> “You get on an exchange for as long as you can, until they shut your ass down,” says Knox (an independent sex-worker). “You quickly [run out of exchanges], so you sit on a lot of useless money. The whole ‘crypto is permissionless and censorship-resistant’ thing is a bunch of bullshit.” (Knox suspects she has ended up on a blacklist at Plaid, a provider of technology plumbing to large crypto exchanges like Gemini, Kraken, and Robinhood, leading to the repeated bans. Freya Petersen, spokesperson for Plaid, says no such list exists, but that all firms that wish to use its services are subject to a standard risk assessment process, factoring in the industry in which they operate.)
The only way around this would seem for sex workers to have their own wallet with keys that they control, but that still leaves them with no way to cash out, and landlords, car loans, and grocery stores do not accept crypto.
The only real use-case for crypto was doing crime. Criminals flocked to use it, but obviously the government was going to be shortly behind. I'm surprised it took this long to close down the exit nodes.
She could still use it to pay people that accept crypto, but most cryptocurrencies aren't great currencies since they fluctuate in value a lot.
Our current financial system has issues, but the best system for 99%+ of people.
This doesn’t matter. Every fiat exit that is banned creates more friction. Like a shopping cart that has left the parking lot and has the wheels locked, the transaction system becomes so difficult to use that it approaches impossible to use.
If someone is banned from taking a loan from all regulated banks then they are forced to deal with loan sharks / organized crime. That loss of competition and choice comes with additional friction and strings attached to every transaction. Worse transaction fees, less security, less scrupulous counterparties, less convenience of location, less liquidity (one OnlyFans creator in the story was making $500k/mo), etc.
It’s not only the fiat exits that ban specific users. Cryptocurrency exchanges are known to ban transactions to certain addresses / wallets for reasons including (but not limited to) fraud, scams, sanctions. I imagine some of the exchanges that try to follow US law also do some basic due diligence and ban some addresses based on sex work. If the sex worker’s customers can’t easily transfer the crypto to their addresses, the same problem remains.
Just because you find something inconvenient for marketing purpose doesn’t mean it’s propaganda. These are real people hitting exactly the problems cryptocurrency sales guys said they could avoid by using it, and they deserve the respect of not having their lived experience dismissed outright.
If you want to help cryptocurrency, put your time into fixing the problems rstger than still more empty marketing.
Correct, you can't ban all fiat exits. However, this also undermines the argument for crypto about government control of fiat, since many of the exits of last resort rely on dealing with cash.
I've had several sex worker friends who all chose to do it, save one. She was a real sweetheart but (and she knew this, and was candid about it), wasn't very bright.
The backpage/kijiji thing hurt her bad. She had to start going off referrals more. Which is a bad thing because, as I learned- forming close relationships with clients is bad in that line of business.
Soon she was getting passed around by friends, treated worse and worse. She got pregnant, engaged several times. Beat up several times, pregnant again.
I tried to convince her that anything would be better- fast food, whatever. But how to support now two kids by herself on minimum wage?
Even though I no longer personally know anyone (to my knowledge) effected by this- we need to protect sex workers. Legalize it, or at least decriminalize it to remove the stigma. Like the war on drugs it hurts the wrong people, and if there wasn't a market for it, it wouldn't be one of if not the oldest profession.
There are also exchanges where you trade against other people between crypocurrencies and fiat. Chinese people all use this. These workers could use those.
[+] [-] phone8675309|2 years ago|reply
> “You get on an exchange for as long as you can, until they shut your ass down,” says Knox (an independent sex-worker). “You quickly [run out of exchanges], so you sit on a lot of useless money. The whole ‘crypto is permissionless and censorship-resistant’ thing is a bunch of bullshit.” (Knox suspects she has ended up on a blacklist at Plaid, a provider of technology plumbing to large crypto exchanges like Gemini, Kraken, and Robinhood, leading to the repeated bans. Freya Petersen, spokesperson for Plaid, says no such list exists, but that all firms that wish to use its services are subject to a standard risk assessment process, factoring in the industry in which they operate.)
The only way around this would seem for sex workers to have their own wallet with keys that they control, but that still leaves them with no way to cash out, and landlords, car loans, and grocery stores do not accept crypto.
[+] [-] User23|2 years ago|reply
Which has always been the primary criticism of cryptocurrency as, well, currency. It's not currency by definition if you have to "cash out" to spend.
[+] [-] m00x|2 years ago|reply
She could still use it to pay people that accept crypto, but most cryptocurrencies aren't great currencies since they fluctuate in value a lot.
Our current financial system has issues, but the best system for 99%+ of people.
[+] [-] bdcravens|2 years ago|reply
Some crypto ATMs allow cash withdrawals (again, at a rate favorable to the ATM)
[+] [-] klntsky|2 years ago|reply
- crypto is for criminals
- it does not give you full control (false, custodial services don't)
- it is possible to ban all fiat exits
If you struggle with the last point, take a look at kycnot.me list.
[+] [-] thephyber|2 years ago|reply
This doesn’t matter. Every fiat exit that is banned creates more friction. Like a shopping cart that has left the parking lot and has the wheels locked, the transaction system becomes so difficult to use that it approaches impossible to use.
If someone is banned from taking a loan from all regulated banks then they are forced to deal with loan sharks / organized crime. That loss of competition and choice comes with additional friction and strings attached to every transaction. Worse transaction fees, less security, less scrupulous counterparties, less convenience of location, less liquidity (one OnlyFans creator in the story was making $500k/mo), etc.
It’s not only the fiat exits that ban specific users. Cryptocurrency exchanges are known to ban transactions to certain addresses / wallets for reasons including (but not limited to) fraud, scams, sanctions. I imagine some of the exchanges that try to follow US law also do some basic due diligence and ban some addresses based on sex work. If the sex worker’s customers can’t easily transfer the crypto to their addresses, the same problem remains.
[+] [-] acdha|2 years ago|reply
If you want to help cryptocurrency, put your time into fixing the problems rstger than still more empty marketing.
[+] [-] bdcravens|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] effingwewt|2 years ago|reply
The backpage/kijiji thing hurt her bad. She had to start going off referrals more. Which is a bad thing because, as I learned- forming close relationships with clients is bad in that line of business.
Soon she was getting passed around by friends, treated worse and worse. She got pregnant, engaged several times. Beat up several times, pregnant again.
I tried to convince her that anything would be better- fast food, whatever. But how to support now two kids by herself on minimum wage?
Even though I no longer personally know anyone (to my knowledge) effected by this- we need to protect sex workers. Legalize it, or at least decriminalize it to remove the stigma. Like the war on drugs it hurts the wrong people, and if there wasn't a market for it, it wouldn't be one of if not the oldest profession.
[+] [-] netheril96|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CMCDragonkai|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] psychphysic|2 years ago|reply
Even mobile wallets support lightening network (like Muun).
Bitrefill is handy for getting the off gift card.
[+] [-] sesuximo|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sBqQu3U0wH|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] solumunus|2 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jazzkingrt|2 years ago|reply
> Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive.