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The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

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Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#91

> The problem, in a nutshell, is that for Bitcoin and other digital assets to have any chance of becoming mainstream, banks—with their access to deep sources of liquidity and experience in facilitating payments—will have to be on board. For the time being, they’re running in the opposite direction. What does Bitcoin "becoming mainstream" look like specifically? The article doesn't offer anything - not even a link. Le…

It seems easy to draw a 'commodity' box around Bitcoin and thus explain what it going 'mainstream' means: just as easy to trade via legitimate institutions, on behalf of people who have no idea about managing money. A small part of some portfolios, like gold. You seem to have some grand context beyond this? Please share.

Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#92
post #66

If I were a bank, I'd stay far away from any non-bitcoin cryptos that I'm not an issuer of. Why would I want to own a coin that someone else is able to freely devalue, in addition to conventional currencies? On the other hand, if I were a bank, bitcoin presents a compelling argument. The supply is finite. Disclaimer: I don't own any crypto or bitcoin.

> if I were a bank, bitcoin presents a compelling argument. Banks don't make money by owning assets. That's not their business model.

Good point. Catering to crypto or bitcoin firms is not the same as buying / lending crypto.

Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling this an obituary is rather hyperbolic. It is, though, yet another indication that crypto is losing momentum among mainstream consumers. Perhaps that's simply collateral damage from a downturn that's affecting all segments of the economy. But, then again, perhaps not. It strikes me as a distinct, qualitatively important development that's worth observing carefully rather than dismissing out of hand.

I mean, META stock has been a worse investment year over year than bitcoin. I know everything is relative, but the "momentum losing" I think is fueled by people who vehemently dislike this technology more than what the market is determining

You can't draw a distinction between people who dislike an asset and "the market" like that. The market includes everyone, not just a select group of people who hold a specific set of opinions.

Also, this focus on the USD exchange rates of specific cryptocurrencies is akin to moving the goalpost right out of the stadium and into, like, a tennis court or something. The shift this article is talking about is not about prices, it's about mainstream institutional support for the asset class. That's not driven by exchange rates, per se, because they're not speculating on it, they're simply enabling their clients to do so. It's more driven by things like whether they believe there's a stable consumer market that can be relied upon to cover their cost of operating in the space and provide some profit as well.

Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#94
post #74
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would a family even do with bitcoin or a chunk of gold?

In the USA? Not much. Bitcoin is a decent choice for sending your money across borders though! It could also be a gift if you think holding it long-term would be valuable. I remember my grandma buying me bank bonds as a kid for the same reason.

I usually send money across borders using Wise.com or wire transfers. What am I missing out on with bitcoin?

Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#95
post #82
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The supply is finite Until It isn't. Miners will one day decide to hardfork bitcoin to increases the mining rewards, hence increasing the supply. They will of course need to prepare the narrative, and say "it is for the good of bitcoin". It might be in 10 years, or in 50 years. But on a long enough time-scale, you can be sure of one thing: Bitcoin will change, because it's man-made and because it's mutable/forkable…

Has that worked in the past? While they could obviously create their own fork, they can’t force people to actually use it.

It's entirely political. The miners and related business interests that profit off of bitcoin have a lot of influence and a lot of clear incentives, but any message signed by Satoshi could completely alter the direction of bitcoin.

Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, not currently. The problem is where crypto will go after the next winter. Maybe FTX will have scared off the next batch of newcomers, but then again 2017 and people still were lured back again.

Difference now is that VCs have lost interest in the crypto space. LPs are freaking out over what happened with FTX and wanting to limit their exposure and investors in general are increasingly dubious that crypto is capable of generating sustainable, highly profitable businesses.

Indeed, but I have no doubt they will be back yet again, when there's money to be made again.

It's been the same with each tech economic bust, but the VCs come back and offer money again. Time heals wounds.

Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#98
post #69

3 years ago ETH was $100, today it's $1300, maybe we should all just wait and see before writing the obituary

1 year ago it was $3000.

A year ago TSLA was $368 and today is $120. I don't think we should ban electric cars or think the tech is dead

Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bank run isn't a systemic risk to the banking system because we have the FDIC.

How does FDIC behave in a high-inflation environment?

The government is good for all debts, until it isn't. But at such a point as it isn't then I think FDIC insurance becomes the least of our concerns.

Re: The number of banks willing to do business with the crypto industry is shrinking

#100

I have the feeling that this crypto winter is different than the previous ones. I think that we're finally reaching a critical mass of people understanding the nature of the proposition.

> I think that we're finally reaching a critical mass of people understanding the nature of the proposition.

Most people have only heard of Bitcoin and think crypto is about sending digital gold coins to people. That hasn't been relevant in years and the crypto industry moved on from Bitcoin half a decade ago and pretty much all of the development and activity happens on Ethereum.

Most people have never heard of Ethereum and only a small portion of those that have understand what it is. I don't think we're anywhere near a peak

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