Binance to acquire FTX • Hacker News Board

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#251

Post by mrtksn » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:43 PM UTC

majani wrote: post #216

I'm glad a big government supporter such as SBF is out of crypto leadership. Crypto is an anarchist experiment and it should remain that way

Rest assured that the regulations are coming because the crypto simply did a speed-run of unregulated securities market and repeated every fraud or scam that the traditional markets went through over the history.

In the process, huge fortunes were created and libertarians were empowered(but not enough to be the main political power). Congrats to them but there's nothing anarchist left in crypto, they even end up consolidated and centralised. No interesting business models or financing came out of it except for ransomware.

The silver linings might be that the crypto regulations can be made with the current technology and globalisation in mind, hopefully.

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#252

Post by from » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:44 PM UTC

chis wrote: post #172

kristjansson wrote: post #160

Why is it apparently so difficult to run a solvent crypto exchange? On the face, it shouldn't be too hard, just take deposits, stick them in a wallet, and swap client balances in a database. Is the temptation to maintain a reserve ratio < 1 just too great? Do operators try to earn small, low-risk return on client funds only to find there are no low-risk, positive-return assets in crypto? Are the extending margin to c…

Probably the insolvent exchanges are able to offer lower costs and better promotions to users. For instance Coinbase has always charged way higher fees than FTX for simple buying and selling of coins.

Sometimes they offer to cover withdrawal fees too. Still it seems like they should be making money hand over fist.

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#253

Post by nullc » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:44 PM UTC

Bootvis wrote: post #247

asdajksah2123 wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And people who knew what they were actually talking about were pointing out that it's unlikely anyone would have voluntarily left Jane Street as early as he did. But they were largely ignored.

It seems likely that the Kimchi arbitrage (arbitraging between exchanges in Korea an the rest of the world) was indeed massively profitable. He took a wrong turn later.

When I saw that he was using that as the claimed origin of his wealth I wrote him off as an almost certain fraud.

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#254

Post by moneycantbuy » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:45 PM UTC

I hope MLB umpires continue to wear the FTX logo plastered all over their uniforms for the coming years.

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#255

Post by matheusmoreira » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:48 PM UTC

mjr00 wrote: post #4

So after SBF came out yesterday and said FTX was totally fine.. it turns out they were insolvent and needed to get bailed out to cover withdrawals? Never a dull moment in the world of crypto.

Crypto? This is nothing but a good old bank run.

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#256

Post by JumpCrisscross » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:48 PM UTC

matheusmoreira wrote: post #255

mjr00 wrote: post #4

So after SBF came out yesterday and said FTX was totally fine.. it turns out they were insolvent and needed to get bailed out to cover withdrawals? Never a dull moment in the world of crypto.

Crypto? This is nothing but a good old bank run.

> nothing but a good old bank run

Exchanges aren't subject to bank runs. If an exchange (or even broker) cries run, they were taking novel risks.

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#257

Post by matheusmoreira » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:49 PM UTC

oldgradstudent wrote: post #237

pranshum wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Every banker knows that if he has to prove he is worthy of credit, in fact his credit is gone." - Bagehot

They claim to be an exchange, not a bank, not investing user assets. https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/1589598285798707202 The Bagehot quote is not SUPPOSED to apply.

> They claim to be an exchange, not a bank

They're liars. They are literally banks with all of the drawbacks and none of the benefits. They do fractional reserve banking with user deposits.

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#258

Post by matheusmoreira » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:50 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #256

matheusmoreira wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Crypto? This is nothing but a good old bank run.

> nothing but a good old bank run Exchanges aren't subject to bank runs. If an exchange (or even broker) cries run, they were taking novel risks.

They aren't brokerages, they're banks pretending to be exchanges. They do fractional reserve banking with user deposits.

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#259

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:51 PM UTC

miohtama wrote: post #156

ww520 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't FTT like FTX's own issuing tokens? It's like printing one's own money. But when the backing firm fails, the printed money is worthless, just like what LUNA issued by Terra had become.

It only matters if FTX was using FTT as a collateral for accounting purposes for a valuation that is not realistic considering the liquidity of a position size.

[deleted]

Re: Binance to acquire FTX

#260

Post by bolasanibk » Tue, Nov 08, 2022, 7:52 PM UTC

3001 wrote: post #168

billjings wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dare Obasanjo: https://twitter.com/Carnage4Life/status/1589867071693017088

Total unrelated but son of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olusegun_Obasanjo . Numero uno looter of Africa

Not to be confused with the talented soccer player Sam Obisanya. https://ted-lasso.fandom.com/wiki/Sam_Obisanya#Dubai_Air_and...