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Brazil's government-run payments system has become dominant

(www.economist.com)
666 points jcartw | 5 comments | 08 Apr 25 10:59 UTC | HN request time: 1.039s | source
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afarah1 ◴[08 Apr 25 11:57 UTC] No.43620640[source]▶
WhatsApp is omnipresent for communication in Brazil, and WhatsApp Pay was ready before Pix, but the government blocked the launch to launch Pix first.[1] I rarely see this mentioned.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/brazil-suspends-w...

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paintbox ◴[08 Apr 25 12:15 UTC] No.43620799[source]▶
It's a question of national security not to let Meta eat that cake, and Brasil made the right choice.

Tangentially related, I've heard talk of EU alternative to VISA and Mastercard, which I also believe is the right direction.

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afarah1 ◴[08 Apr 25 12:30 UTC] No.43620945[source]▶
WhatsApp Pay is available today in Brazil. The official reason for blocking the launch was missing paperwork, but word on the street at the time was that it was to favor Pix. This is all mentioned in the Retuers article. The reasons for favoring Pix are left for one to speculate. You say national security, the other says financial surveillance and control over the population. Time will tell.
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1. dkga ◴[08 Apr 25 22:49 UTC] No.43627233[source]▶
Control over the population? That's some conspiracy theory.
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2. matheusmoreira ◴[09 Apr 25 01:49 UTC] No.43628195[source]▶
Nothing stops the government from blocking your Pix transactions on a whim. They can just turn off your money whenever they want. They can confiscate your money any time if they want. They can do pretty much anything.

Conspiracy theory? It's cyberpunk stuff, the likes of which we see in fiction. Only it's not fiction. We're watching the whole thing unfold right before our very eyes.

I remember watching videos of people at events from many years ago. They warned us all about this stuff, explored all the possible consequences. It's pretty bleak. And now I'm living in this reality, the knowledge of the danger weighs down on me every day where I have to use the system. And people like you come here and calls us conspiracy theorists.

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3. mixmastamyk ◴[09 Apr 25 03:37 UTC] No.43628680[source]▶
They could have always done it at your bank as well. Easy electronic transfer changes nothing in that regard.
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4. matheusmoreira ◴[09 Apr 25 18:55 UTC] No.43636067{3}[source]▶
They have done it before. The difference is you can withdraw your cash if you see it coming. The government's end game is to get rid of physical cash with Pix and soon Drex.

Without physical cash, your finances are one hundred percent controlled by the government. Sure, it's convenient, but you pay for that convenience with your freedom.

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5. mixmastamyk ◴[10 Apr 25 15:25 UTC] No.43644855{4}[source]▶
Yup, my comment was directed at those who want to prevent electronic money. But it’s no different than earlier banking.

I support cash and gold as well.