Spending Crypto
Seems as if most merchants have chosen "bitpay" as their choice payment gateway for crypto payments. All well and good, but what if someone sends YOU a payment through bitpay?
Logging into bitpay to make a crypto purchase, I noticed a very interesting message:
I have a pending PAYMENT? Get paid now? What's this all about? Why aren't they being more specific?
Well I better click "setup" then, right?
Receiving Crypto
Bitpay both sends and receives crypto payments - so if someone wants to send crypto to my bitpay account, I should be able to receive it.
All bitpay needs to know is where to send it, that is my private wallet address. Because I hold the keys, I hold the crypto. That is the payment's DESTINATION.
As the notice says "get paid now!"
Ok Fine, Pay Me
So I click. Can't be that big a deal, let's set up a payment destination!
Oh.
This isn't setting up a payment destination.
This is verifying my identity.
Hmmmm. Know Your Customer.
Ok fine... KYC I understand. Let's begin.
Wait, what? How did the government get involved with this? Only government issued ID's are accepted? Really?
Why not just verify I'm not a robot? Why not set up google AUTH. Or have me put a puzzle piece in, or identify seaplanes...
WHY GET THE GOVERNMENT INVOLVED?????
Urgg!
I just want to give you my crypto address so I can get paid, like you said!
LIKE YOU SAID!
Like a Dummy
Ok, fine. I'll scan my government issued drivers licence, if that'll make you happy.
Oh front and back, fine.
Oh, you want me to "take a selfie" to match my face to my ID? This is getting a little too weird... but ok. I take selfies all the time, I'm sure I'm in their database already.
I bet some of you have gone through this, scanning and verifying your identity. As if I were about to board a plane. Remember when we used to board a plane. Without having to take off our shoes and belt? Without them throwing away our pocket knives and toothpaste?
So... moving on. Get in line. Follow instructions. Do the thing. Get paid, really, there's a PENDING PAYMENT at the end of this.
PENDING PAYMENT.
It needs a DESTINATION.
"get paid now!"
We Just Need to Verify Your Address
Alright.
Now that we're through the verification, I'll just be putting in my... SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER??????????
WHAT?
They ask for my address and at the bottom, so innocent looking, there is is. Required field.
SSN.
Nope. Done. All Over
Keep your filthy payment, I don't know how much it is, I don't care!
I don't know who it's from, I don't care!
I don't know anything about it - other than I have to disclose WAAAAAY too much information to receive it.
I'm NOT revealing my SSN to any non-governmental agency.
I don't care if it's "convenient" and I don't care if there are "no restrictions or federal law precluding".
I'm not giving out my SSN to a blockchain payment gateway!
That ends my story: I walked away with the application 66% completed.
Not today Satan.
This is NOT How Blockchain Works
This is not how blockchain works. You don't need a SSN to transfer funds via blockchain. You need an address and an amount. THAT'S IT!
The whole point of blockchain is to send and receive anonymous payments. We can argue "fraud" or "identity theft" all day. We can use phrases like "only criminals" and "nothing to hide" and "it's secure" all day long - but none of that changes the incompatibility between government issued SSN and blockchain transfers.
INCOMPATIBLE.
It breaks the purpose and function of blockchain trades - receiving and sending payments.
Some Welcome Government Oversite
In theory it sounds good. I mean if we don't have "regulation" imagine all of the fraud and identity theft that will occur. Don't we need daddy gov to get involved?
I agree with the problem, but not the solution.
Crypto is the wild west. It's dangerous. There's bandits, there's robbers, there's crooks. But there's also freedom and the ability to transaction one to one, without a third party.
If blockchain was built for "trustless" transactions, why do we need to go to the government for TRUST?
Who trusts the government?
And by the way, as the wild west was tamed, we learned who "tamed" it: NEW bandits, NEW robbers and NEW crooks took over. Ones that we've been tricked into believing are fair and just.
I mean who can question the trustworthiness of an authority that has a JUSTICE DEPARTMENT?
Who trusts the "Justice" department?
KYC Breaks Crypto
The purpose of KYC is to break crypto. That's their* goal.
Crypto is competition for their* fiat and in a fair fight, their* fiat would loose spectacularly. As inflation begins, we're seeing their* fiat loosing the battle.
"Their" meaning the corrupt deepstate/banking cartel
Someday soon, the ignorant masses will realize that crypto and other assets are far superior to fiat paper. That's dangerous. Transactions outside of banks and their financial system are dangerous for them - so they have to do two things:
convince the ignorant masses that crypto is only used by criminals
convince the ignorant masses that if you (non-criminal) want to use crypto, simply complete this KYC and you're good to go
But what do they do with those who are not a part of the mass? Those who are not ignorant?
Refer back to option one.
Don't be a part of the ignorant masses. Don't follow the crowd and don't be ignorant. KYC is bad news.
If this trend continues, it WILL mean the end of crypto as a practical "trustless" transactional tool.
There is no way around it: everyone who thinks for themselves will become a criminal. Once thought becomes crime, there is no avoiding it.
Handing The Mic Over to You
I've said enough. What are your thoughts? Am I off my rocker? Am I over-reacting? Is this KYC a good thing? Should overseers act as a third-party?
I'm curious to hear your thoughts.
Bless the Most High!