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Coinbase S-1

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Re: Coinbase S-1

#241

Post by notahacker »

koonsolo wrote: post #201
fnord77 wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in reverse. the evolution of the modern financial system is less and less friction for each transaction, lower costs. crypto: more friction, slower transactions, higher transaction costs. And wicked exchange volatility. Plus no way to expand or contract the supply to prevent economic shocks. I like my fiat and central banks, thank you very much.

I'm in EU, you in US? Send me $50.000 in the weekend through your bank. Let's see how fast it goes. I'll send you any amount you want with Nano: Try to beat that!

Feel free to send me as much nano as you like, but I'm pretty sure that since I can't actually buy things I want with nano, the process of linking a crypto gateway to my bank account wouldn't be quicker and cheaper than waiting for funds from Transferwise or similar to clear.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#242

Post by leetcrew »

blhack wrote: post #212
levosmetalo wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity ... Why do we repeat the claim of Bitcoin scarcity when we all know it's just a promise and nothing more, there is no technical limitation? All it takes to "print" more Bitcoins is for the majority of miners to agree to make a fork that will allow for more. And that will happen at one point. As for Gold, good luck trying…

And all it takes to "print" more gold is for a majority of people using gold to decide that lead painted yellow is, in actual fact, gold.

I got some pyrite for sale, great deal at $1600/oz! don't miss your chance to get in on the ground floor.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#243

Post by elif »

levosmetalo wrote: post #198
cactus2093 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t speak for everyone there, “we” don’t all have the same reason. I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity and you can physically own it but it is much easier to store and send anywhere in the world if needed. These properties also mean that in a pinch, if you live in an unstable society or one facing high inflation it can work as an alternative financial syste…

> I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity ... Why do we repeat the claim of Bitcoin scarcity when we all know it's just a promise and nothing more, there is no technical limitation? All it takes to "print" more Bitcoins is for the majority of miners to agree to make a fork that will allow for more. And that will happen at one point. As for Gold, good luck trying…

Your theory is fantasy, and your conclusion that it is inevitable is hilarious.

Please do a 2 minute read of the BCH wikipedia page and correct your comment.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#244

Post by justapassenger »

anonu wrote: post #37

Love reading the risk factors section. First thought: how can a lay person possibly understood the risks as laid out here? Also they view this as a major risk: •the identification of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous person or persons who developed Bitcoin, or the transfer of Satoshi’s Bitcoins; Second thought, what an incredible business and growth. 1.14bn in revenue on 193bn in trading volume: thats 60bps on every…

> 1.14bn in revenue on 193bn in trading volume: thats 60bps on every dollar traded. These are insane fees ripe for disruption.

They know really well, that best business during gold rush is to sell shovels.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#245

Post by ghego1 »

blhack wrote: post #213

It's so weird to me that here, on hacker news people have such a hatred of coinbase. Coinbase is a YC company, and if some of the predictions are accurate, will be the highest valued YC company so far.

With this IPO the portfolio of YC is ridiculously successful.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#246

Post by flixic »

Tenoke wrote: post #236
flixic wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I've been hearing this "being the most decentralized option" about Cardano in less reputable sources (aka YouTube comments) than HN. Can you expand on that? From what I'm seeing, Cardano has 1 912 pools[0] that can produce blocks, which is less than 11 586 on Ethereum[1] and much less than 100 000 validators on Ethereum 2.0[2]. Sure, many validators are controlled by same people, but there's a much easier barrier…

Okay, admittedly it's not quite there yet but by the end of march 100% of blocks will be produced by independent stake pool operators. The number of current pools is somewhat misleading - switching between them is frictionless, more will keep being added, and there are rules in place so they can't grow too much (staking rewards decrease quickly) and the average # of ADA per wallet is dropping ( I should've really sai…

> there are rules in place so they can't grow too much (staking rewards decrease quickly)

I think this refers to the k factor, that puts the "soft limit" on decentralization. This I see as a barrier to entry: Ethereum 2.0 is 32ETH and that's it. Cardano has no monetary fee, but has eventual competition between pools, which is variable, likely ongoing cost. Barrier to entry is less defined, and could at some point grow beyond dollar value of 32 ETH (to become a competitive pool). Whereas Ethereum 2.0 will always stay a constant 32 ETH, no matter how many validators exist.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#247

Post by tablespoon »

leereeves wrote: post #168
bhupy wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but you're talking about a completely different thing. Your Bitcoin balance, as it's shown in Coinbase's UI, is very different from your Bitcoin balance as it's understood by everyone else on the public blockchain; and that too only temporarily. There is nothing that Coinbase can do to permanently alter that supply of Bitcoin. That is what we're talking about. In contrast, the permanent US Dollar supply can and…

Even if Bitcoin replaces fiat money, governments will find ways to enforce monetary policy, because the power to put people in prison trumps any algorithm. A government absolutely can declare that the correct blockchain is actually this other blockchain, or the only legal algorithm is now a version of their own invention (like the split between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, but enforced by law). If the gov wants inflatio…

> A government absolutely can declare that the correct blockchain is actually this other blockchain, or the only legal algorithm is now a version of their own invention (like the split between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, but enforced by law).

To that point, I found this blog post pretty interesting: https://juraj.bednar.io/en/blog-en/2020/11/12/how-could-regu...

tl;dr: Bitcoin mining is mostly done by businesses, businesses will choose legal compliance over bitcoin-idealism, governments could wrest control of blockchain transactions through legal penalties (e.g. blacklist certain addresses and make it illegal for miners to process transactions from them OR mine blocks based off ones with illegal transactions). Economic incentives will encourage miners too small for enforcement to conform to the regulations. Bitcoin idealists can't do anything about it because their hashrate is puny and no one legit will deal with their forks.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#248

Post by dools »

levosmetalo wrote: post #198
cactus2093 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t speak for everyone there, “we” don’t all have the same reason. I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity and you can physically own it but it is much easier to store and send anywhere in the world if needed. These properties also mean that in a pinch, if you live in an unstable society or one facing high inflation it can work as an alternative financial syste…

> I like Bitcoin as a diversification for being a “better version of gold” - it has the scarcity ... Why do we repeat the claim of Bitcoin scarcity when we all know it's just a promise and nothing more, there is no technical limitation? All it takes to "print" more Bitcoins is for the majority of miners to agree to make a fork that will allow for more. And that will happen at one point. As for Gold, good luck trying…

Bitcoin is nothing more than a blockchain ledger of who owns Bitcoin

Re: Coinbase S-1

#249

Post by timr »

dd36 wrote: post #67
newbie578 wrote: post #6

I have no doubt that they have a good business model, and that they are positioned quite nicely in the market. It's just that these valuations are getting crazy.. Everyone is already pricing in like 10+ crazy years of growth. Not everyone can grow like Facebook did...

Agree. What’s the upside? How can Coinbase be valued at nearly that of large banks that process orders of magnitude more transactions and can actually earn money on balances? NYSE and NASDAQ are surely not valued at anywhere close to $100b. Does that mean Coinbase can acquire them? Bubbles are bizarre. EDIT: Yes, it is valued at more than ICE and NASDAQ combined with a fraction of the revenue and significant risk. Mo…

> How can Coinbase be valued at nearly that of large banks that process orders of magnitude more transactions and can actually earn money on balances? NYSE and NASDAQ are surely not valued at anywhere close to $100b. Does that mean Coinbase can acquire them? Bubbles are bizarre.

I wonder how many folks here remember that AOL (yes, the dial-up folks who put CDs in magazines) acquired Time-Warner in 2000, thanks to the internet bubble. They even subordinated their brand to AOL:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/business/dealbook/aol-tim...

By 2009, TimeWarner spun off AOL for a fraction of the original deal size.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#250

Post by koonsolo »

notahacker wrote: post #241
koonsolo wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in EU, you in US? Send me $50.000 in the weekend through your bank. Let's see how fast it goes. I'll send you any amount you want with Nano: Try to beat that!

Feel free to send me as much nano as you like, but I'm pretty sure that since I can't actually buy things I want with nano, the process of linking a crypto gateway to my bank account wouldn't be quicker and cheaper than waiting for funds from Transferwise or similar to clear.

That's like saying email was bad since none of the people you know have an email address.

Just wait and see which solution will come on top.

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