RadioShack wants to pivot and become a crypto company

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,256   +192
Staff member
In a nutshell: Some brands are perceived as simply being too memorable to disappear, even if Father Time has moved on. RadioShack is one such example, at least according to its latest owners, who are relaunching it as a crypto company. The 100-year-old company was once a major player in the consumer electronics space, but those days have long since passed.

RadioShack filed for bankruptcy in 2015, and again in 2017, before being scooped up by its latest owner, Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV) in November 2020. Over on RadioShack’s website, the company outlines its plan to bring cryptocurrency to the mainstream. In short, they believe the best way for crypto to become more widespread is for an established brand with a history in tech to lead the way.

Phase one of this plan involves a token swap which the company explains in agonizing detail across multiple documents.

"RadioShack has one objective: Distribution and usage by millions of individuals but possibly more important, by hundreds of blue-chip, large corporations as their gateway into becoming blockchain companies."

For a company that wants to bridge the “generational gap between the average crypto buyer and the average business decision maker,” the plan lacks the simplicity that one might expect.

Notably, RadioShack is partnering with Atlas USV on the project, which is run by Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr, the team behind REV (who purchase RadioShack last year).

If you're just starting out in crypto, I'd recommend simply purchasing some coins through an established exchange and saving the complex stuff for later once you develop a better understanding of token swaps, smart contracts and the like.

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Maybe I'll put $10 and see what happens. I skimmed the document. I didn't understand all of it but basically, from what it seems, people or providers or partners that buy into the RADIO token gets some interest (more tokens) that RadioShack mints. What I didn't see is how fast RadioShack will be creating new tokens or whether the rate of tokens being created will increase or decrease (they said details will be announced). I will wait and see for sure but this is definitely different than other cryptocurrencies.
 
Brand recognition? Radio Shack still exists?!

LOL (irl)
I really miss radio shack but you can't keep a store open when components are so cheap online. At this point I have enough electronics around I use for parts that I can scavenge anything I might immediately need. It was fun to be able to be working on something, find you need a part and drive down to radio shack. Growing up I had one that was a 20 minute walk from my house so even if I was grounded I was still allowed to go buy some parts.
 
Just what we need, another crypto currency! What an absolute JOKE this crap is. And for all the loyal cryptoheads out there, think about this:

Let's assume mankind eliminates all physical currency and moves fully to crypto. What the world will have is billions of computers dedicated to "printing money" and expending TREMENDOUS amounts of energy. Instead of doing something truly useful for mankind with all this energy and computing power, we have billions of computers running "crypto calculations" based on some geeks make-work calculation methods in the name of generating money. In my eyes, that's just a huge waste and completely and utterly ridiculous.
 
Maybe I'll put $10 and see what happens. I skimmed the document. I didn't understand all of it but basically, from what it seems, people or providers or partners that buy into the RADIO token gets some interest (more tokens) that RadioShack mints. What I didn't see is how fast RadioShack will be creating new tokens or whether the rate of tokens being created will increase or decrease (they said details will be announced). I will wait and see for sure but this is definitely different than other cryptocurrencies.
Wise idea. I put like 20$ on Dogecoin just because back when it was worth fractions of a fraction of a cent and pivoted that into 1 ETH when it blew up.

Just what we need, another crypto currency! What an absolute JOKE this crap is. And for all the loyal cryptoheads out there, think about this:

Let's assume mankind eliminates all physical currency and moves fully to crypto. What the world will have is billions of computers dedicated to "printing money" and expending TREMENDOUS amounts of energy. Instead of doing something truly useful for mankind with all this energy and computing power, we have billions of computers running "crypto calculations" based on some geeks make-work calculation methods in the name of generating money. In my eyes, that's just a huge waste and completely and utterly ridiculous.
1) Sustaining the current financial system requires exponentially more energy, from the skyscrapers and offices to the server farms. How is that more moral?
2) Not every crypto is proof-of-work and requires mining. Many up and coming blockchains use proof-of-stake and other mechanisms that don't require any mining whatsoever, and Ethereum, the second-biggest crypto by market cap, is transitioning from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (which, when finalized, will also end the Ethereum mining that epic gamers have been bawling about).
 
There use to be a Radio Shack, in the same shopping center that had a Walmart (70's).
When my parents went to Walmart, I just had them drop me off at Radio Shack. I was
getting into electronics, and would build some of their "P-Box" kits. Whenever you walked into
a RS, the people working there were also ham radio operators, or otherwise "into" electronics.
You could ask them a question and they could point you in the right direction.
Pivot to the late 90's. I was working on a piece of equipment, had a hall effect motor, with an
IC "amplifier" to provide power and a couple electrolytic capacitors. The cap had popped it's
top (bulged).
Walked into a RS, looked more like a cellphone & dish tv store. Kid behind the counter asked
if he could help me and I said I was looking for a 100uf 25volt electrolytic capacitor.
BLANK STARE. I said a capacitor for some electronic equipment.
He walked me over to the resistor, capacitor boxes, opened up and gave me a 100uf DISK
capacitor. I said no, this is a disk, I need an electrolytic. I found the box, got what I needed
and left.
My how they changed over the years. Shame. Now, if you want "parts" like that, you have to
order them online. All of our local electronic shops are gone, tv repair shops are gone (obviously).
 
Now radio shack wants in on the Ponzi Scheme. Crypto. The currency that you can show off on your screen, but can't go to the local grocery store and pay for anything with. It's just a huge burden on our power grid and the carbon footprint of crypto farming is horrid.
 
Come back to my comment in a few years. I can see it now they steal all of the suckers money will claim they are broke and do a good ole "HIT & RUN" or ENRON 2.0. Something scummy is up and our country seems to have a large amount of fools that wanna make millions without working hard.
 
Wise idea. I put like 20$ on Dogecoin just because back when it was worth fractions of a fraction of a cent and pivoted that into 1 ETH when it blew up.


1) Sustaining the current financial system requires exponentially more energy, from the skyscrapers and offices to the server farms. How is that more moral?
2) Not every crypto is proof-of-work and requires mining. Many up and coming blockchains use proof-of-stake and other mechanisms that don't require any mining whatsoever, and Ethereum, the second-biggest crypto by market cap, is transitioning from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (which, when finalized, will also end the Ethereum mining that epic gamers have been bawling about).

Burn in hell Crypto, burn in hell!
 
Let me see if I understand this correctly. Radio Shack filed for bankruptcy twice, and now they're going to print their own money to get out of it?

Do we have a "head exploding" emoji?
 
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