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Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

blog.coinbase.com

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Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#71

Post by beaner »

skizm wrote: post #55
stanmancan wrote: post #35

I'm pretty naive on the subject of Bitcoin so I might be missing something here, but can someone explain to me how it's used right now? Aside from treating BTC like a stock that is. The value of it fluctuates so much that actually buying/accepting it seems incredibly risky. The price can go down just as fast as it goes up. As a someone looking make purchases with BTC; if the value of a BTC is going up, why would I us…

Bitcoin purists will say that, eventually, there is no "cash out" phase. 1 BTC = 1 BTC and who cares about what the dollar equivalent happens to be. Once everything is in BTC you will never exchange it for dollars. Do you spend dollars today wondering if tomorrow the Euro will be worth more or less? No, so why would you care what the dollar equivalent to a BTC is when everything you buy is priced in BTC? This is long…

Not sure why you'd be downvoted. This is what some purists think and it's a popular meme. [1]

[1] http://imgur.com/gE8hDnY

Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#72

Post by 45h34jh53k4j »

seiferteric wrote: post #43
stanmancan wrote: post #35

I'm pretty naive on the subject of Bitcoin so I might be missing something here, but can someone explain to me how it's used right now? Aside from treating BTC like a stock that is. The value of it fluctuates so much that actually buying/accepting it seems incredibly risky. The price can go down just as fast as it goes up. As a someone looking make purchases with BTC; if the value of a BTC is going up, why would I us…

Are there any instruments like options or futures for btc? Seems like these could be used to solve this issue.

Yes, some of the chinese exchanges offer futures contracts.

The larger western exchanges offer leverage (and its other peoples funds earning interest, currently ~0.015%/day).

There is also mining contracts which are a form of derivative.

Also -- none of these deriv's provide any solution to volatility (possibly make it worse?)

Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#73

Post by celticninja »

stanmancan wrote: post #35

I'm pretty naive on the subject of Bitcoin so I might be missing something here, but can someone explain to me how it's used right now? Aside from treating BTC like a stock that is. The value of it fluctuates so much that actually buying/accepting it seems incredibly risky. The price can go down just as fast as it goes up. As a someone looking make purchases with BTC; if the value of a BTC is going up, why would I us…

It is possible for a business to accept bitcoin and immediately have it converted to dollars so they are not exposed to the currency risk but get the benefits of irreversible payments, so little chance for fraud.

Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#74

Post by [deleted] »

stanmancan wrote: post #35

I'm pretty naive on the subject of Bitcoin so I might be missing something here, but can someone explain to me how it's used right now? Aside from treating BTC like a stock that is. The value of it fluctuates so much that actually buying/accepting it seems incredibly risky. The price can go down just as fast as it goes up. As a someone looking make purchases with BTC; if the value of a BTC is going up, why would I us…

[deleted]

Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#75

Post by richardknop »

vocatus_gate wrote: post #49
richardknop wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we have any source on what is their revenue? I sincerely doubt they are making 100 million in profit every quarter. I would be surprised if they were actually profitable.

With the fees they charge, and the volume on the exchange, I don't see how they couldn't be making a profit? Of course I'm not a business guy, might be something I'm not thinking of.

If they were making profit, I'd assume they would make a press release. They would want the business world know.

Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#76

Post by zjaffee »

0x4f3759df wrote: post #18
lesiva wrote: post #4

So I'm late to the digital currency game. What are the regular use cases for digital currency? Who accepts it? Is it mostly for person-to-person trading?

Use cases (Escaping currency controls,Cannot be seized by government, Asset Speculation, Purchasing legal and illegal things, Money laundering, Donating to people like wikileaks) Bitpay allows you to use bitcoin with a VISA card https://bitpay.com/ Some merchants accept it, Overstock being a famous one.

Many of these things are no different than holding large amounts of normal cash(of any currency really) or something such as gold, with the exception of their being a ledger of all trades that have occurred. Also bitcoins can certainly be seized by the government should they size control over any accounts you hold coins in, take your computers, ect (it's just harder to do so).

Also I think your missing the biggest use case, abet one that isn't frequently discussed, and it is that crypto currencies are by far the best digital payment solution when it comes to the time it takes for transactions to clear. There is no dispute process, and there is no waiting on the fed for their ACA system to clear your transactions. However, I think a lot of people prefer credit cards for cash back and to have the option to charge back, but certainly cryptos are better for sellers (and potentially will give discounts to those who use them in the future).

Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#78

Post by joering2 »

ryanSrich wrote: post #67

Hopefully they spend all $100mm on support. I've never experienced such bad support.

At this point me and many of friends with Coinbase account came to conclusion that there is NONE. I don't believe a single person works in customer support.

I also heard that it is such a big issue that some California attorney is advertising heavily in top 5 states to gather traction for a class-action lawsuit regarding this problem. Unfortunately I haven't stumbled upon his advertisement yet, but wouldn't be surprised if judge will give it a green light.

Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#79

Post by jorvi »

aresant wrote: post #64

Edit - Moved to comment I was trying to address -

> Crypto could become the "people's" wealth vault, and undercut nations ability to tax & control markets by truly privatizing wealth. All it takes is MOST of us to decide.

You say that like its an admirable goal we should strive for. Taxes built the roads and bridges you drive on, the crystal-clean water that flows from your tap, the lines that your internet runs over, and the (admittedly glacial) bureaucracy that prevents your city, municipality, province and country from descending into unorganised chaos.

Re: Coinbase raises $100M Series D led by IVP

#80

Post by acchow »

seiferteric wrote: post #43
stanmancan wrote: post #35

I'm pretty naive on the subject of Bitcoin so I might be missing something here, but can someone explain to me how it's used right now? Aside from treating BTC like a stock that is. The value of it fluctuates so much that actually buying/accepting it seems incredibly risky. The price can go down just as fast as it goes up. As a someone looking make purchases with BTC; if the value of a BTC is going up, why would I us…

Are there any instruments like options or futures for btc? Seems like these could be used to solve this issue.

Exactly this - futures denoted in BTC will turn it into a real currency.

It requires buy in from many parties - suppliers of materials to manufacturers, manufacturers of products, merchants reselling products, etc.

The entire chain can be stabilized with futures so then bitcoin doesn't need to be converted immediately to another currency.

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