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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

#111

Post by aresant »

slg wrote: post #101
aresant wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascinating how many questions / comments in this thread question if crypto currency macro even has a use case in this world. And for good reason. Is it a currency? Yes and no. Is it a store of value? Yes and no but sure is volatile. Is primary use case illegal transactions? Definitely, sometimes. Is it a anarchist mechanism to shelter wealth and detach from any nation state? Yes absolutely, probably most of the Chin…

You say that like most of these things are good? I wouldn't consider boundless tax evasion or a boundless pyramid scheme "the fun part".

I am illustrating use cases, not advocating - I think my excitement about the tech was poorly communicated as excitement for the chaos.

But the minute you realize the use case around privatization of global wealth / taxes and/or pyramiding you can begin to underwrite its probability.

I think mass adoption - tied to the use cases I illustrate - has a high probability because people act primarily in their self interests.

Crypto is pretty neatly aligned with self interest.

Until we devolve into total anarchy of course ;)

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

#112

Post by jshevek »

sudoscript wrote: post #32
jshevek wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that the investors would get a better return on their investment if they had instead simply purchased bitcoins? That claim seems to require the ability to know the future. Bitcoin may eventually be superseded by a superior alt coin, and disappear into history.

> That claim seems to require the ability to know the future. One could say startup investing does too.

Startup investing requires willingness to take risks with an unknown future.

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

#113

Post by mrisoli »

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…

Can you elaborate on how that is going to happen? Not trying to flame, I can see a world where people use BTC for everything, but I am confused at how that will happen with current valuation.

BTC is worth thousands of dollars, so if everyone starts using BTC will people pay irrational fractions of BTC for bread and milk at the supermarket? will there be some adjustment? How will other entities handle conversion and exchange? Will the general population have some compulsatory event to liquidate their own bank accounts into BTC funds?

Could this change asset valuation worldwide(Real estate, investment funds, etc)? If no government entity mediates currency value and printing can they tax your earnings if companies pay through some decentralized medium? What happens when nobody is paying taxes?

How about other cryptocurrencies, is there some kind of zero-sum game race to the top going on? Can they co-exist in the long term purist scenario?

Some of these questions are probably extremely stupid as I have little financial and economics knowledge and I am almost illiterate when it comes to Bitcoin, and I don't know how it works for the average joe if this purist scenario becomes true.

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

#114

Post by 45h34jh53k4j »

celticninja wrote: post #94
45h34jh53k4j wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no 1-2 second delay tho; bitcoin transactions take 1 hour to confirm. At best, you might have 7 blocks between receiving, sending and being credited on the exchange. Of course, this is possibly things like Litecoin are more stable as you can 'get in and out' in 15 minutes.

Some places will allow immediate conversion to dollars. I know bitpay used to facilitate that.

Bitpay was cashing to fiat from unconfirmed bitcoin tx's? SMH

If its a bitpay to bitpay tx its all internal and likely didnt actually touch the bitcoin blockchain.

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

#115

Post by [deleted] »

icebraining wrote: post #68
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…

As a someone looking make purchases with BTC; if the value of a BTC is going up, why would I use it to buy anything? It's gone up $700 in the last week; up $200 in the last 24 hours alone. I'd feel incredible silly spending bitcoin in a growth phase. Why do you spend any currency when you can buy Bitcoins instead, let it grow and then sell them back into the original currency? Any reason you can give applies to spend…

[deleted]

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

#116

Post by ringaroundthetx »

jorvi wrote: post #79
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 pr…

Roads, bridges and schools were built before national governments began passively levying taxes on income. this is a 100 year old concept.

Taxes on capital gains are a 70 year old concept.

Just recognize the amorality of it. It can only be billed as a "duty" for "roads and schools" when pandering to the lower classes who have no choice in the matter, while recognizing those classes have the numbers to get you in office. But "taxes" are not an absolute on the concept of how a government can fund itself. Governments have to balance the consequences of how they attempt to raise revenues, by being competitive amongst other countries, as their ecosystems primarily rely on attracting or incentivizing investment.

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

#117

Post by stanmancan »

ringaroundthetx wrote: post #108
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…

For an entire half-decade there have been payment processors that made it seamless for businesses to accept bitcoin and cash some or all of it out immediately if they wanted to. If it takes a $100 million fund raise article for you to ask why everyone else isn't crazy, c'est la vie. People look for validation all manner of ways. Coinbase also has merchant services that allow for immediate cash outs. This is probably…

I'm not sure I follow what you're saying in the first two sentences? Neat to know that you can cash out immediately though; that makes more sense.

Are the vendors that accept BTC pricing their goods based on the current exchange rate for 1 BTC? ie. I price product A at $1500USD, I then say I accept BTC, so when someone puts it in the shopping cart it converts $1500USD to BTC and charges them that amount?

Sorry, just not familiar and trying to figure out how it works. I haven't came across anyone that accepts BTC (although I haven't looked either).

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

#118

Post by utexaspunk »

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…

Can I get a bank account which works like a normal bank- accepts EFTs in dollars, has a debit card which pays in dollars, but where my balance is stored in BTC and everything is exchanged to/from BTC at the current rate on the fly? With enough of a balance, it seems like I'd be able to weather any fluctuations in the exchange rate and my funds would for the most part appreciate at a much greater rate than the measly interest on a savings account. Does that exist? Would that be a terrible idea?

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

#119

Post by droidist2 »

droopybuns wrote: post #107
skizm wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Is it a big deal that a BTC can never be lost and later found? On a long enough timeline, won't lost credentials result in BTC that are functionally permanently out of circulation?

Interesting question. Since there's a limited supply theoretically on a long enough timeline every BTC will be lost.
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