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"CEO Jack Dorsey has publicly touted how Cash App is mentioned in hundreds of hip hop songs as evidence of its mainstream appeal. A review of those songs show t
by numlocked 4y ago
"CEO Jack Dorsey has publicly touted how Cash App is mentioned in hundreds of hip hop songs as evidence of its mainstream appeal. A review of those songs show that the artists are not generally rapping about Cash App’s smooth user interface—many describe using it to scam, traffic drugs or even pay for murder."
Hindenburg made a music video compiling the references that is...uh...worth watching: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StjWk3Mj-M4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StjWk3Mj-M4
- chatmasta 4y agoThat was indeed worth watching.
- scotty79 4y agoIt's interesting to see it in the context of Bitcoin. It's just what people do when they can pay for things and services more freely.
- NamTaf 4y agoThis feels like awkward sponsored product placement like you see in pop music videos.
- hoofhearted 4y agoCorrect. A scam here in Baltimore that keeps occurring is that the squeege kids will run up on someone unsuspecting and start cleaning their windshield. They will pressure the driver for a tip, and the driver will say they don’t have cash of course. They will say that’s cool, you can send me a tip. They ask the driver for their phone so they can look up their cashapp for them, and bam the driver got scammed. What’s happening is that the squeege kid is looking up his account on your phone, and then sending himself like $2,000. People have complained that cashapp won’t help, and their bank isn’t letting them dispute the charge. In my opinion, this is clearly an anti pattern on Cashapps end, and I would imagine at least one engineer would have spotted this vulnerability by now. I would think that Cashapp would build in a simple pin confirmation before a stranger could wire themselves a couple thousand dollars. This has bugged me for the last 2 years lol
- jstx1 4y agoI don't think you have anyone to blame if you give your phone with a logged in money app to a stranger who is begging for money.
- hoofhearted 4y agoIt’s a high pressure situation in the middle of rush hour traffic. They like to target unsuspecting older white people, and unaware females. If you get aggressive, they will spit on your window, break your wipers off, and hit your car. Things can get really ugly if you get out of your car and try to confront them: https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/criminal-justice/watch-video-shows-final-seconds-of-confrontation-between-timothy-reynolds-squeegee-workers-TQUTLVWWU5APVAF3QQFXNSLWLU/ https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/criminal-justic...
- sokoloff 4y agoThis is not CashApp's responsibility to fix any more than it would be the US Treasury's responsibility to fix if I hand them a $100 bill.
- Pet_Ant 4y agoIf they ask for $10 and you give them a $100 asking for change yes it is the police's job to fix.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- calvinmorrison 4y agoCashapp doesnt bear the responsability of highway robbermen
- hoofhearted 4y ago
- paganel 4y agoOn the one hand it's obvious that the Hindenburg people are right on this when they say that Block's app is used for criminal activities and money laundering. On the other hand that's what we get for trying to push cash itself more and more outside the boundaries of modern society. That video in a way made me root for the bad guys, a no-cash society where petty crime doesn't happen because the powers that be control it all is a not a society I personally want to be part of. And then there is also the racial-related aspect of it all, not sure the Hindenburg analysts were aware of it. As in there is no white rapper in that video of theirs.
- automatic6131 4y agoWhat racial aspect? Please explain
- paganel 4y agoI've explicitly mentioned that these analysts used only black people as the "criminals" in their example video. Interesting that it flew right past them.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago> these analysts used only black people as the "criminals" in their example video Block targets Black Americans. This is like complaining about a gardening company’s analysts only talking about gardeners.
- paganel 4y ago> Block targets Black Americans Even worse. So one of the companies that tries to address/serve the black demographic is being put down but what I assume are not black financial analysts. Like I've said, this Hindenburg company seems to not be aware of the whole societal background.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
- rossdavidh 4y agoI have to say, this feels more like a clueless white rich guy trying to seem cool by mentioning hip hop songs he never actually listened to (or understood if he did hear them), that one of his underlings told him about, rather than evidence of "fraud".
- quantified 4y agoOh, you're not taking these depictions of drug payments and assassination payments literally are you? This is all artistic display for a persona and a set of practices that only exists as a performance. </s>
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- lofatdairy 4y agoI found this to be one of the weaker points in the research, as far as making a short case goes. If anything, the fact that it's so popular in hip hop would expose it to a much larger legitimate audience. Regardless, it's also just somewhat non-unique, Zelle is also name dropped in 22gz's Suburban, and a few Von and Durk songs, limiting ourselves only to drill rappers. Probably Venmo as well though I can't say I've heard it any songs. The fraudulent activity is obviously a problem, but I'm not sure how to separate this association from, say, bragging about buying Gucci with drug money, street racing in a Dodge Hellcat, or performing drive-bys in a Revel.
- polygamous_bat 4y agoIf CashApp numbers are inflated by illegal activities that will go away if the law cracks down on them, that is a matter of concern for CashApp investors.
- cornholio 4y ago> illegal activities that will go away if the law cracks down on them, that is a matter of concern for CashApp investors. And indeed for any luxury brand that exists. I still don't understand how that makes the app itself a fraud.
- zht 4y agoThe report reads like someone who doesn't seem to like the target demographic associated with CashApp and the type of music listed...
- revelio 4y agoIt reads like people who understand that under US law Block were expected to actively search for and fight criminal activity on their platform. If a rapper raps about their fav sports car then whatever, car companies aren't expected to stop criminals from driving. If they rap about paying for murders through your app, that's actually a serious legal problem for the company providing the service.
- reaperducer 4y agoI saw a car in a parking garage last week with writing on the back window in soap: JUST MARRIED SEND US SOME LOVE CASHAPP: xxxxxxxxx
- christopherwxyz 4y agoThat mix is fire.
- tennisflyi 4y agoYes. No rapper cares about the UI/UX… Is subtext of songs lost on people?
- gen220 4y agoI hadn't had a credit card swiped in years, but it happened to me a month or two ago. Whoever had my card used it for CashApp transactions (I didn't even know this was possible?), ultimately creating ~15 transactions of varying sizes, all less than $100. It took a while to unwind, and in the end my case was actually denied (!) for 1 of them. I bet I counted as a new user, with $100+ in transaction volume. :) Just because of this interaction, my disposition towards Cash App has tilted into the negative, and I literally didn't have an opinion on it before. Regardless of any number-juicing they may have indulged in, their fraud-detection tech has to be better, it's not doing them any long-term favors.