Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees • Hacker News Board

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#191

Post by memish » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:55 PM UTC

halfmatthalfcat wrote: post #69

Johnny555 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep pointing to Armstrong's $110M house like it's some sort of injustice. If you think billionaires should exist at all, then that's one of the least-bad injustices imaginable Ok, I'll admit it, billionaires should not exist at all, there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire. Will a CEO work less hard if he (and his peers) can only ever gain $100M in net worth before a wealt…

Why stop at $100M? Why can't $1M be the most?

Why can't $100,000?

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#192

Post by colinmhayes » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:55 PM UTC

oh_sigh wrote: post #64

Johnny555 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep pointing to Armstrong's $110M house like it's some sort of injustice. If you think billionaires should exist at all, then that's one of the least-bad injustices imaginable Ok, I'll admit it, billionaires should not exist at all, there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire. Will a CEO work less hard if he (and his peers) can only ever gain $100M in net worth before a wealt…

I'm just a run of the mill average joe, who has a rock that has been in my family for generations. Turns out some weird little cult likes my rock and wants to buy it for $1B. Should I be forced to sell my rock, because I'm getting a $500M tax bill from the government because some weird little cult said they would pay $1B for it - regardless of whether I want to sell my rock?

Yes, if your rock is worth twice as much to the cult as it is to you you should have to sell it.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#193

Post by marcosdumay » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:55 PM UTC

toephu2 wrote: post #170

Johnny555 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep pointing to Armstrong's $110M house like it's some sort of injustice. If you think billionaires should exist at all, then that's one of the least-bad injustices imaginable Ok, I'll admit it, billionaires should not exist at all, there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire. Will a CEO work less hard if he (and his peers) can only ever gain $100M in net worth before a wealt…

> there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire Why does everyone want to tax the billionaires? What are you going to get out of it? Do you think taxing the billionaires is actually going to help the poor people? If so, riddle me this: Name one efficiently-run government organization.

> Why does everyone want to tax the billionaires?

Because they take a lot of value out of a shared society and concentrate too much power on their hands.

> What are you going to get out of it?

Reduce the power discrepancies, mostly, and money too.

> Do you think taxing the billionaires is actually going to help the poor people?

Yep.

You are asking about government efficiency, but one of the reasons for the lack of efficiency is that billionaires do not want it.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#194

Post by hintymad » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:55 PM UTC

greggsy wrote: post #58

hintymad wrote: post #20

Why they need these many people for an exchange is puzzling. I’m sure there are many things to do, but shouldn’t they grow their headcount organically and slowly?

They have a few different service offerings, ranging from compliance to web3 infrastructure: https://www.coinbase.com/cloud/blockchain-infrastructure They also presumably have hefty cyber, legal and financial audit teams to protect their assets, and position themselves in preparation for any changes in the landscape (which has been pretty rocky to say the least).

Still, why thousands of engineers?

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#195

Post by Apocryphon » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:56 PM UTC

toephu2 wrote: post #170

Johnny555 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep pointing to Armstrong's $110M house like it's some sort of injustice. If you think billionaires should exist at all, then that's one of the least-bad injustices imaginable Ok, I'll admit it, billionaires should not exist at all, there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire. Will a CEO work less hard if he (and his peers) can only ever gain $100M in net worth before a wealt…

> there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire Why does everyone want to tax the billionaires? What are you going to get out of it? Do you think taxing the billionaires is actually going to help the poor people? If so, riddle me this: Name one efficiently-run government organization.

the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#196

Post by evandale » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:56 PM UTC

CardenB wrote: post #182

toephu2 wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire Why does everyone want to tax the billionaires? What are you going to get out of it? Do you think taxing the billionaires is actually going to help the poor people? If so, riddle me this: Name one efficiently-run government organization.

Maybe it is less about the tax revenue and more about preventing power imbalance. Why is it good to have so much power concentrated in the hands of one person?

I firmly believe Musk, Gates, and Buffet to name a few do more good with their money than if any government got their hands on it. Not all the billionaires are bad.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#197

Post by CardenB » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:56 PM UTC

kiba wrote: post #171

Johnny555 wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People keep pointing to Armstrong's $110M house like it's some sort of injustice. If you think billionaires should exist at all, then that's one of the least-bad injustices imaginable Ok, I'll admit it, billionaires should not exist at all, there should be a heavy wealth tax that makes it hard to become a billionaire. Will a CEO work less hard if he (and his peers) can only ever gain $100M in net worth before a wealt…

Having a billion dollars is a side effect of our current system. Much more useful to focus on system level incentive than to focus on a small minority at the top. If there's people with budgets for yacht, then there are a much larger group of people with budgets for fancy houses. And an even larger group of people whose incentive is to see the price of their homes rise, contrary to the societal goal or providing affo…

> Much more useful to focus on system level incentive than to focus on a small minority at the top.

The issue is that the minority at the top can easily hinder development of system level incentive to cement their power, once they have achieved such a power imbalance.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#198

Post by philodelta » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:57 PM UTC

tomcam wrote: post #67

izzydata wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think billionaires should exist, but I also don't think these employees have been wronged. That is a pretty generous severance package.

How much money should people be allowed to have?

I worry about the unaccounted soft power of someone with that much money. Through lobbying and market consolidation, the extremely wealthy hold disproportionate political and economic power. At least with corrupt politicians, in a liberal democracy there is some amount to which they are accountable to the people. The power of the wealthy is without account except through government action. laisse-faire capitalists like to hand wave and imagine this power is "not a problem" when it very clearly is, with people like the Kochs wielding their power to sow political propaganda. They did not "earn" that power, or at the very least I don't think people deserve that power even if they were skillful businessmen. For me, it has nothing to do with sour grapes, I don't care that they have more money then I can imagine, other than they can use that money to have a greater voice than me.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#199

Post by colinmhayes » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:57 PM UTC

tomcam wrote: post #67

izzydata wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think billionaires should exist, but I also don't think these employees have been wronged. That is a pretty generous severance package.

How much money should people be allowed to have?

Whatever the people decide. That's why we have democracy.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#200

Post by themacguffinman » Tue, Jun 14, 2022, 6:57 PM UTC

Apocryphon wrote: post #143

ipnon wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My claim is that if these companies weren't useful than they wouldn't exist. People hate Bezos but they spend their money at Amazon. Methinks they doth protest too much!

Amazon is immensely useful, but perhaps they are no longer a net positive to society. The goods and services they provide are certainly useful. But their status as a monopoly prevents a flourishing, competitive market that could address their failings. Amazon as a product is arguably poorer in quality than it used to be: just look at the state of their spammed-out reviews, scam products sold on their platform, etc. T…

So what if their product is arguably poorer in quality than it used to be, so what if there are spammed-out reviews or whatever? You're not showing that any of their competitors are better in the eyes of most consumers, and they definitely have competitors, very large ones in fact (eg Walmart, AliExpress, eBay).

If you think Amazon is unfairly using their monopoly to keep others out and capture the market, state your claim. If you think competitors could do better, prove it with consumer choice.

Walmart or Shopify or eBay or wherever you want to shop are just a click away. If consumers think they can do better, then they will. I have already ditched Amazon for all those reasons. But you cannot speak for others.