ever expanding up until today.

I remember when a transaction cost $25 and 7 minutes

For Bitcoin mainnet, this may still be the case, however in practicality 1) that's still faster than tradfi settlement times (ACH takes 5-7 days to settle), 2) depending on the amount of money you're moving, $25 might be very cheap, 3) most people will use Lightning if they value speed and cheap fees. With Ethereum, block times are every 12 seconds or something like that. So actually it's not only fast but very consistent. Fees [on Ethereum] have been very cheap since blockspace demand has been muted the past couple years, however like Bitcoin most people prefer to use Layer 2s

In any case, that wasn’t practical for anyone except organised crime

that's just simply not true.

And the fact that crime is still a major user.

I've got news for you, tradfi ain't much better. Regardless, there's a large and growing list of use cases that don't involve "crime": https://ethereumadoption.com/built-on-ethereum?view=byEntity. Exchanges, lending and borrowing, mortgages, insurance, derivatives, pay day loans, no-loss lotteries, social media, collectables, identification, certifications, streaming salaries, ...