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Coinbase did all the right things with compliance and ethics, but went through hell because of their no politics at work stance. The media did hit pieces on the

by memish 4y ago

Coinbase did all the right things with compliance and ethics, but went through hell because of their no politics at work stance. The media did hit pieces on their CEO because of it. He and Coinbase were villainized on social media. FTX and SBF avoided this and really any scrutiny by repeating the correct words and opinions, but were actually fraudulent under the surface. It goes to show how shallow it all is.

jandrese 4y ago
One thing that stands out is that SBF knows how to buy influence and was not shy in doing it. That paid off in spades. There are indications that government regulators knew he was a total fraud but were willing to look the other way because he was too influential. His big mistake was making an enemy that was sitting on enough fake token to crash the exchange. Had SBF stayed on good terms with Changpeng Zhao FTX would still be around today and could probably have survived for many years.
paxys 4y ago
No one other than a handful of internet commenters gives a shit about Coinbase's stance on internal politics one way or another. The company is having problems because they have too many employees (5000+), sky-high expenses, and very little revenue (due to falling crypto prices and the implosion of NFTs). If they want to succeed, they need to be making money. It's as simple as that. Cries of "we're getting cancelled!!" isn't going to save the company.
HDThoreaun 4y ago
Coinbase went through hell because their product is worse than offshore exchanges. Less tokens available, much higher fees, no leverage. Why would any serious trader use coinbase when the alternatives exist? On top of that their expenses are far higher than their competitors, it's easy to see that the politics thing was the least of their issues.
- Schweigi 4y ago
  Coinbase probably does all this because they want to be a reliable, profitable and somehow auditable business. If you don’t care what happens to customers funds, sure, yes, provide leverage and all kinds of tokens to your customers. I guess in a way you get what you pay for…
  - HDThoreaun 4y ago
    Right, Coinbase's problems aren't because of politics, they're because they're trying to be a reliable, profitable and somehow auditable business, and that's not what crypto traders are interested in. Most crypto volume will continue to be in unregulated exchanges, traders just maybe will be more vigilant about not leaving money in them.
lajosbacs 4y ago
No one cares about their politics one way or the other, they simply have much higher fees than their competitors.
- bmelton 4y ago
  It's easier to attract customers with lower fees when you don't intend to return the principal?

by memish 4y ago

jandrese 4y ago

One thing that stands out is that SBF knows how to buy influence and was not shy in doing it. That paid off in spades. There are indications that government regulators knew he was a total fraud but were willing to look the other way because he was too influential. His big mistake was making an enemy that was sitting on enough fake token to crash the exchange. Had SBF stayed on good terms with Changpeng Zhao FTX would still be around today and could probably have survived for many years.

paxys 4y ago

No one other than a handful of internet commenters gives a shit about Coinbase's stance on internal politics one way or another. The company is having problems because they have too many employees (5000+), sky-high expenses, and very little revenue (due to falling crypto prices and the implosion of NFTs). If they want to succeed, they need to be making money. It's as simple as that. Cries of "we're getting cancelled!!" isn't going to save the company.

HDThoreaun 4y ago

Coinbase went through hell because their product is worse than offshore exchanges. Less tokens available, much higher fees, no leverage. Why would any serious trader use coinbase when the alternatives exist? On top of that their expenses are far higher than their competitors, it's easy to see that the politics thing was the least of their issues.

Schweigi 4y ago
Coinbase probably does all this because they want to be a reliable, profitable and somehow auditable business. If you don’t care what happens to customers funds, sure, yes, provide leverage and all kinds of tokens to your customers. I guess in a way you get what you pay for…
- HDThoreaun 4y ago
  Right, Coinbase's problems aren't because of politics, they're because they're trying to be a reliable, profitable and somehow auditable business, and that's not what crypto traders are interested in. Most crypto volume will continue to be in unregulated exchanges, traders just maybe will be more vigilant about not leaving money in them.

lajosbacs 4y ago

No one cares about their politics one way or the other, they simply have much higher fees than their competitors.

bmelton 4y ago
It's easier to attract customers with lower fees when you don't intend to return the principal?