From abde1f79286149470186b28f3fcdddafb5850f71 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: EilidhRoss1 <98904290+EilidhRoss1@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2022 11:12:57 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Update is-better-payments.md --- claims/is-better-payments.md | 1 - 1 file changed, 1 deletion(-) diff --git a/claims/is-better-payments.md b/claims/is-better-payments.md index 3a5355f..546fc88 100644 --- a/claims/is-better-payments.md +++ b/claims/is-better-payments.md @@ -97,7 +97,6 @@ Further, while the last mile problem can be overcome, the high price volatility These observations point to a deeper point it is worth acknowledging. It does seem at least plausible that crypto assets are currently supporting financial activity in certain highly unstable and dysfunctional economies[^13]. However, it is problematic to use this observation to argue that replacing traditional financial infrastructure with blockchain based alternatives is desirable. Technical interventions such as the creation of parallel crypto-economies are akin to sticking plasters - they may address the most severe symptoms in the short term but they are not a feasible long term solution, and do not address the real roots of the problem. Well functioning and stable economies which meet the basic needs of everyone on the planet should be a fairly uncontroversial aspiration. Freedom from runaway inflation and currency depreciation, trustworthy banking and financial systems, the ability to hold money without fear of it being lost or taken, and to quickly and easily make both domestic and international transactions (even during times of crisis and war) are real possibilities. More than that, they are the everyday reality for most of us already in the global north. These can be obtained for everyone on earth, but the levers for doing so lie at the level of political economy _not_ technology. Acknowledging that crypto assets have been used to some effect to bypass the worst symptoms of economic dysfunction should not mean we give up on trying to improve domestic economies or the global economic system more broadly. Claims that we can simply bypass this work through technological means are a dangerous red herring. - ## Notes [^1]: