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Comment by muzani | Hacker News Reader

I'm not sure if I'm missing the point here, but stablecoins could be exchanged for something of value at a fixed price. The USD used to be this - you could exchange it for gold. But it was more convenient to give paper money than exchange gold.

A Big Mac may cost $5 now, $10 in the future. But I would like a Big Mac Coin that lets me exchange it for one Big Mac in any time in the future. It has value as long as McDonald's exist and is willing to accept the coins, which is better than you can say of most crypto.

It may be a different sized burger, it may have somewhat different ingredients. Even our "classic coke" is nothing like the original coke. But this is what I'd expect from branded stablecoins.

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I think you have a much cooler, futuristic vision of a "branded stablecoin" than what I'm talking about :) Almost like a more practical/feasible version of the "flatcoin" concept Balaji Srinivasan (of Coinbase/a16z/etc) had a while ago: https://x.com/balajis/status/1422993084002934788.

Frankly also my initial source of disappointment when I found out what this _actually_ is.

But yeah - in the case of this post / Bridge's offering, "branded" stablecoins are still redeemable for 1 USD, the only point of the "branding" is who is entitled to the yield and for how much "program management" around the stored value (relative to eg. a "stored value" program at a partner bank).

So, a future?

Yes, but McChicken futures :)

Futures have an expiry date, dont they?

Aren't futures all backed by some financial entity? The first problem is it's a third party. That party may go bankrupt. Plus, it's probably in another country. McDonald's is in all the countries.

It's also best when it's backed by the company honoring it. If Ronald Bank decides that they're one day no longer in partnership with McDonald's, they might choose to swap it with Whoppers, which are not quite equivalent, but that's a flexibility that some people might want to have.

I don't want a thousand Big Macs worth of futures though. I just want maybe 10. Or a hundred. If I'm broke or get labeled a terrorist or refugee, I can trade one for food. If say, any McDonald's accepts them, they'd be more liquid than USDC.

Plus McDonald's has plans lasting for decades. My futures may no longer be valid in 6 years.

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