AIG

Awkward_Potential_

"Something crazy" like FTX, Gox, Lehman Brothers, Washington Mutual, AIG....

DocInABox33

Amateur take and it shows because you missed a critical detail… you didn’t say what time frame for your “bond yields are consistently higher than inflation” You also did not specify the kind of bonds, are you referring to “consistent yields” from US treasuries, corporate bonds, international corporates, high yield corporates? I can also tell you are an amateur by the statement “they’re guaranteed” because if you are using a bond blend and think they are guaranteed then you don’t understand that corporate bonds have almost the same risk as shares (bet you thought Enron was guaranteed when it had a AAA rating. Same for AIG when they were the counterparty to most of the CDSs of MBS holders) Let’s actually use numbers and specifics to prove how misguided you are… and hopefully you actually do some reading and research rather than copy paste from YouTube: Source: Bolgeheads guide to Investing, who used Rick Ferri’s Portfolio Solutions data of 30 years. Ferri is the creator of portfoliovisualizer and the core-4 portfolio strategy, the irony of which you espouse his strategy and don’t realize it: Intermediate duration US treasuries have 3.9% annualized return Intermediate Investment grade corporates have 4.6% annualized return Source: Table 6.1 on pg 67 from The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing Second Edition Assume you do 50-50 mix bc I can tell you don’t do math and just average things, that’s a 4.25% annualized return. Your error is not understanding the impact of inflation nor are you accurately calculating it. The long term average for inflation is [3.1](https://inflationdata.com/Inflation/Inflation_Rate/Long_Term_Inflation.asp). So your assertion that bonds are consistently higher than inflation is simply not true if you were 100% US treasuries; you’d actually be negative if you held short duration which has a 2.1% annualized return. You also fail to understand how currency debasement works. Not only are you risking a spike in inflation, which the rate of changes moves much faster than bond yields, to outpace your returns from bond yields, even you principle is losing valuing due to M2 increase which is how the government has responded time and again after inflation comes down. It happened in 1987, 1995, 2008, 2020. Maybe you should learn about [1920s Germany](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_the_Weimar_Republic) and [1990s and 2020s Argentina](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-11/argentina-100-per-cent-inflation-crisis/102179458). You can even go back to [1720s France and John Law’s system](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/financial-collapse-john-law-system); it literally caused a revolution. You are also totally clueless it is so obvious that you don’t understand bond markets. Bonds are IOUs from entities that are deemed solvent and fiscally disciplined. Do you really think in the near to medium term the US government is going to balance the budget; the current state is 2 trillion in deficit spending with no political will to raise taxes or cut spending. Is really guaranteed when literally the big bond rating companies have [DOWNGRADED the US creditworthiness](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_government_credit-rating_downgrades)? I truly feel pity for you that you are so clueless and don’t understand the things you invest in. Balance and diversification is key but your over reliance on bonds is truly scary. #even if you are so lazy to actually research and want to listen to an expert, even Ray Dalio is advocating for 15% in gold AND CRYPTO… literally advocating for Crypto over Treasuries   But hey you know I am “mistaken” apparently so what do I, a random Redditor know, not like experts with years of experience agree with me 🤷‍♂️ “Bond King Gundlach: [Treasury Bonds Have Lost Their Safe-Haven Status](https://goldsilver.com/industry-news/goldsilver-news/bond-king-gundlach-treasury-bonds-have-lost-their-safe-haven-status-as-gold-takes-the-crown/)” “Ray Dalio Urges Investors To [Prioritize Gold Over Treasurys](https://www.investopedia.com/ray-dalio-says-gold-over-treasurys-for-stability-11808800) for Stability “Ray Dalio warns investors to allocate 15% of their portfolio to [gold and crypto](https://fortune.com/2025/07/30/ray-dalio-stocks-bonds-federal-deficit-portfolio-gold-bitcoin/)” “Gold is now the anti-fragile asset to own, [rather than Treasuries](https://www.reuters.com/markets/wealth/morgan-stanley-cio-favors-602020-portfolio-strategy-with-gold-inflation-hedge-2025-09-16/). High-quality equities and gold are the best hedges” “Fed debt burden makes long-term US bonds [no longer risk-free](https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/fed-debt-burden-makes-longterm-us-bonds-no-longer-riskfree-says-gundlach-93CH-4091800)” “Ray Dalio says the [risk to U.S. Treasurys is even greater](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/19/ray-dalio-says-risk-to-us-treasuries-greater-than-what-moodys-says.html) than what Moody’s is saying” “U.S. Treasuries [not the safe bet](https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/us-treasuries-not-safe-bet-they-once-were-research-says-2024-08-23/)they once were, research says” “U.S. Treasuries [No Longer a Safe Haven](https://www.independent.org/article/2024/08/29/u-s-treasuries-no-longer-a-safe-haven/)”

meccaleccahimeccahi

Except AIG apparently.

JLivermore1929

Agree with you. I guess my point is that stock brokers are not 100% protected. And, they can do some shady stuff. Not to the extent of FTX. Wall of shame include: AIG, Lehman Brothers

fan_of_hakiksexydays

Is this gonna be a game where you keep asking these things hoping for a gotcha moment, and I keep giving you the list, and then you're just gonna keep deflecting because you never really cared about the answer? Because those companies I listed do exist, and have used blockchain, smart contract, and crypto, so there's not really a gotcha moment here. So here we go, and all this is documented on their site and news articles: -Mayo Clinic using Safe, a digital platform that runs on Hedera smart contract to enhance medical record management in a safer way, improving the security, cutting out the middle man, and reduces the cost compared to traditional systems. -Encrypgen uses smart contracts to transfer patient data. Assist in making more secure, more transparent, and more tustless management of clinic trial data. It uses blockchain and smart contracts to facilitate genome data access. -IBM is doing a ton of different things. I'll use the hyperledger fabric, which is very much in line with what I was talking about making information and data more useful, valuable, and trustworthy. What's data if you can't trust it and can't tell what's correct? -Maersk and PWC using chains like Vechain for their logisitcs. Without blockchain, you had to trust the data and information of a shipment, going through different ports, different ways to track the shipment, and having to trust these different ports, warehouses, and countries, with staffs that don't work directly for you. Vechain simplifies the process, and removes corruption, misinformation, fudged numbers, and even things getting lost due to centralized tracking. A lot of different medical companies (like the ones I listed) are using blockchain for more efficient medical records, healthcare logistics, etc....Blockchain makes those records immutable, incorruptible, more efficient. Everything is now verifiable. There's chains like Medifind used for that. -Microsoft, among many other things, is using the Ethereum blockchain for Azure and its cloud servicecs. -AIG using smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain to reduce costs, and increase -transparency. -Arbol allows farmers and businesses to use Ethereum smart contract and Chainlink in providing enhanced insurances coverage for weather events, that uses live weather data through Chainlink oracle, and can give quick instant settlements, removing the inefficiency and middlemen of traditional systems, while removing fraud and corruption. -Insurwave, used with Ernest Young, uses smart contract to help automate insurance execution, cut out inefficiencies and middlemen. -Home depot has been using smart contract in processing vendor contracts to be more efficient, more transparent in providing all the same information to retailers, and cut out discrepancies. -Nestle has been using smart contract to better track their supply chain and enhance transparency to better tackle fraud. Using smart contract to create more automation in the supply chain system, and executing payments instantly.

fan_of_hakiksexydays

lol there's literally been application and usage for the past decade, not just in decentralized finance, but application that has been in uses for years in various industry like in the medical field (I know this one gets mentioned to death but there's a reason for it), insurance, agriculture, energy industry, real estate, law, etc... It's been used (and I'm not talking about "partnerships", I'm talking about actual utility), by companies like IBM, Microsoft, AWS, Alphabet, Apple, Tencent, Tesla, Nestle, Alibaba, Johnson & Johnson, Walmart, P&G, AIG, Aegon, Pepsico, Nvidia, Intel, Walt Diseny, Unilever, Samsung, Verizon, Honeywell, Comcast, JP Morgan, Oracle, Cisco, Exxon, Shell, UnitedHealth, UPS, Home Depot, Pfizer, Shopify, Metlife, Siemens, Qualcomm, etc... Those companies don't seem to think it's a joke.

fan_of_hakiksexydays

Do you call IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, AIG, Walmart, JPMorgan, Siemens, Honeywell, Tesla, scams for using smart contract, blockchain, and crypto for their business? Because those are just a few of the companies who have been using the innovation for their business. Or do you calling improved security, efficiency, money saving, decentralization, removing the need for trust, reducing corruption a scam? Because those are the solutions that crypto technologies have provided to those companies. Believe it or not, crypto is more than just Hex, Safemoon, FTX, and Luna.

fan_of_hakiksexydays

Only AIG has dropped one of its blockchain projects for automated cancelled flight insurance, but kept everything else.

fan_of_hakiksexydays

Maersk, IBM, Honeywell, Siemens, JPMorgan, Shell, Microsoft, InBev, AIG, Aegon, JLL, Brookfield, etc...

fan_of_hakiksexydays

Other than the company I work for? It's been used in the medical field (from medical research to improving patient data), in oil exploration, in agriculture, food and beverage, hospitality, humanitarian aid, by insurance companies like AIG, it's used in real estate, legal services, art, logistics, supply chains, trade, etc...just to name a few. The use case is so vast, but it's essentially anything that can benefit from blockchain and wants to use a function or a programe on the blockchain. If you want to know if a smart contract can be useful or beneficial in a system ask yourself these: -Does it need improved security? -Does it need efficiency from removing middlemen? -Will it benefit from being trustless and reducing the element of corruption? If you answer yes to any of those, then smart contract might potentially have some use for you or your system...if done correctly.

doodaddy64

for instance a broker can create fake shares to make sure you have something to buy. it's called liquidity. then they have many days to actually "locate" the share they sold you. what if then that broker bought call options and said "we could always buy this stock now so that's just like locating it." even though the price might be impossibly high on the last day of locate window? what if they could just buy more call options on that last day? or what if that broker could "buy" the stock on a non-registered exchange or a dark pool and hide and "self-report" that he did that? would you be allowed to buy in a dark pool at all as a citizen? less alone self report it? how could this possibly go wrong? what is the limit? a million dollars? a trillion dollars? what if they could buy insurance instead of having your stock, roll up that insurance at AIG and then have AIG tank. would that be too big too fail? would you be allowed to take out a loan for a few million, then buy some cheap insurance that you may not pay it back? then have your banker wink and hand over the money?

cancerboyuofa

No excuse, they just closed off withdrawls due to bank runs. The first was if I remember right, when bear steins went belly up. The others were when Lehman went under, then AIG freaked markets out. ATM's were put of cash, branches had special hours, and online withdrawls were halted. This was Wachovia first then wash mutual, then finally my savings at an online only bank ING Direct, which is now capital one 360.

nopethis

warren has always been terrible. She is one of those people who does not realize they are racists. "Ohh honey, you just don't understand WHY I need to do this for you, you would not be able to comprehend it, but its not your fault, see, I have super smart research to show why you are the way you are." Runs on campaigns of punishing the people who caused '09 but then just works for them. People got arrested and put in jail for crypto stuff they did less than 12 months ago. It has been more than 12 years and how many people from AIG and similar companies went to jail?

Icy-Fall496

I got the point. The point is moot. It names no sense. And the tangent that btc created access to the underworld, is also wrong and crazy lol. If you look at a USD money supply chart, you’ll notice ENDLESS printing (adding to the supply, decreasing the value) since 2008. BTC (finite supply) was created in response to the fascist corruption of bailing out companies like AIG, adding to the supply and making Americans pay for it. You’re suggesting they created something that could foil their plan of getting taxpayers to pay for their schemes. You are an idiot.

soks86

Who committed a crime? AIG sold OTC swaps sans-regulation. They held all of the contracts themselves. OTC swaps are now regulated. Loan fraud? I'm pretty sure some people went down for bad mortgages but not too many. It was a bit confused because both the originator and person taking the loan were lying in most cases. If both sides lied, who do you arrest? Arresting everyone is not necessarily productive.

fan_of_hakiksexydays

It's actually typically more efficient and secure. We've already seen how it cut out a lot of steps, time, auditing, extra work, in its application in the supply chain industry. Cutting time, resources, and cost. The decentralization not only removes the issue of trust and corruption, but also provides a more effective way to authenticate. That's why one of the fastest growing place it's being used, other than the financial field, is the medical field, in dealing with information from medical trials, medical research, to patients records, helping share information more quickly and more accurately. And one specific application that stems out of the is Self-Sovereignty Identity. Blockchains like Ethereum have been able to solve the issue of having identity information online being vulnerable and being at the mercy of a centralized identity. SSI gives you control back over your online identity and information, control who you want to share that information with, etc... To answer your question with a specific example, major insurance companies like AIG have started to use Ethereum smart contract, to remove a lot of human error, remove corruption and the need to put trust in a person, cut out middlemen, use a more secure network, not have a single point of failure network, and provide more transparency. Here's more details on how smart contracts work for an insurance: https://www.scnsoft.com/insurance/smart-contracts