xianc78 @xianc78@gameliberty.club

So I was looking into the GNU Taler project and it looks like it doesn't address any of the actual flaws in crypto. It's not even a digital currency. It's a decentralized payment system where the customer is anonymous, but the merchant is not, and the payments are still in fiat currencies. It only exists because of concerns about muh tax evasion, which isn't surprising given that RMS is the most pro-taxation person on Earth. However, I see a few problems with that reasoning:

1. Not everyone who uses crypto is a tax evader. You can even use XMR and still pay your taxes.
2. I never see Stallman complain about people setting up cash-only businesses to evade taxes, and Stallman is pro-cash.
3. It's increasingly harder to use crypto to evade taxes due to KYC laws anyway. It's still possible but it requires perfect OPSEC.
4. Since it's simply a payment system and not a currency, it doesn't address the issues of debanking or fiat currencies losing their value due to inflation.

Despite all that, I think it's a good enough tool for decentralized and anonymous payments for white-market businesses. Honestly, anything is better than relying on payment processors.

I wish I had my dungeon crawler game finished by now, so I could give it to you guys as a Christmas present, but alas.

Using an UMPC feels so much better than a smartphone.