Live data from Hacker News

Insider Trading at Coinbase

twitter.com

51–60 of 348 posts

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#51

Why is the SEC so slow to regulate cryptoassets? Literally everything that they combatted for stocks and traditional assets is now taking place in the crypto ecosystem.

Because SEC is something specific to US and crypto is international perhaps? I doubt SEC has anything to say in this regard when the trading happens to belong to a citizen of China, for example. And while I do know Coinbase is US firm, so is AMEX. Insider trading at AMEX in regard to foreign citizens isn't something they can do anything about it, can they?

The exchange is still physically registered in the US, similar to how non US citizens can place trades on NYSE etc. This cowboy market is madness and irresponsible.

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#53
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on both my observations of the space and interaction with crypto people and the crypto market. I know people who work in crypto too. Your defensive kneejerk reaction doesn't serve as an opposing argument - if you think differently, all you need to do is provide some evidence.

> find a crypto business that isn't rooted in some kind of scam, greater fool scheme, pyramid scheme, or the like. > If you think differently, all you need to do is provide some evidence. So is this product a 'scam' then? [0] [1] [0] https://skiff.org

It doesn't look like it, no. But what about that is actually using blockchains to solve a problem? They mention Web3 but I don't know if it's a requirement of some feature or an opportunity for a marketing buzzword.

I don't deny that there are some companies that are trying to do real things with blockchain tech - but most of the money and effort appears to be going into speculation and/or scamming. Which isn't very productive.

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The experiment wasn't even necessary - the Gilded Age was a libertarian's paradise with the gold standard and very little government regulation. What do we most associate with this era? Robber barons, utility monopolies screwing people over with ruthless business practices, confidence men and literal snake oil quack medicine. I genuinely can't think of a good (ie moral) reason to support the idea given how it is pred…

>What do we most associate with this era? Robber barons, utility monopolies screwing people over with ruthless business practices, confidence men and literal snake oil quack medicine. Speak for yourself. Most well read people associate it with urbanization (made possible by industrialization of agriculture) and huge standard of living improvements that came with the long tail of industrialization. Such "luxuries" as…

Okay to clarify, I meant the excesses of the age. It was also a time of expansion driven by the inventions and discoveries of the industrial revolution and the discovery of oil. But when people make the argument that libertarian policy would lead to the market moderating companies' and entrepreneurs' worst instincts, I think the Gilded Age shows otherwise.

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure either of your comments are productive here. You assert that it would be hard to find any crypto business that isn't 'rooted in some kind of scam'. But where's the evidence that coinbase for e.g is 'rooted in a scam, greater fool scheme or ponzi'? There are scammy activities in so much of crypto, but what is pointing to the most visible, normie-facing, publicly traded and regulated American crypto compan…

I did address this in a sibling comment - the exchanges are primarily used to buy and sell crypto to greater fools, and thus they are rooted in a greater fool scheme. The vast majority of use for crypto is speculation.

But you see, even if I did agree that that was the case that all exchanges are rotten, you originally said any crypto business. You think the various businesses that focus on staking, or cold wallet businesses for example, that focus on consolidation and/or security are 'rooted in scams, greater fool schemes, or ponzi'? How?

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#56
post #6

The big-brain move would be to identify the wallets that must be trading on “insider” info, and copy their trades?

Anyone smart would use a new wallet each time.

Not necessarily. If people buy after you trade then the value of your wallet goes up.

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure either of your comments are productive here. You assert that it would be hard to find any crypto business that isn't 'rooted in some kind of scam'. But where's the evidence that coinbase for e.g is 'rooted in a scam, greater fool scheme or ponzi'? There are scammy activities in so much of crypto, but what is pointing to the most visible, normie-facing, publicly traded and regulated American crypto compan…

I did address this in a sibling comment - the exchanges are primarily used to buy and sell crypto to greater fools, and thus they are rooted in a greater fool scheme. The vast majority of use for crypto is speculation.

I assume the vast majority of crypto is actually Bitcoin and Ethereum. Do you characterize these as "speculation"?

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#58
post #32

Is this insider trading according to the law? Nonpublic information isn't being used to trade public stocks; it's being used to trade assets that don't appear to be regulated securities.

To add to what you're saying, forex explicitly does not have insider trading rules. The problem is it's treated as a general asset. It feels like there should already be rules in place to handle if, for example, an Amazon exec went and bought property around an area prior to Amazon announcing their new HQ.

The world seems to run on "favors" of insider knowledge like this.

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did address this in a sibling comment - the exchanges are primarily used to buy and sell crypto to greater fools, and thus they are rooted in a greater fool scheme. The vast majority of use for crypto is speculation.

But you see, even if I did agree that that was the case that all exchanges are rotten, you originally said any crypto business. You think the various businesses that focus on staking, or cold wallet businesses for example, that focus on consolidation and/or security are 'rooted in scams, greater fool schemes, or ponzi'? How?

Perhaps my original formulation was insufficiently precise to get my point across - I mean that crypto is rooted in scams and pyramid schemes and whatnot in the sense that the nature of the industry makes it a magnet for those kinds of schemes and they are the primary driving force behind the money flooding the industry. That doesn't mean that the exchanges themselves are explicitly doing these things, or that all the businesses are either directly engaged in or materially supporting this behaviour (though I think the majority are), but that it's the driving force of the industry in that transportation drives the oil extraction industry.

Re: Insider Trading at Coinbase

#60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because SEC is something specific to US and crypto is international perhaps? I doubt SEC has anything to say in this regard when the trading happens to belong to a citizen of China, for example. And while I do know Coinbase is US firm, so is AMEX. Insider trading at AMEX in regard to foreign citizens isn't something they can do anything about it, can they?

The exchange is still physically registered in the US, similar to how non US citizens can place trades on NYSE etc. This cowboy market is madness and irresponsible.

But the crux is that those trades didn't occur on Coinbase, the assets hadn't even been listed yet. So it might very well be a case of a non-us citizen trading on a non-us exchange (or defi exchange). What can the SEC do in this case?
Post reply on HN