81–90 of 515 posts
With crypto trading platforms, the SEC lacks any sort of oversight and access — and has scant ability to detect, investigate and deter fraudulent conduct. As a result, the crypto marketplace operates without much supervision Isn't that the main idea of a decentralized currency? No doubt this has/does/will harbor criminal activity, but it will also foster the ability to exchange goods and services without third partie…
John Reed Stark is their expert? https://twitter.com/JohnReedStark/status/1670457201943511040 "The only killer app for crypto that seems tangible is its excellent use to orchestrate global crimes." The bias is abundant, it's well known this guy hates crypto.
> The bias is abundant, it's well known this guy hates crypto. Does that make him wrong? Or somehow not a reliable commentator on the thinking at the SEC (which is what the actual article is about), given his having worked there? Bias could be an issue if he were speaking about crypto per se, but this is about the SEC.
Three highly speculative predictions: 1. The courts are more likely than not to rule that many crypto-assets -- but not all -- should be regulated as investments. It won't be fun for a lot of crypto traders. 2. Over time, the usual giant financial institutions are bound to become the dominant market makers in crypto-assets. In all likelihood, one of them will end up buying Coinbase. Those giant financial institutions…
Without any real way to convert back and forth into real money, what reassurance is there that the price even means anything when every single holder is incentivised to lie and transact with themselves just to keep the numbers up?
How can a global system capable of five transactions a second ever be integrated into “the world’s financial fabric”? Side-chains seem to just be a great way to centralise around more unknown entities who may or may not run off with your cash.
John Reed Stark is their expert? https://twitter.com/JohnReedStark/status/1670457201943511040 "The only killer app for crypto that seems tangible is its excellent use to orchestrate global crimes." The bias is abundant, it's well known this guy hates crypto.
Negative comments don't indicate bias. There are many alternative explanations. If I say 'Charles Manson murdered several people', that doesn't indicate bias. If I say it's raining, that's not bias against the weather.
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People cannot create fiat currencies out of thin air. When done it's a crime (currency forgery).
It's a crime if you or I do it. It's a blessing of quantitative easing when the rulers - our lords and saviors - do it.
1. The whole crypto is a get rich quick scheme with predatory practices everywhere. It's a wild wild west with no sort of regulations. Well, guess what, regulated industry is no different either. If people wants to commit crime, they will commit crime. The whole pyramid and MLM schemes have originated from traditional routes. it's nothing new. And regarding fraud, Did everyone actually forgot about Enron, Bernie Madoff and of course 2008 financial crisis where the almight SEC played a key role handing over billions and billions to these investment banks who knowingly committed fraud and pushed some of the pension funds into bankruptcy and pushed the whole world into recession. What's this fascination towards the old methods even though they repeatedly showed us that they are inadequate
2. I haven't seen a single use case of blockchain in the world yet. This is a valid critic and I do understand. Any decent distributed system engineer will understand that decentralisation is hard. consensus is hard. You know what was hard for almost 25 - 30 years and everyone's losing their shit right now and drinking the cool-aid? The good old AI. No one cared about neural networks until the compute caught upto speed.
Like it or not, we are entering a new phase in the technology where two things will definitely rise to prominence
1. Data is / will become the most essential commodity and I am terrified by the idea that few monopolies with their "don't be evil" facade will control them and become trillion dollar firms. We need to switch the model and reimagine how the internet should work. If anyone calls this paranoid,I am happy to place a bet that in ten years, if nothing is done, we will be living through orwellian future
2. A massive decoupling from US economy. I wonder what people call US economy if they call crypto pyramid scheme. Sitting on trillions and trillions of debt, printing money according to their will completely ignoring the effect of their childish actions on the global economy
When you think hard about 1&2 and come up with solutions, congratulations, you just reinvented the blockchain. If not, I am happy to hear how would you solve. In a nutshell, for god's sake , try to understand the reasoning and motivation behind why new ideas originate, gather a community and attract smart people to work on them
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He's not entirely correct. Crime is a major application but by far the largest use case for crypto is "investing" (gambling) in crypto.
The number one facilitator of crime/gambling is USD, might want to check your facts.
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Well, you just said that's he's wrong. One "killer application" is that it's a "stable" store of value. Not perfectly stable, it can quickly fall by a factor of about 2, and if you buy in the worst bubble it might fall to a fourth of its value. That's decidedly less stable than Western currencies, but it's more stable than some others. And for many people Bitcoin is more accessible than the foreign exchange market. I…
So, it’s stable as long as you understand it is unstable, and helps people without access to banking but with a stable, constant internet connection and perfect operational security, access none of the benefits of having a bank account. Oh, and it’s actually neither of those but if you wish _reaaaaly_ hard and ignore all the practical problems, it might be, someday.
> helps people without access to banking but with a stable, constant internet connection and perfect operational security
You don't need constant internet connection unless you are mining or want to verify a payment right now. And mobile internet and smartphones are surprisingly prevalent in the third world (and among homeless in the first world).
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The increasing volatility of fiat is making this less of a problem.
Maybe, but the world's major currencies have a long way to go before they're anywhere near Bitcoin levels of volatility. At the moment crypto is suitable for speculation and not much else. As a currency it's only superior in a couple of use cases, namely if a government has frozen your accounts or you're doing something illegal.