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Crypto people love to talk about incentives when referring to things like crypto adoption by the market, or corrupt actions on the part of incumbent powers like

Crypto people love to talk about incentives when referring to things like crypto adoption by the market, or corrupt actions on the part of incumbent powers like bankers or politicians. They are much less enthusiastic about discussing incentives when it comes to things like exchange operatiors front running their clients, centralizing forces in crypto generally, etc.

pcthrowaway 4y ago
I work for a company that provides financial services to/on centralized exchanges, but none of us really like the centralization there; even if it's our bread and butter (for now) I think most "crypto people" are more excited about decentralized exchanges.
- noobermin 4y ago
  This sounds a lot like a no-true scotsman...
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olalonde 4y ago
What makes you say that? In my experience, centralized exchanges are perceived as public enemy #1 by a lot of crypto people. They are seen as a necessary (but temporary) evil to bridge the "legacy" fiat world.
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- Forgeties79 4y ago
  > They are seen as a necessary (but temporary) evil to bridge the "legacy" fiat world. There is no world in which they can put that genie back in the bottle, so I really hope they don’t actually believe it’s “temporary.”
  - ETH_start 4y ago
    The top decentralized exchange, Uniswap, has overtaken the top centralized exhanges in liquidity depth for several major trading pairs: https://uniswap.org/blog/uniswap-v3-dominance https://uniswap.org/blog/uniswap-v3-dominance So there is a world where centralized exchanges have far less relevance than they do today.
    - Forgeties79 4y ago
      I just don't see it going away. Services like Coinbase have done more for adoption than any crypto-evangelists on message boards ever have if we're being honest with ourselves. People need it to feel familiar, and these pseudo-banks/stock exchange platforms feel close enough to the "real thing" that people are making the jump. I mean the fact that over a decade later and wallets are still this incredibly high-friction experience for users says a lot. Just having an easy place where you go "input debit card, get crypto," makes all the difference - and that's a service large exchanges have covered, thus locking people into their platform(s). Edit: Also, Uniswap...ehhhh. Not a great example for your point.
    - HaZeust 4y ago
      Uniswap is *so* easy to slander to the ground from centralized exchanges if push came to shove. It's the primary tool for exit scams, there's barely any qualifications or criteria to mint a coin, ICOs simply don't matter anymore - all are particularly easy points to hit if you're competitors fall short on handling them. And that's just mentioning the pragmatic on how Uniswap neglects fixing the BAD side of crypto, it doesn't even go over how Uniswap delivers only niche features on the good side of crypto - and doesn't do things like foster easier crypto buying/selling for mass adoption from the average person. Please, come back to me when Uniswap's market cap isn't 1/3 of Coinbase's.
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pfraze 4y ago
Depends on who you're talking to, but I think the interest by crypto people in Uniswap suggests they're pretty aware of this problem and not excusing it.
joyfylbanana 4y ago
Depends on how you use the exchanges. If you just buy and sell BTC and keep your coins off-exchange, there is little reason to care about whatever schemes the exchanges are doing. If you start playing with leverage, you will be putting much more trust at stake, and it is your individual decision to do that. I have been involved with BTC community for many years and most Bitcoiners I know do not trade back and forth, do not buy that much shitcoins and do not store their coins on exchanges, so these schemes do not affect them.
SilasX 4y ago
Say what? The whole DeFi ecosystem basically exists to bring transparency to operations like exchanges. With e.g. liquidity pools, you can see exactly what trades it's processing and how it handles them.

pcthrowaway 4y ago

I work for a company that provides financial services to/on centralized exchanges, but none of us really like the centralization there; even if it's our bread and butter (for now) I think most "crypto people" are more excited about decentralized exchanges.

noobermin 4y ago
This sounds a lot like a no-true scotsman...
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olalonde 4y ago

What makes you say that? In my experience, centralized exchanges are perceived as public enemy #1 by a lot of crypto people. They are seen as a necessary (but temporary) evil to bridge the "legacy" fiat world.

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Forgeties79 4y ago
> They are seen as a necessary (but temporary) evil to bridge the "legacy" fiat world. There is no world in which they can put that genie back in the bottle, so I really hope they don’t actually believe it’s “temporary.”
- ETH_start 4y ago
  The top decentralized exchange, Uniswap, has overtaken the top centralized exhanges in liquidity depth for several major trading pairs: https://uniswap.org/blog/uniswap-v3-dominance https://uniswap.org/blog/uniswap-v3-dominance So there is a world where centralized exchanges have far less relevance than they do today.
  - Forgeties79 4y ago
    I just don't see it going away. Services like Coinbase have done more for adoption than any crypto-evangelists on message boards ever have if we're being honest with ourselves. People need it to feel familiar, and these pseudo-banks/stock exchange platforms feel close enough to the "real thing" that people are making the jump. I mean the fact that over a decade later and wallets are still this incredibly high-friction experience for users says a lot. Just having an easy place where you go "input debit card, get crypto," makes all the difference - and that's a service large exchanges have covered, thus locking people into their platform(s). Edit: Also, Uniswap...ehhhh. Not a great example for your point.
  - HaZeust 4y ago
    Uniswap is *so* easy to slander to the ground from centralized exchanges if push came to shove. It's the primary tool for exit scams, there's barely any qualifications or criteria to mint a coin, ICOs simply don't matter anymore - all are particularly easy points to hit if you're competitors fall short on handling them. And that's just mentioning the pragmatic on how Uniswap neglects fixing the BAD side of crypto, it doesn't even go over how Uniswap delivers only niche features on the good side of crypto - and doesn't do things like foster easier crypto buying/selling for mass adoption from the average person. Please, come back to me when Uniswap's market cap isn't 1/3 of Coinbase's.
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pfraze 4y ago

Depends on who you're talking to, but I think the interest by crypto people in Uniswap suggests they're pretty aware of this problem and not excusing it.

joyfylbanana 4y ago

Depends on how you use the exchanges. If you just buy and sell BTC and keep your coins off-exchange, there is little reason to care about whatever schemes the exchanges are doing. If you start playing with leverage, you will be putting much more trust at stake, and it is your individual decision to do that. I have been involved with BTC community for many years and most Bitcoiners I know do not trade back and forth, do not buy that much shitcoins and do not store their coins on exchanges, so these schemes do not affect them.

SilasX 4y ago

Say what? The whole DeFi ecosystem basically exists to bring transparency to operations like exchanges. With e.g. liquidity pools, you can see exactly what trades it's processing and how it handles them.