@[email protected] i understand the reason why a lot of people say “all crypto is bad”, because 99% is scam, but that’s a privileged position to say so.

There a millions of people around the world who have no access to global payment systems. No Visa/Mastercard, no SWIFT/SEPA, no Revolut, Wise. Nothing.

And some crypto, especially “stable coins, like USDT, is critical part of their financial security, because they have no other means to get paid or transfer money to relatives, buy stuff, sell stuff and do all the things “regular” people can do with just a swipe of the plastic card.

So no, it’s not true: for a lot of unprivileged people “deleting all the crypto” will be a very serious loss.

@denisbloodnok @cholling
@mu
@dacig
@cholling

It’s not that I’ve read/heard or have anecdotal evidence: I *have to* use it. This is part of my ordinary life, and believe me, I don’t like it. It took me 3 years to open bank account, with some “help” and only because it’s now impossible to pay taxes by cash, can you imagine that? And you know, I can’t renew my work permit without proof of paid taxes. I can’t express how humiliating this whole experience was. And I’m lucky that I have enough financial resources to cover all this.

Hawala/p2p (usually crypto to cash/card) are available basically worldwide and this is a major use for USDT.

People around me have to use it, because they can’t open bank accounts. Some use it because it’s much cheaper than WU/other instant transfers (1%-ish vs 4-5% + shitty exchange rate)

You can check for yourself, and search on telegram. you’ll find hundreds of groups with tons of offers.

On a regional ad boards around here you can find goods/services that can be paid with crypto. Good chunk of webservices accept crypto. And this is a lifesaver for people you can’t just type 16 digits and buy digital services.

Another use-case are donations in countries with repressive laws against independent media, activists or “banned” NVO. Because in some cases you can get few years in prison for a donation and they use stuff like Monero so you can make donations with a relatively low risk.

I know few people who live in counties where national currency is in a free fall and it’s hard to find a place where your savings are relatively safe, so even crypto is better than local banks.

You don’t see it just because you never *had* to use this services, and that’s really a good thing, and I sincerely hope none of you *have* to at any point in your life.

This whole thing exists in gray area, there a lot of risks around it, it’s fucked up and all people should have same access to global payments.