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…
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jasonmikula_fintech-partner-a...
When this bank employee expressed skepticism of "DolarApp" he was faced retaliation:
https://ia800508.us.archive.org/28/items/gov.uscourts.flmd.4...
"10. In and around the spring of 2023, Mr. Ibrahim became uncomfortable with certain practices and activities in which the Bank began to become involved. These included practices that, in Mr. Ibrahims opinion, jeopardized the Banks compliance with anti-money laundering laws, federal safety and soundness requirements for depository institutions, and compliance with specific OCC regulations and requirements that were particularly imperative due to the fact that the Bank was already considered a Troubled Institution
14. Mr. Ibrahim further objected to Axioms initiation of new business programs, without first obtaining non-objection letters from the OCC and without review by the Banks internal New Product Risk Committee, as required by written policies. One such project, DolarApp, was of particular concern to Mr. Ibrahim as it entailed cross-border movement of funds, which triggered significant concerns as to whether the Banks BSA/AML controls are sufficient, among other things.
15. But when Ibrahim raised these concerns with the CEO, Ross Breunig, he told Ibrahim to the effect that he did not want to hear it and shut down the conversation.
18. Almost immediately after Mr. Ibrahim objected to these practices, Axiom and Mr. Breunig began a pattern of retaliation. After the April 2023 leadership meeting where Mr. Ibrahim raised concerns relating to CSI and the DolarApp, Mr. Breunig began canceling Executive Board of Director meetings that Mr. Ibrahim attended.
19. Following a leadership meeting in May 2023, where again Mr. Ibrahim raised concerns about CSI, DolarApp and the overdraft positions, Mr. Ibrahim began receiving email cancellations to multiple committees and Board meetings.
20. Upon inquiry, Mr. Ibrahim learned the meetings were not being canceled, but rather he was being uninvited without explanation. Mr. Breunigs hostility with Mr. Ibrahim also became noticeably apparent during this time."
Of course Stripe, Inc. is neither a Troubled Bank nor an untroubled one
Anyway, it sounds like DolarApp could be useful for evading anti-money laundering and bank secrecy laws
"Importantly, none of these businesses are using crypto because it's crypto or for any speculative benefit."
That's only one of the many reasons people might be skeptical of crypto. See above
"They're performing real-world financial activity, and they've found that crypto (via stablecoins) is easier/faster/better than the status quo ante."
How much of this "real world financial activity" is not criminally culpable
100% no doubt