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November 17, 2017, 02:06:01 PM |
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The Litecoin run-up in 2017 was driven by technological improvements of the protocol, not so much by growing adoption, IMO. We hear a lot about SegWit, Lightning Network, Cross-chain Swaps, that are intended to address complaints about the limited throughput capacity of Bitcoin/Bitcoin forks, yet users ignore them after each of these features get released on mainnet. It shows people are not yet ready to use cryptocurrency for sensible, high-load applications.
Organized crime groups would be in a great advantage of using DLT. Let's imagine a scenario (I hate drugs, addicts and everyone facilitating drug circuit, but it's the best example I can come with): A Mexican cartel is smuggling crack through the US border. All value flows among the participants are in cryptocurrency and OTC crypto-fiat exchanges (like a currency exchange office) exist both in Mexico and US. Blockchain as registry: - ledger of raw material: data about harvest (date, location, quantity, quality) is introduced into the ledger, making small transactions to a specific address - ledger of production: coca turnover (amount received, laboratory analysis, cocaine output), usage of chemicals (amount, concentration) - logistic ledger (dispatched quantities, shipping timestamps, delivery agents) - expenses ledger - revenue ledger - staff and payroll ledger Blockchain as value vehicle: - anonymous payments to staff using (Ring) Confidential Transanctions - anonymous bribes - fast payment collection from customers using SegWit transactions - average addict's transaction has more chances to get into the block (transaction weight is lower for SegWit) - clearing between managers of facilities through Lightning Network - making prepayment, deposit insurance, locking warranty funds in a one-to-one channel - transacting with competitor groups that use different coins through Atomic Swaps
Jokes aside, Monero has risen from $85 to $140-155 on August 22-25 on news that IRS has a working Bitcoin tracking software since 2015. Bitcoin transactions are completely transparent and even if mixed, can be traced with a significant degree of accuracy, so Monero was hyped as a potential tax evasion coin.
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