Why is the Ars community so negative towards Bitcoin?

[Shavano]

I don't think that's true. Trades have to execute in microseconds, but they certainly don't clear in microseconds today. I'm not arguing that blockchain can keep up with also execution - that's literally impossible, given that execution is where the money is made - but that being able to reliably clear within minutes rather than hours or days could add value. Particularly removing systemic risk where things can happen like the literal same shares being sold to multiple customers.

Clearing houses are usually different entities to execution platforms, and struggle to keep up at the best of times today. I certainly don't think it's a panacea, but maybe less bad than the current options. That way the execution process doesn't get slowed down, but the correct allocation of the transaction to customers is resolved far faster than it is today.

You're still talking about adding friction and expense not just to the clearing but to each transaction. Nobody wants that.

Plus crypto is involved in notoriously many instances of fraud, so it's not that well trusted.

What they want is the current financial system, only maybe faster and more efficient. If you've got a credible suggestion for how to make it faster and more efficient, with fewer opportunities for fraud, I'm sure you'd be able to get the big investment houses to listen.

 

[abj]

In other crypto news the disgraced, and on the run, founder of Terra/Luna has been charged by the SEC for fraud https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64671745

 

[Pont]

Plus crypto is involved in notoriously many instances of fraud, so it's not that well trusted.

Indeed. And that excellent NFT-debunking video I'm sure we've all seen pointed out that it's a feature that turned out to be a bug that makes it so great for fraud. Since there is no central authority, there is nobody that can reverse a transaction. Once defrauded, the only way to get your assets back is through non-crypto means such as using the "beat them with the $5 wrench" approach or going after them after they transition between the crypto/traditional currency boundary.

And since the weakest point in any cyber security has always been social engineering, the irreversible nature of the transaction is just a fraud goldmine.

 

[HappyBunny]

I don't think that's true. Trades have to execute in microseconds, but they certainly don't clear in microseconds today. I'm not arguing that blockchain can keep up with also execution - that's literally impossible, given that execution is where the money is made - but that being able to reliably clear within minutes rather than hours or days could add value. Particularly removing systemic risk where things can happen like the literal same shares being sold to multiple customers.

Clearing houses are usually different entities to execution platforms, and struggle to keep up at the best of times today. I certainly don't think it's a panacea, but maybe less bad than the current options. That way the execution process doesn't get slowed down, but the correct allocation of the transaction to customers is resolved far faster than it is today.

Would settling that quickly actually be a good thing, even if it were technically feasible? It's not like it is exactly a rare event that something goes wrong and a stock exchange cancels a bunch of executed trades. NYSE did it just a few weeks ago.

Personally I also feel like the blockchain is roughly the least safe/secure way to keep any kind of financial asset, so the whole thing sounds terrible to me. But obviously people differ in that opinion.