Sametboy2019

14 hours ago, lkn said:

A private blockchain is an oxymoron. The idea with blockchain is that anyone can participate on equal terms to validate the correctness of the information on the chain, there is a reward system to incentivize people to “do the right thing”, and no central control.

 

Once you make it private, introduce authorities, permissions, notary services, etc. then it is no longer a blockchain in any meaningful way, just a regular database and/or distributed system, which is something we have used for decades, and using them, e.g. for medical records, is not “blockchain disrupting traditional systems”.

 

I already replied to that in this comment. Short answer is treasury bills and mortgage-backed securities, if we are talking about USD.

On 12/27/2022 at 8:03 AM, lkn said:

That is absolutely ridiculous. Do you want thousands of copies of your medical records stored on the internet for anyone to read? That is blockchain!

 

And what problem does this solve? If it is that U.S. hospitals cannot exchange medical records between each other, then that is already solved in other countries, and blockchain is not really a solution, i.e. in its current form, it cannot do it, you would need to agree on a standard for medical records and then have all hospitals update their systems to conform to this standard and be able to read and write to a blockchain. If you do all this work, you might as well just create a proper system without a blockchain, so that medical records are not leaked into the public.

 

Like a gift card? All this stuff can easily be done without blockchain.

 

Edit: Also, local municipalities can’t just “print money”. Only central banks can “print money” but they take on liabilities when they do so. Most crypto proponents seems to not really understand our monetary system, which is why they think that new tokens can just be brought into the world with some value assigned to them, but unlike fiat currency, they are backed by nothing, so they should be worth nothing.

Blockchain has private and public chains.

Fiat is backed by what? It used to be Gold but Nixon removed it. Now the US dollar is under threat as it is the reserve currency backed by the petrodollar agreement that you can only buy oil with the dollar but that is now changing with the BRICS partnerships and Saudi Arabia is in talks with China about buying in Yuan.

Russia is saying it will only sell Gas in Rubles.

How do you get round this? A possibility is cbdc's of a dollar, pound,  ruble etc. Then you use a crypto currency as a bridge asset like XRP or XLM to use a the exchange mechanism.

The new guidelines are for all non-Thais and will be effective until at least January 31.

Most interesting part.....Translation: If tourist numbers decrease then we will just change the rules!

On 1/6/2023 at 6:11 PM, ozimoron said:

Who told you they were supposed to give immunity? Educate yourself before spreading misinformation.

One of the new regulations is if you have had Covid in the last 6 months you dont need to be double vaccinated, just a letter from your doctor confirming it so they are obviously confirming that infection gives you a 6 month immunity!

FYI tests have shown that some people have antibodies up to 18 months!

My favourite is the DIY checkout services that are now in places like Tops. Thais are all so eager to use them but have no idea how to!

On 12/1/2022 at 9:18 PM, placeholder said:

And if your bitcoin exchange goes bust, you can kiss your bitcoins goodbye.

If a bank in the US goes bust, your money is protected by the FDIC up to I think $500,000 for each account.

And the USA's fiat money is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.  Fiat money is backed by ???

Anybody who keeps their crypto on an exchange almost deserves to  lose it

Because if its not legal then a 25 yr old couldnt supply weed to homeless 10 and 11 yr olds right?????

31 minutes ago, Phnom Penh Trader said:

The whole problem with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general isn't the product it's the halfwit,beanbag-sleeping,commune-living,trustafarian,lefty kids running the exchanges!

All trust and credibility has now been lost because of them and it will be very difficult to regain?

That's why we will more likely see more exchanges go down.

Regulations will be made and this ecosystem will most likely be handed over to some other custodians like JP Morgan or someone of that ilk.

5 hours ago, ozimoron said:

Sorry, I couldn't agree less. It's full of vested interests and hype.

That depends on who you follow. Its like the news. 

4 hours ago, In Full Agreement said:

 

So how many coins (?) do you actually own?     The shake up with BT isn't  finished yet.

 

Dont own any Bitcoin. Its just a simple rule when buying crypto.

13 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

And there are some guys that bought when the price was $60,000 and they are now thinking . Could've had , shouldnt' ve had 

Should of bought the same amount or twice as much when it went to $15,500. Get that DCA down!

15 hours ago, ozimoron said:

I don't use any social media site except Line because I don't believe social media is a good place for info.

How do you know if you dont use it? Twitter is by far the best source for crypto news. 

I'll just leave this here.

21 hours ago, jack71 said:

But they are all sh%t coins. You cannot compare them to bitcoin at all. Ridiculous comment.  

Alert! Maxi in the building

26 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

What channel is it on+

livesoccer.tv shows what channel it is on in every country

1 hour ago, lkn said:

Mention one crypto that provides actual utility, i.e. creates actual value, solves a problem (that we actually have) faster/cheaper than existing solutions, etc.

 

Common for all of them are, that no-one can answer this. Take the video clip that was posted, interviewer asks, and the response is just that the haters spread FUD, rather than address what problems crypto actually solves.

 

I have blocked @Neeranam so I don’t know if his posts have improved, but he also just used to rant about “the haters” and tell us we were just jealous because we had missed the boat, etc.

 

A few posters did actually try to explain where value was coming from, but it was done by referring to various yield farming schemes and play to earn games, of course we now know for sure that these schemes were not sustainable, but even back then, if you had just a bit of knowledge about math and economics, it was clear that in the best case “value” was just transferred (zero-sum game), no value was being created.

 

Where value is created is in regulatory arbitrage, for example Thailand has currency controls, so it’s hard to move money out of Thailand. This can be done via crypto, and imagine I have made millions in Thailand that I need to get out of the country, but I do not have proper documents, I might be willing to pay 10% for someone to facility this, and indeed, I can do that, but those 10% (of the money I move) do not go to people who “invested” in coins years ago, it goes to those who “help me”, that is the exchanges and the miners, the exchange fee is easy to find, the transaction fee depends on the blockchain, and some also have block rewards, so basically everyone holding the token pays indirectly for my transfer (via inflation), this is something few people understand, but a transaction on e.g. the Bitcoin blockchain costs hundreds of dollars (if not more), because it is such an inefficient network, I may only pay $2 for this, the rest is paid by issuing new tokens to the miner (block reward), but that increase the total supply, which should actually devalue the token (I know Ethereum also burn coins to counter this, but it’s still an “unfair” system).

XRP. Fast 2-4 seconds. Fees are almost nothing. 

Not a retail option as this already exists. For banks to transfer the money  swift now handles.

Eliminating nostro/vostro accounts.

18 minutes ago, lkn said:

But those chains can’t do anything which can’t be done faster/cheaper by a central authority. They are “better” than the fully decentralized version, but that is only because they are partially centralized, a few of them even rely on central nodes.

No, I am talking about governance tokens or the “native token”. Every chain has its own token, you need some way to incentivize people to run the software, this is done by giving them some token, and they try to give this token value by providing “yield” when staking it, or burning tokens to decrease supply (in some misguided belief that scarcity alone gives something value).

But no-one will use it, if it is not a better system. Practically no-one currently is using it. it’s just a speculative non-productive asset, I think it was @happydreamer above who admitted that it serves no purpose what-so-ever, but they still invested because “what if…”, i.e. thinking that in the future, it will take over the world.

 

Many people mistakenly think that there is value there, and that is why they invest, and they think that because we have people like the proponents on this forum who talk like it is a revolution, not realizing just how bad crypto actually is, and also not realizing that many of the things they claim about the existing system, is just not true, i.e. it does not take five days and cost twenty dollars for me to send money abroad with the existing system. These people tend to forget they probably have a Apple or Google Pay on their phone, and they can pay with that in majority of stores in majority of countries, and the amount is instantly deducted from their account, even with a currency conversion, if required, and they think having to show a QR code, wait ~20 minutes, and pay an unknown amount of money for the transaction, which depends on the current network load, is a better system…

You are actually grouping all crypto together when they are not all the same.

I'm not here to change your mind or win anything.

I know what I hold and I appreciate all your concerns and points.

I guess as they say "The proof will be in the pudding".

Let's see how this rolls out over the next few years

57 minutes ago, lkn said:

These things have “foundations” behind them that sit on huge amounts of their own token and it’s based on consensus with whoever holding the most tokens, having the most votes, and also getting the largest share of new tokens.

 

You really think that is a better system than what we have?

Before you were only concerned with what the tech can do. 

 I'm presuming you are talking about crypto exchange tokens and all the nonsense that has gone on with FTX and others

I wouldn't personally buy any exchange tokens or leave my tokens on a exchange as I believe they will all be targeted and most will go bust, be hacked or be regulated out of existence. 

There will be a few more scandals in crypto for sure but it doesn't bother me. 

Do I think it's a better system than what we have?

It's irrelevant. You or I won't be asked!

I only know this technology will be used so I'm positioning myself accordingly.

On 11/17/2022 at 3:56 PM, lkn said:

Then please quote that answer. The question was: What can crypto/blockchain do faster/cheaper than J.P. Morgan.

 

Bitcoin does 3-4 transactions per second, and that is a technical limitation. MasterCard does around 5,000 and has never had a congestion issue, i.e. they can scale it based on demand, Bitcoin has regularly seen congestion, and in turn, high transaction fees.

 

Also, SWIFT is a messaging system, it does not move money, it ensures that banks can communicate in a secure and authenticated way. Banks are introducing delays, e.g. a bank may flag all payments above $10,000 and/or which goes to certain countries, and require manual verification of these before they are processed. They might even be required to do some of this due to regulation.

 

I think it is pointless to continue this thread if this is where you’re coming from.

Picking the slowest and most expensive blockchain v Mastercard is hardly a fair comparison!

ADA can process about 1 million transactions per second (TSP)

Cosmos (ATOM) can process 10,000 transactions per second with an average confirmation time of 2-3 Seconds

Avalanche offers a throughput of 5000 TPS with an average confirmation time of 1-2 sec

Many other also.

Im aware what swift does and the change to iso2002 incoming. 

13 hours ago, lkn said:

Classic con man. Notice how the interviewer ask a real question about how this will affect someone like J.P. Morgan, i.e. what will the “competition” (XRP/crypto) do better/faster/cheaper, that will cause J.P. Morgan to lose customers/marketshare.

 

And then a complete non-answer, because this guy has no answer!

 

You will find this again and again, I see above you quoted @Neeranamclaiming it takes 5 days and costs $20 to send money to Scotland. So I wonder, if I can teach him how he can send money to Scotland instantly and free of charge, does that make crypto useless?

 

Anyway, it’s really all very simple: A system with tens of thousands of computers constantly working to validate the same transactions (giving it an extremely limited throughput) will never be cheaper or faster than a smaller network of a few trusted nodes, you shouldn’t need to be a computer science genius to understand that.

 

As for XRP, the idea here I think is more to provide an intermediary currency (rather than provide a payment network, although I know they also have such a thing). But USD is already used to solve this problem, but I guess some people will rather trust some founder of a tech startup than the Federal Reserve.

Sorry i must of heard a different answer to you. He asked the question and Draper's answer was overall scenario rather than direct but then Gensler butts in and gets to the point quicker than Draper by saying "Then they adopt the technology"!

The example of tens of thousands of computers v the smaller network is only valid if the tech is the same but using a older system thats is more energy consuming  v a newer greener tech make that argument invalid.

Also the system now is swift  so that is not faster or cheaper than any crypto/blockchain. If you are talking about systems like Wise i get what your saying but im talking from a wholesale point of view not retail. Wise isnt going to take a payment of trillions of dollars like Swift does. Wise is a P2P payment system.

The Federal Reserve are arguably the biggest criminals on the planet.

The initial argument about sending money is correct. I dont know why anybody would use swift to send smaller amounts of money but many people still do through lack of knowledge.

XRP is primarily a settlement system. The ability to exchange in 4 second and for a fraction of a penny. Now with a wholesale CBDC we see a system for banks to move the money they move each day through swift to be moved using XRP (Ripples patented ODL technology) eliminating the need for Nostro/Vostro accounts.

Im not sure that retail will see this technology given to us yet as im sure the banks would like to keep robbing the middle and working class for a few more years.

This all might tie in with the implementation of ISO2022 from Nov 2022 ending with full implementation by the end of 2025.

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Cross border payments use a great technology, developed in the 1970s, called Swift. 

If I make a transaction to my family in Scotland, it takes 10 days to arrive and costs only $20. 

Nowadays, I send BTC to my mother, it arrives around 20 minutes after I send it and costs $2.

SCB, the largest in Thailand used XRP in a corridor to Japan, where Thais working in Japan could transfer money using the blockchain in 2 seconds for maybe 5 baht. 

Mexico also uses XRP in a corridor with the USA. The banks obviously don't likethis and are fighting for their lives to create FUD regarding cross border payments using crypto, and moreso about DeFi. Blockchain is the future and those predictable haters saying that crypto has no utility are tiresome. 

I've seen it twice before with BTC; those haters who missed out try to justify their not buying it cheap by waiting until the end of the bull run and subsequent bear market to come and spread FUD, cherry picking numbers from 1 year ago. EXACTLY the same criticisms as when BTC went to $200 in Jan 2015, $3,500 in Jan 2019, or $3,500 in March 2020. The same haters will be here, mark my words, in 2026 when BTC has crashed to $50,000. I have no idea why they can't learn from their error of not buying BTC, and actually buy now, or at least DCA in at $17k. 

Agree with everything you say. Im not on the BTC boat though. I dont see any utility in it and maybe the best gains have already been had but thats just my opinion. 

XRP has the ability to be a real game changer and maybe after this lawsuit finishes we will see some serious adoption. 

This interview clip sums it up nicely

8 hours ago, lkn said:

The problem here is that the banking system is fragmented, do you agree? I.e. does my small savings bank have nostro/vostro accounts with your small savings bank in another country? If not, we have to go through an intermediary, and that add delays and fees.

 

How does blockchain solve that? By having all banks just use the blockchain, right? But then the real solution here is just to have all banks “use the same system”. This is no different than how we already solved the problem in Europe: By having all banks go via ECB. So all banks in the European Monetary Zone can do instant transfers 24/7 between each other, because they are all connected to the same system (ECB).

 

The U.S. has been pretty slow, but I think they now have a similar system where all U.S. banks can now do instant transfers among each other.

 

So to be clear here, blockchain is not the solution, moving everyone to the same system is the solution. People think that blockchain is a solution because “we can already do it with blockchain”, but really, we cannot, we have to go through multiple third parties and end up paying lots of fees, it is way less efficient than something like Wise or SEPA Instant Payments, and it does not connect more institutions (where you have your money) than the former.

 

Also, you have to remember the regulatory requirements. Not just KYC/AML, but also consumer protection, e.g. when Citibank accidentally sends $500 million to the wrong account, there needs to be recourse.

 

How?

But then the real solution here is just to have all banks “use the same system”

Yes i believe moving to one system is the future. It Doesnt matter what the currency is its what is behind it! 

Euro banks moving to each other is obvious as the currency is the same. Why would it not be instant?

Now BRICS are recruiting new countries and they are circumnavigating swift with their own system. An old institution that connected the World in payments will need to adapt. Looks like the iso20022 messaging system will assist in that. A few cryptos out there have alleged partnerships. 

“we can already do it with blockchain”, but really, we cannot, we have to go through multiple third parties and end up paying lots of fees

Who are the multiple parties? and what fees are you paying?

I have money in my bank and i send it to my exchange. I then buy crypto (fees depend on exchange) and then i send it to my ledger. Unless your buying BTC or any ETH coins then transfer fees are almost nothing.

Also most blockchain is open source so anybody with some knowledge can make something on it.

Regulations are coming for sure. I still think something worse is lurking out there for the market in general!

36 minutes ago, lkn said:

I’m not so sure about that. Reports from people tasked with looking into this basically asks: “what problem are we trying to solve?”.

 

The best answer I have seen is to get rid of “private money”, but it’s questionable if we actually want this. There was The Narrow Bank which was basically a proxy for depositing your money directly with The Federal Reserve (which CBDC would be), but they were not granted a banking license, exactly because credit does play an important role in society.

 

And to quote another poster:

 

Exactly, except, we’re not halfway there, we are there! Many countries have been there for at least a decade, in Europe I can move my money between my account with Interactive Brokers (Hungary), Wise (Belgium), and Revolut (Lithuania) instantly and free of charge (with some restrictions).

 

I am not saying that digital money cannot be improved, but this is mostly a regulatory thing, i.e. they want to ensure the KYC/AML stuff and also consumer protection for people who spend money digitally / online.

 

Crypto, compared to what we already have, is a giant step back, and no, it’s not because we are still early. Crypto has to solve problems that money with central authorities does not have to solve, and the price for solving them is high.

 

If you disagree with the current policies, e.g. about requirements for accepting payments online, then yes, crypto solves a problem, but the problem here is then “how to avoid regulation”, it is not a technical problem per se.

Yes agreed. 

Your most interesting statement:

Crypto, compared to what we already have, is a giant step back, and no, it’s not because we are still early. Crypto has to solve problems that money with central authorities does not have to solve, and the price for solving them is high

There are many situations that blockchain/crypto can solve and is definitely not a step back in.

Two that come to mind are. One is finance. The current swift system is archaic and there are payment systems like wise or xe but none of these solve the issue with moving huge amounts of money like swift or cips which need nostro/vostro accounts to cover the payments.

Another is logistics where blockchain can reduce bureaucracy and paperwork. 

Actually almost all sectors can be improved with blockchain. 

26 minutes ago, happydreamer said:

Ya I agree with most of what you're saying here.  Definitely has a long way to go before it has a chance to actually replace fiat.  As of right now its a crappy substitute with far too many technicalities for the average non-technical person over 40 to understand.   I used to think the idea of decentralized currency was good but the recent events and how brazen the people running these businesses are has really turned me off to the idea.  Its like a new level of distrust.  if one doesn't trust their  politicians thats one thing but if you can't trust the people who are custodians of the basis of your wealth...thats not really a world I wanna live in.

Im continuing to accrue passively thru the rewards programs on my credit cards but I'm done with staking and exchanges.  Not worth it.

 

Best of luck...hope you make some good choices ????

I dont believe it replaces fiat. CBDC's are coming. People get scared about this but it doesnt have to be like China. Its like all technology...it can be used for good or bad. The most worrying thing is being switched off but even if physical money was obsolete we would find a way to trade with each other.

Decentralized currency isnt a issue, its who you choose to be the custodian. Always store your stuff on a cold wallet. Remember that banks arent clean either (2008). They basically take your money and invest it. If everyone went and tried to take their money from their banks we would see its not there just like these crypto exchanges.