Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 81 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#71

Post by Jommi »

thaway2839 wrote: post #46

I have a simple question. Are cryptocurrencies supposed to be good currencies, or good investments? Because you cannot be both. The purpose of a good currency is diametrically opposed to the purpose of a good investment.

Yes you can.

USDC is a stablecoin based on USD backed by USD-equivalents.

BTC is a cryptocurrency designed to be created from energy, and with a finite supply.

YFI is a cryptocurrency that get distributed rewards from the decentralized organizations profit-seeking strategies (like a hedgefund).

All "cryptocurrency" means is that it exists on a blockchain really.

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#72

Post by Ekaros »

warrenm wrote: post #49
Saris wrote: post #47

The amount of overhead that comes with using a cryptocurrency is a bit nuts to me, huge 20GB+ Blockchain files that need to be on ssd storage, and the bloated and unstable software that goes with it. The fees are also huge in some cases, it costs a lot to send or exchange it. And it can take a long time for transfers to complete. There a few things that benefit from Blockchain, but the majority of projects would be b…

Converting real property deeds into a public ledger could make a great deal of sense (except for the title search companies and local government records workers) It's public information as to who owns what property - why is it all locked-up in file cabinets more-or-less randomly distributed through the country?

And in the end there is no practical reason to have it on blockchain. It is even undesired.

Failure of certain governments does not mean all of them have failed. Many have robust working registries of ownership. And sufficient procedures to sort out the issues.

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#73

Post by csdvrx »

cuchoi wrote: post #33
csdvrx wrote: post #23

My personal theory is much simple: the crowd is a bit aged here. They may try to rationalize their hate, but I think it's not about reason but people seeing crypto as "against the natural order of things": “I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anyt…

My grandparents and parents love WhatsApp, Uber, Instacart, 4G, Smartphones, Ipads, and Netflix (to give a few examples). All things that were invented long after they were 35. I am between 15 and 35 and I have yet to see the problems Bitcoin solve for me (TBF, I don't live in Venezuela or Argentina, and I don't do any illegal activities). I am bit more bullish on Ethereum.

Congratulations to your parents and grandparents for being exception to this rule of thumb, and for your awareness that while you don't have any problems solved by one crypto, but that others might, and another crypto may have provide value for what you do.

Having been raised in this exceptional family might have helped :)

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#74

Post by Irongirl1 »

I'm a non-techie so my opinion is automatically discounted...but I'll tell you what I truly think..I think it's so hated because it solves so many problems for the folks who really needed those problems solved and who were being ignored.

Techies hate poor people, people who don't look or think like they do and people who really need the tech to work and not just be some fancy, sounding gobbley-gook to impress specialty bankers (ie: VCs). Starving Afghanis who need money to buy food don't care what "tech stack" it's built on or what College you went to...they need to buy food. Africans don't care if "Timmy" reminds the lead VC of himself during his college years, they need a seamless, cheap way to transfer money across vast distances. Africa-Americans don't care whether or not you knew them at the Country Club, they need a way to store their savings without being accused of theft, be insulted at banks or murdered in the street.

Additionally, they hate it because the Japanese coder who gifted the World with Bitcoin proved he's a better coder than they are by orders of magnitude. Most want to say "it's not very interesting, it's boring etc." But the World and the real use cases, which are not NFT or gaming related, like Ripple, Corda R3, and VeChain say otherwise and drive them mad because the two week coding bootcamps which were enough to help them game the system and get vastly overpaid...isn't enough to buy vision or foresight and you need both in order to see just how far Crypto and the Blockchain will take us.

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#75

Post by warrenm »

tgflynn wrote: post #69
warrenm wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno about YCombinator's stance ... but PG has mentioned them some: http://paulgraham.com/nft.html , https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1490406747051286539 (via https://treatyourcrypto.com/venture-capitalist-paul-graham-d... ) OpenSea was a W18 ( https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/yc-companies-looking-for-su... ) YC project (found via https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/?query=nft ) https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/?quer…

Interesting, for me that makes the consistent strong sentiment here against cryptocurrency and especially NFT's all the more surprising.

Just because NH is a subdomain of YCombinator doesn't mean it's "run by" or "is their" site

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#76

Post by warrenm »

AbrahamParangi wrote: post #66
warrenm wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scott Adams calls this the "laundry list" argument: if you have to list more than a couple solid reasons for something, you probably don't really have any solid reasons for believing what you believe

I disagree with this framing, if only for the reason that “solid” seems to imply “true” here whereas I believe the criterion is actually whether or not the argument is “convincing”. Often the real reasons are not “convincing”, but this does not mean they are not valid, sensible, or correct.

Laundry lists tend to include lots of incredibly unsolid opinions, "reasons" - most of which can be easily refutable with facts

If you have facts that you start with, and explain your conclusions, you have valid reasons

Note - opinions are fine, too: but never confuse your opinion with a fact (which most people do) :)

I hate Chrysler products

Not because I'm a Ford Guy or a BMW Guy - but because they feel cruddy to me

And my opinion is all I need there

I can tease my Jeep and Doge and Chrysler owning friends who love their vehicles while they tease me about my cars - because it's all fun and games ..we all know those are opinions, not facts

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#77

Post by tgflynn »

warrenm wrote: post #75
tgflynn wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, for me that makes the consistent strong sentiment here against cryptocurrency and especially NFT's all the more surprising.

Just because NH is a subdomain of YCombinator doesn't mean it's "run by" or "is their" site

I'm pretty sure it is though. I mean I think dang is a YCombinator employee. I also don't know of many sites that let 3rd parties run their subdomains, unless they're explicitly and obviously set up for that purpose, like maybe wordpress.com.

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#78

Post by alxjrvs »

georgia_peach wrote: post #60
alxjrvs wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>As a store of wealth My uncle picks pockets down by the pier and keeps all the wallets in a bag under his bed. This, too, has been a growing store of wealth, beating out my dinky little ETF accounts. Despite his claims, I do not want to "learn from the best". Despite my wishes, he encourages me to check out the pier anyway.

Who is BTC stealing from?

The Bigger Idiot.

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#79

Post by warrenm »

tgflynn wrote: post #77
warrenm wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just because NH is a subdomain of YCombinator doesn't mean it's "run by" or "is their" site

I'm pretty sure it is though. I mean I think dang is a YCombinator employee. I also don't know of many sites that let 3rd parties run their subdomains, unless they're explicitly and obviously set up for that purpose, like maybe wordpress.com.

But the content isn't inherently "YCombinator-approved" :)

Re: Ask HN: Why is cryptocurrency so hated here?

#80

Post by warrenm »

Ekaros wrote: post #72
warrenm wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Converting real property deeds into a public ledger could make a great deal of sense (except for the title search companies and local government records workers) It's public information as to who owns what property - why is it all locked-up in file cabinets more-or-less randomly distributed through the country?

And in the end there is no practical reason to have it on blockchain. It is even undesired. Failure of certain governments does not mean all of them have failed. Many have robust working registries of ownership. And sufficient procedures to sort out the issues.

But why rely on slow, inherently error-prone, human-run processes if you can automate it into something far less likely to misunderstood?
Post reply on HN