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Wait, so this is the train of thought for Bitcoin:

- Centralized money is bad! We need to create a perfectly decentralized, distributed economy!

- Oh no! It turns out that the average Joe will get burned really badly by this new decentralized system!

- But wait! What if we created these things called "banks" and provide people peace of mind and security by taking on some of this risk?!

- ...?

- Um... not profit.




Did you somehow get the idea that bitcoin users are against banking? Banking (as a concept) and decentralized money are not at odds.


Banking eradicates many of the supposed gains of decentralized money - not all, but most. I just dig a quick Google for "benefits of Bitcoin" and it seems most people agree on the following:

- Anonymity/trackability. Gone if you are with a bank. Sure, possible to sidestep by going through the song-and-dance that is withdraw-send-deposit. We can do this IRL also, but there's a reason people do not.

- Taxability. Welp, if your BTCs are in a bank, the IRS can easily get you.

- Abusive/coercisve government action (e.g., freezing). Well, yeah, if you're with a bank that can happen too.

- Lack of fees. If banks become standard (and if BTC takes off, yes, they will become standard) then kiss goodbye to this benefit - the same way cash right now has no transaction fee, but bank transactions do.

In fact, the only major sell of Bitcoin that remains:

- Inability for government to arbitrarily expand the supply of money.

Still a win, but suddenly Bitcoins have lost a lot of charm, especially for the everyman for whom the above 4 points are much more salient than that last one.




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