Inspired by a comment on my last post.

I feel like I never have a solution that allows me to control it while also being automated to such a degree that I don’t have a huge confusing backup if I don’t do finances for days or weeks.

  • humble peat digger@lemm.eeEnglish
    1011·
    23 days ago

    I don’t understand why isn’t crypto banned yet.

    Its a dumb drain on world resources and only facilitates of untraceable payments for drug sales and tax avoidance.

    • roofuskit@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      23 days ago

      Because the rich people of the world are at the top of that pump and dump pyramid and stand to extract a lot of money from the suckers of the world.

      • humble peat digger@lemm.eeEnglish
        61·
        23 days ago

        I’m old enough to know that governments should care about taxes and payment traceability.
        This is what funds the social programs such as healthcare and education.

        And if government doesn’t give a fuck - there is only one explanation, it’s beholden to the corporate overloads that want to capitalize on the crypto action - which is not in my best interests as a private citizen.

        Also - all it does it raises energy prices for me and makes GPUs more expensive for me.

        Why should I support that?

        Fuck crypto and fuck the government that’s doesn’t do anything about it.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          42·
          23 days ago

          I’m old enough to know that governments should care about taxes and payment traceability.

          And cryptocurrencies (esp. the bigger ones) are perhaps the most traceable store of value and is highly regulated. At least in the US, cryptocurrencies are regulated like stocks, so any transaction needs to be properly reported as either a capital gain or loss or you’ll run afoul of the IRS.

          Also - all it does it raises energy prices for me and makes GPUs more expensive for me.

          It really doesn’t. Crypto mining is only profitable if energy prices are very low, especially if you do it at any kind of scale. Crypto mining in the US is estimated at 0.6-2.3% of total energy use, which is a drop in the bucket.

          And mining on GPUs isn’t very profitable, with profitability timelines at ~3 years assuming a very low energy cost of $0.10/kWh. So it’s not really a good option. The big miners have pretty much all moved to ASICs, which won’t impact your GPU prices at all, so the only ones buying GPUs for mining are hobbyists, which are a pretty small market.

          Why should I support that?

          There are a lot of good reasons to support cryptocurrencies, such as:

          • low cost international transactions - sending to my neighbor and sending across the world costs exactly the same
          • essential for people like journalists and minorities in repressive areas - this is also why you should support Tor
          • many parts of the world don’t have stable money, and crypto is easier to access and store than foreign currencies (like USD or Euro)
          • not impacted by inflation, so theoretically they can be a cash alternative to other inflation hedges like gold; fluctuation is a bit of a problem ATM though
          • sidesteps the massive payment networks like Mastercard and Visa, who charge something like 3% of every transaction; many cryptocurrencies have lower transaction costs

          I think there are a lot of good reasons to support cryptocurrencies for everyday transactions, I don’t see much point in supporting it as an investment option. So if a vendor supports transactions in cryptocurrencies, I’ll go out of my way to pay w/ crypto, but I’m not interested in trading cryptocurrencies as an investment.

    • ililiililiililiilili@lemm.eeEnglish
      69·
      23 days ago

      Crypto cannot be banned. It can only be made illegal, if countries want to remove themselves from the digital currency revolution. The derivatives market is $730T. Stocks are about $110T. Real estate is around $380T. If you’re concerned about the minuscule amount of illegal activities that occur within the 3.5T crypto market, your fears are misguided. Crypto is mostly traceable. Fiat currencies are highly preferred for drug sales and tax avoidance.

      • humble peat digger@lemm.eeEnglish
        41·
        23 days ago

        Make it illegal, drive it underground where it belongs.
        I’m concerned about traceability and tax avoidance. I’m concerned about energy consumption I’m concerned about gpu prices

        • ililiililiililiilili@lemm.eeEnglish
          1·
          18 days ago

          Are you just as concerned that cash is not traceable and that some is exchanged tax free? I don’t see how any GPU miners are profitable at this point. Outside of gaming: AI must have a larger GPU demand? Most miners are using ASICs. You’re absolutely right that mining energy should come from plants that have underutilized capacity and (obviously) renewable sources. The cat’s out of the bag on cryptocurrency and unjust laws don’t deserve to be followed. All government printed currencies eventually become worthless.