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Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

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191–200 of 203 posts

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But as we can see from anything else, X when digital becomes completely different, it becomes at the same time possible to scale it, to automate it and it becomes international. I fear regulatory capture that will capture all the innovation and profits for US VCs (again).

Money is already digital, highly automated and internationally scaled. The American payments/settlement system is arguably more decentralised than blockchains. Crypto brings unique attributes to the table. But being digital, automatable and international aren’t major differentiators. To the degree we’re seeing a persistent class of winners in crypto, it’s not users. And it’s not VCs. It’s Wall Street. Because this is…

There are two companies (Visa, MasterCard) that have a global oligopoly and full control. If you get on a blacklist for one you are done, your internet economic life is over (except crypto). I don't care if Wall Street is profiting by speculation if I'm not excluded myself, the problem is that WS is getting a lot of help with the US regulators that then regulate the global market in a way that excludes poor people.

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#192

Bitcoin has less foundation- or team-based leadership that have plagued other crypto projects. This leadership (eg Ethereum foundation) gives crypto projects the air of legitimacy, but also the impression, as Hinman put it, that some managerial work and direction is expected, tipping the scale towards security. If the network becomes decentralized to the point where no one party has sway over its direction (even a go…

How is this any different than something like GRIN? I'm not involved in either community, but at least superficially they certainly look similar.

If anything, Grin looks more commodity like than Bitcoin, with no artificial cap on supply, and no financial reward for its creators.

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#193
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The opportunity cost of not investing is in a different ballpark from spending that money on machines and electricity.

You don't know that. Moreover PoS can require that the tokens be spent permanently (not just deposited somewhere).

Yes I do know that parking money is a different ballpark of cost from spending money.

> Moreover PoS can require that the tokens be spent permanently (not just deposited somewhere).

Is that really a "stake"?

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Money is already digital, highly automated and internationally scaled. The American payments/settlement system is arguably more decentralised than blockchains. Crypto brings unique attributes to the table. But being digital, automatable and international aren’t major differentiators. To the degree we’re seeing a persistent class of winners in crypto, it’s not users. And it’s not VCs. It’s Wall Street. Because this is…

There are two companies (Visa, MasterCard) that have a global oligopoly and full control. If you get on a blacklist for one you are done, your internet economic life is over (except crypto). I don't care if Wall Street is profiting by speculation if I'm not excluded myself, the problem is that WS is getting a lot of help with the US regulators that then regulate the global market in a way that excludes poor people.

> two companies (Visa, MasterCard) that have a global oligopoly and full control

For one set of rails. Wires, ACH, and a number of other payment rails exist and outclass Visa + MasterCard. (Also, technically, Visa and MasterCard are analogous to SWIFT. They process payment messages. Not the transfer of dollars per se. If they chose, they could execute transactions in Bitcoin with the issuing bank and merchant bank then settling the trade on the blockchain or whatever offline.)

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Commodities have no capped supply Since when has this ever been true? Silver is a commodity, is it not? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Thursday

That wikipedia article mentions derivative market silver,it is a contract based silver at futures excchanges. Silver has a perpetual mining for thousand years, like gold.

Surely there is a finite quantity of silver and gold in the earth, though, is there not?

Not all of the silver and gold in the ground has been mined, to be sure, but neither has all of the Bitcoin, either.

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#196
post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't know that. Moreover PoS can require that the tokens be spent permanently (not just deposited somewhere).

Yes I do know that parking money is a different ballpark of cost from spending money. > Moreover PoS can require that the tokens be spent permanently (not just deposited somewhere). Is that really a "stake"?

So you're saying you know that an unknown quantity is greater than another unknown quantity.

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two companies (Visa, MasterCard) that have a global oligopoly and full control. If you get on a blacklist for one you are done, your internet economic life is over (except crypto). I don't care if Wall Street is profiting by speculation if I'm not excluded myself, the problem is that WS is getting a lot of help with the US regulators that then regulate the global market in a way that excludes poor people.

> two companies (Visa, MasterCard) that have a global oligopoly and full control For one set of rails. Wires, ACH, and a number of other payment rails exist and outclass Visa + MasterCard. (Also, technically, Visa and MasterCard are analogous to SWIFT. They process payment messages . Not the transfer of dollars per se . If they chose, they could execute transactions in Bitcoin with the issuing bank and merchant bank…

whatever the details, they fully control online economy (except crypto)

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#198
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes I do know that parking money is a different ballpark of cost from spending money. > Moreover PoS can require that the tokens be spent permanently (not just deposited somewhere). Is that really a "stake"?

So you're saying you know that an unknown quantity is greater than another unknown quantity.

I'm saying they have massively different risk profiles.

If you want a different example that might be more obvious, "put it all on a single number on a roulette spin" and "invest in a big stock index" both have unknown rewards but they're entirely different ballparks too. (And no, those aren't supposed to map 1:1 to the coin scenario.)

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#199
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're saying you know that an unknown quantity is greater than another unknown quantity.

I'm saying they have massively different risk profiles. If you want a different example that might be more obvious, "put it all on a single number on a roulette spin" and "invest in a big stock index" both have unknown rewards but they're entirely different ballparks too. (And no, those aren't supposed to map 1:1 to the coin scenario.)

I don't think I follow you. As far as I can tell, PoS is as much of a lottery as PoW. In PoW a player increases their chances of winning the lottery by spending real money on electricity. In PoS a player increases their chances of winning the lottery by spending real money on virtual tokens. The outcome should be the same, except that no electricity is wasted in the case of PoS.

Re: Bitcoin is the only coin the SEC Chair will call a commodity

#200
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Ethereum can be changed from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake on a "whim", how is it not centralized in some capacity?

That's quite a whim. It's been the plan since 2014.

Oh, so totally not centralized if there is a central plan. Totally no central group of committers so no centralization, totally no lead developers speaking at conferences providing direction and leadership.

Got it.

Decentralized.

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