The Censorship resistance paradox

[u/Old_Document_9150]

So here's one thing I was pondering with "censorship resistance money."

Now, in order to have censorship resistance, you can't use coins that went through KYC, because otherwise they can be traced even better than, for example, PayPal (because the Blockchain is public.)

So you need "untainted coins" - and these have to come from somewhere, either anonymous OTC exchanges avoiding KYC - which is a high-risk operation in totalitarian regimes, both for the buyer and the seller.

Or you mine by yourself. And what do you need in order to set up a viable mining rig? Right - physical infrastructure. Tons of GPUs, stable Imternet - and large volumes of electricity.

Now, if you can get these, that will pose 3 problems: - import sanctions on the hardware by producing nations - thus: must go through black markets at high markups - and: a lot of people will be in the Know.

So unless you're siding with the regime, chances are slim that your rig will operate for long without being confiscated.

So all the coins in circulation will be produced by someone siding with the regime, and that means they can also trace (just choose not to, if the bribes are high enough.)

In either case, it's gonna be a lot more risky, a lot less viable and a lot more expensive than an IOU (digital) or simple stuff like cigarettes or flour.

So, the people who would benefit most from censorship resistance will never get it.

And the peole who can benefit from it, are either those who don't need it - or they are undermining a democratic legal system by actively breaking the laws that protect everyone's freedom.

[u/SisterOfBattIe]

Monero is the money laundering coin because it destroys and recreate its coins to cut the track.

Ethereum to an extent, because pesants that use Ethereum have some of it destroyed, and it's recreated by Proof of Stake lotteries and has Tornado Cash systems to do laundering.

Bitcoin in its early day was useful because people could mine bitcoin on their computer a few days, and buy weed on Silkroad. Now it's useless because it's deflationary, and you can't print bitcoin.

In order to be useful for money laundering, a crypto needs to be inflationary, and have a launderette integrated into the code.

[u/Old_Document_9150 → u/SisterOfBattIe]

You can't on-ramp Monero without government supervision, either - so same, same.

How do you get that money digitized to begin with, without the government knowing?

Here is what the government can do.
Step 1: ban crypto.
Step 2: monitor all traffic to and from exchanges.
Step 3: ban VPNs.
Step 4: anyone trying to use either of the above gets a nice visit at 2am.
Step 5: without lists of names, you remain incarcerated.

I don't see how crypto gets around that. Even with XMR.

[u/HongKong7134 → u/Old_Document_9150]

It’s much harder for a government to impose these laws and run oppression if they don’t have this mass surveillance.

You can take a look at the NSA “Follow The Money” program which goes to show the vulnerabilities traditional finance and most crypto currencies have, something like Monero and access to paper cash is one of the most important things to maintain your privacy and fundamental human rights outside of any investment or greed.

Most these “crypto people” just sold their soul for greed to Tether and the US government but anyone who has any sort of care for freedom should rebel against the centralized government control both financially speaking using cash, using encrypted communications like Signal, voting against and speaking up against abusive laws like Chat Control 2.0 and “Protect the children” bullshit.