←back to thread

I wasted years of my life in crypto

(twitter.com)
681 points Anon84 | 8 comments | 07 Dec 25 12:57 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
Show context
spicyusername ◴[07 Dec 25 13:28 UTC] No.46181533[source]▶
I've never understood the initial arguments about Bitcoin, no matter how many times they've been explained to me.

The block chain is, and always was, an extremely inconvenient database. How anyone, especially many intelligent people, thought it was realistic to graft a currency on top of such a unwieldy piece of technology is beyond me. Maybe it goes to show how few people understand economics and anthropology and how dunning-krueger can happen to anyone.

Now the uninformed gambling on futuristic sounding hokum? THAT is easy to understand.

That being said, I'm sorry the author had to go through this experience, the road of life is often filled with unexpected twists and turns.

replies(48): >>46181550 #>>46181552 #>>46181565 #>>46181570 #>>46181587 #>>46181592 #>>46181595 #>>46181598 #>>46181626 #>>46181627 #>>46181644 #>>46181650 #>>46181665 #>>46181684 #>>46181692 #>>46181705 #>>46181710 #>>46181747 #>>46181851 #>>46182086 #>>46182181 #>>46183207 #>>46183326 #>>46184155 #>>46188845 #>>46188916 #>>46189281 #>>46189390 #>>46189635 #>>46189752 #>>46190184 #>>46190277 #>>46190352 #>>46190438 #>>46190551 #>>46190980 #>>46192357 #>>46192629 #>>46192718 #>>46192829 #>>46193037 #>>46193082 #>>46193531 #>>46193609 #>>46194845 #>>46194934 #>>46195115 #>>46203155 #
TrackerFF ◴[07 Dec 25 14:03 UTC] No.46181747[source]▶
At least for me, the big selling point was being able to send money fast and relatively cheap. Back then you either had PayPal, or wire transfer. PP could easily freeze and hold your money over whatever issues, while bank transfer was slow.

And, mind you, I only purchased/sold legal stuff.

replies(2): >>46181776 #>>46189681 #
ikt ◴[07 Dec 25 14:09 UTC] No.46181776[source]▶
Yep, that's what I thought nano had done:

https://nano.org/en

instant, fee's a fraction of a cent, I thought this was it, international payments that don't rely on visa/mastercard!

and then it just went no where :\

replies(4): >>46183040 #>>46188743 #>>46189631 #>>46190456 #
1. Nextgrid ◴[07 Dec 25 16:48 UTC] No.46183040[source]▶
Because in practice services like TransferWise solved this problem using fiat currencies with fees low enough not to make it worth bothering with crypto.
replies(4): >>46183139 #>>46188419 #>>46191072 #>>46194823 #
2. nout ◴[07 Dec 25 17:02 UTC] No.46183139[source]▶
For larger amounts it makes sense to use the bitcoin rails for international transfers. I'm doing bank to bank international transfers and using bitcoin saves around 3% compared to Wise and you get the money immediately (or within 1hr, depending on what you use).
replies(1): >>46189619 #
3. ikt ◴[08 Dec 25 04:43 UTC] No.46188419[source]▶
I duno, I still can't make a payment on the net without Visa or Mastercard, still a problem to be solved to me

Looks like other people still trying to solve as well:

> Earlier this year, Coinbase changed online payments forever with a new protocol called x402. But could this technology really usher in a new age of 'machine to machine' payments? Let's run it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6wc6yvoZLY

replies(1): >>46189178 #
4. lmm ◴[08 Dec 25 06:46 UTC] No.46189178[source]▶
> I still can't make a payment on the net without Visa or Mastercard

Let me introduce you to the wonders of Discover.

5. fpoling ◴[08 Dec 25 08:02 UTC] No.46189619[source]▶
Few years ago I needed to transfer a big sum from a Scandinavian country into Euro. The official bank exchange rate plus fees was worse than Wise’s. But I asked the bank and the bank gave me an exchange rate that was like 0.1% better than one from wise.
replies(1): >>46190986 #
6. nout ◴[08 Dec 25 11:14 UTC] No.46190986{3}[source]▶
Depending on the direction, but there are ways to actually make a little extra on top of the middle exchange rate (e.g. on the USD to EUR path), since there are many people that want to buy no-KYC bitcoin in Europe and they are willing to pay a couple % extra.
7. rjdj377dhabsn ◴[08 Dec 25 11:29 UTC] No.46191072[source]▶
Every time I try to use TramsferWise, I end up jumping through KYC hoops for hours - days. Sending crypto is much simpler and faster.
8. troyvit ◴[08 Dec 25 17:09 UTC] No.46194823[source]▶
Man they don't solve it for me. They charge much more for using a credit card vs a checking account, especially when going across currencies, and I consider it pretty dumb to share my checking account information around when I can control things much more easily with a credit card. And literally any fee they charge is more than what nano charges. It's just that nobody takes nano :(