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The crypto part obviates the need for using international wire transfers and the powerful correspondent banks that make it possible.
by CryptoPunk 5y ago
The crypto part obviates the need for using international wire transfers and the powerful correspondent banks that make it possible.
- jhugo 5y agoAlibaba could already avoid that need for individual transactions by just holding balances in the different currencies, like e.g. Wise and many other retail forex providers do. They only need to deal with correspondent banks for balancing out those accounts in case more money flows in one direction than the other, and those transactions are large so the costs are not as much of a concern. In any case, your argument presumes some desire to get rid of the correspondent banks. Most people don't have that desire, they just want the money to go from A-B reasonably cheaply, and there are existing great solutions for that except at the fringes — like criminals, avoiding sanctions, avoiding capital controls, etc — which is why crypto stays on those fringes.
- CryptoPunk 5y ago>>Most people don't have that desire, they just want the money to go from A-B reasonably cheaply, and there are existing great solutions for that except at the fringes Yes, it is for the fringes. One day Alibaba could find itself on the fringes, as collateral damage in some geopolitical dispute that locks it out of the centralized global financial system, as a result of which country it is based in. I have no idea if this concern motivated Alibaba's reliance on crypto though.
- MrMan 5y agoAlibaba is under more threat from its own government than any outside force
- slaman 5y agoCould an alternate means of settlement be used? Runescape gold or hawala? Potentially the involvement of those banks is a feature and provides value? Things to ponder...
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- CryptoPunk 5y agoThose alternate means are not very durable.
- typon 5y agoGold isn't durable? It will still be valuable long after crypto currencies are a footnote in history.
- CryptoPunk 5y agoI didn't realize you suggested gold. I thought you meant "runescape gold". Yes gold is durable. I suspect cryptocurrency will be a store of value far further into the future than gold. Gold becomes plentiful once extracting resources from asteroids becomes economically viable.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]