It doesn’t seem to be a consequence of Crypto specifically. Any API qualifies here.
For a digital entity, it is tricky to handle fiat currency (say, USD) without relying on humans. For example, to open any kind of the account (e.g. bank, PayPal etc), one need to pass KYC filters, CAPTCHAs etc. Same for any API that allow transfers of fiat currency. The legacy financial system is explicitly designed to be shielded against bots (with the exception of the bots owned by registered humans).
But in the crypto space, you can create your own bank in a few lines of code, without any kind of human assistance. There are no legal requirements for participation. You don’t have to own a valid identification document, a postal address etc.
Thanks to crypto, a smart enough Python script could earn money, trade goods and services, or even hire humans, without a single interaction with the legacy financial system.
Crypto is an AI-friendly tool to convert intelligence directly into financial power.
Although I’m not sure if it has any meaningful impact on the X-risk. For a recursively self-improving AGI, hijacking the legacy financial system could be as trivial as hijacking the crypto space.
It doesn’t seem to be a consequence of Crypto specifically. Any API qualifies here.
That said, Crypto could make it harder to block such trades on the financial system level.
For a digital entity, it is tricky to handle fiat currency (say, USD) without relying on humans. For example, to open any kind of the account (e.g. bank, PayPal etc), one need to pass KYC filters, CAPTCHAs etc. Same for any API that allow transfers of fiat currency. The legacy financial system is explicitly designed to be shielded against bots (with the exception of the bots owned by registered humans).
But in the crypto space, you can create your own bank in a few lines of code, without any kind of human assistance. There are no legal requirements for participation. You don’t have to own a valid identification document, a postal address etc.
Thanks to crypto, a smart enough Python script could earn money, trade goods and services, or even hire humans, without a single interaction with the legacy financial system.
Crypto is an AI-friendly tool to convert intelligence directly into financial power.
Although I’m not sure if it has any meaningful impact on the X-risk. For a recursively self-improving AGI, hijacking the legacy financial system could be as trivial as hijacking the crypto space.