5 ms·

> the evolution of the modern financial system is less and less friction for each transaction Still, buying shares of a company is much more "friction" than bu

> the evolution of the modern financial system is less and less friction for each transaction Still, buying shares of a company is much more "friction" than buying coins. > crypto: more friction Can you elaborate? > slower transactions Huh, even bitcoin will settle with 6 confirmations in an hour. Settlement to buy a share or FX is 2/3 days. > higher transaction costs Hmm, no. > And wicked exchange volatility. Volatility is a property of the underlying currency, not to "crypto currencies" in general. The volatility of USDTxUSD is zero. > Plus no way to expand or contract the supply to prevent economic shocks. You are mixing "crypto currency" and "bitcoin".

spamalot159 6y ago
You are comparing crypto currencies to stocks. In that case what you said is true. But I think the fairer comparison is crypto currency to a fiat currency. There is more friction involved in using crypto currency to make a purchase. It does take longer to processes a bitcoin transaction than it would for visa to processes a transaction in usd. And the transaction costs for a typical transaction are usually higher for bitcoin (maybe not all crypto currencies though). I think the fact that a lot of people compare crypto currencies to stocks is telling that they are not being used for their intended purpose.
- eurasiantiger 6y ago
  One could get a crypto credit card and spend transparently in fiat. No friction involved.
  - freeone3000 6y ago
    That's spending a Bitcoin balance, not Bitcoin. You might as well hold a Bitcoin index, and sell that. Or sell a Satoshi and transfer out the fiat, which is what it is. It has nothing to do with the transfer of Bitcoin: the same person holds your Bitcoin balance and your fractional fiat balance and decides the exchange rate. There's no blockchain there.
- Galanwe 6y ago
  > You are comparing crypto currencies to stocks. In that case what you said is true. > I think the fact that a lot of people compare crypto currencies to stocks is telling that they are not being used for their intended purpos Absolutely not. If you take the top 10 crypto currencies sorted by marketcap, half of them are actually stock-like tokens. It is not a misinterpretation, or a deviation from the intended purpose at all. These tokens are intended to replace shares of the company, and they have rather similar capabilities: by owning them you have voting rights, different token (share) classes exist, etc. Honestly, the term "crypto currency" is very misleading, most of the tokens issued nowadays are share-like, and buying them is just a form of venture funding for these startups.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

spamalot159 6y ago

You are comparing crypto currencies to stocks. In that case what you said is true. But I think the fairer comparison is crypto currency to a fiat currency. There is more friction involved in using crypto currency to make a purchase. It does take longer to processes a bitcoin transaction than it would for visa to processes a transaction in usd. And the transaction costs for a typical transaction are usually higher for bitcoin (maybe not all crypto currencies though). I think the fact that a lot of people compare crypto currencies to stocks is telling that they are not being used for their intended purpose.

eurasiantiger 6y ago
One could get a crypto credit card and spend transparently in fiat. No friction involved.
- freeone3000 6y ago
  That's spending a Bitcoin balance, not Bitcoin. You might as well hold a Bitcoin index, and sell that. Or sell a Satoshi and transfer out the fiat, which is what it is. It has nothing to do with the transfer of Bitcoin: the same person holds your Bitcoin balance and your fractional fiat balance and decides the exchange rate. There's no blockchain there.
Galanwe 6y ago
> You are comparing crypto currencies to stocks. In that case what you said is true. > I think the fact that a lot of people compare crypto currencies to stocks is telling that they are not being used for their intended purpos Absolutely not. If you take the top 10 crypto currencies sorted by marketcap, half of them are actually stock-like tokens. It is not a misinterpretation, or a deviation from the intended purpose at all. These tokens are intended to replace shares of the company, and they have rather similar capabilities: by owning them you have voting rights, different token (share) classes exist, etc. Honestly, the term "crypto currency" is very misleading, most of the tokens issued nowadays are share-like, and buying them is just a form of venture funding for these startups.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]