So we missed Dropbox, Airbnb and coinbase. What idea do we all think is bad? ISAs?
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Coinbase from YC to DPO
761–770 of 883 posts
Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#762So we missed Dropbox, Airbnb and coinbase. What idea do we all think is bad? ISAs?
Bitcoin, Palantir.
Between your examples and Bitcoin, would betting against the HN hivemind a winning strategy?
Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#763Earlier quoted context omitted.
> crypto is nowhere near replacing credit cards, now or in the future. Bitcoin - not. On the other hand, modern altcoins who are faster, PoS-based, low fees, etc are on the path to exactly this.
Which coin has a functional, non-exploitable PoS algorithm implemented?
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Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#764Earlier quoted context omitted.
How did he follow thru with his vision? Read his other comments to get better picture - he was angry at the system of Credit Cards, PayPals etc that charge outraged fees just to be able to use their network. He wanted to build network that performs exchange at zero fee. Instead, he ended up building and owning one of the most expensive crypto exchanges in the USA. Sure props to him to pull it off, you don't get net w…
>> but in terms of his vision of the world more united where it is easier to send and receive money without paying outrages fees, he definitely failed on that promise. It was Bitcoin that failed to deliver that promise, not him.
Or both. Bitcoin and Coinbase each have outrageous fees.
Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#765Earlier quoted context omitted.
> crypto is nowhere near replacing credit cards, now or in the future. Bitcoin - not. On the other hand, modern altcoins who are faster, PoS-based, low fees, etc are on the path to exactly this.
Which coin has a functional, non-exploitable PoS algorithm implemented?
Cardano, Polkadot?
Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#766So we missed Dropbox, Airbnb and coinbase. What idea do we all think is bad? ISAs?
Bitcoin, Palantir. Between your examples and Bitcoin, would betting against the HN hivemind a winning strategy?
Well, yeah. Did you see the comments on pg's recent essay? It was the first time I was like, I don't identify with any of these people.
But that's okay. The world is large, and we're free to all feel however we feel. There also isn't a "hive mind," just a lot of people with surprisingly similar viewpoints and feelings that don't necessarily match the reality of how to build businesses over long periods of time.
At one point, I was an ardent opponent of Coinbase, having lost most of my money in the (at the time) recent implosion of Mt Gox. But time has proven me wrong. So, it's also not so easy to distance yourself from "the hivemind," you see – it's surprisingly easy to fall into the same patterns.
Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#767Earlier quoted context omitted.
Amazing to see. But what I find interesting is that his vision was way off- crypto is nowhere near replacing credit cards, now or in the future. But he did build a huge company because crypto became a speculative asset bubble instead.
Scott Sumner has an interesting argument that it's not a bubble. Similar for the so called 'tech bubble' around the start of the millennium: if you bought all the tech stocks back then and held them until today, you would have made an OK return. (Of course, many companies have gone out of business, but there were a few outsized winners to make up for it. Any individual tech stock was extremely risky, but the overall…
Except 75% or so of this bubble is mined in China and more American firms keep buying into it...
This story doesn’t likely have a happy ending.
Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#768Fun trivia: Brian Armstrong was looking for a co-founder on HN back in 2012: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3754664
kinda ironic how in his post he's trying to compete on fees
Coinbase doesnt have 2.5% fees so it is ironic that it is extremely competitive
Their retail platform has a 1% withdrawal fee unless you are using USDC in which case it is 0%
And their trading platforms have 20 basis points and less commissions
Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#769Earlier quoted context omitted.
Amazing to see. But what I find interesting is that his vision was way off- crypto is nowhere near replacing credit cards, now or in the future. But he did build a huge company because crypto became a speculative asset bubble instead.
> crypto is nowhere near replacing credit cards, now or in the future. Bitcoin - not. On the other hand, modern altcoins who are faster, PoS-based, low fees, etc are on the path to exactly this.
PoS is not as secure as PoW. If it was, bitcoin's consensus algorithm could be changed as well. So, bitcoin wins anyway.
Re: Coinbase from YC to DPO
#770It's a tiny bit pedantic, but the Coinbase offering today was not actually an IPO, I learned, but a DPO (Direct Public Offering). It was not a fundraising event for Coinbase, only a liquidity event for shareholders, and unlike an IPO no explicit valuation process occurred to select an offering price.
The distinctions you are making are not exclusive to IPOs
They just opened up a share selling shop on the stock exchange, instead of selling it to banks (that already have shops) at wholesale price.
Any shareholder can sell through that shop window, including the company.