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favorited
That reminds me that McDonald's did print their own money! It was their version of a gift-certificate, before magnetic-strip gift cards were around. You'd get a bound booklet of 5 imitation dollar bills, which you could tear off and redeem for the equivalent dollar-value of food at McDonalds.

https://imgur.com/a/6U3o64p

superasn
Now imagine McDonald took a $10B+ loan and based on the collateral of the gift-certificates it has printed but hasn't given away. Because that is what is happening in crypto afaik.

I think this part probably didn't happen in real word before ...or did it? (hoping it didn't)

fineIllregister
This whole analogy is bad because McDonalds produces physical goods, which provide a basis for a valuation of clown bucks, gift certificates, or whatever. At the some point, the holder of clown bucks can turn them into burgers, a commodity in a competitive market, that McDonalds has demonstrated the ability to deliver consistently.

There is no incentive for McDonalds to stop producing these burgers, so no risk of rug pulling.

Collateralizing the loan with McDonald's gift certificates would just be a bet that McDonald's will sell 10b$ more food, minus some delta to incentivize people to use the lender's clown bucks instead of greenbacks.

bravetraveler
These were buried incredibly deep in my memory, thank you for the reminder
ratg13
Is this not how airline and hotel points work?
kelseyfrog
That's new. I didn't know I could buy points from those who make them and transact them between other accounts.
batiudrami
Funnily enough you actually can with airline points and there are websites dedicated to this economy of getting points then selling or transferring them to another airline where they are more valuable or useful (Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program is very popular).
ratg13
Not just airlines, but other types of points or even Amazon gift cards.
thenewwazoo
No, because loyalty points are unfunded liabilities on account sheets.