UN trade body calls for halting cryptocurrency rise in developing countries

It is naive to think the rise of cryptocurrencies will help anyone but large companies specialised at scamming retail investors, and of course criminal organisations. As bad as the IMF policies might be, this isn't the solution.

aluminaient• 4 years ago

What do you recommend? This seems like the singular usecase of cryptocurrency.

ETH_start3• 4 years ago

>It is naive to think the rise of cryptocurrencies will help anyone but large companies specialised at scamming retail investors

There is nothing inherently scammy in using a distributed blockchain to record balances, and cryptography to authenticate updates to the balances. While opening the door to financial contracts to every one in the world with a computing device may make scam offerings more common, it's overly simplistic and lazy to resort to a caricature of cryptocurrency solely enabling scams.

The only fundamental difference inherent to the respective designs of blockchains and traditional banking, is censorship resistance through genuine self-custody. The former, through its reliance on public key cryptography and decentralized consensus, is designed to provide this quality, and the latter is not.

So if you believe cryptocurrencies are inherently problematic, then you have a fundamental belief that human liberty has no inherent benefits.

LatteLazy2• 4 years ago

No one has to use or do business with the IMF.

hn8305823• 4 years ago

From the headline I was wondering if the IMF was behind this article and sure enough:

“For some of these reasons, the International Monetary Fund has expressed the view that cryptocurrencies pose risks as legal tender,” the agency said.

The IMF naturally doesn't like any threat to their mission:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-trap_diplomacy

LatteLazy2• 4 years ago

Yes, we should stop people using crypto in countries with unstable currencies because crypto is unstable...

sergefaguet• 4 years ago

Ahh, so nice that we developed cryptocurrencies with the explicit goal of making it impossible for UN trade bodies and other centralized actors to halt their rise :)

But good luck guys, you will need it!

carlosdp• 4 years ago

Yea, it's better that they get payment tech from WeChat (China) instead, great call

ETH_start3• 4 years ago

>“In this way, cryptocurrencies may also curb the effectiveness of capital controls, a key instrument for developing countries to preserve their policy space and macroeconomic stability,” the agency added.

UNCTAD is now endorsing capital controls, which for decades were criticized by the West as obstacles to globalization and development.

The retreat of central economic planning policies, like capital controls, is largely credited with the largest reduction in poverty in human history:

http://economist.com/news/leaders/21578665-nearly-1-billion-...

https://theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-politic...

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/2016/0207/Progress-in-the-gl...

UN trade body calls for halting cryptocurrency rise in developing countries

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