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Perusing the crypto depths of the internet as I do, and looking at the say 5-13% interest rates available on stablecoins it got me wondering why isn't everybody using this as a savings option? Out of all my acquaintances (which isn't many to be fair) I seem to be the only one to even know about it. I appreciate that some may be averse to the associated 'risk' but I can't understand why people don't put at least a bit of money into such high yield accounts? Anyone else using these?
*reports spam*
why isn’t everybody using this as a savings option?
Because they believe in the adage of "if it looks to good to be true..."
When you say interest rates, are these fixed and guaranteed? If not, it's investment, not savings. Is your money protected? I'm guessing not but I don't know. A savings account shouldn't involve any risk.
I know a couple of people who are.
It's not for me though. Most aren't FCA regulated, so no comeback if it goes titsup, and the whole stablecoin space still looks highly scammy too. In stablecoin news just from the last 12 hours:
https://twitter.com/DoombergT/status/1419644677184233475
I don't want my savings accounts to be that exciting
why isn’t everybody using this as a savings option?
Because it's scammy made-up horseshit?
Davros - variable interest I believe, but still a lot higher than your high street bank offers. As for money protection I have no idea, but I doubt it. Seems like a no-brainer to me for at least a small portion of savings.
If it's 'scammy made up horseshit' then how have these been operating for years with regular payouts to many people? Are the interest payments they have received a figment of their imagination?
High rate, high risk. As these are unregulated there's a lot of half-truths out there. I'm with the Pinboard guy: regulate the exchanges.
https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/1419391971538268160
Seems like a no-brainer to me for at least a small portion of savings.
Why only a small portion, if they're such a good thing?
Because they're a high risk, that's why. And that's why a lot of people won't touch them.
btw for anyone who DOES want to get into it, an acquaintance of mine who works in finance uses Nexo for some of her personal crypto hodling. So that's probably what I'd use, if I was going to try it. https://nexo.io/
If it’s ‘scammy made up horseshit’ then how have these been operating for years with regular payouts to many people? Are the interest payments they have received a figment of their imagination?
Gimmei a P
Gimmie an O
Gimmie an N
Gimmie a Z
Gimmie a I
You invest some money
I invest some money, we get our 15%
Someone else does, we all get 15%
You can keep that going for quite a while before it collapses.
The "not a scam" aspect is that you're betting on it reaching critical mass and becoming the crypto-paypal at which point the transaction fees can begin to balance the initial capital.
So it's more of an investment than savings. It's not UK regulated so there's no protection. It also sounds quite niche. Most people have no interest or understanding of crypto. So they'd be more likely to invest in something that's more well known. Like a simple tracker fund. Those are my assumptions anyway.
how have these been operating for years with regular payouts to many people? Are the interest payments they have received a figment of their imagination?
Bernie Madoff operated for decades with regular payouts to many people
Ah well, it doesn't seem such a popular idea after all. It's funny almost all the mainstream circulating news about crypto is bad. I suppose it gets clicks.
I'll come back to this thread in a year and see how things are going.
I've been having good steady returns on stable coins for around 2 years now. Even better with the farming, but that comes with it's own risks!
Those rates aren't guaranteed, it depends on their performance - much like anything else. If they say it is guaranteed i'd walk away.
Regardless of what the largely uninformed say on here, there are still tons of opportunities in the space.
Have a look at SwissBorg, Genesis Block and Pancake Swap. The latter requires a bit of a learning curve.
Only speculate on what you can afford to write off though.
Amazon and Tesla are making noises again about taking BTC again which will only be good for the world of Crypto. The gaming market is one to watch too, they're favouring tokens like Enjin.
We have a Crypto thread...
Only speculate on what you can afford to write off though.
so not investment, but gambling then?
Most people have no interest or understanding of crypto
Some of have a understanding of crypto, and still don't think it's a great idea as well.
There's another bigger thread with all the usual arguments.
Daft question, how does a stablecoin generate interest? Where are the gains coming from?
Some of have a understanding of crypto, and still don’t think it’s a great idea as well.
Yep, that's me.
I believe the stablecoin issuers generate returns by giving out loans which can be secured with crypto collateral. Not 100% certain of this though.
Why is crypto not a good idea Nick C?
@NickC 'so not investment, but gambling then?' - of course! You wouldn't stick all of your savings in shares either would you?
of course! You wouldn’t stick all of your savings in shares either would you?
why not? According to andykirk all the investors are getting 15% annual returns, no worries...so put your money where your mouth is.
Why is crypto not a good idea Nick C?
where to start...How about the tonnes of Co2 it produces for literally nothing? then there's the fact that It's unregulated, it's unsecure, it's inheritability, and the market fluctuation...I'm sure the gamefication of investing and saving has made some people very wealthy, in the long run it's not going to be the punters. the biggest problem for me is that "The establishment" has a vested interest in making sure it fails. It's not inconceivable that it'll get to a point where banks (who have the ear of governments after all) will just "make it go away"
Daft question, how does a stablecoin generate interest? Where are the gains coming from?
I think this is a really good question. Presumably they are loaning them out. But to who, and why? Crypto speculators who want to trade on leverage - I imagine there is good returns in that. People who can't legally, or don't want to, go through 'conventional banking' channels to get a loan.
Crpyto trading generally, and/or insider trading?
where to start…How about the tonnes of Co2 it produces for literally nothing? then there’s the fact that It’s unregulated, it’s unsecure, it’s inheritability, and the market fluctuation…I’m sure the gamefication of investing and saving has made some people very wealthy, in the long run it’s not going to be the punters.
now this stuff definitely has been done in the other thread....
now this stuff definitely has been done in the other thread…
Yeah sorry. this one should probs be closed
Gambling as a savings scheme? WCPGW
Haha I must need glasses, I don't recall writing that at all.
All valid points though Nick, all of which can be argued for and against.
I'm all for the gamification of investing though, it's good fun!
The flipside of all this is that your fiat is mostly not returning anything at least for lots of savers.
So if you're happy with a guaranteed decrease in your savings against inflation fair enough.
But at least it's safe.
I'm not into this high interest accounts either - they're not scams (a la Bitconnect) they are just high risk.
Many people have done okay out of Blockfi etc but understand what you're getting into.
Use money you can afford to lose.
I've had £13 worth (at today's value) of Cosmos staked on coinbase for a few months. It's made me 28p in interest in that time. Wouldn't get that in a bank!! But would I put a big chunk of money into it as a "saving account" probably not!
Before anyone asks the cosmos didn't cost me anything, it's the some of the rewards for the coinbase earn videos.
How about the tonnes of Co2 it produces for literally nothing?
That's too generic a criticism to be useful. Does regular fiat and financial instruments work co2 free?
Of course they don't.
In fact does any return on capital use resources - absolutely.
I've got a blockfi account, pays around 4-5% interest on bitcoin and ethereum and also on a couple of other bigger currencies and some stablecoins.
Makes sense to get a wee bit of interest on them if you can.
However, caveats as per above, no protection if the site gets hacked or crypto generally plummets so don't put all your eggs in it!
If anyone does want to have a look my refer a friend link is here https://blockfi.com/?ref=dd67ec53 you get US$50 if you sign up with that.
staked on coinbase for a few months. It’s made me 28p in interest in that time.
what'll you do with it all? Add an acre to the grounds, chuck some koi carp in the piano shaped pool in the extension? I know, add another wing to the national gallery with your name on it. Naked profiteering.
Oh yes, the National Gallery 'Richard Kennerley Wing'. That sounds very sophisticated. Reckon that would be at least 30p though.
You'd have been just as denigratory if he said he had made £28k in the last few months @nickc - you'd have just said "you're a fool taking a risk / fleecing other peoples gullibility / ponz11111!1oneleven" or something.
Meanwhile, serious financial players (e.g. Blackrock) are looking at how they offer their multinational clients exposure to the nascent crypto space via the mechanism of ETFs (e.g.), corporations are beginning to not just explore but act on use-cases and big payments companies (e.g. VISA) are explorincg the technology to enhance their services.
Investing in shares is gambling. Investing in crypto is just like investing in nascent businesses - and we already do that with shares, so why not a different investment class?
But hey, nobody is forcing you into any of it. It's just, your negativity is tired, old and with each passing day, less and less effective - because each passing day shows you're on the wrong side of the argument 🙂
Tether is hardly a surprise. It’s been on folks radar for sometime as stinking of something very smelly.
so not investment, but gambling then?
Why the distinction? All investment is gambling.
You’d have been just as denigratory [sic] if he said he had made £28k in the last few months
1. that isn't a word, and 2 it's a riff on a joke from Black Books, but yeah whatever...You're really sticking it to the man, go you, you little winner.
@chevychase - Haha, whilst @nickc is busying himself berating it, others are holding it and making money out of it.
Nicks arguments are all the usual outdated objections. The Co2 argument is being addressed with many mines now making the shift to renewables. Like most things, they move on and develop, people find uses for it..then gradually it becomes widely adopted....my nephews last Christmas didn't want cash to go to the shops with, they wanted tokens for Minecraft (i think) ie Crypto....it won't be our generation that sees the shift it will be the ones below and the ones below that. Value in my mind comes from the blockchain...you can do anything on it securely, buying a house for example would be cheaper to do fees wise and lightening quick.
It really is an interesting area of technology.
1) "Adj. 1. denigratory - (used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign"
2) Meh. I'm not trying to stick anything to the man. I'm trying to make an effective ROI across my investments, and have chosen to go into crypto open eyed with a proportion of my portfolio - which has real estate, stocks and shares, bonds and, now, crypto in the mix.
So really (and it's no skin off my nose if you take this advice) there's two potential things you could do: 1) instead of maligning and discrediting a technology and investment class you clearly don't have a lot of understanding of, maybe put a little skin in the game and challenge your preconceptions.
Oh and 2) invest in a dictionary.
nickc
1. that isn’t a word,
lol....is it panto season?
Oh yes it is.....
Evangelical crypto-bros, cool.
FWIW I can see potential uses of blockchain but there's a strong whiff of 'tulip bubble' about a lot of it. Crack on though fellas but you could try to sound less like cult members.
Amazon and Tesla are making noises again about taking BTC again which will only be good for the world of Crypto.
Until Musk smokes some weed and then decides to tweet some bullshit to either crash or send the market into a frenzy just so he's got something to talk about.
***************
Until Musk smokes some weed and then decides to tweet some bullshit to either crash or send the market into a frenzy depending on whether he's long or short...
Is your 'investment' covered by the FSCS Compenstation scheme, guarenteeing your money back up to £85k if it goes tits up? Of course not!
and there's a very good reason why not.......
Oh yes, the National Gallery ‘Richard Kennerley Wing’. That sounds very sophisticated. Reckon that would be at least 30p though.
Well my next installment of naked profiteering should drop in any day so that will tip me over the 30p threshold.
I gambled on Pidcock winning today as well and that made me a whole 40p so I am literally rolling in it 💰💲🤑💸🤘
My feeling on it is it's high risk enough that I'd only be prepared to invest an amount that I can afford to lose and as I'm not rich 5-13% interest isn't going to add up to much on such an amount so I may as well go for even more speculative cryptos and hope some of them moon and I get 100-1000+% returns. I'm currently down 45% following my strategy though so I clearly have no idea what I'm talking about :p
I can picture the board room meeting on this one.
"Gents we have this highly volatile product and people are seeing how volitile it is . ."
"Let's call it a name with little bearing on its description"
"I know let's call it stable coin. That'll convince the skeptics"
Stable coins aren't actually that volatile, most of the movement comes from the USD/GBP exchange rate since most are tied to the USD.
This doesn't make them safe of course, you still have no protection in the event of a hack or everyone bailing all at once and causing it to crash (hence better interest rates, they are riskier) but they fluctuate much less than other crypto.
They seems a bit odd to me,if you want something stable hold fiat as it's much safer, you can make (or lose!) a lot of money playing the peaks and troughs of other crypto and you can't do that with stablecoins.
I suspect stablecoins are an early precursor to state run crypto currencies, if indeed they are the future, but if this happens why would someone want Tether or USDC rather than USD or GBP backed by the fed or BOE? (For legit reasons anyway)
why would someone want Tether or USDC rather than USD or GBP backed by the fed or BOE? (For legit reasons anyway)
-Some countries selling to FIAT is the point of taxable event and they don't want to cash out
-You are a trader and have sold one asset but don't want to purchase another volatile asset yet but want to keep the money on exchanges
-The exchange only has trading pairs denominated in stable coins
I'm using blockfi, I like the interest on crypto, and get it paid in ETH. There's a risk for sure, but I can live with it. Blockfi look a pretty well set up outfit. Of course, it could go wrong but I've read up on it, and believe the risk is worth it
The exchange only has trading pairs denominated in stable coins
I think this is the main one. No-one really prefers Tether, they just don't have much choice, once inside the crypto ecosystem.
By not allowing you to trade Fiat currency for crypto, AIUI, the exchanges avoid various regulations. Eg Binance has no official headquarters and is banned in some places. If people were using them to trade USD all around the globe, they'd need a serious compliance department and would have to abide by all sorts of Anti-Money Laundering laws etc. Think of all the admin! By making people use a token instead, they can keep things a lot more straightforward for themselves. Until they get banned by all countries. Which, the way things are going lately, might not be long...