Live data from Hacker News

Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

bloomberg.com

131–140 of 145 posts

Re: Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

#131

Have Binance decided to let anyone know where their headquarters are yet? Or is it still top secret?

> headquarters What does it mean to "have a headquarter" in 2023?

I can only imagine that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have somehow given people the impression that laws and taxes are optional.

I mean, they are optional, if you are thief or criminal, but perhaps I've given the answer away.

Re: Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

#132
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A Hobbesian theory that people in power are happy that you believe.

Is there an alternative "theory" that actually works in the real world outside of idealist manifestos?

Effectively every transaction done today is done without guns or laws. I've certainly haven't had to threaten anyone with litigation to purchase a cup of coffee. To believe that there is chaos without both is a sad myth.

Re: Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

#134
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Principles are irrelevant in this space. The only thing that matters is actual laws enforced by people with guns.

BTC and Monero were built to resist laws made by people with guns. There were other attempts at digital currency before BTC, but they were all taken down by people with guns. That's kinda the whole point. That's why BTC uses energy. It's a means of resistance to people with guns.

> BTC and Monero were built to resist laws made by people with guns.

Not at all. Otherwise they’d be truly anonymous. People with guns know how to parse the blockchain and how to find you if they need.

Re: Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That's why BTC uses energy. It's a means of resistance to people with guns. That logic makes about as much sense as using crypto currencies in general.

You're not making any real argument here, so I can't exactly refute it. Proof of Work is a means of preventing any one actor from controlling bitcoin. Proof of Work is energy intensive, but the currency exists in a government resistant manner without the use of guns because of Proof of Work.

> Proof of Work is a means of preventing any one actor from controlling bitcoin.

No. It does not prevent majority attacks.

It has also been very effective as a mean to enforce an oligarchy of those who have the hardware and made billions, compared to those who did not and who were at the mercy of fluctuations. It makes sense from a perverse right-wing libertarian point of view, but it has nothing to do with democratisation or taking the power away from the government.

Re: Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

#138
post #10

Funny how Kraken/Nexo/Coinbase etc can still manage to maintain sterling deposits and comply with the regulators. I like Binance, but they dropped the ball in the UK market.

Uh, Nexo got raided by like 300 Bulgarian L.E. people, and most of management are jailed now.

Raided? Also what's "L.E. people"?

Re: Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

#139

Have Binance decided to let anyone know where their headquarters are yet? Or is it still top secret?

> headquarters What does it mean to "have a headquarter" in 2023?

The point I was trying to make is that a company's "headquarters" means nothing other than the place they're incorporated.

That "place of incorporation" is a very fluid thing, as it can be changed very quickly to adapt to changing regulations and optimize for rapid changes in the business ecosystem a company operates in.

And therefore: it doesn't mean much.

What really matters is:

    - the company's assets financial and non-financial and what jurisdiction has sway over them.

    - the people who control the company and what jurisdiction has sway over them

    - the company's customers and  what jurisdiction has sway over them
In 2023, the people controlling the company may be very mobile as CP has amply demonstrated, the assets can be very hard to control (damn near impossible if crypto, and still quite hard if cash and cash-like).

Where the headquarter actually is is IMO of precious little importance.

Re: Binance halts deposits and withdrawals for customers in the UK

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure I understand. WalletA has $300m BUSD and WalletB has $420m BTC. Both wallets are 'owned' by Binance. This is lower than the $1b funding on Jan 29th, 2022, but it is still a significant amount of "real" (if you believe crypto has value) funds. This is just an insurance fund that we are talking about here. I think you're referring to the rest of Binance proof-of-reserves, which are here. Note, I fully realize…

I think what they mean is, how do we know that the money in these wallets correspond to 10% of all trading fees at Binance?

And another question is how do we know those wallets were funded with fees? We need to trust the accuracy of the proof of assets versus liabilities.
Post reply on HN