Hi! What alternatives are there to Google Wallet? I am only looking for a secure app that allows me to pay with my phone instead of a card, I do not really care about the rest of functionality

  • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works
    6·
    1 day ago

    Cryptocurrency was supposed to solve this problem; instead we ended up with endless grifting and memecoins designed to leave ignorant rubes holding the bag.

    • James R Kirk@startrek.websiteEnglish
      21·
      1 day ago

      Eh, cryptocurrency was never supposed to solve any problem, it was a proof of concept that pariah states realized could enable them to avoid US sanctions. The “it’s more secure than banks” talking points were conceived after the fact by the grifters.

      • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        1 day ago

        I think that’s viewing it from the current lens. At the time, the big promise was that you could pay for things without involving all of those pesky big companies. Naive, yes, but the idea of a secure financial transaction is similar in nature to the current tap/wallet methods. But yes, it was commandeered by crooks almost immediately.

        • easily3667@lemmus.orgEnglish
          2·
          20 hours ago

          No, this was obvious a decade or more ago and it’s still obvious today. I believe it followed the rule that “if there is something only male libertarians like, it’s not good”.

          The story of Bitcoin is the same story as PayPal and Peter thiel and the first X, except the man-children are less famous.

        • James R Kirk@startrek.websiteEnglish
          2·
          1 day ago

          Yeah I’ll concede that Satoshi almost certainly had unrealized but aspirational goals for the tech, but speaking personally as far back as I can remember, crypto’s primary function was a speculative asset.