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And exactly which utility tokens have real usage today, as opposed to vague promises about tomorrow? As far as I can tell, the primary real-world use case for

And exactly which utility tokens have real usage today, as opposed to vague promises about tomorrow? As far as I can tell, the primary real-world use case for cryptocurrencies today appears to be money laundering.

flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago
DAI actually works as a stablecoin today. It's pegged to the USD using crypto collateral.
- bouncycastle 8y ago
  Yes! You can actually do this on the blockchain right now: buy DAI on a decentralized exchange (or mint your own DAI by opening a Collateralized Dept Position), then lend it out for interest. (Last time I've checked, the paying interest rates were very attractive). The tech is still very experimental, but has been functioning well for almost a year, despite this year's deep crypto market crash. I also think those who think crypto is only useful for speculation or crime are very much stuck with the 2013 opinion of it.
  - jpatokal 8y ago
    And why do you think those interest rates are "very attractive"? Are you by any chance picking up pennies in front of a steamroller? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taleb_distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taleb_distribution
    - bouncycastle 8y ago
      Aha! That's an interesting question. "Pennies in front of the steamroller" is an oversimplification. Only DAI seems to be paying a high rate right now, other tokens not so much. It may be just because of supply and demand, there is quite a lot of demand for borrowing DAI. Why there might be demand for borrowing DAI may be too complex to explain to the hackernews crowd, so I'll leave it at that...
      - arcticbull 8y ago
        First of all, if it’s too complex to explain to all of us, it’s probably not a good idea. Second of all the steam roller referenced is the entire implosion of the crypto space. You’re getting fractions of a penny in interest which you could easily achieve in the real market with much much lower risk.
        bouncycastle 8y ago
        It's not that it's too complex because it's hard to understand, it's just that the explanation is long, and it will get downvoted anyway, so no use of explaining anything further. Save my fingers from typing. HN is a waste of time.

flyGuyOnTheSly 8y ago

DAI actually works as a stablecoin today. It's pegged to the USD using crypto collateral.

bouncycastle 8y ago
Yes! You can actually do this on the blockchain right now: buy DAI on a decentralized exchange (or mint your own DAI by opening a Collateralized Dept Position), then lend it out for interest. (Last time I've checked, the paying interest rates were very attractive). The tech is still very experimental, but has been functioning well for almost a year, despite this year's deep crypto market crash. I also think those who think crypto is only useful for speculation or crime are very much stuck with the 2013 opinion of it.
- jpatokal 8y ago
  And why do you think those interest rates are "very attractive"? Are you by any chance picking up pennies in front of a steamroller? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taleb_distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taleb_distribution
  - bouncycastle 8y ago
    Aha! That's an interesting question. "Pennies in front of the steamroller" is an oversimplification. Only DAI seems to be paying a high rate right now, other tokens not so much. It may be just because of supply and demand, there is quite a lot of demand for borrowing DAI. Why there might be demand for borrowing DAI may be too complex to explain to the hackernews crowd, so I'll leave it at that...
    - arcticbull 8y ago
      First of all, if it’s too complex to explain to all of us, it’s probably not a good idea. Second of all the steam roller referenced is the entire implosion of the crypto space. You’re getting fractions of a penny in interest which you could easily achieve in the real market with much much lower risk.
      - bouncycastle 8y ago
        It's not that it's too complex because it's hard to understand, it's just that the explanation is long, and it will get downvoted anyway, so no use of explaining anything further. Save my fingers from typing. HN is a waste of time.