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100 sats \ 2 replies \ @SqNr65 23 Jan freebie \ on: Fedimint and Cashu ecash are gift cards ecash
I've started to think that Chaumian e-cash was a marvelous improvement over the shit rails that fiat had when the digital age dawned, and failed because of the permissioned nature of fiat. It would have made fiat way better for a digital world.
It can be implemented on Bitcoin beautifully because of its permissionless nature, but the benefits seem lost on a money that is already freely programable, natively digital and which has other technologies that make it fast cheap and efficient already on top of it.
I mean, what the hell do I know haha smarter people than I seem to think it's the holy grail of Bitcoin tech but idk.. I don't see it
Well, on chain doesn't really work for small payments, especially when fees go up (and fees ought to go up as more people use it), and lightning is pretty great, but to use it in a self-sovereign way you have to manage channel liquidity at the least, which maybe not so many people are willing to do, so we are stuck looking for something else to plug in to bitcoin so we can zap a stranger for their dank memes.
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Honestly the liquidity thing is the main benefit I see with ecash, it's pretty great, but I don't think the tradeoffs are worth it. I think there are already better solutions in the works that address the liquidity and on chain footprint concerns that don't bring in a risk of debasement.
I think the ecash crowd, whom I admire greatly, hasn't really understood the full importance of the debasement issue. If there is a chance of debasement, no matter how small, to my mind, it becomes an inevitability. This tradeoff for me is categorically unacceptable under any circumstances regardless of the benefits. It's just too important and too big of a temptation for any person or federation in the long run. The idea is to make Bitcoin the final money, the last one. That means taking into account the next thousand years, not just the next hundred.
I hope the ecash people continue on their path tho. This is an avenue well worth exploring and who knows...
Anyways, loves your post man, thanks
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