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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

#551

Post by fl0wenol »

heterodoxxed wrote: post #337
codebolt wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any real value analysis of Bitcoin that doesn't take Tether into account isn't worth much. As long as the whole crypto market is built around a currency issued by an unregulated and unaudited company with a mile-long list of past controversies, any unbiased take on the future of Bitcoin has to allow for a significant downside risk.

Tether is a real Michael Burry moment for me. They claim to have 30 billion in reserves right now and are "printing" a billion tethers at a time. Yet nobody can confirm their reserves and the company itself is absurdly opaque. Either there is an incredible amount of criminal fraud behind this or... this is perfectly reasonable? Except nobody can really explain or confirm why.

If they want non-idiots to use their stuff, then they need to open up and give a few tours of their "vaults" or whatever.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#552

Post by lottin »

whobar wrote: post #165
janoside wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the point, you ask... Here is Ross Stevens, CEO of Stone Ridge Asset Management, describing "the point" for an hour: https://www.microstrategy.com/en/bitcoin/videos/bitcoin-macr... It sounds like you've made up your mind about Bitcoin, but I believe you've missed the big picture. The above video, if you watch it with an open mind, will help you to glimpse it. Hint: it's not about cappuccino, it's about living…

Hedge fund managers are never going to publicise an impartial view about anything, especially not something they are heavily invested in. Forming a positive opinion about Bitcoin based on what two hedge fund managers, both bullish on BTC, have to say, seems pretty dumb. Unless fiat is abolished, the price of something in BTC will always be pegged to USD. As USD devalues as a result of inflation, the price of a produc…

Please don't fall for the trap of calling actual money fiat as if bitcoin wasn't fiat. If at some point bitcoin becomes money it will be fiat money, as bitcoin is not backed by a commodity. So far bitcoin isn't money because it's not the most liquid asset. In order to buy anything with bitcoins, first you'll have sell them for actual money and use that to buy stuff, hence not money.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#553

Post by Sargos »

koonsolo wrote: post #537
Sargos wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this case it would be their ability to prevent you from having to deal with crypto taxes since you just receive USD like normal.

All businesses have accountants to figure that out.

Yeah and those accountants charge by the hour. Crypto taxes take up a lot of hours (and that's if your accountant already knows how to deal with crypto). The vast majority of small businesses don't have dedicated accountants and having to pay for the overhead of dealing with crypto is not in their already strained budgets.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#554

Post by anythingdude321 »

waprin wrote: post #324
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…

I used to think cryptocurrency was a solution in search of a problem, but the Robinhood fiasco has made me think otherwise. I find their clearing house explanation woefully insufficient in details, and open to the possiblity of being technically the truth but misleading (for example, they gave mass margin to lots of new accounts so they technically lacked collateral, but if they stopped new signups then cleared cash…

so nice to see the hackernews crowd finally figuring it out!

i totally agree with you. i feel that if you keep digging, you'll find yourself convinced over time that BTC's "technical challenges" are not the flaws that they originally appear, and that in the long run crypto does make sense as a currency itself, in addition to a financial infrastructure.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#555

Post by Ashanmaril »

elyobo wrote: post #548
vbezhenar wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your view must be skewed by privilege of having stable currency. Currency of my country lost 250% of its value over last 7 years. It's not bitcoin-level volatile, but close to it. Thankfully I have an option to use USD to hoard money, but that option is not something that's given, in many countries you just can't exchange for fair price. I agree that for someone living in US or EU there's no much point using BTC.

I'm not sure what you mean by "lost 250% of its value" - that seems impossible, so I guess something has been lost in translation! Can you clarify?

Everyone who had money before now owes 250% of it.

But people who were in debt are doing great!

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#556

Post by reedjosh »

systemvoltage wrote: post #84
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…

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…

>What's the point of an unstable, volatile, frantically manipulated currency that is susceptible to social media pump and dump schemes (Elon + Doge)?

BTC is only volatile as not enough people use it. Further, if you stay on USD, every year a cappuccino will cost you more. Fractional reserve banking is practically a license to print USD. We're not funding the stimulus or really any of our government via tax anymore. Inflation is the real tax.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#557

Post by b112 »

elyobo wrote: post #548
vbezhenar wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your view must be skewed by privilege of having stable currency. Currency of my country lost 250% of its value over last 7 years. It's not bitcoin-level volatile, but close to it. Thankfully I have an option to use USD to hoard money, but that option is not something that's given, in many countries you just can't exchange for fair price. I agree that for someone living in US or EU there's no much point using BTC.

I'm not sure what you mean by "lost 250% of its value" - that seems impossible, so I guess something has been lost in translation! Can you clarify?

There are loads of cases of hyper-inflation, which means that the currency's real-world value decreases.

Here's the worst I've ever heard of:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

Yes, you read that right:

"However, Zimbabwe's peak month of inflation is estimated at 79.6 billion percent month-on-month, 89.7 sextillion percent year-on-year in mid-November 2008."

I recall interviews with government employees, who were quitting in droves. The Government wasn't keeping up with inflation, so at the end of 2 weeks, your check was basically worthless.

The place was falling apart.

People would run to the bank, cash pay checks, and buy STUFF. Anything. Anything physical. TVs, couches, bikes, blenders, ANYTHING. In one interview, a woman's living room was filled with random pieces of furniture, stacked to the ceiling, and a TV.

To trade. For barter.

Because even an hour later, that paycheck was worth so much less.

Madness.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#559

Post by reedjosh »

halukakin wrote: post #373
tenaciousDaniel wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sad that this aspect of the conversation so often gets replaced by everything else. This is (IMO) the most important point about digital currency - the promise of providing consumers in unstable economies the chance to convert to a more stable currency without government intrusion. We're still not there, but that should be the north star for crypto (again, in my opinion).

Say everyone in an unstable economy were paid in usd. If that country has foreign deficit, if that country has high government debt. What happens? How can the government keep paying its own employees? How does it pay retiree checks? How does it subsidize farming when needed? As long as a country cannot print usd itself, this is a fast shortcut to unemployment, hunger, etc... Strong currencies are not the solution to…

> Say everyone in an unstable economy were paid in usd.

Then that country would be paying the unseen tax of inflation as the US banking system prints more and more USD. Said country would basically be a US colony.

Re: MasterCard to open up network to cryptocurrencies

#560

Post by tenaciousDaniel »

Thorentis wrote: post #528
tenaciousDaniel wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sad that this aspect of the conversation so often gets replaced by everything else. This is (IMO) the most important point about digital currency - the promise of providing consumers in unstable economies the chance to convert to a more stable currency without government intrusion. We're still not there, but that should be the north star for crypto (again, in my opinion).

Why is encouraging people in such countries to use better than making the US Dollar more accessible to these people? If stability is the goal, I find it hard to accept that DogeCoin is the answer to the developing/third world's economic problems.

I don't think DogeCoin is the answer to anything at all, tbh.
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