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Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

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Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#511

Post by lowkey »

Right now the intellectually curious can earn 19.5% in DeFi on stablecoins using Anchor protocol. No, it isn't FDIC insured, but insurance is available for 2-3% netting 16~17%. Unlike banks anyone anywhere has access to this free and open monetary network and the returns are 1700~2000 basis points higher than any US bank offers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/qjhv42/anch...

What if this guy is right? "They are not afraid that criminals will use it; they're afraid that all the rest of us will use it." - Andreas M. Antonopoulis

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#512

Post by swader999 »

arcticbull wrote: post #223
swader999 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is value in having a monetary system though. And if BTC is a better system and more people find it's utility for barter or wealth preservation better it might appreciate more in relation to something like the USD which has many different characteristics.

It's a strictly worse monetary system by any measure. It's massively more expensive to transact, it's unbelievably inefficient - requiring as much power as Thailand and generating as much e-waste as the Netherlands to scribble 2-3 tx/sec into a ledger. That's 60 days of power for the average US household and 1 iPad of e-waste per transaction . [1] [edit](97% of all mining hardware will be thrown away without ever win…

All of these issues can be overcome by upgrades and borrowing ideas and proven tech from other coins or just by moving to those coins if needed. I think it would be orders of magnitude easier to decarbonize bitcoin than it would be the petrol dollar backed by the thirsty U.S. Military machine.

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#513

Post by swader999 »

arcticbull wrote: post #466
jkhdigital wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 97% of all mining hardware will be thrown away without ever winning a single block reward And fewer than 50% of Thoroughbred horses ever win a single race. This is a silly clickbaity statistic and you know it. Come on, you're better than this arcticbull ;-)

Is that actually a real statistic about horses? That's fascinating. I wouldn't build a currency on it though ;) Step right up to Horsecoin, fastest horse gets the block!

It's true for any endeavor that falls on the bell curve that only has one winner. And this analogy ignores the fact that mining rigs win every day just by pooling their efforts

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#514

Post by humaniania »

panarky wrote: post #496
paulgb wrote: post #488

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But Tether's been around more than seven years, more than enough time for the "smart money" to profit by obliterating them. How would the smart money profit from obliterating them? If you’re referring to a Soros/GBP style trade, how would one borrow enough USDT to pull it off?

Somebody holds large chunks of the $70.5 billion in USDT. Presumably, people who hold hundreds of millions of the stuff are well aware of every accusation made against Tether. If they wanted to, they could trade their USDT for actual US fiat on a 1:1 basis if they thought USD was worth more than USDT. The really smart money with large crypto stashes could borrow USDT with crypto as collateral, and trade the USDT for…

Wouldn't that trade be a taxable event in many countries?

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#515

Post by swader999 »

arcticbull wrote: post #240
swader999 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure and I agree the USD at the moment has an incredible backing. Also it being the reserve currency and base for most other currencies and commodities is no small thing. You could argue that BTC is backed by one of the most powerful networks of computing power on the planet. I don't think that's better than what the USD has, but it isn't 'Nothing'. The fact it can't be debased as easily as fiat currencies is not a t…

Its network doesn't create value, it extracts value. $60M per day, $21B per year. > The fact it can't be debased as easily as fiat currencies is not a tangible thing but it does compel interest in it. That is not a benefit to a currency, quite the opposite. A deflationary currency would likely lead to a deflationary spiral, savaging the job market [1] It also leads to a monetary system that cannot adjust to a changin…

Maybe you are stuck on the track that there has to be a winner. There doesn't have to be a single monetary system. There can be several. And bitcoin has real utility in a lot of valid scenarios. Not having a central authority is interesting and appealing to many. Deflationary by nature makes it an excellent store of value.

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#516

Post by humaniania »

arcticbull wrote: post #400
roywiggins wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, I understand why it hasn't collapsed already. I just don't see how Tether refusing to honor redemptions makes it more resilient to a run in progress, rather than less . If nobody wants to buy 1 USDT for a dollar, the peg will break all the same. If Tether stepped in as a buyer of last resort, that would make it more resilient- but if it doesn't, that worse for the peg, not better. It's better for anyone with phys…

Ah I see. The point I was making is that since it brazenly doesn't have backing and it openly gets to choose who is allowed to redeem, a run would be very hard to actually start. The exchanges themselves are incentivized to backstop the pegs (up to a point) out of their own capital to ensure their own survival. Beyond that, you are correct of course!

Assuming that the unlicensed exchanges have the capital to process withdrawals. In other unregulated industries the people operating the gray market platforms are almost always embezzling money and not keeping customer funds in segregated accounts. If the exchanges spend money propping up Tether they won't have it available for withdrawals.

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#517

Post by bluecalm »

RustyConsul wrote: post #418
foxylad wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When i pay in the current financial system I am giving you every bit of information to rob me blind and hoping you don't take it all. I don't understand this. You're saying if I send you $0.01 via internet banking, you can somehow take everything in the account? It doesn't work this way in NZ, where it is common to put your bank account details on invoices so people can pay you directly.

When i pay for something online, I am giving away my credit card/ debit card/ ACH information away for them to subtract the total amount of my transaction (Or debit it). I am trusting that outside entity in a number of different ways; To only take the required amount, b.) encrypt my information to prevent my information from leaking. Credit card data is leaked regularly in mass uploads for pennys on the dollar. Credi…

I often notice this expressed by Americans. I can't remember last time I gave my debit card (why would anyone need a credit card anyway) to any party other than big companies like PayPal. Locally I pay with Blik (I have to confirm exact amount transferred on my phone and the seller doesn't have an option to extract/ask for more). If a company really wants a card I create a virtual, load it up with a chosen small amount and get rid of it when I no longer need it. We also have instant bank transfers if needed (normal ones take several hours).

Even with debit cards you have 3D secure these days which requires confirmation on your phone.

Just because USA is behind in banking department and even credit/debit card thing doesn't mean those problems are especially hard to solve. The rest of the world is already partially there and with more fintechs putting pressure on banks things will improve even more.

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#518

Post by arcticbull »

panarky wrote: post #496
paulgb wrote: post #488

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But Tether's been around more than seven years, more than enough time for the "smart money" to profit by obliterating them. How would the smart money profit from obliterating them? If you’re referring to a Soros/GBP style trade, how would one borrow enough USDT to pull it off?

Somebody holds large chunks of the $70.5 billion in USDT. Presumably, people who hold hundreds of millions of the stuff are well aware of every accusation made against Tether. If they wanted to, they could trade their USDT for actual US fiat on a 1:1 basis if they thought USD was worth more than USDT. The really smart money with large crypto stashes could borrow USDT with crypto as collateral, and trade the USDT for…

There’s nobody to trade $70B USDT with except Tether Inc and they’re not paying out haha. Those folks are trapped.

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#519

Post by swader999 »

FabHK wrote: post #372
swader999 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure and I agree the USD at the moment has an incredible backing. Also it being the reserve currency and base for most other currencies and commodities is no small thing. You could argue that BTC is backed by one of the most powerful networks of computing power on the planet. I don't think that's better than what the USD has, but it isn't 'Nothing'. The fact it can't be debased as easily as fiat currencies is not a t…

> BTC is backed by one of the most powerful networks of computing power on the planet And that huge computing power is employed to basically solve Sudokus whose difficulty is adjusted to burn as much energy as is put into it (which unscrupulous people will do as long as that energy is still cheaper than the mining rewards).

It appears that's the case but I've read a lot of bitcoin is mined using power sources that are under utilized and otherwise not practical to keep using. Much off this includes green energy which might have a better ROI in its early stages with bitcoin hovering it up when it's excess can't be sold. It's fairly easy to just switch to proof of stake though if ever this issue is forced hard enough by energy providers.

Re: Report on Stablecoins [pdf]

#520

Post by throaway46546 »

lowkey wrote: post #511

Right now the intellectually curious can earn 19.5% in DeFi on stablecoins using Anchor protocol. No, it isn't FDIC insured, but insurance is available for 2-3% netting 16~17%. Unlike banks anyone anywhere has access to this free and open monetary network and the returns are 1700~2000 basis points higher than any US bank offers. https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/qjhv42/anch... What if this guy is right…

From the thread:

>I've been using Anchor + Mirror to get ~40% APY

>It's not as degen as the other Defi, but it's very low risk

This just screams scam to me.

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