Ordering online is easy and convenient… until you realize how risky it all is, either for you or the merchant. The only guaranty of profit is to the money middlemen.
Buy things online in bitcoin or lightning. Immediately, you can feel the trust involved. You can feel the lack of options if the other side screws you.
It seems to me that in a bitcoin standard, online shopping will be much more scarce and reputation-based.
People will prefer shopping in-person. Brick and mortars will be preferred for common goods. You may even get to know the patron/customers.
Local economies will be stronger. Global economies weaken as imports/exports slow way down.
People are forced into caring more about their local environment - its people, its merchants, its crime, its poverty, its health, its overall attractiveness to outsiders so that it can grow. If it gets too big, at some point it naturally partitions and neighborhoods form.
Money without middlemen would unwind most of the last 80-100 years of commerce.
nicodemus
npub1qq…pryz3
2025-03-24 14:40:38
Author Public Key
npub1qqqqypnst2u7wdlmexad9gjamstlg7c4ck2w4cadv4j5xd5e8vvsupryz3Seen on
wss://relay.nostr.bandPublished at
2025-03-24 14:40:38Event JSON
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"content": "Ordering online is easy and convenient… until you realize how risky it all is, either for you or the merchant. The only guaranty of profit is to the money middlemen. \n\nBuy things online in bitcoin or lightning. Immediately, you can feel the trust involved. You can feel the lack of options if the other side screws you. \n\nIt seems to me that in a bitcoin standard, online shopping will be much more scarce and reputation-based. \n\nPeople will prefer shopping in-person. Brick and mortars will be preferred for common goods. You may even get to know the patron/customers.\n\nLocal economies will be stronger. Global economies weaken as imports/exports slow way down. \n\nPeople are forced into caring more about their local environment - its people, its merchants, its crime, its poverty, its health, its overall attractiveness to outsiders so that it can grow. If it gets too big, at some point it naturally partitions and neighborhoods form. \n\nMoney without middlemen would unwind most of the last 80-100 years of commerce.",
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}