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Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

blog.coinbase.com

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Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#321

Post by omarforgotpwd »

ThrustVectoring wrote: post #63

"Stablecoin" in general generates a ton of legal risk for the operators. If you can make peer-to-peer transactions with it, then the coin operators are definitely not complying with Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering laws. This will pretty reliably get the US Feds to raid your offices, seize your website and servers, arrest the principles responsible, and prosecute them. See also: Liberty Reserve. On the ot…

I go to the company and give them a dollar. They cryptographically sign over to me a digital Chuck E. Cheese token of sorts that I can cryptographically sign over to someone else. Just like I can do whatever I want with Chuck E. Cheese tokens, I can circulate my USDC around and do whatever with it. Then at some point in the future someone goes to the company and says hey I want a dollar. He signs the token over to them and they validate that it traces back to the dollar I gave them. They give the dollar to the other guy, presumably after fulfilling KYC requirements. So really they only need to KYC the buyer and the seller. Everything that happens in between is not really their business. It's not really anything really. Just a bunch of people doing cryptographic signatures and publishing them online.

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#322

Post by josephagoss »

Permit wrote: post #11

Stablecoins seem like they would achieve most of the goals of the original cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin: - Decentralized transactions - 24/7 access - Low fees - Store of value I suppose the only drawback here is that they're issued from a centralized authority. That said, for practical purposes the vast majority of Bitcoin holders didn't mine their own coins either. Despite this, no one on Twitter[1] seemed excit…

> most of the goals of the original cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin

Satoshi's main reason for developing Bitcoin is the economic model, the other stuff just facilitates this model.

This is one of the reasons why Bitcoin has the value that it does, because the supply emission curve is known and cannot be altered.

Mistaking the things that you list as core to Bitcoin's purpose is missing the bigger picture about why Bitcoin exists.

The supply emission curve is key to understanding Bitcoin and the reason people hold it.

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#323

Post by richardknop »

hudon wrote: post #195
mitchdoogle wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they mean if you are using your own wallet to store your bitcoin, then coinbase and gemini have no control over what you do with it, except not using their own services

Then back to my original point: If no exchanges allow you to deposit BTC, what are you doing with it? Once you've shamir-secret-split your multi-sig cold-storage private keys, laminated them, placed them in fireproof envelopes and dug them deep in the ground in 5 different continents... what exactly do you DO with your BTC?

You can exchange your bitcoin for stuff outside of those exchanges. Lot of ways to spend bitcoin without having to use an exchange ;)

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#324

Post by richardknop »

hudon wrote: post #193
celticninja wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can avoid gemini and coinbase if you use bitcoin. You cannot avoid them if you use USDC/GUSD.

When you say "use bitcoin", what do you mean? edit: Perhaps the lesson here is the more useful something is, the less freedom you have in using it. After all, why would regulators care if you can "use bitcoin" when "use" means "play with my private keys".

Transfer the bitcoin from your wallet to any other non Gemini/Coinbase wallet. Most crypto people have private wallets. You can also use something like localbitcoins or Bitcoin ATM. Or you can literally meet with a person selling something for a coffee, transfer BTC to their wallet, they wait few minutes for on chain confirmation, give you stuff you bought, done.

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#325

Post by richardknop »

rocqua wrote: post #277
asynchrony wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At some point they'll want to exchange their profits for real goods and services. They will rely on some exchange service to cash out eventually.

If most of the criminal money is used to transact with other criminals, then most of the money doesn't need to convert to USD. The real kicker is whether the other criminals are willing to accept bitcoin which they know won't convert to USD.

Those crime bosses eventually want to buy a new mansion, Porche, a yacht, jewellery/stuff for their wife/gf, you know, anything to actually enjoy their life in real world. They eventually need to exchange their ill-gotten gains for real money. They can't stay in BTC forever. Basically they want to turn the BTC they got from their criminal activities to a clean cash not linked to crime. There are various way they might go about it, basically similar techniques as money launderers use.

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#326

Post by asynchrony »

hndamien wrote: post #312
asynchrony wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your premise is to "fix" the monetary system, but you failed to articulate the issues that you want to resolve.

Currency debasement.

Inflation is a desirable feature in a currency. A currency should be a medium of exchange. Deflation encourages people to hold currency rather than exchange it.

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#327

Post by vkou »

lacker wrote: post #97
ThrustVectoring wrote: post #63

"Stablecoin" in general generates a ton of legal risk for the operators. If you can make peer-to-peer transactions with it, then the coin operators are definitely not complying with Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering laws. This will pretty reliably get the US Feds to raid your offices, seize your website and servers, arrest the principles responsible, and prosecute them. See also: Liberty Reserve. On the ot…

If you can make peer-to-peer transactions with it, then the coin operators are definitely not complying with Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering laws. You can certainly make peer-to-peer transactions with it. But I think you are misinterpreting the KYC laws. Circle (who operates USDC) isn't trying to be secretive about this. They are regulated as a "money transmitter" and a "money services business" - https:…

When I cash out $50 worth of USDC, how will Circle know that I'm not laundering drug money?

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#328

Post by Pristina »

Permit wrote: post #11

Stablecoins seem like they would achieve most of the goals of the original cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin: - Decentralized transactions - 24/7 access - Low fees - Store of value I suppose the only drawback here is that they're issued from a centralized authority. That said, for practical purposes the vast majority of Bitcoin holders didn't mine their own coins either. Despite this, no one on Twitter[1] seemed excit…

>I suppose the only drawback here is that they're issued from a centralized authority.

you know what they say: "those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it".

>A cryptocurrency that stays the same value is not very interesting to traders and therefore most of the cryptocurrency community.

the reason most of the cryptocurrency community is traders, is because of the price volatility.

now that that is fixed, people can actually use crypto-currency as a currency and hopefully we can have an actual useful tool for an economy rather than a FOMO-fueled get-rich-quick hype-machine.

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#329

Post by negaex »

anders94 wrote: post #197
jdoliner wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Circle keep enough dollars on hand to buy back every USDC? Or do you run a fractional reserve? How much money is that total? What do you do if you have as many USDCs in circulation as you have dollars? Stop issuing them?

Circle holds one dollar for every dollar minted, we do not run a fractional reserve. The CENTRE Consortium holds minters (of which Circle is one) to strict auditing requirements. While this information is regularly published, you can see all minting and burning operations (as well as all transfers and other token operations) in realtime on the Ethereum blockchain. See etherscan: https://etherscan.io/address/0xa0b8699…

It's worth noting that in the future, Circle may also invest these fiat funds in highly-liquid, AAA-rated fixed income securities. [0]

[0] https://support.usdc.circle.com/hc/en-us/articles/3600152783...

Re: Coinbase is launching support for the USDC stablecoin

#330

Post by provolone »

tomputer wrote: post #202
gwbas1c wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Despite this, no one on Twitter[1] seemed excited Because most people think that in order to solve the problem of a cryptocurrency, they have to also solve the problem of who gets money when you print it. Far too many people conflate the need for electronic cash versus the need to improve upon how systems like the Federal Reserve and their International equivalents work. Honestly, as a software engineer who underst…

If there is a need for electronic cash backed by USD and controlled by a central party, why use crypto/blockchain at all? To solve that problem a central database on a controlled network could do just fine?

Yeah, but where is the hype in that?
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