Op-Ed: What is Stonewalling the Quest for Sound Money?

Bitcoin has existed for nearly a decade, yet it's not sound money yet. I go into detail why that is the case.

Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images (The Verge)

2,000 Coins and Tokens

Total market capitalization is split among too many spoiler coins. Many coins under 1% market cap just draining other coins from consolidating and overtaking BTC.

Old US Securities Laws still Enforced

Many US Laws enacted before Bitcoin are trying to regulate it. US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) needs to reevaluate what defines a scam-coin or a scam ICO. Not all ICOs are for the sole purpose of scamming people.

Ethereum was a legitimate ICO but many ERC-20 Tokens were scams on that Network. Does that make Ethereum automatically a scam for allowing scams on their network? Only Lawmakers can decide that.

Ripple Labs XRP Token is inflationary cryptocurrency, coins get circulated by Ripple Labs via an ongoing ICO like sale. They are under review by SEC. Although XRP doesn't appear as a fraudulent coin, does Ripple Labs have the legal authority to issue money like a digital Federal Reserve system?

AML/KYC Overkill

Do we really need AML/KYC just to buy $50 worth of Cryptocurrency monthly? Does the government really need to know were ALL digital payments go. This doesn't necessary stop criminals and terrorism. Maybe in the age of massive Identity Theft, people are reluctant to put Credit Cards and identity information on file.

Bitcoiner's Treated as Money Launders

People getting arrest for selling large amounts of Bitcoin. The vagueness of many US Laws leads way too much false imprisonments.

Rip Off Bitcoin ATMs

Many Bitcoin ATM can set whatever exchange rate they want within reason. Expect to pay a premium to buy Bitcoin with Fiat using a Bitcoin ATM. In many cases it would be cheaper in fees to buy locally cash in hand, or use a website to trade Visa Gift Cards or Steam Wallet Codes for Bitcoin.

Casino Bitcoin Exchanges

Many Bitcoin Exchanges offer far lower fees than Bitcoin ATMs. They also get a bad reputation for holding peoples coins hostage. This often due to low liquidity. Many exchanges have gone rogue in the past and have defrauded their customers maliciously. So when you hear talk about Exchanges clipping customers, you have to prepare either way.

Bitcoin still hasn't overtaken PayPal or Venmo

Buyers would still prefer to make purchases with PayPal or Venmo instead due to simplicity and charge back protection. Many baby boomers are unwilling to keep track of own crypto keys and pay to hashed addresses. The fool proofing of PayPal and Venmo puts them at advantage within the eCommerce community.
Competing Against Venmo

Complex smart contracts are going to become the norm. Sellers will be held more accountable for business transactions. Some cryptocurrencies are implementing review/trust based systems to help prospect buyers seek out Merchants with better reputation within the community.

Coins such as Bitcoin SV (BSV) have more user-friendly GUI wallets such as Handcash and Centbee which resolves a handle or username to a hashed address. Making things easier to remember. ChatPay offers a chat system and Centbee like wallet, much like a Venmo-like counterpart.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Developers are working on Cash ID and Cash Accounts (for Electron Cash) to have similar user-friendly features as Bitcoin SV's offerings.

Closing Statement

Cryptocurrencies are in their infancy and regulators are far from fully understanding how to regulate them. Lawmakers need to draw the line between people making money on the side and people using Bitcoin for harsh crimes.

Article Source:

https://medium.com/@cryptoshoppe/op-ed-what-is-stonewalling-the-quest-for-sound-money-aab2a498a79d

Image Sources:

http://archive.fo/2ybZn