Bitcoin is still absolutely useless as a currency and a technology.
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@skinnylatte @mekkaokereke We have an instant payment system between different banks here in Oz too. The US has always seemed way behind on payments tech. At least American publishers have stopped sending me foreign currency cheques! Almost impossible to bank them here nowadays.
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@timrichards @mekkaokereke like with anything bad with the U.S., this is by design
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@skinnylatte @mekkaokereke Usually it seems connected with racism too, but I can't think how in this case
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@timrichards @mekkaokereke many banks charge fees to the poorest customers. Many people are unbanked the way they are in developing countries. They go instead to predatory cash checking places. All of their financial instruments (like credit cards issued by big stores) have way worse rates. I’m guessing banks make lots of money ripping off poor people?
There is a new instant payment rail but it’ll be slow going
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@timrichards @mekkaokereke to be more specific, if a poor person sends off a payment for a bill on a Friday and then on Tues when it clears and they don’t have a buffer, the bank makes $28 or more on the overdraft.
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@skinnylatte @mekkaokereke Hmm I see. Also, that relative lack of bank accounts explains the prevalence of cheques. But why are people unbanked? Is it difficult to open an account?
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in america? often it is poor credit or a run of financial bad luck, such as unemployment, sometimes coupled with bad financial discipline (which is yet another thing that they work hard on encouraging people to do) and then winding up on a shared list of "bad" accountholders, thus being denied bank accounts. and then there is the credit reputation thing, as well.
banks want power and got offshore banking made almost, if not thoroughly, a crime
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@homelessjun @skinnylatte @mekkaokereke I see, that's difficult. Banks here in Australia are required to offer low-income people on government benefits a no-fee account.
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@timrichards @homelessjun @mekkaokereke we have credit unions that do that but it’s rather unevenly distributed
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Jürgen Hubertreplied to mekka okereke :verified: last edited by
As far as I can tell, there is only one legitimate use case for crypto currencies: Payment for sex workers - because "conventional" online payment systems all seem to screw them over, a trend that is likely to continue in the next few years.
The _illegitimate_ use case is, of course, money laundering for organized crime. It's no accident that all those organized crime rings holding websites and IT infrastructure hostage demand payment in crypto currencies...
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@juergen_hubert @mekkaokereke unfortunately crypto payment systems screw them over too, and introduce added risks as far as traceability. the solution is going to have to be stronger protections for sex workers and against debanking. as with most problems, technology alone is not an adequate solution.
