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Instead, I wonder if YC can formalize & self-regulate a secondary market as an intermediate step before IPOs. This is already happening, but with undesirable si
by dshankar 11y ago
Instead, I wonder if YC can formalize & self-regulate a secondary market as an intermediate step before IPOs. This is already happening, but with undesirable side effects.
- nostromo 11y agoSomeday I'd love to see a decentralized equity exchange built on block chain technology. Maybe YC could pioneer this approach down the road.
- ceejayoz 11y agoBitcoin was bad enough with multi-million dollar fortunes evaporating into thin air after people got hacked. Suggesting tying company ownership to such a thing makes me wonder if we're seeing Poe's Law in action.
- nostromo 11y agoThe existing ways of selling equity to the public also has drawbacks, such as high transactional costs. And, yes, multi-million dollar fortunes have evaporated into thin air under our existing legal structures -- Eduardo Severin for example. I agree this isn't something that is ready for primetime today - but it could be in the near future. Even multinational banks are now looking into using block chains for funds transfer.
- ceejayoz 11y agoLet's not pretend Saverin's situation is anything comparable to the ease of stealing someone's bitcoins. He also had legal recourse, which he used, successfully.
- voltagex_ 11y agoWhy does every thread on HN at the moment involve "X, but with Bitcoin"?
- aianus 11y agoBitcoin is the breakthrough technology of the 21st century so far. It's like moving from snail mail to emails in its power and cost-effectiveness relative to existing payment and remittance schemes. Besides that, it's a beautiful solution to a 30-year-old unsolved problem in computer science (the byzantine general's problem).
- aianus 11y agoIt's not easy to steal someone's bitcoins. In fact, it's much easier to steal someone's credit card details which get transferred around and stored all over the place and are embossed on a piece of plastic you carry with you in your wallet. We just happen to have a grossly expensive and unfair insurance scheme on top of it that indemnifies consumers against their own stupidity and carelessness. In the future, such a scheme, if so desired, could certainly be added on top of Bitcoin or other blockchain technologies as well.
- minimax 11y agoMaybe I have misunderstood your comment, but my understanding is that any flaws that may exist in the market are relatively small problems relative to the issues arising from the increased regulatory requirements (Sarbanes Oxley, etc) for public companies.