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Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

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Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#881

Post by drumdance »

grafmax wrote: post #799
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,…

The issue with stablecoins is not just regulatory. They are fragile to market shocks.

How so? Stable coins issued under the GENIUS Act are fully reserved, unlike regular banks.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#882

Post by janfromaztec »

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…

This is not really correct.

When a stablecoin is issued on a public chain then the issuer cannot secretly censor transactions and the activity of the issuer in general is auditable.

You also get access to all the magical DeFi stuff.

Other than this you, as a person, don't need to be aligned with the current political regime you live in to open a stablecoin "bank account". This on its own is a huge breakthrough.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#883

Post by janfromaztec »

raincole wrote: post #403
dperfect wrote: post #348

Earlier 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…

> 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,…

Stablecoin issuers require much less regulations because their activity is auditable onchain. If they start misbehaving they get regulated by the free market - people will stop using the given stablecoin and move to a competition.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#884

Post by angry_albatross »

janfromaztec wrote: post #883
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,…

Stablecoin issuers require much less regulations because their activity is auditable onchain. If they start misbehaving they get regulated by the free market - people will stop using the given stablecoin and move to a competition.

You think that the free market has regulated or audited Tether? I don't think so, that company is about as sketchy as it is possible to be, and yet it continues to dominate the stablecoin market.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#885

Post by Izikiel43 »

bloggie wrote: post #806
Izikiel43 wrote: post #588

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So transactions are difficult because they are illegal, and blockchain helps to facilitate crime? Let's say I make drinking water illegal, would you still do it? Sure you would, you need it to live, laws be damned. In Argentina it was a similar situation, financially speaking, but with USD, as Argentina had like 1000% accumulated inflation since 2019, so basically the ARS melted in your hands, and the USD/Euros/cry…

I'm certainly not going to moralize against breaking the law, just curious why an American company would (apparently) build a business off of facilitating it.

They aren’t breaking any American laws

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#886

Post by dragonwriter »

bloggie wrote: post #806
Izikiel43 wrote: post #588

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So transactions are difficult because they are illegal, and blockchain helps to facilitate crime? Let's say I make drinking water illegal, would you still do it? Sure you would, you need it to live, laws be damned. In Argentina it was a similar situation, financially speaking, but with USD, as Argentina had like 1000% accumulated inflation since 2019, so basically the ARS melted in your hands, and the USD/Euros/cry…

I'm certainly not going to moralize against breaking the law, just curious why an American company would (apparently) build a business off of facilitating it.

American companies of all sizes do that a lot; its profitable, and even if it is eventually punished, the punishment is almost never sufficient to deter pursuing the profits.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#887

Post by kiitos »

stale2002 wrote: post #620
kiitos wrote: post #580

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> No, I am claiming that I couldn't spin up a bank or a stock market on my laptop, that is compatible with all the other stock markets, by forking a git repo. yeah, and that's kind of very much by design -- regulations that prevent this kind of yolo nonsense are a feature and not a bug

> and that's kind of very much by design Ok, so then Yes I have brought up a valid and in demand usecase, you just don't like it. Yes the point of all of this stuff is to make this usecase easy. Thats a real usecase. You just don't like that its easy.

it's in demand by malicious actors, is the point

we used to have markets that worked exactly like what you're describing, it immediately led to disastrous consequences for the broad base of society, and when we figured that problem out, we solved it with rules and regulations specifically designed to prevent abuses

you can suggest reifications of those rules and regulations to make them better, but what you can't do is suggest throwing them out altogether, that's pure regression

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#888

Post by J_Shelby_J »

louisanderson01 wrote: post #297
highfrequency wrote: post #81

> EVM-compatible, built on Reth Anyone know what this actually means? Both literally (what is Reth?) and what it means qualitatively: are Stripe’s crypto efforts competing with Ethereum or strengthening it?

Over the past few cycles much of the innovation in the crypto industry has standardized on a instruction set architecture that being the EVM. This won't make sense if you think blockchains are databases because the forefront of the field uses them as full distributed computers (state machines). But with every ne L1(bitcoin, eth, ripple, think base blockchain), there were different instruction set it was essentially t…

Most of the VC money invested into the crypto space is into evm projects.

By volume of real world usage, the standard is the Solana virtual machine though.

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#889

Post by abustamam »

sanswork wrote: post #710
abustamam wrote: post #709

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's a fair point, but creating an account on an exchange isn't too bothersome.

I personally use a Ledger device for my crypto. It was super easy to set up (though I wouldn't advise it to my mom, because she tends to misplace things). I linked my crypto wallet to my bank account fairly easily. So we can still get nigh-instant crypto transfers and fast selling of crypto into local currency (Speaking from US here, I think it usually just takes up to one business day). It's still faster than bank-to-bank transfer for large sums, which again, can take weeks for whatever reason they decide.

> wise without a linked account or PayPal or etc is the exact same outcome

PayPal without a linked account is actually pretty terrible. I did a Google search of PayPal frozen funds and this was the first result.

https://www.reddit.com/r/smallbusiness/comments/1kq14uk/payp...

Wise may have similar issues, I haven't really dealt with them outside of the occasional transfer, but I never let money sit in my wise account.

If you have custody of your own crypto wallet (IE not coinbase), no one can freeze your funds.

Again, I have my qualms with crypto, but the existing shitty state of ways to transfer money makes crypto very attractive. I have trouble even transferring money between my wife and my joint bank account and my personal account (held at two different institutions).

Re: Stripe Launches L1 Blockchain: Tempo

#890

Post by LunaSea »

whimsicalism wrote: post #754
LunaSea wrote: post #740

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's check how people use credit cards and buy-now-pay-layer schemes (Klarna & co) responsibly in America. It clearly demonstrates that people do not have the capacity to make critical judgments and have to be somewhat protected from themselves. That's als what regulations are for.

there should be a pathway where we can opt out of being protected from ourselves and crypto is it.

Yes, it should be opt-in, but this is not one of them since it's opt-out by default.
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