Interesting direction Signal is taking. https://twitter.com/a_greenberg/status/1379468052480278529

EFF lawyer @MartaBelcher says Signal should be really concerned about getting swept into new cryptocurrency reporting laws that are sure to come.

@matthew_d_green says the prospect of this happening terrifies him.

I'm still trying to decide what I think about Signal incorporating a cryptocurrency payment service. I believe that Moxie has good intentions and that he's adding the payments feature as part of his dedication to privacy on the internet. https://twitter.com/a_greenberg/status/1379468052480278529

I believe Moxie really believes the cryptocurrency feature will bring the same privacy to online payments that Signal brought to mobile messaging. He put it well to @a_greenberg

But over the past decade, cryptocurrencies have been coopted by hucksters, scammers and speculators, not to mention ransomware gangs and drug cartels. The cost and paperwork of converting traditional currencies into cryptocurrencies is expensive and leaves a paper trail.

The massive price fluctuations make cryptocurrencies unsuitable for day-to-day use. And my god, the amount of electricity consumption is downright immoral. @ncweaver summarized the scourge that is cryptocurrency at the 2019 Enigma conference. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/researcher-counts-the-reasons-he-wants-cryptocurrency-burned-with-fire/

I'm happy to be proven wrong, but I'm leaning toward the view that this is a horrible direction for Signal to take. @schneierblog put it well.

Besides cryptocurrencies failing to live up to their promise and enabling so much badness in the world, there's the issue of this addition compromising the simplicity and purity of a messaging platform that so many find essential. I'm keeping an open mind, but I'm not optimistic.

Great thread on the Signal cryptocurrency thing: https://twitter.com/gloupin/status/1380599031479599107