Live data from Hacker News

Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

wsj.com

181–190 of 277 posts

Re: Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

#181

Everyone here is debating is it crypot or not... but does it matter? it's Facebook after all, we are (the typical techy user) not the target audience. Unfortunately, it's going to sell just because it's the big old facebook, your non-techy friend probably don't know the difference between crypto and food stamps all they know it's points for money, one is a boring piece of paper and the other is cool futuristic out of…

Didn't Facebook try something like this years and years ago in the form of Facebook credits, going so far as to even disallowing apps from having their own currency? I wonder how this is different, besides the whole "blockchain" bit, because otherwise it's just a rehashed idea with makeup on it.

That was around 2010 iirc, before it was cool.

Re: Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

#182

Finally! A cryptocurrency with the ethics of Uber, the censorship resistance of Paypal, and the centralization of Visa, all tied together under the proven privacy of Facebook. Just what I’ve been waiting for.

And the magnanimousity of Oracle. And the carbon footprint of cow farts.

https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2019/02/16/exp-gps-0217-ga...

Re: Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

#183
post #115

Is it really a cryptocurrency when it's completely centralized? No. This is just Facebook-bucks. Store dollars. It's has absolutely none of the benefits of a real cryptocurrency.

> Facebook-bucks Missed opportunity to call them "Marks", although maybe only German speakers will get the joke.

I call it Zuckerbucks.

Re: Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

#184
post #172
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone with a split existence between North America and the Euro Zone, I was sincerely hoping that cryptocurrency would at a minimum be a reliable medium of exchange: i.e. a way to convert dollars into euros and vice-versa in a matter of minutes with very low fees. I never needed it to be an investment vehicle. Unfortunately, bitcoin's utility in that respect seems to have gotten worse since I was playing around…

> As someone with a split existence between North America and the Euro Zone, I was sincerely hoping that cryptocurrency would at a minimum be a reliable medium of exchange: i.e. a way to convert dollars into euros and vice-versa in a matter of minutes with very low fees. You're not looking for a new currency, you're looking for a regular currency exchange. Whatever fees your currency exchange charges for going from E…

So the promise of Bitcoin when I started reading up about it was that the fees could be close to zero. It's become less of an issue, because there are some traditional currency exchange services out there which have reasonable flat-rate offerings nowadays, but I would still be happy to pay less.

Re: Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

#185
post #115

Is it really a cryptocurrency when it's completely centralized? No. This is just Facebook-bucks. Store dollars. It's has absolutely none of the benefits of a real cryptocurrency.

> Facebook-bucks Missed opportunity to call them "Marks", although maybe only German speakers will get the joke.

Mark's?

Re: Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

#187
post #115

Is it really a cryptocurrency when it's completely centralized? No. This is just Facebook-bucks. Store dollars. It's has absolutely none of the benefits of a real cryptocurrency.

> Facebook-bucks Missed opportunity to call them "Marks", although maybe only German speakers will get the joke.

Well there's also Dunning-Krugerrands, but that's already been taken

Re: Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

#189
post #115

Is it really a cryptocurrency when it's completely centralized? No. This is just Facebook-bucks. Store dollars. It's has absolutely none of the benefits of a real cryptocurrency.

> Facebook-bucks Missed opportunity to call them "Marks", although maybe only German speakers will get the joke.

With all due respect to nations' currency names... can I but recommend "Douche Mark" in this instance ?

Re: Facebook’s New Cryptocurrency Gets Big Backers

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it's a currency and is implemented using cryptographic concepts, I feel comfortable calling it a cryptocurrency. "Decentralization" is a spectrum and a highly subjective one, so I don't think it should be a requirement.

Indeed nowadays a lot of people relate the word 'crypto' with Blockchain related concepts, but being crypto only entails using some cryptographic concepts. Cryptocommunication might be nothing but HTTPS/TLS. Cryptocurrency could very well be something similar, without involving Blockchain technology.

In that case I can say that I'm doing my groceries with a cryptocurrency, because the transaction is encrypted between the terminal and the bank. That doesn't make any sense.
Post reply on HN