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Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

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Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#811

Post by uyzstvqs »

littlecranky67 wrote: post #765
uyzstvqs wrote: post #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…

> This could enable global QR-code payments In what currency? As I understand it, Stablecoins are bound to an underlying currency. If you do not wan't to tie it to a currency, bitcoin would be the prime candidate. And with its layer 2 solutions such as Lightning, there is already a decentralized system for fast, cheap and private payments.

If this Tempo blockchain truly delivers, it'll not be that difficult for anyone to create a decentralized exchange using smart contracts and AMMs. And you can create a Wrapped BTC to use as well. Also gold-backed stablecoins.

Lightning is not a solution. Having to run a node that's online 24/7 is unreasonable, and so is having to convince others to allocate inbound liquidity to you. Any wallet which does not require this is heavily centralized and often custodial.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#812

Post by te_chris »

immibis wrote: post #791
gamblor956 wrote: post #491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stablecoins will end subject to just as much regulation as a normal bank, maybe even more. JPMorgan Chase, BofA, and their ilk have R&D budgets large enough to have already launched a dozen stablecoins by now. They haven't, not because they can't (on a technical level) but because they don't actually see the value to it (on a business level). They're simply paying lip service to crypto because it pumps up share value…

Is Uber subject to taxi regulations yet?

Yes. Just look at London - where it’s private hire, not taxi, but still very regulated.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#813

Post by ForHackernews »

dperfect wrote: post #348
pc wrote: post #46

There 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…

Lots of things have a cost, and lots of things are difficult to manipulate. Bitcoin has value only because of speculation and the Greater Fool Theory. There's nothing fundamentally distinguishing BTC from any random shitcoin. Why is Bitcoin Cash worth so much less than vanilla Bitcoin?

It's very difficult for many folks to accept this, but the difficulty of producing something (mining) does not determine its economic value: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_theory_of_value

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#814

Post by Yizahi »

davidlee1435 wrote: post #526
thisgoesnowhere wrote: post #493

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But regulation can be a prison where you can pay to be free. As opposed to no regulation where you can't? I don't understand this sentiment at all.

Right now, the stability of your currency is mostly dictated by where you were born My point is stablecoins give you choice to opt out of that. The only way to opt out before was very expensive

And now western countries can also have ultra corrupt, opaque and controlled by a small oligarchy group currency system, just like some 3rd world countries. Yay, progress :)

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#815

Post by ForHackernews »

narrator wrote: post #527
raincole wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a shared ledger implemented with traditional databases / protocols would be faster, easier, and more transparent. Stablecoin is not a technology. It's an excuse. An excuse to do what banks do while not being regulated like a bank or using the infrastructure banks use. Similar to how Airbnb is not a technology but an excuse to do what hotels do without hotel's license. So it makes no sense to compare it to database,…

Can you do fractional reserve banking with stablecoins where you lend out the underlying dollars to people and don't have full reserves? That's what makes banking tricky. When there are a surge of loan defaults across the banking system the money supply shrinks rapidly unless the government bails them out. Thus, the need for regulation. One reason the U.S government has to like stablecoins is because Tether is one of…

Sure, you can! Just get Paolo to fire up the tether printer: https://cryptonews.net/news/altcoins/28875896/

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#816

Post by ForHackernews »

seviu wrote: post #792
vintermann wrote: post #727

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can you do fractional reserve banking with stablecoins where you lend out the underlying dollars to people and don't have full reserves? In a manner of speaking. You need to trust that the issuers have the reserve they claim. There's no way around this, unless the asset in reserve is equally ethereal (i.e. another cryptocurrency). Tether, for one, almost certainly doesn't have the reserves.

You would be surprised about tether though They are now really backed. It might be they weren’t. Now they definitely are. https://tether.to/en/transparency/?tab=usdt All these years all this Fud and so far nobody demonstrated what you clam. They are also the faster to block their stablecoin whenever there is a hack.

Have they ever passed a real audit? Not an attestation, not a pinky-swear from a no-name Caribbean bank?

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#817

Post by ForHackernews »

idontwantthis wrote: post #401
SR2Z wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At that point, a shared ledger implemented with traditional databases / protocols would be faster, easier, and more transparent. Except they are frequently _not_. I dislike crypto on principle, but you can't look at the exorbitant transfer fees and latency that a lot of banks charge for common transactions (Visa/MasterCard are especially bad) and say that crypto has no potential. Yes, it would be easier if we could…

> Yes, it would be easier if we could just trust our banks to offer instant settlement and very low fees, but they don't. I think everywhere but America has already figured this out. Instant bank payments are pretty standard everywhere else, even third world countries.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FedNow does instant settlement in the US.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#818

Post by cm2187 »

dperfect wrote: post #348
pc wrote: post #46

There 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…

The only convincing explanation of the benefits of stablecoins I have seen is that it is a backdoor for implementing narrow banking, which libertarians love and economists and central bankers hate (as it would cut off credit to the economy).

A narrow bank is a bank that takes deposits but doesn't make loans, basically parks the cash at the central bank or into risk free instruments. So it provides you with payment facilities, very low interest rates, without the credit risk that comes with a large bank that has exposures to all sorts of risky businesses.

Everything else is either temporary benefits of arbitraging slow moving regulations (but KYC, consumer rights, money laundring regulations, etc are quickly catching up), or as you suggest, some non sense about a zero trust system (crypto / public ledger) that fundamentally relies on trusting a custodian (so you might as well use an oracle database and spend in licensing what you save in energy cost!).

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#819

Post by angusturner »

baby wrote: post #202
jrm4 wrote: 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…

A cryptocurrency is basically a distributed database, except that you are getting different actors who don't necessarily trust one to run it cooperatively.

Yeah, worlds slowest and most in-efficient write-only database. And as soon as you need to interact with goods or services in the real world, then you still need trust anyway.

All these people harping on about: "Bro I just need to move my money without trusting anyone!, I just need a trust-less way to send currency bro!"

Trust is a good thing! Banks and financial middlemen aren't the devil. Look at how many TPS the visa network can do thanks to trust.

If it weren't for some minimum of social/institutional trust the whole of society would collapse anyway and your digital coins would finally converge to their true value (zero - or actually negative once you add in the externalities).

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#820

Post by whimsicalism »

Yizahi wrote: post #809
whimsicalism wrote: post #749

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not between countries

Last time I paid for something across borders, transaction has completed in less than 10 seconds and I got both updated state in outgoing bank account, and at the receiver side.

doesn’t work for all countries, transfer limits, have to trust some custodian, etc. etc.
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