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Coinbase from YC to DPO

blog.ycombinator.com

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Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO

#681

Post by betterunix2 »

d3ntb3ev1l wrote: post #558
Grustaf wrote: post #494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airbnb doesn't have network effects, the value to users increases pretty linearly with the number of hosts, and doesn't really increase at all with the number of other users.

Also ignoring most cities now are banning or highly regulating these illegal hotels in residential neighborhoods Coinbase seems less threatened by regulations

Coinbase is directly and indirectly threatened by regulations. The direct threat is that the SEC, China, European regulators, etc. impose much stricter regulations on cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, raising compliance costs until the business fails; indirectly, if the regulations are applied "downstream" to payment processors dealing in cryptocurrencies or to businesses accepting cryptocurrency payments. Another indirect threat is in the form of environmental regulations being more strictly applied to mining operations, which could be fatal for Bitcoin or any other PoW based system (yeah, sure, PoS, PoWhatever, but Bitcoin is half the market for cryptocurrency).

There is also an "inverse" regulatory risk for Coinbase. In the best case (where cryptocurrencies are actually being used as payment systems at any significant scale) cryptocurrencies fill a need that is not being filled by existing banks as a result of regulations on the financial industry. Instead of more stringent regulations being imposed on cryptocurrencies, less stringent regulations could be imposed on the mainstream financial system that would allow banks to create more convenient electronic payment systems. The need for a cryptocurrency exchange could implode if the relevant technologies (e.g. offline ecash) were deployed; you would "withdraw" or "deposit" money in the bank just like paper notes. There is even a case for such a system if banking regulations became stricter e.g. if banks were forced to deploy a less fraud-prone and more privacy-preserving system than the credit/debit card system in use today.

Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO

#682

Post by CheezeIt »

Hnrobert42 wrote: post #274

“Additionally, it’s worth celebrating that Coinbase was always a good business, i.e. it always made money.” Why is that worth celebrating? A company made money. That is what companies are created to do. I suppose if you invested in Coinbase, you could celebrate it. Otherwise, who cares?

Making a company that makes money is a huge accomplishment.

Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO

#683

Post by anonporridge »

rcurry wrote: post #630
mtnGoat wrote: post #562

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it wouldn't even take a global internet shortage, just your country to go offline, how you gonna pay someone to get you out(keep you safe, etc) if you cant transfer your crypto to them? A few ounces of gold on the other hand will take you anywhere you want to go. Crypto is far from a safe hedge in any type of crazy event. you see, gold can still be traded without power and internet, as could cash or really anything p…

Guns, ammo, and gold aren’t bad choices to hoard for an end of the world situation, but if you want to make out like a bandit when the shit hits the fan just stockpile spices - when people start having to eat squirrels they’re going to want some pepper :-)

Also, drugs.

The caffeine addicts will be desperate when the beans stop flowing.

Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO

#684

Post by betterunix2 »

mtnGoat wrote: post #562
anonporridge wrote: post #534

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on the scale of shit hitting the fan. If the global internet goes down and stays down, then I think it's safe to say that global civilization is permanently collapsing, in which case billions of people are going to die in the resulting famine and the survivors probably won't be able to maintain enough technology to survive long term as climate change continues to snowball. In this scenario, yeah bitcoin is…

it wouldn't even take a global internet shortage, just your country to go offline, how you gonna pay someone to get you out(keep you safe, etc) if you cant transfer your crypto to them? A few ounces of gold on the other hand will take you anywhere you want to go. Crypto is far from a safe hedge in any type of crazy event. you see, gold can still be traded without power and internet, as could cash or really anything p…

Right, because gold is really going to help when there are no police going around arresting thieves and murderers. I'm sure the guy who tells you he can get you out is not going to take your gold and do nothing to get you out, assuming he doesn't just kill you and take your gold, shoes, weapons, and whatever other supplies you are carrying.

Get real. When governments collapse gold is not even remotely as useful as people seem to assume. There is no hedge against a failure of civilization. When things break down like that, you need to think on your feet and start organizing people (or joining up with a group someone else organized) to stand guard against the roving gangs of murderers, rapists, and thieves. "Trade" beyond the level of barter involving food, fuel, medicine, and weapons does not enter the picture until some new form of government can be established and some semblance of order is restored.

Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO

#687

Post by betterunix2 »

thebean11 wrote: post #578
fuzzer37 wrote: post #544

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people who say that bitcoin is going to be useful when "shit hits the fan" have a very very specific definition of shit hitting the fan that is just so unrealistic.

Like hyperinflation and an economic crash? I'm not convinced either will happen, but they seem squarely within the realm of possibility.

...why would I want to accept Bitcoin in that case? Pretty sure I am going to want either some other country's currency -- because I still need to buy imported food or fuel or whatever -- or things have gotten so bad that I no longer hand reliable enough Internet service to make use of Bitcoin.

Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO

#688

Post by ldbooth »

jolux wrote: post #677
solveit wrote: post #675

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously both of those possibilities are priced in. Investors aren't stupid, Gamestop notwithstanding.

I think severe regulation is more likely than Coinbase becoming the next NYSE, but the valuation suggests investors think the opposite.

the bet is whether US regulators have the panache to regulate a financial market anymore.

Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO

#689

Post by toomuchtodo »

austenallred wrote: post #615
rgifford wrote: post #385

The NYSEs parent company Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE) is worth 66.40B. Today's IPO puts Coinbase at 100B+. The NYSE has been in operation since 1817. Coinbase has been in operation since 2012. The value of all crypto is Trading fees in the crypto-world are getting more competitive as more established players support crypto. I don't see a defensible market position here, let alone established track record or st…

Coinbase is... not a stock exchange?

Compare it to the CME then, which is a commodities/futures/derivitives exchange, as Bitcoin is designated as a commodity by the US government. $74B market cap.

https://www.cmegroup.com/

Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO

#690

Post by rawtxapp »

pushrax wrote: post #422
rawtxapp wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You wouldn't be selling those on the open market, institutions have been able to acquire billions of dollars worth of crypto OTC without moving markets. Another option is, now that it's becoming clear to people that Bitcoin is here to stay, you can just borrow against it to spend (avoid taxes, hold on to the upside). Case in point, this person/group borrowed 300M$ with about 1B$ net worth[1]. 1: https://defiexplore.c…

I'm new to this. Is the collateral locked into the contract and unspendable until the contract is closed? It's also kind of unclear what the interest is from that page. edit: apparently it's 8.5% https://mkr.tools/governance/stabilityfee

The interest rate varies based on collateral: https://oasis.app/borrow/markets. Eth is between 3-9% depending on liquidation ratios, and wBTC is at around 4.5% and both of these numbers are drops in the bucket when you consider that the collateral has appreciated a lot more than that.

And one more thing, it's not technically an interest rate, it's a stability fee (which btw, gets burned, used to go back to stakers, but they removed that).

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