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Comment by granzymes | Hacker News Reader

Correct me if I am wrong, but those decentralized exchanges don't seem to allow converting a token to dollars/euros/other currencies or vice versa.

At some point the ecosystem needs to interact with banks for on and off ramps, and that is where Coinbase excels.

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That is precisely where Coinbase doesn't excel. I know several people who bought crypto on Coinbase in 2017 and forgot about it. They are now trying to restore their account but Coinbase support takes¡months! to complete this step. The best days for Coinbase are already behind them. I recommend looking into other exchanges & not to rely on exchanges for storing your crypto.

You can convert to USD stablecoins, which is still an off ramp, but has the benefit of no AML on decentralised exchanges.

I can't pay my mortgage with stablecoins, though. They also aren't an on ramp.

You can redeem stable-coins like True USD or PAX to a US bank account after passing KYC, with 1 token=1 USD. You can redeem up to 60k/day on PAXOS for a $20 flat fee per redemption, on tier 1 KYC.

It also works the other way, so they are an on-ramp, just with a slightly higher fee. However i wouldn't 100% rely on these regulated stable coins as an off-ramp if the crypto market implodes and everybody runs for the exit.

Right. To a bank. After passing KYC. On an exchange like Coinbase. That's my point: Coinbase is well positioned to be the on and off ramp for crypto by being legitimate enough to interface with the US financial system.

My take is that needing on/offramps proves crypto (and coinbase) is nothing but a huge casino at this point. I've been involved for 7 years and i still can't spend my crpto directly or without some serious gymnastics involved. So tired of people saying the tech is new, 'we are early adopters', etc. I'm personally steering clear of coinbase if they go public.

> My take is that needing on/offramps proves crypto (and coinbase) is nothing but a huge casino at this point.

Couldn't agree more.

You can't spend crypto directly?

I've been using a bitcoin debit card for years.

I've also purchased thousands of dollars of stuff, from NameCheap renewals, Vultr hosting, to Amazon gift cards.

> I've been using a bitcoin debit card for years.

AKA being overcharged to spend fiat.

Bisq does exactly that and looks quiet promising.

The only promise of bisq is to be woken up at 6am one day with police kicking down your door. That's where criminals go to offload their non-privacy coins for Monero and to drain grandma's bank account.

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