[hatchnyc]

Every cool new revolutionary, game changing, disruptive tech I can think of has had some kind of “killer app” that lead the way to widespread pubic awareness. Peer to peer had Napster, AJAX had Google Maps, microservices had services of large scale tech giants, and even blockchain originally had Bitcoin. In each case people were doing some cool new thing and we approached the technology trying to figure out how it was accomplished. I am not aware of a single such example for Web3 nor has anyone I’ve asked been able to name one. The killer Web3 apps are at best hypothetical imaginings of what someone could build with it someday, and even that take is quite generous. It is a technical buzzword in search of funding which is not a proven solution for anything at all.

[roenxi]

If I wanted to send you $50 worth of assets, literally right now, what alternatives do we have apart from crypto? Certainly nothing that does such a good job of preserving our relative privacy to each other. I don't want to, but it is still an interesting question.

There are capabilities here that have never existed before, it seems likely that something radical will happen in time. There is already a lot of money sloshing around, and it takes a while for innovations to sink in.

[fundatus]

A regular bank transfer? I know the US doesn't really do that kind of thing, but here in Europe I can send money to another bank account within 10 seconds.[1] And it doesn't even cost me or you anything and all I need is your IBAN.

[1] https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/sepa-insta...

[ohgodplsno]

You say assets, but cryptocurrencies are not assets. They're funny little monopoly money bills that have no value in the outside world. If you send me $50 in ETH or any large, largely used coin, you're going to pay the same amount in fees. OH and by the time it arrives, it might be worth $45, or $55, you'll never know. Or you could send me a "stable" coin and hope you don't get rug pulled in the middle. Then I have to grab it and find a sucker that wants to buy it from me at exact value (either exchanges, which are going to find bigger suckers than them, or individuals in the street, which don't exist.). But we both know it's not going to happen because why would the sucker on the street buy from me instead of a "trusted" exchange, and why would the "trusted" exchange just take it from me at market rates, instead of charging fees and lowering the exchange rate to make a profit on it.

In the real world, if you have an actual asset, you physically ship it, and it costs money, but I have something in my hands. In cryptocurrency fantasyland, I can buy drugs with it. Or shitty NFTs.

[soco]

And are you sending and receiving often 50$ worth of assets? It's one thing to say it's possible (and everybody will agree) and another thing is that sending it this way is "better" - for whatever definition of better. But back to my question: are you using this mode yourself? Often?

[r_hoods_ghost]

Cash. In an envelope. To an anonymous PO box. Or text a cash card or amazon voucher code to a burner number. Use a drop gang or mule. Find a Hawala broker. Etc. etc.

[yunyu]

Venmo? Cash app? Zelle? I use one of these every day

[MomoXenosaga]

If you require that level of privacy you are either

-Buying drugs or illegal porn

-A terrorist

-A libertarian that opposes taxation

That's not how society works thank god.