5 ms·

Well, at least the author showcases their bias in the first sentences.

patio11 7y ago
I'd be interested if you think there's anywhere I make a strong claim without appropriately strong evidence. There are a lot of strong claims, but I'm justifiably confident of them. Many of them are cited inline.
- repomies691 7y ago
  It is more about the general "conspiracy" tone of the article. It is like "OMG banks can create money, what a conspiracy" by some people who are surprised by the facts on how financial system works when they finally learn some basics. There is strong demand for any kind of vehicle which allows transferring value digitally outside of the traditional banking system. I don't think tether users trust tether because they advertise on their website that it is "backed", but more because they have strong need for something like it and there are no alternatives. Of course the huge demand has been spotted by many others and now there are loads of these "stablecoins". Some are more regulated and might take quickly over if feds decide to stop tether.
  - jdlshore 7y ago
    “I trust it because I need it and there are no alternatives” is not a compelling argument. It’s literal wishful thinking.
    - spurdoman77 7y ago
      Trust is not binary.
  - gamblor956 7y ago
    There is strong demand for any kind of vehicle which allows transferring value digitally outside of the traditional banking system. Crypto supporters have been saying this for a decade, but outside of money laundering, drug sales, and hodle profiteering, no such demand has been shown to exist. Of course the huge demand has been spotted by many others and now there are loads of these "stablecoins". Some are more regulated and might take quickly over if feds decide to stop tether. If the "feds" go after tether, they will also go after the alternative stablecoins.
    - patio11 7y ago
      Debatable whether the feds would go after the competing stablecoins, but depending on the logic for the prosecutions/seizures, there are outcomes where they're economically inviable. e.g. If Tether gets shut down because of fraudulent misuse of reserves, then the government might be OK with some aboveboard execution. If on the other hand they get shut down for money laundering via tether, well, stablecoins exist to enable that, and if they can't enable that they likely don't have a use case large enough to support the engineering/operational teams required to run them.
    - jkiopire 7y ago
      > no such demand has been shown to exist. The success of companies like Square or Venmo show there is huge demand for an easy way to send money around. You will say that they are inside the traditional banking system, and that is true. But when using them it feels like they are not.
      - cycrutchfield 7y ago
        Ok, but if we have Square and Venmo, why do we need Bitcoin and Tether?
    - austhrow743 7y ago
      Yes if you exclude the primary uses of something, you will struggle to see a use for it. That's obvious.
- freejulian85 7y ago
  You’re clearly biased when you claim without evidence that the primary purpose of bitcoin is speculation.

I'd be interested if you think there's anywhere I make a strong claim without appropriately strong evidence. There are a lot of strong claims, but I'm justifiably confident of them. Many of them are cited inline.

repomies691 7y ago
It is more about the general "conspiracy" tone of the article. It is like "OMG banks can create money, what a conspiracy" by some people who are surprised by the facts on how financial system works when they finally learn some basics. There is strong demand for any kind of vehicle which allows transferring value digitally outside of the traditional banking system. I don't think tether users trust tether because they advertise on their website that it is "backed", but more because they have strong need for something like it and there are no alternatives. Of course the huge demand has been spotted by many others and now there are loads of these "stablecoins". Some are more regulated and might take quickly over if feds decide to stop tether.
- jdlshore 7y ago
  “I trust it because I need it and there are no alternatives” is not a compelling argument. It’s literal wishful thinking.
  - spurdoman77 7y ago
    Trust is not binary.
- gamblor956 7y ago
  There is strong demand for any kind of vehicle which allows transferring value digitally outside of the traditional banking system. Crypto supporters have been saying this for a decade, but outside of money laundering, drug sales, and hodle profiteering, no such demand has been shown to exist. Of course the huge demand has been spotted by many others and now there are loads of these "stablecoins". Some are more regulated and might take quickly over if feds decide to stop tether. If the "feds" go after tether, they will also go after the alternative stablecoins.
  - patio11 7y ago
    Debatable whether the feds would go after the competing stablecoins, but depending on the logic for the prosecutions/seizures, there are outcomes where they're economically inviable. e.g. If Tether gets shut down because of fraudulent misuse of reserves, then the government might be OK with some aboveboard execution. If on the other hand they get shut down for money laundering via tether, well, stablecoins exist to enable that, and if they can't enable that they likely don't have a use case large enough to support the engineering/operational teams required to run them.
  - jkiopire 7y ago
    > no such demand has been shown to exist. The success of companies like Square or Venmo show there is huge demand for an easy way to send money around. You will say that they are inside the traditional banking system, and that is true. But when using them it feels like they are not.
    - cycrutchfield 7y ago
      Ok, but if we have Square and Venmo, why do we need Bitcoin and Tether?
  - austhrow743 7y ago
    Yes if you exclude the primary uses of something, you will struggle to see a use for it. That's obvious.
freejulian85 7y ago
You’re clearly biased when you claim without evidence that the primary purpose of bitcoin is speculation.