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Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

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Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#211

Post by bko »

csomar wrote: post #209
bko wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Then I started to recognize that its predatory and actually not benign or harmless. It is taking advantage of people. Can't this be applied for most jobs in social media, advertising, lending and discretionary spending?

A fairer comparison will be gambling, sports games and drugs.

Sure I guess since they're voluntary. Much harder to opt out of big social media or ad agencies. But that makes my point even stronger since no one is forcing cryptocurrencies down your throat.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#212

Post by csomar »

wild-eep wrote: post #31

I left earlier this year, and worked in the space for a couple of years. I started with a neutral position on crypto, I didn't even think about it much. More like, its easy and pays well. But if people want to waste their money on tokens, go for it, but its not my cup of tea. Then I started to recognize that its predatory and actually not benign or harmless. It is taking advantage of people. It started to become gros…

Indeed. It's not like you can't work on Crypto with good intentions (I have been following the Namecoin project for a while, they are under-funded and the team refuses to do any marketing; as a result, their currency have little value and they can't afford to pay the astronomical expenses other crypto projects pay)

But if you are going for any of these non-shiny companies (some of them are doing really hard engineering work), the pay and the benefits will be normal and maybe over below market-rates.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#213

Post by codegeek »

wild-eep wrote: post #31

I left earlier this year, and worked in the space for a couple of years. I started with a neutral position on crypto, I didn't even think about it much. More like, its easy and pays well. But if people want to waste their money on tokens, go for it, but its not my cup of tea. Then I started to recognize that its predatory and actually not benign or harmless. It is taking advantage of people. It started to become gros…

I don't get the point of crypto and so far I have understood it to be a gambling machine and get rich quick scheme.

Honestly, I will be a bit skeptical if I was hiring a crypto developer. But I wouldn't make a blanket decision. I would carefully analyze on a case by case basis but by default I will surely be less trusting initially. Sorry but this industry is full of scammers.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#214

Post by marginalia_nu »

wild-eep wrote: post #31

I left earlier this year, and worked in the space for a couple of years. I started with a neutral position on crypto, I didn't even think about it much. More like, its easy and pays well. But if people want to waste their money on tokens, go for it, but its not my cup of tea. Then I started to recognize that its predatory and actually not benign or harmless. It is taking advantage of people. It started to become gros…

This is my experience with fintech in general, very much an "are we the baddies?"-sort of a place. Although the institutional side is better (even if the money isn't).

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#215

Post by jakupovic »

eulenteufel wrote: post #206
jakupovic wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Do they actually know these instruments are crucial for the economy or do they just know how to make money with it? I'd think the latter would be enough. There is no difference in capitalism between something being "crucial" for economy or just a way "to make money." They are equivalent.

That's hard for me to understand. I'd take 'crucial to the enconomy' to mean 'positively coupled to the rest of the economy' or 'the rest of the economy would be worse off/less efficient if this financial instrument were to be outlawed. Why does this follow from 'makes a lot of money'? That seems like a very complicated question to me.

I was trying to say that these are equivalent, crucial to economy and way to make money. To me they are equivalent because capitalism will find the shortest and most efficient path, if it doesn't make money it will not exist. Hence, crucial means survives by making money.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#216

Post by codegeek »

bko wrote: post #211
csomar wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fairer comparison will be gambling, sports games and drugs.

Sure I guess since they're voluntary. Much harder to opt out of big social media or ad agencies. But that makes my point even stronger since no one is forcing cryptocurrencies down your throat.

Social media has benefits (as much as we love to hate it) whether you agree or disagree. Crypto at this point is scams and get rich quick schemes. Not the same comparison.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#217

Post by TingPing »

mmcnl wrote: post #177
olalonde wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use case: decentralized, censorship-resistant, programmable money. Sorry if it takes more than a decade to disrupt the most entrenched and powerful status quo on earth. Personally, I never thought it would come this far so quickly, and am quite happy with the pace of adoption and progress.

A very important part of any use case is that you clearly define a goal. What is the goal of "decentralized, censorship-resistant, programmable money"? These are crypto invented words that have no meaning outside of the crypto ecosystem.

An unregulated market where consumers can be exploited.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#218

Post by roflyear »

capkutay wrote: post #44

Zoom and Netflix both lost 60-80% of their value in the last year and I don't see anyone declaring them dead. I don't work in crypto but I think there's a bit of a knee jerk reaction to seeing all the vaporware projects being wiped out (rightfully so). Consolidation and pruning of wasteful projects is good. If you feel like the work you're personally doing is positive, then don't worry about people dancing on the gra…

All of crypto is down that much. Not all of the stock market is. Stop comparing these things.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#219

Post by [deleted] »

mmcnl wrote: post #174
hirako2000 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Be your own bank cannot be solved by a plain database, as it doesn't ship with the trustless features most blockchain networks offer. The network is there. When bitcoin came out it solved that problem but the network took years to expand enough to guarantee integrity. That's what has been happening in crypto, in the early years, network expansion, fed by speculative investment (speculation can have its merit, see). T…

What problem does being your own bank solve? You're posing crypto as a solution to crypto-defined problems that no one actually has. How does crypto improve my life? How will it make me happier, healthier and how will it help me contribute more to the wellbeing of others and the planet? I can easily answer this question for PostgreSQL.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#220

Post by roflyear »

sshine wrote: post #125

> Anyone else in a similar position? Yes. I’ve worked in fintech and recently transitioned to cryptocurrencies (implementing cryptography). The backlash I received from my peers for even going into finance was very comparable. > the constant backlash from the public is nagging me I’ve lost friends, and I’ve resorted to say that I work with cryptography (which is 100% true, but omits the application). It feels like yo…

Personally I would be hesitant to hire someone who worked in crypto. I feel it is a sign of bad judgement and morals.
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