I think between you and me we've identified perhaps the strongest legitimate reason for resorting to crypto. It inherently cuts out the middle man - banks. Crypto has all the basic features of banks as a way of parking, saving, and retrieving money with the added benefit of anonymity, the likes of which people find attractive about Swi…
I think between you and me we've identified perhaps the strongest legitimate reason for resorting to crypto. It inherently cuts out the middle man - banks. Crypto has all the basic features of banks as a way of parking, saving, and retrieving money with the added benefit of anonymity, the likes of which people find attractive about Swiss and offshore banks. Of course, many people use it that way assuming - unadvisedly - a built-in growth potential not unlike interest. However, they don't comprehend the sketchiness of its reliability and the distinct possibility of a wildly negative interest rate. If the US Treasury could develop something with the features of cutting out the banks and a guaranteed return on investment - because the US government would be using the capital much the way they do with US savings bonds - it may be a workable response - unless the investor is trying to hide money and obscure dodgy transactions. I could be persuaded to consider such Treasury backed crypto a workable option.
But there are middle men that are losing other people's money. look at today's headlines from Australia...
"There’s plenty at stake. Since Yeo’s appointment, creditors, including ACX clients and Blockchain Global’s directors and management, have come forward with claims they are owed close to $50m.
ACX is not the only Australian exchange to run into trouble in what is – for now – a completely unregulated industry.
Last week, the smaller exchange Mycryptowallet also fell into administration, reportedly owing clients hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Globally, exchanges have proven vulnerable to failure and theft; Japanese operation Mt Gox collapsed in 2014 after someone stole 850,000 bitcoins from it and in 2016 hackers stole almost 120,000 bitcoins from the British Virgin Islands group Bitfinex, which managed to survive and still exists today. It’s not suggested that ACX’s assets have been stolen."
There is no FDIC insurance or government agency to help".
This week, the Morrison government announced plans to regulate exchanges – some time in the future.
In a speech on Thursday to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said the government would consult on establishing a licensing system for digital currency exchanges, together with regulation of businesses that hold custody of crypto on behalf of customers."
The consultation process is due to be finished by the middle of next year, after an election that must be held by 21 May 2022."
But as I understand it, no middlemen are required to trade bitcoin. I've always understood that as one of its big "selling points." That's what "open source" is supposed to be all about. Buy the software and boogie.
I'll wager people use middlemen for bitcoin because they don't understand it in the first place, are enamored with the notion of an unregulated market, and are convinced they'll make quick millions - or at least, greater profits than speculating on futures.
I think between you and me we've identified perhaps the strongest legitimate reason for resorting to crypto. It inherently cuts out the middle man - banks. Crypto has all the basic features of banks as a way of parking, saving, and retrieving money with the added benefit of anonymity, the likes of which people find attractive about Swiss and offshore banks. Of course, many people use it that way assuming - unadvisedly - a built-in growth potential not unlike interest. However, they don't comprehend the sketchiness of its reliability and the distinct possibility of a wildly negative interest rate. If the US Treasury could develop something with the features of cutting out the banks and a guaranteed return on investment - because the US government would be using the capital much the way they do with US savings bonds - it may be a workable response - unless the investor is trying to hide money and obscure dodgy transactions. I could be persuaded to consider such Treasury backed crypto a workable option.
But there are middle men that are losing other people's money. look at today's headlines from Australia...
"There’s plenty at stake. Since Yeo’s appointment, creditors, including ACX clients and Blockchain Global’s directors and management, have come forward with claims they are owed close to $50m.
ACX is not the only Australian exchange to run into trouble in what is – for now – a completely unregulated industry.
Last week, the smaller exchange Mycryptowallet also fell into administration, reportedly owing clients hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Globally, exchanges have proven vulnerable to failure and theft; Japanese operation Mt Gox collapsed in 2014 after someone stole 850,000 bitcoins from it and in 2016 hackers stole almost 120,000 bitcoins from the British Virgin Islands group Bitfinex, which managed to survive and still exists today. It’s not suggested that ACX’s assets have been stolen."
There is no FDIC insurance or government agency to help".
This week, the Morrison government announced plans to regulate exchanges – some time in the future.
In a speech on Thursday to the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, said the government would consult on establishing a licensing system for digital currency exchanges, together with regulation of businesses that hold custody of crypto on behalf of customers."
The consultation process is due to be finished by the middle of next year, after an election that must be held by 21 May 2022."
But as I understand it, no middlemen are required to trade bitcoin. I've always understood that as one of its big "selling points." That's what "open source" is supposed to be all about. Buy the software and boogie.
I'll wager people use middlemen for bitcoin because they don't understand it in the first place, are enamored with the notion of an unregulated market, and are convinced they'll make quick millions - or at least, greater profits than speculating on futures.