Coinbase and the Widespread Adoption of Cryptocurrency(melewi.net)
melewi.net
Coinbase and the Widespread Adoption of Cryptocurrency
http://melewi.net/blog/2018/08/01/coinbase-and-the-widespread-adoption-of-cryptocurrency/
24 comments
Oiy, that was a bad article in terms of content, broad assertions without supporting evidence, superfluous animated gifs.
Besides the title containing the word "cryptocurrency", I'm not sure why this got on the front page.
Besides the title containing the word "cryptocurrency", I'm not sure why this got on the front page.
off topic, but what's up with the gifs in this article? they're super distracting and they make up 80% of the page.
It's pretty relevant though. The article is completely unreadable for me unless I disable images. I don't understand the mindset of someone putting huge gifs everywhere in their article, that is something a small child would do, not someone that wants to be taken seriously.
And are not at all related to the content - horrible.
Why is this guy shilling so hard for Coinbase? Is there a conflict of interest disclaimer I missed in this post?
Coinbase is the most user-friendly crypto exchange for non-technical users. It more closely resembles an online banking experience that most people are used to. On this point, I have to agree with the author.
This is sort of a question independent of that. The enthusiastic praise reeks of a potential conflict and I was hoping someone might have dug into it already.
And Coinbase is far from spotless. They have a track record of doing sh*tty things to their customers that you can piece together with a simple HN search. They might be the least bad option, but that truth is not nearly as ringing an endorsement as the content of the linked article.
And Coinbase is far from spotless. They have a track record of doing sh*tty things to their customers that you can piece together with a simple HN search. They might be the least bad option, but that truth is not nearly as ringing an endorsement as the content of the linked article.
The countdown to Coinbase getting acquired has already started. Now it's just a matter of when it will happen and which of the tech giants will end-up owning it.
Why would Coinbase agree to an acquisition by a tech giant?
* Coinbase is making plenty of money,
* Google, Facebook or Apple etc wouldn't provide much more additional value,
* and there would be a real risk that an acquisition would be a disaster since tech giants clearly don't understand cryptocurrencies (see AOL/Timewarner).
I could see an acquisition by a large bank or exchange.
* Coinbase is making plenty of money,
* Google, Facebook or Apple etc wouldn't provide much more additional value,
* and there would be a real risk that an acquisition would be a disaster since tech giants clearly don't understand cryptocurrencies (see AOL/Timewarner).
I could see an acquisition by a large bank or exchange.
> Coinbase is making plenty of money
Coinbase’s volumes have consistently fallen every month since December. January was less than December, February less than January, March less than February, et cetera. They're not in a terrific place, for raising an up round nor selling their business.
[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-the-biggest-u-s-bitcoin-exc...
Coinbase’s volumes have consistently fallen every month since December. January was less than December, February less than January, March less than February, et cetera. They're not in a terrific place, for raising an up round nor selling their business.
[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-the-biggest-u-s-bitcoin-exc...
Coinbase volumes spiked due to an insane spike in the price of Bitcoin. Starting your measurement on the peak of that spike seems likely to bias any trends. A better question is what does coinbase's volume look like if you measure 12 months from today or 24 months from today? [0]
[0]: https://data.bitcoinity.org/markets/volume/2y?c=c&exchange=c...
[0]: https://data.bitcoinity.org/markets/volume/2y?c=c&exchange=c...
> Google, Facebook or Apple etc wouldn't provide much more additional value
That's not true. All three have an enormous power when it comes to promoting certain technologies or companies. If Google starter promoting major cryptocurrencies instead of the silly GooglePay, the adoption would skyrocket. They literally have the power to change the world, and crush (some) fiat currencies.
But they probably wouldn't, their wealth is somewhat dependent on the political favoritism.
That's not true. All three have an enormous power when it comes to promoting certain technologies or companies. If Google starter promoting major cryptocurrencies instead of the silly GooglePay, the adoption would skyrocket. They literally have the power to change the world, and crush (some) fiat currencies.
But they probably wouldn't, their wealth is somewhat dependent on the political favoritism.
I'm an extreme skeptic on crypto, I'm not sure it's really useful for anything. But it seems to me that if anyone did want to buy this company it would be an old-line financial institution.
Why would tech giants want this particular industry? I don't see them buying guns manufacturers, despite that being a very profitable business.
It's almost impossible to pay attention to the article's content when it's constantly distracting you with huge animated gifs.
Why would something that serves such an extremely small niche market ever be “widespread”?
Rather than focusing on what crypto is bad at (nearly everything because trust is useful for 99% of its applications), crypto should focus on the niche where it’s actually good at: large money transfers across international boundaries.
Rather than focusing on what crypto is bad at (nearly everything because trust is useful for 99% of its applications), crypto should focus on the niche where it’s actually good at: large money transfers across international boundaries.
Ah yes, like how Coinbase told its investors that Bitcoin is great for money laundering and bypassing sanctions?
Immune to country-
specific sanctions
(e.g. Russia-Visa)
> ... niche where it’s actually good at: large money transfers across international boundaries
Is Bitcoin even good at that?
If you're going to transfer a million dollars from Nigeria to the USA, presumably you're going to want to cash it out at the other end. If the exchange providing your USD follows the law, they'll be asking the same questions concerning the provenance of the $1M that would get asked for a regular wire transfer. So you're not really getting access to the money any quicker in the end.
Of course if the intent is to diffuse the $1M into smaller crypto transactions and cash out those under the radar... Well, that's a different niche entirely than just plain old "large international wires".
Is Bitcoin even good at that?
If you're going to transfer a million dollars from Nigeria to the USA, presumably you're going to want to cash it out at the other end. If the exchange providing your USD follows the law, they'll be asking the same questions concerning the provenance of the $1M that would get asked for a regular wire transfer. So you're not really getting access to the money any quicker in the end.
Of course if the intent is to diffuse the $1M into smaller crypto transactions and cash out those under the radar... Well, that's a different niche entirely than just plain old "large international wires".
That is including or excluding paying capital gains taxes that is required for cashing out such transactions?
Ugh, please don't blog like this, hyperlinks exist for a reason. Each of the noun phrases composing the object of this sentence could have been a link. What Google tells you today won't be what Google tells you a year from now.