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Coinbase S-1

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Re: Coinbase S-1

#261

Post by ravenstine »

arnaudsm wrote: post #44

Many have forgotten why we used cryptocurrencies in the first place. The original promise of cryptocurrency was to become independent from banks. In the end CoinBase (like every exchange) is a great product, but just a bank. It's centralized, hackable, has economies of scale, etc.

Coinbase does allow people to store their funds with them, but it's common for people to buy bitcoins on Coinbase and then immediately transfer them to their own wallet, or to a service with far better security like Kraken(which will happen less once Kraken supports ACH and immediate funds).

Re: Coinbase S-1

#262

Post by lottin »

cactus2093 wrote: post #176
arnaudsm wrote: post #44

Many have forgotten why we used cryptocurrencies in the first place. The original promise of cryptocurrency was to become independent from banks. In the end CoinBase (like every exchange) is a great product, but just a bank. It's centralized, hackable, has economies of scale, etc.

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…

Gold is commodity. The financial system is an industry that provides goods and services. Gold is not an alternative to the financial system. How could it be? It's a completely different thing.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#263

Post by bdamm »

dools wrote: post #248
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…

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

Bitcoin definitely includes more than just the ledger. Without the miners, there would be no transactions, and without the intermediate processors, there would be no transaction intake. Without exchanges, there would be no value. Bitcoin is clearly a lot more than just the ledger.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#264

Post by jmcqk6 »

cactus2093 wrote: post #176
arnaudsm wrote: post #44

Many have forgotten why we used cryptocurrencies in the first place. The original promise of cryptocurrency was to become independent from banks. In the end CoinBase (like every exchange) is a great product, but just a bank. It's centralized, hackable, has economies of scale, etc.

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…

> an unstable society or one facing high inflation

What are the chances that in an environment where the USD is not usable, there is an available network and electricity that makes bitcoin usable?

Re: Coinbase S-1

#265

Post by PragmaticPulp »

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…

The core Bitcoin holders don’t want more coins, so it won’t happen. Simple as that.

The real elephant in the room is that new crypto currencies are being printed left and right. We may have a finite number of Bitcoin (in a couple decades) but one look at the list of crypto currencies will show that the number of crypto coins in general continues to explode at a phenomenal rate.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#266

Post by missedthecue »

justapassenger wrote: post #244
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.

Wouldn't that be more applicable to the GPU manufacturers? Coinbase is basically a bank.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#267

Post by mindcandy »

waheoo wrote: post #77
rawtxapp wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an exchange, as soon as you're done trading, you can and should withdraw your coins to your personal wallet.

This is such a trope. Do you pull your funds from interactive brokers after you're done trading? What about vanguard? 401k?

It’s not a trope. It’s being realistic about the problems and advantages of crypto. Problem: Counterparty risk from crypto exchanges is much, much higher than that of traditional banking. Advantage: Self-custody of crypto is much more secure than stuffing stock certificates under your mattress. Solution: Exchange crypto on crypto exchanges. But, don’t rely on them for custody any longer than necessary.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#268

Post by PragmaticPulp »

ravenstine wrote: post #261
arnaudsm wrote: post #44

Many have forgotten why we used cryptocurrencies in the first place. The original promise of cryptocurrency was to become independent from banks. In the end CoinBase (like every exchange) is a great product, but just a bank. It's centralized, hackable, has economies of scale, etc.

Coinbase does allow people to store their funds with them, but it's common for people to buy bitcoins on Coinbase and then immediately transfer them to their own wallet, or to a service with far better security like Kraken(which will happen less once Kraken supports ACH and immediate funds).

Some people transfer coins out, but that’s definitely not what the average person is doing with ever-increasing Bitcoin transaction fees.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#269

Post by iexplainbtc »

arnaudsm wrote: post #44

Many have forgotten why we used cryptocurrencies in the first place. The original promise of cryptocurrency was to become independent from banks. In the end CoinBase (like every exchange) is a great product, but just a bank. It's centralized, hackable, has economies of scale, etc.

You can't go to a bank, ask them to give you all your money in cash and hide it under a mattress (not in most countries at least).

You can go to Coinbase and simply transfer all your funds to your own wallet in a matter of seconds.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#270

Post by sdbrown »

spamizbad wrote: post #256
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…

> As for Gold, good luck trying to mine an infinite amount of it. Biggest barrier to more gold is technology. There's a ton of it in space.

I hadn't thought about that before! Very slick incentive structure there...like, build the tech to go to space and mine it and become enormously wealthy on Earth (ignoring the amount of wealth required to accomplish this).
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