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Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

coindesk.com

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Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#651

Post by mjr00 »

wly_cdgr wrote: post #469
mjr00 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not an asset class, but I'd draw parallels to Texas Hold 'Em. In 2003, Chris Moneymaker wins $2.5 million at the WSOP as an amateur who qualified through the internet; within a year, everyone is talking about hold 'em, their bankroll strategy, having poker nights with their buddies, how they're playing 12 tables at once online, etc. Culminates in massive mainstream acceptance, ads for Pokerstars running on major netw…

The flaw with your analogy is that poker continues to be hugely popular worldwide. Check WSOP.com any time this month

Poker is not even remotely as popular as it was in the mid-00s. Google Trends shows "texas hold em" currently at 1% of its peak in mid-2004, and the more general "poker" at about 14%. It definitely still exists, there are still tournaments, and it's still played by people around the world, but it's not a part of the cultural zeitgeist like it was ~20 years ago.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#652

Post by smsm42 »

whimsicalism wrote: post #610
smsm42 wrote: post #527

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no such thing as too big to fail in democratic politics Are you sure? Please tell me the top 10 names on the Epstein client list. I'll wait. > most wealthy people are wealthy because of inherited holdings and 60% of all wealth in the US is inherited. I'd like to see your sources. They probably counts by dollars, which is pointless, since one hyper-rich individual completely skews the picture - you can have…

Relying on people to honestly self report on being transferred wealth. Counting people is not the important bit because I am concerned about the distributional equity of wealth not wealthy people .

In current total surveillance panopticon, you can hide transferring a $20 note maybe, but hiding transfer of something that can be called "wealth" is virtually impossible. Especially at scale we're talking about here. Especially if you aren't Pablo Escobar or somebody of a similar caliber.

> I am concerned about the distributional equity of wealth not wealthy people

If you exclude people, I am not sure I understand what you're talking about at all.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#653

Post by stevenjgarner »

elbigbad wrote: post #623
stevenjgarner wrote: post #613

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on the jurisdiction, property taxes are usually a function of the property valuation. So at least if the property value goes down, theoretically so do your annual property taxes. The problem with a theoretical wealth tax, is that when the asset value goes down, too late you've already paid your wealth tax.

Your point seems a little orthogonal. If I pay tax on X value in year 1, value goes up and now I pay X*1.1 in year 2, then back to X in year 3 because the home value lowers again, I don’t get a refund for the extra 10% paid in year 2 despite the fact that I never realized any value in the fact that my home appreciated for a year.

So in 2020 I inherit $16k and decide to buy 1 BTC for $16,082 on Nov 12, 2020. Later that day the wealth tax department is created and levies a 20% tax on all unrealized appreciated assets. Your reporting day is on the anniversary of the original asset purchase. So a year later (Nov 12, 21) Bitcoin is at $64,400. My accumulated unrealized appreciation is $48,318. I file my wealth tax return and have to borrow the $9,663.60 to pay my wealth tax. Bear in mind, I still own my 1 BTC. Have not sold it. Have not enjoyed these promising riches. Six months later BTC is $40k and sliding down in price. By Nov 12, 2022, at the end of the 12 month reporting cycle, let's say BTC collapses all the way to $5k. I sell my 1 BTC for the $5k, and now own nothing but I am "happy" to only still owe $4,663.60 on my wealth tax loan.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#654

Post by Bluecobra »

antihero wrote: post #598
Bluecobra wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How hard is it to fund your own US insurance on a tech salary to tide you over? Healthcare is NOT cheap if you want to maintain the same plan. I had to pay $2K a month for a family plan under COBRA several years ago. This is the same as a mortgage payment for me. Typically your employer bears the majority of your insurance cost, but you pay all of it under COBRA.

Oh wow that is absolute madness. That covers your costs for pretty much everything, right?

Not necessarily. There’s deductibles that need to be met, Copays, and co-insurance (what you pay after the deductible), rather you’re in network or out of network, etc.

For example, I had pneumonia some time ago and was in the hospital for about 10 days. The hospital billed by insurance something silly like $100,000. I ended up having to pay something like $4,000 out of pocket. I consider myself one of the lucky ones. It’s really important to review an employer’s health plans before accepting a job offer.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#655

Post by pedro2 »

Johnny555 wrote: post #509
epicide wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps part of the problem is that we incentivize high-risk ideas too much.

I think it's the opposite. I'm not talking about "Let's start a social media app for Aardvarks!" kind of ideas, but actual scientific research. We used to have pure research orgs like Bell Labs, but companies aren't funding pure research any more, so we need more investment from government. Not every idea should have a path to monetization before it's funded.

It has been read somewhere that's due to the possibility to gobble up/buy competitors with no blocking by the state of such behaviour, specially since state deregulation in the 70s.

So there is the possibility the market can be made to care again.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#656

Post by stevenjgarner »

Aeolun wrote: post #649
Johnny555 wrote: post #627

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that the same? If my house is worth $1M in 2022, I pay tax on that $1M of value. If it goes down in value to $500K in 2023 (and is reassessed), I'd pay tax on $500K value in 2023. If I own $1B of AMZN in 2022, I'd pay wealth tax on my $1B holdings in 2022, if the market tanks and AMZN is worth $50M in 2023, then I'd pay the wealth tax on $50M in 2023. Just as with property taxes, a wealth tax is generally annua…

It feels weird I’d have to pay anyone just for owning something. Besides, how would you price private companies? Are those just going to be free?

Oh crap you've discovered the loop-hole into which the billionaires are going to disappear! They are going to get massive loans to take their companies private and never have to pay that stinking wealth tax again. No more audited financial statements either. But the interest on their loans will be income tax deductible.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#657

Post by dragonwriter »

stevenjgarner wrote: post #604
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…

A wealth tax implies a tax on unrealized appreciated assets, which is beyond bizarre IMHO. So you buy a house for $500k somewhere. It surges in value to $1.2 million. You therefore have an unrealized capital gain of $700k. You are NEVER going to get that money until you sell it, and when you do you are going to pay a whopping amount of capital gain tax. But a wealth tax implies you pay that capital gain tax now. Okay…

> You are NEVER going to get that money until you sell it, and when you do you are going to pay a whopping amount of capital gain tax.

Ignoring the hyperpreferential tax treatment of capital gains, I assume? (LTCG are taxed far less than generic income, which in turn is taxed less than labor income.)

> You never got the income

It's not an income tax, so who cares?

Assets deliver utility while held; income isn't the only utility they deliver.

That's literally the point of wealth taxes.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#658

Post by 734129837261 »

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?

Well, sure. I think they were going with the wave of success and simply didn't stop. I've seen companies grow very self-indulgent because of their success many times over.

The fun bit is that in the USA, you can (almost everywhere) whimsically fire anyone without cause and without any transition pay. So what's to stop a company from just hiring a bunch of people while they're growing, and just kicking them out whenever?

I think they already realised it was out of proportions, but you look really (REALLY!) bad if you fire 1000+ people when business is going well.

You only look slightly less really bad if you do so with an implied reason that you then simply don't communicate to anyone.

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#659

Post by brailsafe »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #15

I think if employees feel slighted by being fired, they're fooling themselves. The best mindset is that you could be gone tomorrow. It gives you clarity and purpose. It also happens to be the truth. Coinbase was also extremely generous with severance. 12 weeks plus two for every one year at the company, I think. I've had the experience of being let go without notice and without severance. Devs seem a little more griz…

Is that the guy who posted a Twitter rant response to some leaked grievance last week? That fucking guy has a $110m house!? Seems like an injustice to me, holy shit

Re: Coinbase lays off around 1,100 employees

#660

Post by otikik »

krrrh wrote: post #341
jerry1979 wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not settled on this yet. I'm from the USA, and one thing that concerns me is the geopolitics of billionaires. What happens when USA taxes billionaires out of existence? Russia and China still have billionaires. Does that do something to the power relationships in the world? Is there such a thing as "our" billionaires? The other question I have has to do with feudalism. If we let "our" billionaires exist, does tha…

Billionaires provide value as alternate sources of power to the state. Distributed sources of philanthropy that can target areas neglected by government are one thing (Carnegie’s libraries, Bill Gates work on tropical diseases, Frick’s art collection which he donated to the American people, alternate media and educational projects (Ford foundation’s continued funding of NPR, Soros’ Open Society Foundation, Koch fundi…

> Billionaires provide value as alternate sources of power to the state

Lobbying is a thing. In the US those people can pretty much legally buy any politician they want.

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