Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets • Hacker News Board

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#511

Post by krageon » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:41 PM UTC

ethbr0 wrote: post #487

taffronaut wrote: post #412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> People will start asking where your funds are coming from. >This is a weird statement. Not in the UK. Here there's a legal obligation on the conveyancing practitioner - which you have to use - to confirm the source of funds for the purchase. They "will ask questions about your salary, request bank statements and ask you to give details of any family inheritances"[1]. [1] https://www.bannerjones.co.uk/your-property…

Are those the new UK regulations intended to prevent dirty money from buying real estate? Or has it always been a thing?

I believe it is also the case in large parts of the EU and yes, that is the reason why.

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#512

Post by taeric » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

lordfrito wrote: post #469

After everything that's happened in this space, the number of "true believers" I'm seeing here is astounding to me. After a decade of use the tech hasn't found many real world uses beyond gambling, drugs, confidence schemes, money laundering, tax evasion, and other financial criminality. This is 100% the community's fault, as they're the ones burning a lot of real world capital to build this stuff but have very littl…

I mean, this isn't much different than the true believers in the liberating value of cash. And, at large, if you meet someone carrying 100s of thousands in cash with them, you have met a criminal. :D

Just like if you have a small vendor that takes cash only, they are probably tax avoiding. Buying drugs? Heck, even legal drugs for some states require cash.

I'm also still highly amused at just how inappropriate blockchain techs are for crime. It is literally recorded basically forever.

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#513

Post by hbbio » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:47 PM UTC

csomar wrote: post #251

elkos wrote: post #41

I'm honestly curious, at first glance this looks that could potentially affect cryptocurrencies in a sizable way downwards. I checked CoinMarketCap and it seems that the trend is comparatively stable. Can someone explain this? Please do take into account that I'm not very well versed with cryptocurrencies and I usually need an explainer in several financial concepts.

Some people overestimate the influence of the US. Maybe because the US has quite an influence over Japan and Europe. You need to realize the US is not the world and the world doesn’t care what the US institutions think or do.

That should be the top comment!

The US is not (anymore?) the center of the world attention. In a way, it's just that more countries "open their eyes" on the impact the US has on many countries. For instance, the US is an "ally" of France, but does a lot of damage to the French economy, on purpose.

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#514

Post by EscapeFromNY » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:51 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #510

EscapeFromNY wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of real world uses. - https://time.com/5486673/bitcoin-venezuela-authoritarian/ - https://coincodecap.com/danish-reporters-in-ukraine-buy-used... - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33644090 People from wealthy countries tend to reject the legitimacy of these uses because "my country is stable and could never have these problems", or "if buying food is illegal, you shouldn't buy food, you financia…

This is the same use: evading local laws. You just think it's good when it's a government you don't like.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. In the second and third links, what laws were being evaded?

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#515

Post by lesuorac » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:51 PM UTC

lordfrito wrote: post #494

EscapeFromNY wrote: post #482

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of real world uses. - https://time.com/5486673/bitcoin-venezuela-authoritarian/ - https://coincodecap.com/danish-reporters-in-ukraine-buy-used... - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33644090 People from wealthy countries tend to reject the legitimacy of these uses because "my country is stable and could never have these problems", or "if buying food is illegal, you shouldn't buy food, you financia…

> As long as it's still helping people, we should keep building it. What if it's hurting more people than it's helping? Just seems like a handwavy way to ignore the scams, fraud and collateral damage. We're talking billions. If we want to spend capital to help people in other countries, there are better ways of doing so. I do not believe for one second that the people from rich countries spending money in this space…

Keep in mind, ransomware predates cryptocurrencies they just used the existing financial system ...

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#516

Post by imtringued » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:54 PM UTC

tomputer wrote: post #483

mtlmtlmtlmtl wrote: post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I don't understand how... It's actually fairly simple. They're financially invested, one of the strongest biases of all.

Isn't that almost always the logical consequence once you understand how Bitcoin works and you believe it can actually work as a safe haven investment? Those who believe it can not work are most probably not invested. Those who believe it can work are most probably invested.

Those who are invested have no reason to understand how it works. They just need to recruit more members.

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#517

Post by greatwave1 » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:55 PM UTC

EscapeFromNY wrote: post #504

lordfrito wrote: post #494

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As long as it's still helping people, we should keep building it. What if it's hurting more people than it's helping? Just seems like a handwavy way to ignore the scams, fraud and collateral damage. We're talking billions. If we want to spend capital to help people in other countries, there are better ways of doing so. I do not believe for one second that the people from rich countries spending money in this space…

If it's hurting more than it's helping, then we should probably get rid of it. But you'd need to bring some data proving as much. The attention grabbing headlines that linger in your memory are a biased sub-sample. For bitcoin specifically, a notable crypto skeptic Igor Makarov determined[1]: > illegal transactions, scams and gambling together make up less than 3% of volume To me, 3% is an acceptable level. It's a lo…

> illegal transactions, scams and gambling together make up less than 3% of volume

> To me, 3% is an acceptable level. It's a lower percentage than the black market in many countries even.

Yeah, but that's because the vast majority of volume comes from speculation and wash trading lmao.

What do you think the ratio of speculation and illegal activity to legitimate use cases is? I'd be willing to be it's greater than 10:1, maybe even 100:1

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#518

Post by emodendroket » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:57 PM UTC

thaumasiotes wrote: post #496

cmcaleer wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The majority of sex workers online are not.

How do you know? Most prostitutes still have to advertise.

Because the umbrella is big enough to cover people selling nudes, I suppose.

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#519

Post by emodendroket » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:58 PM UTC

eru wrote: post #431

emodendroket wrote: post #379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems worse unless your big problem is not being able to exercise discipline (in which case a debit card would also meet your needs).

Oh, I wasn't worried about debt, but about scams and fraud.

Then it seems clear to being in spurious debt you can dispute is better than losing all your money.

Re: Proposed SEC order to freeze, repatriate Binance.US assets

#520

Post by George83728 » Thu, Jun 08, 2023, 2:59 PM UTC

hiatus wrote: post #464

nroets wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine got hooked on something really bad. We could all see his health deteriorate month by month. He's probably dead right now. Even his parents don't know where he is. He's son will grow up without a father. I never met his dealer, but I'm sure the dealer saw the decay and did nothing.

The fact that the dealer saw the decay and did nothing is related to the drug's illegality. If the drug were available in a dispensary where you had to go out in public and get your drug, there would be more opportunities for intervention. We already make it illegal to serve alcohol to someone visibly drunk. You can't apply rules like that when the transactions are occurring in the dark.

Is this a joke? There isn't a gas station in this country that will refuse to sell booze to a homeless broken down and busted up alcoholic that begs for change right in front of the gas station. Except of course, the gas stations that legally aren't allowed to sell booze to anybody in the first place.

Dealers have no morals. Even the law that bartenders aren't allowed to serve drunk people is an absolute farce. Walk into any bar in this country and you'll find drunk people being served alcohol.