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Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

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Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#281

Unironically excited to learn: Why is this a blockchain? Why could stripe not just do this (maybe better) without the blockchain bit? I am actually optimistic that, finally, there could be a convincing answer, because stripe does not strike me as the type of company that would do this without a very good reason. (I am slightly less optimistic, because the page itself does not offer an answer to this question, and ins…

Here is my attempt: blockchain is a 'good enough' way to bootload a platform for making permissionless dollar-denominated payments. You could technically achieve the same functionality, with better performance, off an interoperable open standards database and communication protocol. But everyone from global south governments, to the CFTC/SEC, to Mastercard would be after you before liability could be effectively dist…

At the end of the day, you are supplanting a monopoly with another and distracting from the main purpose of cryptocurrency which is to eliminate the monopoly role altogether.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#282
post #268
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of us are not really deep into the finance space. Maybe there's a good reason it's left unsaid, but the question I came away with after reading that page and this comment is, why are businesses finding crypto easier/faster/better? To me, it's not 100% clear exactly who Tempo is for and not for, and why blockchain is more suitable than traditional centralized database technology here. And it sounds like this sys…

All of the other comments are missing the point: using blockchain technology is a means to bypass regulation. That's it. That's always been the point of cryptocurrency.

Incorrect; it's to bypass the middlemen that create the links of trust between two parties exchanging money. That was the point of Bitcoin from the start.

(The many other crypto coins since then are mostly BS freud.)

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#284
post #17

I'm trying to figure out how this is decentralized? "A diverse group of entities" will run validator nodes. This sounds like it's just a Solana clone then.

it says its an evm clone, so it may not be like solana. Im shocked they didnt go the l2 route like many seem to do. They might pull a bsc with a limited number of validators and just make the stake requirements stupidly high and wink wink the company or entities close to said company, have acquired the majority of said tokens to become a validator and you would need to pay a gazzilion dollars to enter the pool

Like many L1s that have become Ethereum L2, so will this in time.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#285

Here's the play. It's very simple, and it's quite good. Stripe processes a LOT of money. The customers that get that money need to move it around. Often to banks. Stripe makes no money on that. Over the last few years, stablecoins have become a preferred means to hold and move money (for convenience, etc). Stablecoin providers make money on their float -- selling stablecoins means you get free deposits, and risk-free…

i'm still unclear what the crypto really adds to this play. stripe customers need to move their money around, and they need a trusted source to hold money. stripe could just do that. why add crypto into the mix?

So many of the crypto skeptic comments on this story are massively out of touch with the products and sophistication of the crypto industry. For those of us who aren’t, the question has basically been flipped to “what does a bank add to this situation?” .

I’m typing this shortly after buying my groceries with a visa debit card that was funded 30 seconds before the transaction over Lightning Network with Bitcoin that was sold at a 0.1% fee for USD and immediately then transacted on Visa debit payment network.

The reason banks are lobbying so hard recently to close “loopholes” in latest US legislation is because with stablecoins you even need them less and less to hold dollar exposure.

The days of traditional banks are likely numbered and the crypto skeptics commenting on HN have their world models upside down. At least that is my view currently.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#286

Unironically excited to learn: Why is this a blockchain? Why could stripe not just do this (maybe better) without the blockchain bit? I am actually optimistic that, finally, there could be a convincing answer, because stripe does not strike me as the type of company that would do this without a very good reason. (I am slightly less optimistic, because the page itself does not offer an answer to this question, and ins…

Because you can transfer stablecoins to an end-user without taking custody of it, and that end-user can redeem it in their local market without the local + US-based bank having to talk. It’s faster and cheaper. Stablecoins are a sort of “glue” between global banking infrastructure that otherwise would be difficult to set up as a provider (due to regulation), slow (due to bank technology for global payments being slow…

The controller of the stablecoin has full custody, whether or not regulators realize it.

The conventional system is slow, insecure and does not interoperate well because of regulation.

This whole scheme is just dressing up a centralized payment provider as a cryptocurrency to avoid regulation for a short period of time.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#287
post #209
post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll attempt an answer: Today, if you want to transact between businesses or retail (folks like you and I), you need to find a route between the two entities' banks. This route might take several hops, passing through some central banks, and some of these hops might be instant or might take days to actually settle. On top of that, you need to pay the service that helped you find a route (SWIFT) and potentially the no…

So why can a traditional bank not solve this? In Europe you can wire money across borders for free, you just need to know the account number. Arrives in seconds at 0 cost. I feel like a lot of the fintech in the US is purely a result of a lack of regulation. For the example of Argentina, the real reason that business is using crypto is because their currency is unreliable. It might be a good fit there but trading in…

Australia too has instant and fee free transfers, so American staples like venmo just simply don’t exist here. People just send money to and from each other’s banks directly instantly and for free. So why would we need another service?

Crypto here would similarly make very little sense.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#288
post #125

Ah the layers. Okay, so one: Obviously pointless from a tech POV. There is nothing that a Stripe controlled blockchain could offer that a database could not. But then, why? Sadly, as someone who does like the ideals of true cryptocurrency, yet another way to make sure "real" crypto doesn't happen, much like what is happening to BTC. Here's hoping (yeah, it's a long shot) people see through all of this and maybe, MAYB…

> Stripe controlled blockchain could offer that a database could not. A database cannot resist tampering by somebody with admin access to the database. It may be the only thing that blockchains have going for them, but it's a big one.

Whoever controls the protocol and network nodes can indeed unilaterally alter the blockchain just like any other data structure.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#289
post #268

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All of the other comments are missing the point: using blockchain technology is a means to bypass regulation. That's it. That's always been the point of cryptocurrency.

Incorrect; it's to bypass the middlemen that create the links of trust between two parties exchanging money. That was the point of Bitcoin from the start. (The many other crypto coins since then are mostly BS freud.)

I'm not sure there's much of a distinction; the reason there are so many middlemen is regulatory.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#290
> Tempo is a neutral, permissionless blockchain open for anyone to build on.

> A diverse group of independent entities, including some of Tempo’s design partners, will run validator nodes initially before we transition to a permissionless model.

> Protect your users by keeping important transaction details private while maintaining compliance standards.

Sounds like it actually has potential. This could enable global QR-code payments using and open, decentralized, and private system. Something like fiat cash payments, but digital. I hope that Valve is keeping track of it, for starters.

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