Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by JumpCrisscross 3130 days ago
> Wallstreet has a monopoly on IPOs, they are clearly threatened by the ICO boom

For a longest time, Wall Street had three tricks: securitization (breaking cash flows into securities), portfolios (putting securities in a box) and leverage (borrowing and lending). (One could argue swaps are a fourth.) That's it! IPOs? Securitise a company. CDO? Portfolio mortgage securities. Mortgages? Securitise them!

Now there are blockchains. A whole new thing! If there's a group thrilled shitless about blockchains and ICOs, it's Wall Street. Best part: when the whole thing goes south, they get to blame Silicon Valley.

1 comments

Even if blockchains/cryptocurrencies replace fiat currencies and ICOs replace IPOs on a stock exchange, little about Wall Street does will actually change. Securitizing and aggregating securities into portfolios, lending, marketing and pricing securities, advising issuing entities, etc., the things investment bankers occupy themselves with every day, do not go away because of cryptocurrencies and ICOs.
> the things investment bankers occupy themselves with every day, do not go away because of cryptocurrencies and ICOs

Pardon me, I was being facetious. We agree. I was responding to a comment claiming investment banks "are clearly threatened by the ICO boom" [1]. Wall Street is more likely to coƶpt, as opposed to be replaced by, blockchains.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15790978

Your parody is very good!