Crypto Exchange Coinbase Asks Users To Switch USDT for USDC (coindesk.com) 46
Coinbase is waiving the conversion fees for users who wish to switch to a "trusted stablecoin" in a new campaign that highlights the quality of reserves that back Circle-owned USD coin (USDC). From a report: "The events of the past few weeks have put some stablecoins to the test and we've seen a flight to safety," Coinbase said in blog post published Friday morning Asia time. "We believe that USD coin (USDC) is a trusted and reputable stablecoin." Coinbase said starting today it's waiving fees for global retail customers to convert tether (USDT) to USDC. Coinbase is a co-founder of USDC. Further reading: Rising Tether Loans Add Risk To Stablecoin, Crypto World.
Trusted Stablecoin = crapcoin with empty promise? (Score:2)
First, note that "trusted" means "can do damage to you". What you actually want is "trustworthy". Of course no crapcoin will ever be trustworthy, no matter how much empty promises get heaped on it, including statements of "belief". And second, "stablecoin"? The whole term is a lie all by itself.
Re:Trusted Stablecoin = crapcoin with empty promis (Score:4, Funny)
And second, "stablecoin"? The whole term is a lie all by itself.
Sorry, but this statement is completely wrong. Several of these coins have been very stable at 0 cash value for some time now.
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Oops. I stand corrected!
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What happened to all the slashdot crypto bros who claimed crypto coins were only ever going to go up and that those of us not investing in it were fools?
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They're still here, they just get modded down because their claims are so ridiculous they're indistinguishable from trolls. But find a crypto thread with at lease 30 or 40 posts and browse at -1 and you'll find them.
More likely you'll find all the crypto stans on Twitter sucking up to Elon Muskrat. Because they get the beats mercilessly pretty much everywhere else.
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They're at lunch, they'll be here anytime to defend their position of falling for a scam and they don't want to lose face by admitting it.
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They only existed in your mind
And the great shuffle continues. (Score:3, Insightful)
Thanks but no thanks. Because that to will tank. (Score:3)
How about we settle in cash? You know, "In God we trust, everyone else pays cash?"
Re:Thanks but no thanks. Because that to will tank (Score:4, Insightful)
What do you mean you want to withdraw your money? Hold a second, we need to wait for someone else to deposit some cash before we can give you some cash because we spent and/or gave your cash away already. Yeah, unregulated "currency" sure is great.
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Replace a proxy for dollars with actual dollars? That's crazy talk!
Trade your Monopoly Money (Score:2)
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...for Racoon Tycoon money! Hell, actual monopoly money might be worth more when this is all through.
You've been able to buy bundles of real Monopoly money for decades. Just not with crypto. Search for "buy monopoly money" or go visit you local toy store.
This is pretty unusual (Score:2)
UDST has been questionable since just about forever, with Tether either refusing to have an audit, or having auditors bail, or having a company say rather curiously that they were not performing an audit, and the suspicion has long been that they were freely printing unbacked currency so they could manipulate markets.
USDC on the other hand, hires auditors who actually do audits and is fairly transparent in how they operate. So this feels a lot like Coinbase is saying, "We know Roger Ver will be the next SB
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Or Coinbase got such an interesting effect when they tweeted about pulling money out of FTX they decided to see if the same thing would happen twice.
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It was actually Binance that started the ball rolling on FTX collapsing:
https://www.investopedia.com/b... [investopedia.com]
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You're right. Hard to keep them all straight.
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It isn't just that. There's warfare going on between exchanges. Binance already effectively nuked FTX by dumping their FTT tokens. Binance also delisted USDC in favor of their own BUSD. There are allegations that certain actors have attempted to knock USDT off its peg, too (and Coinbase's actions may be another salvo in that war, or maybe not). Draw your own conclusions, but it's clear that the crypto world is fragmenting.
Until it’s audited by (Score:3)
There have been one or two well-publicized cases where the auditors were in the back pocket of the company itself. Those situations are actually VERY rare. However, given the trail of financial dumpster fires that crypto has created, I would only trust it if the mother company passed TWO separate audits.
And I have zero tolerance for some crypto bro explaining how their monetary system is somehow unable to be traditionally audited because of “defi” or “internet 7.0” or whatever other buzzword they happen to throw out. Cant pass a genuine financial audit? You’re a crapcoin/rugpull/ponzi.
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an old-school, old-timey, big-name, bricks-and-mortar auditing firm, it’s a crapcoin.
Well, the USDCoin is audited by just such a firm. It's not one of the Big 4, but I believe Grant Thornton is one of the world's ten largest brick-and-mortar firms.
There is not much advantage in it for the sponsors of USD Coin, other than some sense of beneficence, because the backing instruments in their case are not providing much return on capital.
What's really going on... (Score:2)
So... the notion of "trusted stablecoin" is an oxymoron. NONE of these, including USDC are anywhere near properly audited and regulated in the same vein as traditional financial institutions.
For an example, see the difference between audits and attestations. [imgur.com]
So why the switch? Probably plausible deniability. USDT is more over-extended than USDC in the market right now. Coinbase figures more exchanges are going to collapse and if they insulate themselves from USDT they can claim they're "separate" until t
Re: What's really going on... (Score:2)
Except that USDC is fully independently audited, so your whole comment is based on your own misunderstanding.
BTC (Score:2)
Stablecoins are not truly stable. While they may be pegged to a stable asset, the value of that asset can still fluctuate, which means that the value of the stablecoin can also fluctuate. This defeats the whole purpose of using a stablecoin, as it offers no real stability or protection against volatility. In fact, many stablecoins have failed to maintai
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The two stablecoins in question - USDT and USDC - are currently pegged at $1.00. The FTX disaster temporarily knocked USDT down to $.93 (for whatever reason; FTX isn't the issuing exchange. That is Bitfinex) but it has since recovered.
As an investment they're pretty bad except as a safehaven during bear markets. Anyone who liquidated their position in BTC 12+ months ago for USDT would be in a much better position than someone still holding BTC today.
power (Score:3)
What is crypto worth when the power is off?
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About as much as your chip & pin debit card.
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I could still physically break into the bank and take my cash, and its value would go up.
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Can you? How much cash do you think they have on hand, and do you have the tools to do so?
Re: power (Score:2)
Actually no, because it's possible to perform an offline blockchain transaction and then just broadcast it later to the network when you're back online.
This is similar to how you used to be able to take a card imprint when the network was down. Which you still technically can, I suppose, but then it's not actually chip and pin.
So nice of them (Score:2)
Is this from the same coinbase that created a "shiny new token" to avoid having to pay back people that believed them on ethereum a while ago?
Yeah. Such nice guys.
And down goes Tether (Score:2)
It will be interesting how far all of this spreads.
Can someone explain? (Score:3)
I can go to any local business and pay in cash. If I asked them if they'd take stablecoin X, they'd say "get the fuck out of here."
Why would anyone hold stablecoins instead of the currency they're linked to, kept under a mattress? Is it a death wish sort of thing?
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Tell me if I'm wrong. Stable coins are supposedly linked to fiat currencies, in this case USD. You need to pay some transaction fee to use them, and you're trusting their claims are true.
I can go to any local business and pay in cash. If I asked them if they'd take stablecoin X, they'd say "get the fuck out of here."
Why would anyone hold stablecoins instead of the currency they're linked to, kept under a mattress? Is it a death wish sort of thing?
Why would an individual "invest" in a currency at all? If they were planning in spending a ton of it in the future and think the exchange rates could only get worse I guess? Don't think too hard about it. Everything with crypto is so many levels of stupid, and by asking these questions, you are not the target market.
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Why would anyone hold stablecoins instead of the currency they're linked to, kept under a mattress? Is it a death wish sort of thing?
A big reason for stablecoins to exist is that they help avoid the need for numerous conversions between dollars and tokens. Instead, those transactions become token-for-token, which involves lower transaction fees. It also keeps the transactions entirely within blockchain systems for easier coding, and (somewhat) more predictable outcomes.
I say "predictable" but of course the risk of disaster, especially for Tether, seems high to me.
This week there was a pretty good opinion piece in The Economist about th
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How is this question on every stablecoin thread?
Stablecoins are used exactly how a rational human without their head up in the sand would think they are used. To instantly purchase or send money digitally anywhere in the world. Most speculators use it when buying/selling crypto assets, but it easily can (and is) be used as a digital money transfer service like western union/paypal/zelle/cashapp/whatever
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By all means, keep your head in the sand and continue to travel via horse-and-buggy, living in your candle illuminated house
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You wouldn't "invest" in a stablecoin. That doesn't make any sense at all
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> Why would anyone hold stablecoins instead of the currency they're linked to, kept under a mattress?
You can't trade those on a DEX and there are fees in an out.
It's about trading pair liquidity in an immature market really.
An inactive trader should not hold that risk of course especially in Tether.
Coimbase knows about upcoming carnage (hint hint).
Re: Can someone explain? (Score:2)
Mostly it's used to workaround money transfer rules that make it onerous to send dollars.
There's a disconnect in the utility of USD and cryptocurrencies. USD is slow and secure for the sender. Cryptocurrency is fast and secure for the recipient. If you try to trade them, you run into all sorts of issues around trusted parties and such.
USDC and similar stablecoins are cryptocurrencies, so they don't have the drawbacks of the dollar when exchanging them for cryptocurrency. So lots of the USD on exchanges gets