crypto

A reminder that closed, permissioned stablecoins issued by stores like Walmart and Amazon already exist

They are called gift cards

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Except you can't refund a gift card.

Stablecoin implies they will be able to be swapped, potentially used in other apps.

+they can expire gift cards including according to T&Cs (i.e. semi-arbitrarily)

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 /ai-art

I agree, though there's an important distinction to make. Address-based blocking and locking mechanisms operate differently from time-based or terms-and-conditions triggered dissolution, particularly in terms of their scope and implementation approach.

These actions definitely fall in the same general category of transaction controls, I just think they're more like cousins than siblings in terms of functionality. 

Centralization creates the vulnerability regardless of the specific method used, which is probably why the big corps want to own their own stable (and maybe even chain?). The changes can be address-based, expiration, T&C change, whatever, the companies want it because they keep the power to disable transactions. IMO there isn't an obvious reason to go from gift cards to stables, but maybe I don't get it.

Centralized stablecoin issuers can also turn off addresses / lock coins just the same (USDC and Tether do this all the time)