I understand cryptography, and use it daily to keep Grandma's Secret Cookie Recipe secure.. but this "blockchain" business is mystifying. It does not seem possible for it to be both "freely accessible" AND "secure" both at the same time, and no one has so far been able to explain to me how that could possibly be.
Furthermore, it's known that governments can utterly and completely control CBDC's, and issue them or disappear them at will. I don't see what could possibly prevent them from dabbling in any digital currency created. I mean, if it's "freely accessible", that means governments can access it too, right?
On top of that, "currency" made up entirely of bits and bytes, just electrons in the machine, seem utterly insecure to me - what happens if the lights go out? You can't just open your safe when the number dial suddenly disappears!
So I don't, EVER, deal in digital currencies. It seems to be a good way to watch all of your hard-earned money just go POOF! and disappear. If I don't deal in digital currencies, then I have no need of services that claim to securely shuffle them about between traders. If I have a bag of apples you want, and you have a set of horse shoes I want, we'll just deal face to face and in person, apples and horse shoes in hand - not need for any ethereal intermediary of exchange like "digital currency" in my mind.
If I want to buy something solid, I want it in-hand where can check the weight of it.
ETA: if the time ever comes where government forces us into this bitcoin madness, I'll take my "digital funds" and immediately convert them to hard tangibles as soon as they hit my account. I won't wait for government to decide I've been a bad boy and disappear them from me. I'll convert them to stuff I can keep in-hand and heft the weight of, bury in the back yard in mason jars and whatnot, to make sure government can't dick me around with MY money!
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Furthermore, it's known that governments can utterly and completely control CBDC's, and issue them or disappear them at will. I don't see what could possibly prevent them from dabbling in any digital currency created. I mean, if it's "freely accessible", that means governments can access it too, right?
On top of that, "currency" made up entirely of bits and bytes, just electrons in the machine, seem utterly insecure to me - what happens if the lights go out? You can't just open your safe when the number dial suddenly disappears!
So I don't, EVER, deal in digital currencies. It seems to be a good way to watch all of your hard-earned money just go POOF! and disappear. If I don't deal in digital currencies, then I have no need of services that claim to securely shuffle them about between traders. If I have a bag of apples you want, and you have a set of horse shoes I want, we'll just deal face to face and in person, apples and horse shoes in hand - not need for any ethereal intermediary of exchange like "digital currency" in my mind.
If I want to buy something solid, I want it in-hand where can check the weight of it.
ETA: if the time ever comes where government forces us into this bitcoin madness, I'll take my "digital funds" and immediately convert them to hard tangibles as soon as they hit my account. I won't wait for government to decide I've been a bad boy and disappear them from me. I'll convert them to stuff I can keep in-hand and heft the weight of, bury in the back yard in mason jars and whatnot, to make sure government can't dick me around with MY money!
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