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MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

reuters.com

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Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#211

Post by 3np »

motohagiography wrote: post #159

Given their volatility and lack of a derivatives market to drive liquidity, I wonder what the banking capitalization requirements for crypto-currencies will be. I can see the argument of "it's just another currency for exchange, how is this hard," but the difference today is it's super high volatility, without a rescue facility, and given bitcoin's public ledger of every bad person who has ever owned it, it is arguab…

CME has derivates. As do several other exchanges. Some argue that the derivates are actually part of driving price movements these days, but it's not the consensus yet.

Interesting take, BTW - I don't see it as impossible. There's some possibility this is the greatest trojan horse ever (unless it was just inevitable just like the internet was).

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#212

Post by danhak »

arcticbull wrote: post #196
danhak wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Housing, healthcare, education and childcare costs matter. I don’t believe CPI is accurately capturing the skyrocketing costs of these things, which are the most significant expenses for most households.

And yet you and everyone else are unable to produce any meaningful sources or analysis that justify your beliefs. [citation needed] and we can talk about it. Healthcare is a social policy matter, not monetary policy, and nothing to do with increase in the money supply. You take that up with your representatives not the Fed. Housing is a function of city council zoning policy. You take that up with your city council n…

> Housing is a function of city council zoning policy...

This is the laughably reductionist take that predictably appears on HN when folks think the dynamics of San Francisco apply everywhere.

Housing costs have nothing to do with the Fed? Really? You don’t believe record low mortgage rates are driving demand at all?

Nah, it must be city council zoning policy that is sending home prices soaring all over the country—-even in rural and unincorporated areas.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#213

Post by uncletammy »

tehlike wrote: post #11
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #2

These stories usually spur more enthusiasm for buying cryptocurrency, but ironically those buyers aren’t interested in spending cryptocurrency using their MasterCard. They’re hoping other people will buy cryptocurrency from these announcements, driving the price up. Or, more likely, they’re just hoping other people will buy cryptocurrency and not use it in these spending systems. Spending cryptocurrency would result…

A friend of mine basically put it this way: bitcoin can't become medium of exchange before it becomes medium of value. You can read this as: if you are holding btc, it's in your best interest to hold more without selling.

Although I follow the logic, I think your friend is wrong. A consequence of trying to make bitcoin BTC a "store of value" first has led to huge investment centralization as well as a drastic reduction in the number viable use cases.

Investment centralization is bad because it makes it much more susceptible to regulatory capture by the industries crypto stands to disrupt. We're already seeing this now. The same big banks that called crypto a scam have suddenly become bullish after a few years of quietly buying coins. We need regular people on the streets advocating for crypto.

The reduced use cases is a problem because it minimizes adoption and the network effect, both of which are vital for the long term survival of the network.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#214

Post by mdtusz »

fouldiplomacy wrote: post #181
systemvoltage wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the point of an unstable, volatile, frantically manipulated currency that is susceptible to social media pump and dump schemes (Elon + Doge)? Currency and its exchange rate needs to be relatively stable for the world to put trust into it. Saying that BTC is stable, but the rest of the world's fiat currency is fluctuating makes no sense. US dollar provides stability and security, I feel confident that a cappucc…

"unstable, volatile, frantically manipulated currency" -- this is often the case with any news, not just "pump and dump" schemes. Take the Chinese CNY. The CCP have been undervaluing it for years for the purpose of attracting business. the USD is very much subject to social media and traditional news manipulation. When the US decides it wants a stimulus package or other types of debt, it drives down the dollar's valu…

USD price does fluctuate and inflate over time yes, but the difference is that this is essentially an invisible effect on day to day life for anyone that is not doing forex trading.

The reason the US dollar is "stable" is partially due to the fact that it is backed by the US government. It is a requirement that businesses operating in the US accept payment in US dollars. Until somewhere mandates that bitcoin _must_ be accepted, it will never truly be a currency, the same way that gold is not a currency, and the same way that wheat, or potash, or shares in GME is not a currency.

There's also a concept of "sticky" prices that most economists are quite familiar with - this assists in keeping the price of a coffee stable, whether or not technophiles accept it or not. Even if the price of the US dollar fell by 50% today, your coffee would still cost you around $2 or $3 tomorrow (assuming the coffee shop was even open).

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#215

Post by hackissimo123 »

tobias3 wrote: post #136
maxkwallace wrote: post #75

To everyone saying "my credit card pays me 2% to use it", no, your credit card charges the merchant 2.3%+ to use it, that gets bundled into the price, and they give you 2% of that as a kickback.

Here in the EU, credit card transaction fees are capped at 0,3%. So no shenanigans, but cryptocurrencies would have to fall within this range as well.

Is that the case in the whole EU? Because my AmEx gives me 1% cashback here in the UK, and that's been true since long before Brexit.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#216

Post by artificialLimbs »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #25
vortico wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin is only good for large transactions, but there are 1000000 cryptocurrencies that solve this problem such as BCH, USDT, and LTC. Use one of them.

Honestly, why? My credit card pays me 2% to use it. If there’s a problem with my transaction, I click some buttons and the card company reversed the charges. If I lose my card, I call them up and get another one overnight without losing all my money. Why would I give all of that up, pay exchange fees on both ends of a transaction, pay transaction fees (however small), and wait longer for my transactions to clear?

You can't get deplatformed from $whateverCoin like you can with credit cards.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#218

Post by koonsolo »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #2

These stories usually spur more enthusiasm for buying cryptocurrency, but ironically those buyers aren’t interested in spending cryptocurrency using their MasterCard. They’re hoping other people will buy cryptocurrency from these announcements, driving the price up. Or, more likely, they’re just hoping other people will buy cryptocurrency and not use it in these spending systems. Spending cryptocurrency would result…

Mastercard just tries to be relevant in an environment where they will not be relevant anymore.

Just look at the Nano cryptocurrency for example: 0 fees and Crypto is going to disrupt a lot of things. If it's not clear by now, you will be in for a surprise.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#219

Post by BTCOG »

nemo44x wrote: post #174
zucker42 wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> in the code base itself There was a fierce debate that lead to a hard fork over increasing transaction throughput by raising the block size, so I think it's really not a given that BTC will change to increase transaction speed. Also, one problem people have with Bitcoin is that the idea of every node of the network storing and processing every transaction is fundamentally not scalabe. Sure BTC can change and adapt,…

Right and look at the result - Bitcoin Cash is a failure. This is true democracy. We tested both solutions and the champion still stands. When there is incentive (if there ever is) then miners will adopt changes that make sense. But you need a true consensus. This built in conservatism is a great feature of BTC.

Funny how all voices of reason in the Bitcoin threads get downvoted into oblivion. I'm upvoting your posts to make them seen. Correct. Bitcoin Cash was a fork that tried to prove an incorrect point, and lost the fairest way possible.

Increasing block size is simply a bad idea. You do not move fast and break things in mission-critical code. Bitcoin is more focused on working (as it does) and remaining secure. Bitcoin is the best money the world has EVER seen, and it's not important to be able to buy frivolous things with Bitcoin. What is important is making sure value transfer is safe and secure. Those of us who routinely truly use Bitcoin understand we can easily send $50-100 or whichever value you prefer and put in low fees around $0.50-2 and just wait on the money to securely transfer. Not many of us using Bitcoin care if that takes 1-24 hours. The currency aspect is very beta yet, and may even take a few more years to mature and will have to come in layer 2.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#220

Post by ForHackernews »

centimeter wrote: post #197
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s fascinating to watch MLM logic sweep the tech world. Get in on the ground floor of this opportunity, then convince all of your friends to buy in, then they convince all of their friends... Once the speculation upside is gone, why would anyone want to buy Bitcoin? That’s the real question.

MLM dynamics actually do apply to monetized assets in some cases. Cf. “Bubble Theory Of Money”, Gresham’s Law. Once the speculation upside is gone, you would use Bitcoin because it’s the best available reserve and settlement asset. What are your other options? Inflationary USD or Yuan? Few rational actors would prefer to hold those.

> Inflationary USD

lolz https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/infl...

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