Jack Mallers' Presentation Was The Best Of Bitcoin 2022 Conference
Bitcoin 2022 Conference was full of excitement with many interesting presentations, panel discussions, and announcements. Talks and discussions included many interesting thoughts and ideas from investors, miners, companies, developers, and even politicians. The best of all these presentations was the one by Jack Mallers, CEO of bitcoin payment app Strike. This presentation was entertaining, educational and had very interesting announcements for the future of Lightning Network as payment technology that may replace the legacy systems like Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, Discovery, etc.
If you haven't seen Jack Mallers' presentation yet, I highly recommend it. At the very least it offers educational value, explaining the history of how traditional payments systems and networks like Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, and Discovery have developed over time. He also explains how these systems work and haven't seen any significant innovation in decades.
Hive witnesses have just yesterday activated 20% APR on Hive Dollars kept in Savings with an ambitious goal of attracting more attention to this powerful stable-coin. Those of us who have been using Hive blockchain and know what HBD is, understand well the solution HBD provides to traditional payment systems. Hive Dollars offer easy to create and use wallets, layers of security, full ownership, 3 second transfers, zero fees on transfers, and much more. The importance of this value proposition becomes even more clear after you see Jack Mallers' presentation and see how legacy systems work.
Jack does a great job explaining the history and how the traditional payment systems work. He does this to make a very important point. That is these global systems haven't had any innovation in a very long time, they are controlled by monopolies, they have flaws, and finally today we have a technology that offers better solutions. This technology is bitcoin.
Of course, bitcoin core network cannot compete with instant payments and it also has transaction fees that fluctuate. However, the layer 2 solutions like Lightning Network do solve these problems and make bitcoin usable for every day payments. I haven't paid much of an attention to Lightning Network, until I saw BrianOfLondon building bridges between Hive/HBD and bitcoin on Lightning Network. After studying how Lightning works, I was amazed with the innovation and how it works. I don't fully understand it, and there is a lot more to learn, but so far what I know about is impressive.
I have come to a realization long ago that bitcoin is a great asset as a store of value, complete ownership of property, and better solution for transfer of value globally. However, it doesn't provide solution for daily small payments. For that I thought other solutions like Litecoin, Hive, HBD, and other coins were better fit. I still hold these positions. But at the same time I allow a possibility of Lightning Network becoming a major player in payment systems. If things do go that way, I will happily embrace it. Because this will only pave the roads for the adoption of other similar solutions, like HBD.
Jack Mallers made big announcements. He announced Strike's partnerships with an e-commerce platform Shopify, point-of-sale supplier NCR, and payments firm Blackhawk. He demonstrated on stage how we can pay with any lightning wallet for purchases on Shopify stores. That is a big step in crypto technologies being used as an alternative payment systems. He didn't stop there. He said it will become possible to pay with lightning wallets in many major US stores like Walmart, Macy's, Walgreens, Home Depot, CVS, Whole Foods and many many more within a year.
He shows a video of him walking into a grocery store in Chicago and pay for products with various lightning wallets. He uses Zap, Cash App and pays with QR code & Moon wallet for three different transactions. What is not clear is if we can do this right now. If not, it does seems like will be happening in near future.
It looks like the payment system presented here are similar to the model implemented in El Salvador. Merchants have an option to receive the payments in bitcoin or US dollars. If merchants choose to receive in USD, the bitcoin is converted to USD before the payment arrives in merchant's wallet. Many merchants may be hesitant to accept payments in bitcoin or other crypto assets because of difficulties they may present for accounting and tax purposes. If at the end they receive the payment in USD, these obstacles are removed. But the technology used to make this transaction happen is still the crypto technology, not using the middleman like banks who charge fees for these transactions.
I believe many merchants will embrace this solution, just because they save a lot on transaction fees. Paying 3% for each transaction adds up in a long run. Even though merchants are the one who pay the fees, these fees end up being added to the final price of a product and consumers pay for all the costs. Consumers should be happy with this innovation as well, because this will result in merchants pricing their products lower.
Another great benefit for merchants is the cash finality. The transaction settlement is instant. Once they receive the funds, they have them. They don't need to wait for days for the final settlement to go through. Also, they won't have to worry about future charge backs.
The payment solution Jack Mallers is offering will replace the legacy systems and is open for all to use. It doesn't limit the use to the Strike app. People are welcome to use any lightning app they choose, or even just use USD.
I believe HBD offers even better solution for such payments. Its success will depend on the growth of the Hive network. There might even be no need to convert HBD to USD for merchants since 1 HBD is already equal to 1 USD. Since it is not USD, they probably still be hesitant to use stable-coins at this time. But times are changing. In near future we may see stable-coins being welcome as alternative payment options by many more merchants. Especially, if we see positive attitude and changes in political levels.
Senator Cynthia Lummis, who seems to be a pro-crypto politician also participated in Bitcoin 2022 Conference. She said something very interesting and important. She said the sentiment among US senators is that CBDCs (Central bank digital currency) will be better fit for transactions and settlements among central banks, international banks, and commercial banks. She also said for daily payments between consumers and merchants stable-coins would be a better fit. That makes sense, and if true would mean massive crypt adoption is imminent. In such an environment where decentralized stable-coins are welcome to participate in overall economies, Hive Dollars will thrive as a solution. It is just a matter of time for builders and investors to figure it out.
In the meantime, V4V solution that has been built by BrianOfLondon that enables converting Hive/HBD to bitcoin on lightning network and vice versa is a great step in a right direction. Combining this tool with what Jack Mallers is offering, very soon we might be able to pay for daily shopping in HBD. Imaging earning 20% on the cash you keep in savings and being able to pay for anything anytime with the same cash in liquid wallet. There is so much value to empower ordinary people here. It is even more important today, when due to inflation cash held in bank accounts keep losing purchasing power.
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I m glad for the HBD savings and the possibility you outlined in your previous post. With the adoption of fast transactions, Hive already offers that, I just hope more people see this and adopt hive.
😍😍😍😍😍🤩🤩🤩🤩
Anyone can recommend a youtuber who got a lot from the speakers and posted it? They say the conference went great! I'd like to see more of it!
What do you mean?
Just trying to find out who's published the most footage of the event
The 20% APR applied on the HBD interest is definitely a nice move and a good way forward in promoting the blockchain in another level as I believe individuals will turn up in storing HBD in savings for future benefits.
It is pretty amazing how digital system is taking over this era and beyond.
That would be amazing if it did work. So you think that rather than trying to implement something directly, they should use the lightning layer so it sends the Hive -> BTC -> merchant?
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It depends on what merchants will choose to receive at the end of the transaction. If majority will prefer USD, then direct payment implementation wouldn't work.
Direct transfers of HBD wallet to wallet would be a better option. For that significant growth in the network and brand trust & recognition is required.
Utilizing lightning network in the meantime can be a temporary solution. If the app is designed well, the users wouldn't even notice what is going on behind the scene.
It isn't like that in El Salvador. People can pay with Bitcoin for their daily expenses such as lunch, drinking coffee, supermarket via an application called "Chivo" which was developped by the goverment.
Yes, and Chivo uses the lightning network, which is a layer 2 solution.
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Very interesting. We'll see if this is a game-changer. 😎👍
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기다리다. HIVE는 번개 지불을 지원합니까? 진짜로?
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20% apr On hbd savings seems to be the word on the crypto street right now and the reasons aren’t far fetched. Converting hive/hbd to bitcoin via v4v solutions on lightning network makes transaction fun , straightforward and easy to use, a step in the right direction indeed !
This is great. I know that 3% does add up. If they can come up with a better solution. How about shops subsidized a little, consumers and merchants both can benefit. For the convenience it's a good idea, it's such a useful utility !
! PIZZA
Eventually merchant will price items accordingly and won't include payment transaction costs because there won't be any. This will have to happen because of the competition.
yep all good; but in Europe we are instead "banning" private wallets... So much for innovation
Really? That is crazy. How can they even implement that?
https://peakd.com/hive-167922/@tobetada/crypto-fud-europe-votes-for-bitcoin-privacy-busting-rules
https://peakd.com/hive-167922/@tobetada/crypto-fud-follow-up-banning-private-wallets
a mi criterio también la del alcalde de Miami cuando dijo que quería convertir la ciudad en capital del Btc y declararlo moneda de curso legal en su Ciudad
I am glad and praise the team , raising HBD TO 20% BUT what I don't understand,is it monthly interest or yearly
Yearly.
That's great news! I've already set my payouts to 50/50.
it's great news on conference that Shopify with Cash app will adopt Bitcoin Lightning payments
These are good developments... The world of Crypto keeps changing at a fast rate and we all have to stay updated to keep up.
it's great, crypto is the leader now. It's so encouraging to have this updates quickly, but I don't know how they can pay all this profit, 20% it's not little just on this year
I think it will depend on how it will be used. If only few take advantage of this investment option, it shouldn't change anything much. We will see in the next few months how it will play out.
Yes, and this increase may bring many users in the coming months
I will probably do a review of this whole event soon, they announced quite a lot of interesting things compared to the last year
So many awesome things were announced! I was so glad to be a part of that event 🦁
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Were you at the conference or did you watch the presentation after the fact? That would be awesome if you were there. I have been wanting to go to something like this, but the travel is just so much and I don't have the funds. Maybe one day they will have one further north!
I have not gone to the conference. Just have been following what was going on.
Ah, okay. I know some people in the Leo community that went, so I was just curious. If they ever did it in Chicago I might make the drive!
:) oh yea. Yay HBD! and that new payment way is so cool! fast, too. How do they get around all the different gas fees and waiting times for confirmations and the like?
Lightning payment network! It changes the entire dynamic of sending and receiving crypto payments in BTC
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oh yeah. forgot.. 👊
🦁
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Hard to overstate the difficulty, at least in the U.S., of this particular aspect of this announcement. As it stands now, every single transaction where one crypto is converted to another, is a taxable event.
Who is going to bear the burden of reporting on this?
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That is the big question. Jack did say there won't be any capital gains taxes involved. Not sure how exactly it would work.
My understanding is if merchants only accept USD, they don't have to do anything differently.
Similarly, if consumers are initiating payment with USD, they won't have to do anything extra for taxes either.
I think all parties would have to report transactions for tax purposes if they send or receive assets in crypto. There are still many questions that remain unanswered.
Hmmm. Well, I would like that to be true. And he would presumably have access to "inside info" I clearly do not.
I have read of late about a growing "crypto lobby" in Washington, D.C. Perhaps there is a growing consensus that the "rules" are about to change where every single crypto transaction is a taxable event.
Hard to believe, but ... I hope so! 🦁🚀
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Given our recent exchange on this very important topic @geekgirl, I thought you might find of interest a link to what just appeared in my inbox this morning:
Cryptocurrencies and Taxes: What You Should Know
Hard to reconcile what this says with Jack saying "... there won't be any capital gains taxes involved." At least not without a change in current tax law ...
Hi @roleerob!
Sorry for late response. Question about taxes on crypto is really complicated one. Thank you for the link.
Jack is changing the industry in a big way. I was not super impressed with the ideas around using BTC for payments. For me, it acts as a reserve currency and I take profits to dollars when I want to walk around and buy stuff.
The idea of reducing merchant fees and passing that value onto the consumer is where it gets game changing I’m excited to see where that takes us as an industry
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I agree and prefer BTC as a store of value and don't really like to use for small payments.
But also, it might be easier to get bitcoin integrated into payment systems just because of the global brand recognition. Everybody knows bitcoin today. Same can't be said about other coins and tokens. At least for now.
It's a very interesting presentation and I like the idea behind it but I'm not a fan of how he is spinning the information. We see this a lot when people are trying to sell their idea, they down-play the competition while up-playing their own invention. But a lot of what he's saying is false or grossly misleading.
• He keeps saying that no innovation has occurred in transaction systems since the 40's but tons of innovation has occurred in the form of computer codes and network infrastructure upgrades for speed...etc.
• he says things like you have to sign receipts on the current system but signatures were replaced by chips at least 5-10 years ago. I haven't signed a receipt in at least 7 years. Cards are now contactless as well in a lot of places.
• he says you have to carry a card but that's not true either. You can literally put your card on your phone and tap or scan it at the teller.
• he says the current transaction system isn't global but it is. You can easily use an American card in Europe with no issues and transactions take place instantaneously.
• the way he explains how banks communicate with each other is very misleading. He makes it sound like it's all done via telegram but in actuality the whole process occurs in milliseconds which makes the argument irrelevant. Who cares if banks communicate with one another to verify transactions when it takesess than a second. The transaction time is basically limited to the stores wifi and/or cellular network which his system will also be using so it will have the same limitation.
• he talks about banking fees to do a transaction but his system will also have to have fees in order to pay for his company to operate and he is partnered with other companies which will also need a cut (which goes back to the communication argument above but he doesn't explain how his system will communicate with those other systems). He says its cheaper as well but we don't know that and we don't know if his system can scale and maintain efficiency to keep those fees low.
• his system also has the same communicate hurdles since he is talking about converting fiat to bitcoin and then back to the fiat of any country. He says it's peer to peer but it's not. His system has to interact with the banking system and all of those other companies he mentions but he doesn't explain that at all. He just shows a simple diagram and keeps repeating the mantra "faster, cheaper global"...etc. He doesn't explain how his system knows the live FX rates at any given time and makes those conversions. Those transactions also technically have to communicate with the blockchain which will complicate things and make them take much longer than the current system. The benefit of Lightning is that they will happen behind the scenes before or after the fact though so that the transaction appears immediate. But it essentially operates like a preloaded visa or a giftcard.
Again I think this system and the partnerships are awesome and I'm not saying that these aren't amazing steps for crypto. But he's being misleading and he really doesn't explain anything in terms of how his system operates which is odd to say the least. Personally I would rather him come out and say "yo, we aren't where our competitors are yet, but we are getting pretty damn close and we are offering an alternative option for everyone to use outside the status quo." That is more palpable to me than blowing smoke.
Wow, I really like your analysis of the presentation and agree with them all. He did seem to be exaggerating things. I just like there is some progress. You are right, there were no answers for the main questions like how it will be achieved in details. Thanks for ruining the good news. :)
Hahaha 😂 I know right. I just really hate bull-shitters, and "spun" information - anything deceitful or manipulative really. As soon as my bullshit detector goes off the good information really gets ruined for me.
Totally. Me as well.
In my mind he should have just come out on stage and said "Look folks, we've partnered with one of the largest and fastest growing e-commerce companies in North America right now - Shopify." Huge cheers and accolades 🙌 👏
"Now let me show you how easy this system is with this video. Watch me pay for products at this store!" More cheers and applause 👏
But Jack, don't tell me that there has been zero innovation in personal transportation since the early 1900s because cars still have 4 wheels and don't fly.... you're just talking nonsense at that point and now I'm going to scrutinize everything you say because I know most of it is going to be lies.
😆😂
Unfortunately everybody does this, though. It's the same when people talk shit about crypto saying it's only use case is for money laundering and all that bullshit. Lol
So much news and by the time its all been digested there's a new stream of incoming news. Keeping up with crypto is difficult but rewarding as it shows the next steps towards mass adoption. Thank you for the recap and the highlights from Bitcoin 2022 Conference.
It’s a step forward as btc is edging across all board.
Believers of crypto have been made, use cases of crypto built. People are litrally existing and doing everything in the metaverse. A simplified mode of payment that will be easy and straight forward is a winner..All this will be made practical in no time. Thanks for sharing
They told me if I killed myself now it would save the lives of countless others.
Saying the longer I wait to kill myself the more people will suffer.
They are reckless and should have shown the proper media what they had before taking me hostage for 5 years. I know there are many in prison that dont deserve to be there because of this. Your stay in prison will not be fun @battleaxe and friends. People are going to want you dead when they find out what you did. I hope you die a slow painful death. You sick mother fuckers.
https://peakd.com/gangstalking/@acousticpulses/electronic-terrorism-and-gaslighting--if-you-downvote-this-post-you-are-part-of-the-problem
Its a terrorist act on American soil while some say its not real or Im a mental case. Many know its real. This is an ignored detrimental to humanity domestic and foreign threat. Ask informed soldiers in the American military what their oath is and tell them about the day you asked me why. Nobody has I guess. Maybe someone told ill informed soldiers they cant protect America from military leaders in control with ill intent. How do we protect locked up soldiers from telling the truth?
I have to say I love the ra ra around Lightning but I need to write up another Lightning learnings post.
This report from El Salvador on what it is like to actually TRY to use Lightning in day to day spending rings very true to me.
For pennies the system is pretty good. By the time you get to $50 it starts to feel ropey. That's not enough for a decent meal these days.
For now using something like a Crypto.com credit card is a WAY more reliable system but I'll be delighted if we can start seeing Lightning pop up for online purchasing more.