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Coinbase S-1

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Re: Coinbase S-1

#451

Post by atomicnumber3 »

ttul wrote: post #447
azinman2 wrote: post #437

So almost all of the comments here are about bitcoin generally. While that’s not totally surprising, does anyone have any insight on whether or not this S1 reveals interesting data that might inform the public about investing in coin base (eg why they filed an S1)?

Their growth rate is staggering, and they are enormously profitable. I was most stunned by the gross margins. They spend so little to make so much. It illustrates how feverish the crypto investing world is.

I worked for a prop firm that briefly did a foray into coin trading.

Coinbase's trading fees are *outrageous** compared to what we're used to in the world of normal equity/option/future/fx trading. Literally 100x+ what we're used to paying. You have to do absolutely enormous volume before they'll give you anywhere near a sane rate.

I'm not surprised they're printing money.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#452

Post by arrosenberg »

boh wrote: post #440
throwaway_kufu wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Gold is not an alternative to the financial system. The modern financial system itself is in fact an alternative to gold

We're going to need some more detail on that argument.

Not sure what OP was specifically referring to, but the argument is true in the sense that pre-1971, gold was money and currency was backed by gold. Now money is whatever the Fed says it is, and currency is backed by faith.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#453

Post by dang »

a2tech wrote: post #97
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.

We hate the central banks! We're going to take away the power from them and the government! slight inconveniences, fraud happens We need a place to store our coin and help securely move it! recreates central banks with even less regulation and security Profit!

Please don't post snarky dismissals to HN. It's not what this site is for and degrades the culture considerably. Since entropy already does more than enough of that, we need to spend energy going the other way. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

You can make your substantive points thoughtfully. As far as that goes, though, this comment doesn't say anything that the parent didn't already say.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#454

Post by uncletammy »

varajelle wrote: post #444
uncletammy wrote: post #430

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 system. At the time of writing this comment, if you want your BTC transaction confirmed in the next hour it would cost you ~ 10USD ( https://bitcoiner.live/ ) . What planet do you live on where you think a non-negligible percentage of people in ANY country, let alone a…

With the lightning network, the cost of a transaction is negligible.

You can't use lightning network without opening a channel. Opening a channel requires making an on-chain transaction which most of the world can't afford. Lightning network is absolutely useless on BTC. Add lightning network to a chain that isn't crippled then let's talk.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#455

Post by vmception »

graeme wrote: post #441
vmception wrote: post #407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

wow you have so many conflicting views, irrelevant comparisons between two types of markets and asset class, and don't seem to realize it? equities markets cant be compared to a commodity. so that invalidates your entire first paragraph, the longest one. as a corollary to that, don't derive your confidence from equities investors opining about commodities for the first time in their lives. you have equities investors…

> equities markets cant be compared to a commodity. But BTC advocates do so all the time by using an equity markets term, market cap. As far as I know that isn’t a term applied to commodities. Also commodities have a use value. In what way is bitcoin a commodity?

they shouldn’t either. and I address that.

bitcoin’s use value is what it brings to the market that people like and dont have elsewhere. transparent supply and emission schedule, 24/7 trading, faster settlement times, borderless self-custody in unlimited amounts, upgradable asset class with some attributes of multiple asset classes (commodities, currencies).

let me guess, you were looking for industrial applications and drastically undervalue speculation as a use value?

Re: Coinbase S-1

#456

Post by [deleted] »

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.

[deleted]

Re: Coinbase S-1

#457

Post by meetups323 »

azinman2 wrote: post #435
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Risk factors don’t mean “this will definitely happen”. It means this is a known risk for the system underpinning their profits. A more likely scenario is that the keys to those coins are compromised, somehow, given their unbelievably high value.

I’m surprised someone doesn’t spent 10B in computation to brute force those keys.

~50B in the account at current valuation, if Satoshi starts liquidating the value goes down dramatically; if it gets out that it isn't actually Satoshi acting, the value goes down even more (OMG if the creator of bitcoin can get hacked I can get hacked, this is a terrible investment, I'm out).

I don't think it'd be possible to recoup the investment, but if you have a strong argument otherwise I'm sure some billionaire/nation-state investors would love to hear it.

Re: Coinbase S-1

#459

Post by richardwhiuk »

carlineng wrote: post #445
azinman2 wrote: post #437

So almost all of the comments here are about bitcoin generally. While that’s not totally surprising, does anyone have any insight on whether or not this S1 reveals interesting data that might inform the public about investing in coin base (eg why they filed an S1)?

From "Use of Proceeds" on p78: "To the extent any registered stockholder chooses to sell shares of our Class A common stock covered by this prospectus, we will not receive any proceeds from any such sales of our Class A common stock." This is a direct listing, so I think its primarily a liquidity event for investors and employees.

That's standard surely? They will be issuing new stock which they will receive sales?

Re: Coinbase S-1

#460

Post by solosoyokaze »

dehrmann wrote: post #442
mediaguilt wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many have forgotten why we used the internet in the first place. The original promise of the internet was to become independent from media/science/gov monopolies. In the end FAANG (like most popular websites) is a great product, but just the same as before. It's centralized, hackable, has economies of scale, etc.

> The original promise of the internet was to become independent from media/science/gov monopolies Depending on your definition or "internet," it was to connect military computers to each other.

Agree. First it was for military, then academia, then commerce (dot com), then more commerce/social/mobile.

Bitcoin and other P2P apps starting with Napster were the subversive and populist tech that was built on a military industrial network.

I would say the culture and ethos of programming was subversive, the home computer market somewhat so as well. But the internet solidly originated within the establishment and was part of the cold war.

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