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I have no idea what future crypto prices will do, but you do realize that smart contracts allow people to bank, from their browser with nothing but a MetaMask e

I have no idea what future crypto prices will do, but you do realize that smart contracts allow people to bank, from their browser with nothing but a MetaMask extension, without a bank, right? There's heavy dose of speculation present in any emerging market, but crypto, especially its smart contract sector, is not just speculation.

soared 5y ago
A digital wallet that can trade isn’t banking though. Can you direct deposit, pay rent, be fdic insured, etc with that solution?
- tiku 5y ago
  What is banking anyway, in theory it is transferring x to x? Can be done through a digital wallet if both parties agree upon it. You just need a lot of parties to use that same system or easy bridges to send it through the old system.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  Right now, no, but in principle, yes. You can effect transactions. Everything else is just a matter of adoption.
- immibis 5y ago
  You would be surprised to find out there are literally insurance "companies" operating on the blockchain, which you can lend collateral to, buy shares in, and take out insurance policies from, which aim to reimburse their customers in case of a major system hack for example.
tomp 5y ago
Wasn't there an article recently, that basically revealed that "from their browser/device" basically means just using the API to access the blockchain? So you're still using "a bank", just that the bank is the API provider. A bit more modern, but not a game changer.
- kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
  That was perhaps about Ethereum, whose Blockchain seems to be so unwieldy that one very few companies manage to process it directly, and everybody else uses their API.
  - CryptoPunk 5y ago
    Ethereum's blockchain is not at all unwieldy - there are 5,000+ nodes. Most companies rely on hosted nodes across the entire crypto space, not just within the Ethereum one. That has more to do with wanting a highly-reliable node provider with a low likelihood of experiencing down time, for business critical applications, than running a node being difficult.
    - kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
      It's just what had been said in those recent posts about HN on Ethereum, I think by Moxie or the reply to him be Mike Hearn. I've heard it before that the Ethereum Blockchain is difficult to process, so I assumed it is still the case.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  MetaMask allows a user to use any Ethereum node as their API endpoint, and by default uses a professional node provider, Infura, since most users don't run their own node. But there is no lock-in with or substantial dependence on Infura, because the private keys to your assets are stored on your own computer, or hardware wallet. The data Infura provides is public, and any node, including your own, can provide it.

soared 5y ago

A digital wallet that can trade isn’t banking though. Can you direct deposit, pay rent, be fdic insured, etc with that solution?

tiku 5y ago
What is banking anyway, in theory it is transferring x to x? Can be done through a digital wallet if both parties agree upon it. You just need a lot of parties to use that same system or easy bridges to send it through the old system.
CryptoPunk 5y ago
Right now, no, but in principle, yes. You can effect transactions. Everything else is just a matter of adoption.
immibis 5y ago
You would be surprised to find out there are literally insurance "companies" operating on the blockchain, which you can lend collateral to, buy shares in, and take out insurance policies from, which aim to reimburse their customers in case of a major system hack for example.

tomp 5y ago

Wasn't there an article recently, that basically revealed that "from their browser/device" basically means just using the API to access the blockchain? So you're still using "a bank", just that the bank is the API provider. A bit more modern, but not a game changer.

kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
That was perhaps about Ethereum, whose Blockchain seems to be so unwieldy that one very few companies manage to process it directly, and everybody else uses their API.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago
  Ethereum's blockchain is not at all unwieldy - there are 5,000+ nodes. Most companies rely on hosted nodes across the entire crypto space, not just within the Ethereum one. That has more to do with wanting a highly-reliable node provider with a low likelihood of experiencing down time, for business critical applications, than running a node being difficult.
  - kkjjkgjjgg 5y ago
    It's just what had been said in those recent posts about HN on Ethereum, I think by Moxie or the reply to him be Mike Hearn. I've heard it before that the Ethereum Blockchain is difficult to process, so I assumed it is still the case.
CryptoPunk 5y ago
MetaMask allows a user to use any Ethereum node as their API endpoint, and by default uses a professional node provider, Infura, since most users don't run their own node. But there is no lock-in with or substantial dependence on Infura, because the private keys to your assets are stored on your own computer, or hardware wallet. The data Infura provides is public, and any node, including your own, can provide it.