Topic: The lust for banks...WHAT is going on? - page 2. (Read 1486 times)

That's not really a valid counter argument is it, as the same thing can (and did) happen without crypto.

Someone could break into my home, tie me to a chair and do the same, demanding that I transfer a chunk of cash to some offshore bank account in a liberal country.  Or hold someone near and dear and demand that I go to the bank and withdraw a chunk of change or they'll harm them.  Why stop there, steal my car and take it to the local chop shop for some extra cash, and pawn off all the valuables in the house too.

Its a bit of a stretch to be honest, that with the advent of crypto and self controlled finance, everyone suddenly becomes a victim of forced bondage.

I'm just annoyed that there is this opportunity to provide another financial option either as an alternative or a compliment to the existing banking infrastructure and its being given away willingly without even considering IF there is another, better way.

Well, take your pick of being either a valiant fight against the man, or self promotion by the emonkeys, but I don't see banks going extinct anytime soon.  The vast majority of people are going to outsource security of their wealth to a 3rd party, otherwise every house on the street would be god's gift to kick door home invasions.  Even if they don't know where to find the private keys, they can just tie you to a chair and start cutting off your fingers until you give up your Zerocash and anonymously transfer it via their phone and walk off with you at zero net worth.  Core devs using terminology like "segregated witness" was a great foreshadowing of the future because nobody is going anywhere near bad neighborhoods if crypto becomes mainstream.

Great post!  It is disheartening to see the quick move to partner with banks.  Innovation can happen with out the banks.  I like Bitcoin because I feel it is more for the people, banks have never been for the people.  Thanks for posting.

I wasnt sure whether to post this in Economics or in here, I feel this is the right place overall as the concerns I'm going to raise are in part relevant to a lot of what goes in in here.  I guess the mods will decide.

For sometime now I've been completely aghast at what seems to be a total lust for partnering up with banks!  Every project and its dog seems to want to be under the wing of banks these days and I've got to the point where I need to speak up on it.

Before anyone jumps to any conclusions, I'm not particularly averse to banks.  They serve a purpose, and they'll continue to be a part of our daily lives.  They've misbehaved sure, and while I feel that there does need to be stricter regulations to control just how misbehaved they can be (and the people at the top who allow this behavior should be held accountable), I don't hold the opinion that many do of "DOWN WITH THE BANKS!"

What does get me irked up, is the hypocrisy, short sightedness and lack of concern that is evident everywhere right now, both here and elsewhere.

Satoshi gave us an opportunity to take a step away from total reliance on the banking sector, and I feel that we as a community and industry are just throwing it away.  The way in which we are going, Bitcoin might as well of never existed and all of us could of saved a lot of time, blood, sweat, tears and money in the meantime.

Everyday I see a new project starting up with plans to cater for the banks, or existing projects partnering up in some manner, followed by a glut of delusional posts stating things like "the banks are afraid", "they want to kill Bitcoin".  

I had meetings with a number of banks over 12 months ago to discuss possible integration and mutual benefit with regard to eMunie.  I left all of these meetings with the same mindset and haven't followed up with any since, perhaps in the future I'll have to if eMunie becomes the success I hope but for now I'm happy to be incommunicado.

Why did I do this?  Let me tell you, because no one else will.  They are not afraid of Bitcoin at all, not in the slightest, or any other similar project either current or on the horizon.  They are interested in this technology because it will make them money, and LOTS of it, and I didn't want eMunie to be a component that makes banks yet more money!

You see it costs the banks quite a lot to send transactions around, as the infrastructure is old, outdated, overly complex and a collection of band-aids upon band-aids.  Each component in this beaten up old infrastructure has a middle man that takes a fee for the processing of that transaction, and these fees add up.  Some transactions can cost upwards of $13 in fees alone (that is why the banks feel justified charging you $30 for a bounced check).

Block chains, DAGs, ledgers or whatever are much more efficient!  All of these middlemen can be cut out, the system is more efficient and the banks can increase their profits MASSIVELY!

Some projects such as R3CEV have probably identified the same thing that I did, and decided that by developing a system that the banks can use, even if they charge a small fee, they will make incredible amounts of money.  The banks are all for it, as in the event of a successful product, they now only have to pay $1 instead of $13 for exactly the same transaction.

Other projects that started off without any intention of joining up to a "Banking Consortium" have also been sucked into this culture which is unfortunate, as these projects could have stood on their own two feet for a long period of time with a little more effort and a little less corner-cutting.  

The banks are forging these relationships purely to hedge, if one project fails, they are partnered with 10 others and only one need succeed.  An added benefit (minor though as they aren't "afraid" at all remember) of course is the fact that if everyone is happy to take partnerships and relationships with banks, no one is working solo, and if no one is working solo, then there is no long term threat from some unknown taking a chunk of the pie.

If you have a good project and you want to partner up with a bank, or you get approached, then make them work for it!  Don't make the mistake of thinking you have been "chosen" or that you are special in someway, you aren't, you're just another means to make money!