BitsMcBytes's recent activity
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Comment on NET Dollar by Cloudflare in ~finance
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Comment on NET Dollar by Cloudflare in ~finance
BitsMcBytes Link ParentI think that was my view on Tether until FTX happened. My view on Tether is they had a hole in the early days, either due to lack of sophistication or malfeasance. By 2020 it was ironed out but...I think that was my view on Tether until FTX happened.
My view on Tether is they had a hole in the early days, either due to lack of sophistication or malfeasance. By 2020 it was ironed out but they probably still held commercial paper of global banks. By 2021 they likely fully traded out of that and into t-bills (among there other assets, but HQLA reserves to meet 1:1 redemptions). But post-FTX they met redemptions that would end every bank (they'd have been wiped out at that time if there was a real lack of backing there).
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Comment on NET Dollar by Cloudflare in ~finance
BitsMcBytes (edited )Link ParentOne thing I sometimes find from people who work in stablecoins is that they got there by working at a company that had to move lots of money around often and found current payment rails to be...One thing I sometimes find from people who work in stablecoins is that they got there by working at a company that had to move lots of money around often and found current payment rails to be operational bottlenecks
An anecdotal example was someone from Uber, who said they started learning how to write onchain programs to move stablecoins around because of how expensive it was to pay drivers globally (for clarity not saying that Uber is doing this, he left Uber in a sort of "there must be a better way to get money to people" mindset after seeing how much they spend on the process and started something else that space.)
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Comment on NET Dollar by Cloudflare in ~finance
BitsMcBytes (edited )Link ParentMost payment rails start off as being used nowhere, or only in highly localized jurisdictions. It took Burger King 50 years to accept credit cards after their initial launch. It took Shopify 8...Most payment rails start off as being used nowhere, or only in highly localized jurisdictions.
It took Burger King 50 years to accept credit cards after their initial launch.
It took Shopify 8 years to accept USDC after it's initial launch.I'm not sure if NET dollars will go anywhere, Cloudflare seems a bit odd ball to me as a stablecoin issuer (I'm not even sure if they are operating in line with genius act, pretty sure they're breaking the prohibition of publicly traded non-financial companies launching stablecoins, so probably illegal), but I do think getting usage of a payment rail is very tough unless you're already entrenched... and cloudflare happens to be very entrenched with connecting boxes over the internet.
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Comment on NET Dollar by Cloudflare in ~finance
BitsMcBytes Link ParentAnd AI bots have trouble opening bank accountsAnd AI bots have trouble opening bank accounts
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Comment on NET Dollar by Cloudflare in ~finance
BitsMcBytes LinkPress release: https://www.cloudflare.com/press/press-releases/2025/cloudflare-introduces-net-dollar-to-support-a-new-business-model-for-the-ai-driven-internet/San Francisco, CA – September 25, 2025 – Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), the leading connectivity cloud company, today announced plans to introduce NET Dollar, a new U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin that will enable instant, secure transactions for the agentic web. NET Dollar will help power a new business model for the Internet that rewards originality, sustains creativity, and enables innovation in an AI-driven world.
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NET Dollar by Cloudflare
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Stripe launches L1 blockchain: Tempo
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Comment on Big day for crypto goes south in a hurry after a giant hack in ~finance
BitsMcBytes Link ParentThe news wasn’t released by ByBit. People on X noticed the ByBit wallet had funds move in a suspicious way to a wallet that began selling, started talking about it, and then ByBit verified what...The news wasn’t released by ByBit. People on X noticed the ByBit wallet had funds move in a suspicious way to a wallet that began selling, started talking about it, and then ByBit verified what happened afterwards.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
BitsMcBytes Link ParentIn theory this is meant to be possible as Bluesky was meant to be decentralized but not sure how much they've opened things up in practice. Fun fact, one of the core creators of Bluesky (Paul) is...In theory this is meant to be possible as Bluesky was meant to be decentralized but not sure how much they've opened things up in practice.
Fun fact, one of the core creators of Bluesky (Paul) is also the creator of Fritter.
https://github.com/beakerbrowser/fritter -
Comment on Who's watching crypto at the moment? in ~finance
BitsMcBytes LinkMy advice is to think of crypto as an expression of macro economics that intersects with technology and culture. The price action on an expanded time horizon tends to be a barometer of global...My advice is to think of crypto as an expression of macro economics that intersects with technology and culture. The price action on an expanded time horizon tends to be a barometer of global liquidity. What was the macro economic backdrop when it peaked around $880 for you? I'm betting there was a significant amount of M2 money supply expansion and stimulus happening. On a shorter time horizon, the price actions is more on attention, which could be a mix of what the current cultural phenomenon is and what experience the underlying technology gives. Over the past few days your DOGE has been outperforming your XRP and your ETH. And all year your ETH underperformed SOL. What does this mean?
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Comment on Elon Musk wins Tesla shareholder vote for $56 billion pay package in ~finance
BitsMcBytes Link ParentThing is, experts thought it was impossible to 10x: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/business/dealbook/tesla-elon-musk-pay.html My feeling is that if a bet is made in which experts (whoever they...Thing is, experts thought it was impossible to 10x:
If Mr. Musk were somehow to increase the value of Tesla to $650 billion--a figure many experts would contend is laughably impossible and would make Tesla one of the five largest companies in the United States, based on current valuations--his stock award could be worth as much as $55 billion.
My feeling is that if a bet is made in which experts (whoever they are) think its impossible, it should have an asymmetric upside in the case that the impossible is done... otherwise whats the point of making that deal.
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Comment on Elon Musk threatens to ban iPhones and MacBooks at his companies after Apple announces OpenAI partnership in ~tech
BitsMcBytes Link ParentSo Apple basically launched a blockchain to verify PCC events.Our commitment to verifiable transparency includes:
Publishing the measurements of all code running on PCC in an append-only and cryptographically tamper-proof transparency log.
Making the log and associated binary software images publicly available for inspection and validation by privacy and security experts.
Publishing and maintaining an official set of tools for researchers analyzing PCC node software.
Rewarding important research findings through the Apple Security Bounty program.So Apple basically launched a blockchain to verify PCC events.
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Comment on Luke Gromen: Why you should prepare for a massive economic shift in ~finance
BitsMcBytes Link ParentAI generated summary here: https://www.summarize.tech/www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCEVp4OlMd4AI generated summary here:
https://www.summarize.tech/www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCEVp4OlMd4 -
Comment on Luke Gromen: Why you should prepare for a massive economic shift in ~finance
BitsMcBytes Link ParentNot a huge fan of Bankless personally. I think of a lot of their takes on the topic of blockchains are wildly incorrect, particularly with anything outside of Ethereum. But Luke Gromen has been...Not a huge fan of Bankless personally. I think of a lot of their takes on the topic of blockchains are wildly incorrect, particularly with anything outside of Ethereum. But Luke Gromen has been spot on with his macroeconomic analysis the past few years.
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Comment on Luke Gromen: Why you should prepare for a massive economic shift in ~finance
BitsMcBytes LinkLuke Gromen discussing energy as a currency base layer.Luke Gromen discussing energy as a currency base layer.
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Luke Gromen: Why you should prepare for a massive economic shift
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Comment on Do you think climate crisis will lead to violent activism? in ~enviro
BitsMcBytes Link ParentWe saw this over China's clean air progress as well: https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3262641/cleaner-air-china-causes-sudden-warming-north-america-study-findsWe saw this over China's clean air progress as well:
Cleaner air in China causes ‘sudden warming’ in North America, study finds
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Comment on Do you think climate crisis will lead to violent activism? in ~enviro
BitsMcBytes (edited )Link ParentMy doubt is in quick drastic actions, such as linked above, the removal of sulfur fuel from cargo ships that directly led to ocean warming faster due to decreased albedo. Good intentions with bad...My doubt is in quick drastic actions, such as linked above, the removal of sulfur fuel from cargo ships that directly led to ocean warming faster due to decreased albedo. Good intentions with bad outcomes.
The fix to that issue is incremental building, adding something else to fuel to re-increase albedo (such as sea salt, which is readily available in the water.)
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Comment on Do you think climate crisis will lead to violent activism? in ~enviro
BitsMcBytes LinkI think that it's possible. However, I don't think it is good. My theory is that promoting the idea that collapse is somehow impossible to mitigate or that we are on an irreversible track towards...I think that it's possible. However, I don't think it is good.
My theory is that promoting the idea that collapse is somehow impossible to mitigate or that we are on an irreversible track towards doom, and that things will only be worse in the future unless there is fighting, is bad, especially for young people, and it is normalizing an attitude zero-sum behavior. It prevents effective social, political, and economic change from really happening because people become convinced they don't have the agency to build a better world, only that they can destroy what is around them that they don't like.
Solar geoengineering, weather engineering, net-zero carbon cycle, etc are all actionable paths that one can go down to increase probabilities of easing our collective eco-anxiety, and there are people on the frontlines of this. For instance, look at what Rainmaker is doing to fix droughts with cloudseeding, what Terraform Industries is doing to make cheap nat gas from air and sunlight, what OceanBit is doing with ocean thermal energy conversion and ouroborosesque heat reintegration.
It's always easier to tear down than it is to build up. But I think the better future is in building vs in fighting. And when we fight, we tend to lose track of (or dismiss) 2nd and 3rd order consequences.
For instance, oceans got warmer over the past few years after we regulated out polluting sulfur fuel from cargo ships, because the sulfates in the air were reflecting the sun light and keeping the water cool. It turns out atmospheric SO2 is extremely effective at increasing albedo, which reduces surface and sea temperatures! The outcomes of this termination shock were discussed by people in climate forums well beforehand, but it was largely dismissed (and even at times, attributed as bad faith and malice) by the wider community, a dissonance of the 2nd and 3rd order effects occurred. My fear is that the climate is a complex system, and fighting is counterproductive to mitigations. Building is productive.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-low-sulphur-shipping-rules-are-affecting-global-warming/
I've also experienced somewhat of the reverse of this scenario. I have US bank accounts / credit cards. My CC company blocked me when I traveled to Singapore last year. While waiting for the fraud dept. to unblock my account, I sent USDC to Grab SG (like Uber but for Singapore). Was then able to pay for rides and food and stuff.