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Re:Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy by njarboe on Thursday December 07, 2017 @12:37AM (#15867868)
Coinbase does give one the sense of security and ease of use. It does not seem sketchy, is American based, has KYC procedures, etc. If they lose coins or go under, a lot of "normal" people will lose money. Not sure what regulations might be passed in Congress if that happens, but the cryptocurrency Wild West would likely be over in America at that point.
Re:Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy by cobbzilla on Thursday December 07, 2017 @02:15AM (#15868306)
I would guess they also have some kind of insurance. iirc one of the larger exchanges was hacked and lost millions, but the insurance paid out and made whole the users who lost coin. it's a dynamic market.
Re:Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy by matwood on Thursday December 07, 2017 @11:32AM (#15871451)
According to their website, the USD wallet is FDIC insured and they have insurance for the crypto.
Re:Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy by drawkbox on Thursday December 07, 2017 @12:54AM (#15867925)
Agreed. Maybe one day they will be so big that they are deemed "too big to fail" like the over-extended failed big banks and the bailouts/TARP of the Great Recession.
Re:Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy by Frogolocalypse on Thursday December 07, 2017 @01:09AM (#15867991)
Sounds like a justification for seizing it. For safety and security. But the government wouldn't do that, would they?
Re:Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy by drawkbox on Thursday December 07, 2017 @01:36AM (#15868152)
If the government seized funds of Coinbase with how entrenched it is even now, there would be massive legal challenges. Ultimately that might be a good thing in terms of forfeiture reform. Coinbase (US company) is orders of magnitude different than btc-e or mtgox etc.
Re:Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy by Frogolocalypse on Thursday December 07, 2017 @01:45AM (#15868187)
Re:Coinbase: The Heart of the Bitcoin Frenzy by drawkbox on Thursday December 07, 2017 @02:01AM (#15868244)
Nothing like that would happen today though as that was more a reaction to the Great Depression and the wealthy hoarding during times where cash was constrained.

Also, that was gold so who is to say that couldn't happen to gold today if it can happen to cryptocurrencies, any hoarding would be a target in another depression that bad much like things like offshoring might be or are in some case.

Why it won't happen today you can base off the reaction during the Great Recession, we bailed out failing banks with TARP that got us into this mess by over-extending leverage instead of consumers. The FDR order helped the economy and all people at the time over the wealthy.

FDR, if he was in charge during the Great Recession, probably would have made new banks and let them fail if that happened under him, a people's president. The SEC was also created during his admin which is arguably the best thing to ever happen to investing in the US, solid markets since Securities Act of 1933 and SEC inception, cryptocurrency will eventually be more closely regulated as it grows.