You lost me at, "request access." Only open blockchains will survive at this point.
Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
701–710 of 1001 posts
Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#702Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are missing the "trust" element of a blockchain. A blockchain essentially allows you to run a distributed database where the different actors don't trust one another. Tradfi is built on trust of entities (can I trust this bank? Can I trust this central bank? Etc.)
Yes, that trust is the fundamental difference. However, that trust costs money in the form of needing more nodes. You usually can trust your bank, as long as you trust your government. Regulations make it difficult for banks to misbehave. That being said, not trusting your government (which I can believe is a valid stance in some countries) is probably the only valid use case for blockchain IMO.
I would say it cost less money, running a bank is a massive cost, entire cities like London, New York, and HK are built around the banking world.
Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#703There are lots of crypto skeptics on HN (and we ourselves were disappointed with crypto's payments utility for much of the past decade), so it might be interesting to share what changed our mind over the past couple of years: we started to notice a lot of real-world businesses finding utility in stablecoins. For example, Bridge (a stablecoin orchestration platform that Stripe acquired) is used by SpaceX for managing…
It sounds great, but every time I see this argument, I end up going down the rabbit hole of actually studying how stablecoins operate. And every time, I come to the same conclusion: they always rely on trust in an off-chain oracle or custodian. At that point, a shared ledger implemented with traditional databases / protocols would be faster, easier, and more transparent. Bitcoin (and possibly a few others) is one of…
They are all mostly using crypto as a replacement/alternative to centuries old hawala/hundi system.
Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#704There are lots of crypto skeptics on HN (and we ourselves were disappointed with crypto's payments utility for much of the past decade), so it might be interesting to share what changed our mind over the past couple of years: we started to notice a lot of real-world businesses finding utility in stablecoins. For example, Bridge (a stablecoin orchestration platform that Stripe acquired) is used by SpaceX for managing…
I'm a crypto disappoin-ic. Seems like humans simply cannot un-shackle themselves from central control no matter how low the bar. The second crypto got steam the scammers, criminals and con artists were on it so fast fly's would be embarrassed by their shameless dive into feces.
Long term I'm still more optimistic on crypto than AI. I think part of the problem with crypto is it needs to be around longer than some government money to prove to people it has staying power. Only then will financial people start doing things like recommend a small crypto stash for your retirement just in case. The average person is not going to make the necessary critical mass move into crypto without some sort permission saying its ok and not going to risk all their money or jail time.
Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#705Earlier quoted context omitted.
It sounds great, but every time I see this argument, I end up going down the rabbit hole of actually studying how stablecoins operate. And every time, I come to the same conclusion: they always rely on trust in an off-chain oracle or custodian. At that point, a shared ledger implemented with traditional databases / protocols would be faster, easier, and more transparent. Bitcoin (and possibly a few others) is one of…
You are missing what many are missing, which is that a centralized stablecoin like USDC on a public blockchain is already much more useful and powerful than a dollar in a bank account, and that will only 100x from here. The reasons why are left as an exercise to the reader :)
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Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#706Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Over the last few years, stablecoins have become a preferred means to hold and move money (for convenience, etc). For avoiding regulation.
My online bank doesn’t support international wire transfers. I had to wire money to a local bank then go to the branch in person, twice, to wire money to my own brother in Europe. He then had to schedule an appointment with his own bank, go in person, and justify why he received such a big transfer, mind you, it was 8k… So yeah, it’s not about regulation. If crypto can help streamline all this, it’s a net positive
I wired approximately that much money internationally years ago with Wise (then known as TransferWise). Wasn't a hassle at all, didn't require any rigamarole, and importantly, didn't require crypto. What's the problem with using Wise?
Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#707Earlier quoted context omitted.
Protection and control are indistinguishable. And secondly what if the State is a bad actor? "Protecting" free trade from "bad actors" is just an extension of the state to control what "free trade" is from what it considers "bad actors". Bad behavior does exist, but current technology far exceeds the capacity of bureaucracy to implement free trade, protection from bad actors, and most importantly Trust. The state its…
> And secondly what if the State is a bad actor? That's ad hominem. You can make that argument for any player (stripe, any intermediary, the customer etc). Personally I trust the state (at least mine) more than any corporation. But that's just me.
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Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#708Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, you can absolutely do that with stablecoins. Why couldn't you?
How would the “out of thin air” value creation work in a blockchain ledger? Pardon my very naive understanding of both subjects.
Person A deposits $100.
Person B borrows $100, all the coins move on the ledger.
The ledger could facilitate the transfer while the bank maintains an "IOU" for person A's $100. The bank would be betting that not everyone will come withdrawing at once, just like a regular bank.
Regulation is the only thing that can prevent this from being done with any sort of crypto. The same IOU-based business model as happened with cash, gold, etc, could very easily be implemented using the technology. If you don't like fractional reserve banking crypto isn't a magic bullet that makes it impossible, especially since the general public probably wouldn't be sophisticated enough to know how to stick to "true" crypto vs "IOU-based fractional crypto facades."
But generally regulatory regimes have decided that the productivity advancements offered by the investment-through-loans of major portions of deposits are worth the risks. I don't think the GENIUS act allows this, though, so there's one regard where stablecoins are more-regulated. I worry about the edge cases, though - seems like requiring stablecoins to be paid off preferentially incentives using them for deposits, which could harm circulation if the reserves or followed, or which could screw over non-stablecoin deposit-holders if an institution doesn't comply and then goes under.
(This is closer to how regular banking works than the naive "banks create money by incrementing a number in your account." After all, banks are generally either (a) expecting those loans to be spent or directly giving the money to third parties like car dealerships or home sellers - which is likely to physically move the money to other banks, institutions, or cash, not just recordings in their internal tables.)
Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#709Earlier quoted context omitted.
My online bank doesn’t support international wire transfers. I had to wire money to a local bank then go to the branch in person, twice, to wire money to my own brother in Europe. He then had to schedule an appointment with his own bank, go in person, and justify why he received such a big transfer, mind you, it was 8k… So yeah, it’s not about regulation. If crypto can help streamline all this, it’s a net positive
I wired approximately that much money internationally years ago with Wise (then known as TransferWise). Wasn't a hassle at all, didn't require any rigamarole, and importantly, didn't require crypto. What's the problem with using Wise?
It may differ depending on countries, but I tried sending $8k USD to Malaysia and it took some time. Can't remember if it was weeks or days but point being it wasn't as instant as crypto can be.
Also, I think you're neglecting to point out the rigmarole involved with making a Wise account — connecting your bank accounts etc. And the recipient might also need a Wise account for instant transfers (but I believe Wise becomes a custodian for your funds in that case).
Crypto wallets can be generated by the click of a button. I think I taught my mom how to make a crypto wallet at some point. She didn't understand how to keep her crypto safe, which is its own issue, but wallet creation is easy.
I'm far from a crypto maximalist, but nigh-instant transfers with very little fee is a very attractive benefit of crypto.
Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo
#710Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wired approximately that much money internationally years ago with Wise (then known as TransferWise). Wasn't a hassle at all, didn't require any rigamarole, and importantly, didn't require crypto. What's the problem with using Wise?
It may differ depending on countries, but I tried sending $8k USD to Malaysia and it took some time. Can't remember if it was weeks or days but point being it wasn't as instant as crypto can be. Also, I think you're neglecting to point out the rigmarole involved with making a Wise account — connecting your bank accounts etc. And the recipient might also need a Wise account for instant transfers (but I believe Wise be…
Creating a crypto wallet to receive is just the first step though. If your mom needs her local currency then the same as with wise she needs to create an account on some form of exchange or pay an extortionate rate to use a crypto ATM.
If she doesn't need that then wise without a linked account or PayPal or etc is the exact same outcome without the crypto wallet security risk.