There is some rumblings going around that did not seem to get a lot of publicity. It appears the SWIFT network has decided not to support transfer from banks to cryptocurrency exchanges for under $100,000. This means that any financial institution that is part of SWIFT will not receive notification if it engages in such transactions.
This caused Signature Bank to stop its support of Binance. Of course, the exchange is now scrambling to find another bank to handle the transactions.
Here is a point of vulnerability for the cryptocurrency industry. We always knew the on and off ramps to fiat currency were a weak spot. There is nothing that can be done since that is firmly in the hands of the banks and regulators.
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Ultimately, this move could prevent smaller investors from getting involved in cryptocurrency. Obviously, $100K is a lot of money, out of the reach for most investors. It will limit the ability to buy cryptocurrency only to the larger players. Hence, we see another move for Wall Street to take over.
Now we must state all is not lost. To start, not all banks are part of SWIFT. There are other services out there which the banking industry utilizes. The move also does not affect the purchase of cryptocurrency via credit card.
However, if this is the case, we could see a setback for the cryptocurrency industry in terms of investing.
Of course, this might be a good thing.
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Getting Down To Building
There is little doubt the world of cryptocurrency was infected by the antics and excessive speculation placed by those who were only concerned about Lambos and mooning. Most focus upon the monetary and market pricing aspect while ignoring the entire process of development. This is not how a successful industry is forged.
Of course, the bear market helped from this perspective as a lot of the weaker hands were washed out. This left us with a period where the builders were reigning supreme. With each down tick in the markets, more code was being written. This is vital since we are still at the stage where a lot of infrastructure is being created.
If this SWIFT situation is true, we will see the amount of money rolling in through exchanges diminishing. That likely means the focus of the industry will have to shift. In some ways, this can be great news.
Ultimately, we will move from price appreciation to focusing upon projects based upon value. Here is where we can see building becoming a center point.
Hive Ahead Of The Curve Again
What happens in a world where people potentially could have difficulty buying cryptocurrency?
We need to think about that for a second. If the amount of fiat currency from retail investors dries up to a large degree, how will things look?
To start, there is still the opportunity to swap crypto-for-crypto. This is an area we discussed in the past. Eventually, this is likely where most trading happens. It also is a reason to develop and promote DEX as opposed to centralized exchanges. The latter should only be utilized for fiat transactions if possible.
The other aspect to this is the ability to earn cryptocurrency. Hive is a blockchain where many applications are already built which enable individuals to get rewarded in coins and tokens. We could quickly see this becoming the way the average person gets involved.
Cryptocurrency might move from something that people look to speculation upon into something that is earned and utilized.
Cryptocurrency As An Asset
The problem is that the entire industry, over the last half decade, framed cryptocurrency as an separate asset class, no different than stocks or bonds. This is something that we discussed whereby the properties of most coins and tokens makes it more akin to a digital asset as opposed to a currency. In short, they suck as a medium of exchange.
We can see how this mindset was promoted. The idea of mooning and Lambos only feeds into this. If many believe something is going to massively appreciate in price, they are not going to use it for payments. We see this with $HIVE and HBD.
At the same time, people failed to see what the individual cryptocurrency represents. When the focus is upon market action, the project itself means little. In fact, to many, it has no impact. This is just another asset to utilize for maximum profit.
Failing to see what the cryptocurrency stands for has affected both investors and developers. The former doesn't look at the validity of what is being created while the latter simply engaged in a money grab. This started in the ICO craze, evolved, and was still with us at the beginning of the bear market.
The problem is looking at cryptocurrency, overall, as an asset class instead of realizing we are building infrastructure whereby every asset class will end up tokenized.
Perhaps a shift in focus as a result of SWIFT will happen.
Hive Backed Dollar
Over the past 18 months or so, we had a lot of discussions about the Hive Backed Dollar (HBD). We could be embarking upon a time where this coin becomes even more important.
If there is a reduction in fiat currency, monetary expansion, along with value, will have to come from somewhere other than the trading platforms. This means that, in addition to development, we need to facilitate the industry with more currency.
HBD could fill this role.
Of course, the danger is people thinking that simply creating more tokens will solve the issue. That is not the answer simply because there is no value in this.
However, when we look at the discussions we had here, if we start to build the value of HBD employing some of the suggestions presented, then we have a currency that is standing on its own. Without the concentration of fiat currency, value creation suddenly is the priority.
Here is where Hive steps in. As stated in the past, the $HIVE coin, like most, are value capture. They represent the value generated within a platform, protocol, or ecosystem. Hence, the greater the value created on that network, the more that is captured by the main coin.
This is crucial for HBD since it is backed by $HIVE. Naturally, this uses the USD as the measurement so market price is essential. Nevertheless, under these circumstances we can see how network effects can have a significant impact upon how people view Hive. At the same time, the fact the coin is really an access token further moves demand away from market demand and, instead, is driven by utility needs.
In Conclusion
The ability to get rewarded and earn cryptocurrency could be vital in the future. We could see this becoming the main mode of distribution of coins and tokens. Those projects that cannot tap into this could end up having to rely upon crypto-to-crypto transactions. While this is still a viable approach, the possible move by SWIFT could have a major impact.
A coin like HBD can help greatly with the liquidity of the industry. This is a way to increase the elasticity at a time when we might be seeing the opposite happen with the reduction in fiat currency. Having the focus shift to building value on Hive will help both coins compliment each other.
Of course, this move could also harken the advancement of commercial development. One way to get around the problem is to avoid fiat currency as much as possible. Hence, the ability to pay for goods and services using a coin like HBD will go a long way of providing another off ramp for people. While this does not appear to be affected, we can not overlook moves that might be made in the future.
Creating resiliency within our cryptocurrency economies is crucial. SWIFT is part of the established system. Hence it is just something else to develop around.
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It's clearly implied that it isn't SWIFT making this decision.
It's Signature Bank making the decision.
And they only do 0.01% of Binance's business.
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Other articles are saying how this is bigger than Signature, that they are just the first to reveal it.
https://www.asiamarkets.com/swift-network-cuts-access-to-cryptocurrency/
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Yeah I just noticed that... Seems unclear at the moment.
I guess we only have to wait a week to find out?
So, the control freaks have made a move to exclude anyone from entering the market that don't meet with enough control freak approval to have 100k usd.
We've been waiting for bonds and loans for more than 2 years.
@klye isn't talking much about loans, and the core devs aren't talking about bonds.
I get that creating such software that runs in an uncontrollable way would put a target on not just the dev's backs, but the user's, too.
So, every day that goes by that these things are not in production is one more day we remain trapped in this financial dystopia, by our own choices to stay.
If this crowd could gin up a dev willing to actually do these things, I'd vote for the proposal to pay for it from the dao.
Willing to do it. Have it basically done. But testing cycles take over a week at this point and been having to take on other work to keep myself afloat. Long list of things to finish, it will get done. Mobile version won't be proper for V1. Will likely strip the futures trading out for V1 as well and focus on the main site functionality.
Maybe will open up the project here tonight and get another testing cycle started. A week turn around on testing the functions that need tested at this point sucks and horribly slows things down. :/
A lot of it depends upon infrastructure.
But yes we need to keep the fight going. Each step away from the present system is much better.
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SWIFT thinks they are being clever by building a protective moat around themselves. In effect, they are cutting themselves off from where value will shift over the long-term. When they come back with their tail between their legs, it will be too late. They will have made themselves obsolete.
Steller (XLM) and Ripple have done a decent job of circumventing SWIFT.
Ripple, for example, aims to work directly with banks to transfer value. They decided to focus more on the commercial side.
Stellar, on the other hand, focuses more on retail transfers and remittances. As a result, you can use Lobstr.co to load up fiat at your local CVS pharmacy, or any other Moneygram location like Walmart. I highly doubt that they'll impose a restriction of $100K loads.
Then there are crypto ATMs. These are a bit predatory with their fees. But, I think that's mostly because there aren't very many around. In time, I think their fees will come down.
And, as you mention, we can still use debit cards to buy crypto. And, on the other side, we can use Coinbase cards or Crypto.com cards to spend without having to involve SWIFT.
Keep in mind that SWIFT is not a settlement system. It is only a messenger service.
So they are important to the system but not exclusive.
And blockchain is a great threat to them.
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The SWIFT system is not independent at all, they use it to threaten countries with sanction. Therefore, it is normal to use againts cryptos.
It does appear that SWIFT is now under the control of the USG and its allies.
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It's just perfect, there is no market for Banks or other nefarious 3rd parties to get between retail investors and their
stockscrypto but they found nifty office tricks to create one. It's the consultant searching for a problem in a healthy company after he was hired to solve it. Of course, major moves like this get 0 coverage and happen the FIRST week after the Dr. Evil summit in Davos. BravO.This will not be the last action taken against retailers. If this is a direction, we'll see Crypto Apps getting attacked next.
Well those with $100K can still get involved.
So it is catering to the bigger players, i.e. Wall Street.
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Well if you throw 100k+ per Transaction, you can't really be called retail. In Europe that means that all those transactions will be registered with the equivalent of what the IRS is. That is mandatory for transactions above 100k already. Deal is sealed.
In the US, it was $10K and now is moving towards $600.
So that, from the US perspective, doesnt affect much.
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Dang that is low, you guys really are "big with" data collecting.
It is going to be an exciting war with codes at the core of it.
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They will push their own crypo network with all available force. HBar is such one, it's a WEF-certified Blockchain, 100% creepy.
Them raising the bar to $100K shows how a problem it is to be dependent on the established system because they'll always leverage their position and authority. Users will have to adapt and utilized other methods. I don't think Binance will find an alternative solution in the near future. But it is an opportunity to innovate and think outside the box.
We knew the on and off ramp to fiat was a weak point. We need to start to develop workarounds.
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This is a move to limit the low cryptocurrency investors from taping into the crypto space for the opportunities it offers, it is not a surprise since most opportunities have often been available to the big boys only.
We are witnessing another push for us to put greed aside and go back to the basics of cryptocurrency. It is time to start building to avoid reliance on banks to access cryptocurrency.
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We need to develop around what they are doing. Obviously, we will not be able to do it with fiat.
Instead, we need to make crypto and the development the focal point.
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Stables are definitely a good option for stuff like this. We need to see them more widespread though. This makes me think that it might be a good idea to finally sign up for a crypto debit card. It's pretty rare that I actually move crypto to fiat, but if I wanted to that might be an option. It's pretty doubtful I will be moving over $100K anytime soon!
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From what I could find, this is only going from bank to exchange, not the other way. It makes sense since it appears they want money coming out of crypto.
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Ah, so only for buying. I see. Thanks for setting me straight!
I don't know how this will develop, it will certainly lead to changes and evolutions that will allow small investors to continue on their crypto path.
I believe like you that in the future Hive could play an important role, this is also thanks to HBD which could become a form of payment... and some have already adopted it so it shows that it could work well.
Very useful post thanks for the info and food for thought!
The fact that people can earn crypto, both base and second layer, allows people to really enhance their holding. If the purchase route from fiat is limited, this could really become bigger.
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This totally sounds like another attempt of the rich and powerful attempting to block off normal people from entering the fray, much like when Robin Hood stopped trades on Game Stop. Oh no, the little guys are effecting the market? Can't have that.
That being said, your article got me wondering if there would ever be a time where USD stops being a meaningful peg, given the mad greedflation we are all dealing with - a dollar doesn't buy what it used to.
There are so any assets denominated in USD that it is not going away anytime soon. People do not realize the hundreds of trillions in assets tied to it.
The USD is no longer a currency, since there is no currency used in most of this stuff, but rather a unit of measure.
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My limited research on this topic led me to conclude that it was all complete and utter irrational alarmism.
Signature Bank accounts for 0.01% of Binance's business.
I might have to look into it more because you are saying the SWIFT system is unilaterally applying this rule to all banks, which was not my takeaway. However, if this is the case then it actually hugely financially incentivizes banks to become Bitcoin custodians directly, because then they can buy $100k worth of Bitcoin at a time and use that free-floating value to continue engaging with the system without the need for SWIFT. That would actually improve decentralization and take more power away from the few centralized exchanges we have access to.
More likely what would happen is that banks could create accounts at the exchanges and deposit $100k USD instead of BTC. As customers transfer money to the exchange the bank can transfer the USD in their exchange account to the client until they run out of money. Of course they can do withdrawals in the same way to refill the account without having to throw down $100k all at once. there are a lot of workarounds for this seemingly miniscule problem, but I'm sure American exchanges are pissed if they are all affected.
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There are many work arounds if this is the case. I couldnt find anything on the SWIFT website but that might not be a surprise since they might notify direct to their customers.
You could be right, this could be another move by the banks to hijack things away from crypto.
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This is something I feel will greatly benefit the crypto space as a whole. When the perspective changes so do the appreciation of the asset. The asset being earned instead of bought would change everything.
That is what the construction of an industry is about. Value is created and captured in adifferent ways. Here, we have cryptocurrency to capture it.
Yet we still have to create it.
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You say something in your conclusions that I also believe in. Getting rewards with cryptos might be useful in the future. I don't think it will be fundamental, but it certainly can be a monthly help to make a better living. For someone who has been more forward-looking, it will be totally saved by cryptos. I won't be among those, but others like you who are very good and smart will get financial freedom and I think they can also help other people. I believe more and more in HBD, although I am scared of that 20% interest, but experts say HBD can sustain 20% interest. Finally you talk about the resilience of the crypto world and HIVE is among the most resilient projects, it seems to me that it has fully demonstrated that during this bear market.
Why are you scared of the 20%?
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especially for what happened in the past to other projects. Such a percentage in some systems is unsustainable. But I have read several articles showing that HBD can afford 20% interest for now. But these articles are technical articles of HIVE and I struggle to understand them. So what I can do for now is trust those articles that show that a 20% HBD interest is a tenable situation.
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What’s the alternative for on/off ramps?
This will be a big challenge for small traders who are still trying to understand how the Crypto space work. Secondly, it will scare many small investors and also limit the services of banking institutions.
It would be great to also have more ways to earn crypto.
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Such a decision would be a heavy blow for SWIFT. Not for Crypto. On-ramps will shift to different places, e.g. peer to peer. Exchanges will work hard to on-ramp their customers.
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Smells like "the super-rich can continue to invest in crypto and get richer but the peasants can't" to me.
While reading this the good outcome of all this was on my mind. I really think that the market could benefit from this making bigger businesses adopt crypto. I think a lot of these major institutions are still dipping their foot in the water to see if its warm. If we have bigger actors moving the amount they typically move on the stock market we will see a bull run that will change the lives of many.
Is the SWIFT system used for all transactions or is it only used for international stuff? So I think that people will be making some changes to avoid the penalty but who knows how long that will work. I agree that HBD does have an opportunity but it just isn't big enough right now to satisfy the liquidity needed.
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