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As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

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Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#301

Post by tomhoward »

hndamien wrote: post #295
dang wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't break the site guidelines. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

“Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.” Thanks, I actually had no idea about this one, and nobody ever bothered to point it out to me. I do find it disheartening though that anything against the grain in this forum often results in downvote and no comment. That said, this will be my final mention of the issue and I’ll just eat the negative karma from h…

There is an art (that applies here and elsewhere) to phrasing comments/opinions that might go against the grain, in such a way that people appreciate being educated/enlightened or given the chance to think about an old topic in a new way.

Of course on every topic there will be some people who don't want to rethink their position, but you shouldn't worry about them (though accept that their downvotes are inevitable).

But if you craft your answers for people who might not yet agree with your position but are open to considering a new take, you'll get plenty more upvotes than downvotes overall.

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#302

Post by nradov »

hndamien wrote: post #298
hannasanarion wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In me it triggers loss aversion: I don't want to put my money in a uninsured security that could be stolen or lost at any moment with no recourse.

Is the cash in your wallet insured? If stolen do you have recourse? Now you might tell me you have no cash for this very reason. That’s fair, but probably similar to the amount of money you should allocate.

Yes my homeowner's insurance policy covers theft outside my home (although the amount of cash in my wallet is usually less than the annual deductible). If it's stolen and I can identify the thief then I do have recourse through the civil courts.

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#303

Post by afarrell »

cageface wrote: post #275
afarrell wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2018 is the year that we learned that complex social problems can not be solved by technology. I’ve been hearing this notion, asserted with simplicity and exhaspiration, for the past 10 years. I don’t agree. “Technical solutions to social problems”, certainly do exist. Sewer systems that keep people from contracting cholera. Cold chain logistics systems that bring nutritious foods into the hearts of cities. Prosthe…

Maybe it's more accurate to say that complex social problems can't be solved by technology alone. There's been a rarely questioned assumption that a bunch of hackers in a room together can single-handedly disrupt and reshape society in constructive ways. I think we're seeing now that this is a naive and even dangerous point of view. To elaborate on your examples, things like sewers and wheelchairs benefit us but they…

Agreed on all points.

Though I’d add “on-the-ground feedback” alongside coordination and planning.

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#304

Post by pxtail »

inersha wrote: post #291
GavinMcG wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Scheme" implies a unified/central schemer, though. We can already call it a fad, or a mania (a la tulip mania).

When does it stop being a fad?

When it wins and/or is popular enough to dictate rules and write it's own history.

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#305

Post by tim333 »

DenisM wrote: post #73

The most remarkable thing about BTC is diffusion of responsibility. If it was issued and marketed by a single entity the participants would be in hot water by now for violating the Securities and Exchange laws. However here we had one non-affiliated group of bigger miners issuing the coins and another group of volunteer enthusiasts hyping them up. Since the second group was not hired by the first, the first group can…

The entity behind BTC was smart to remain kind of anonymous.

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#306

Post by nradov »

21 wrote: post #168
JBReefer wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are _pension funds_ scams?

I didn't say pension funds are scams, but that pension funds make their profits from trading against non-knowledgeable people (like GP implied bitcoin traders do)

Most pension funds are long-term investors and do very little active trading. Their trading counterparties are generally just as knowledgeable as they are.

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#307

Post by sgt101 »

stale2002 wrote: post #163
sgt101 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, should it become illegal for people to exchange fiat for crypto and for domiciled entities to own crypto all the decentralisation in the world wouldn't help.

You are talking about an extreme edge case situation, where the entire world declares crypto to be illegal. I will agree that in this situation, crypto is probably dead. The much more likely scenario, though, is that a couple countries try to make crypto illegal, and other countries don't, and the decentralization of crypto makes it very difficult for the attacking country to stop it. The banning country isn't going…

Nhawww - I was thinking about the USA doing it...

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#308

Post by wpietri »

xenihn wrote: post #116
wpietri wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think another factor is that we've passed peak uncritical press coverage. Never again will there be as large an influx of media-driven naive optimists who think that the price will only go up.

That isn't true, it depends on the whims of the people who determine what those optimists say and write.

I am pretty clearly offering an opinion here, so I'm not asserting that it's true. But the naive optimists I'm speaking of here were the greater fools [1] who bought Bitcoin as it was rising. Journalists are generally cynics.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#309

Post by Banksy_is_Qanon »

vbs_redlof wrote: post #278
yodsanklai wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The startups who base their business around crypto believe crypto will rise in price A startup may very well work on some blockchain technology while not believing that a particular cryptocurrency will rise in price.

But it is far less common to come across startups who believe this. Think of blockchain startups as the top 1% of the most optimistic investors who believed in the technology so much that they created companies around an immature infrastructure. Selection bias explains why they held even even after a 90% correction.

Yes, exactly. Blockchain startups are started by true believers in blockchain. Starting a blockchain startup is massively self-selecting for the truest of the true believers. If you didn’t believe in crypto you wouldn’t create a crypto startup.

Telling a crypto startup owner to sell all their crypto, and then wondering why on earth they didn’t take your advice, is equivalent to telling an evangelist Christian to abandon their faith and then wondering why on earth they didn’t take your advice.

Money is a religion, and CRYPTO IS A RELIGION within that religion. Crypto’s value comes from its buyers, and it’s buyers buy it because they take a religious leap of faith that its value will increase.

So when you tell a crypto startup owner to sell all his/her crypto.... you pretty much offend them on the deepest possible level. You’re not just criticizing their business model, you're attacking their core beliefs and deepest religious convictions , you’re revealing yourself as a heretic and questioning their faith in Saint Nakomoto and no zealot likes that.

Re: As Bitcoin Sinks, Industry Startups Are Forced to Cut Back

#310

Post by userulluipeste »

inersha wrote: post #293
verdverm wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A year ago, I was explaining to family why crypto was a thing. This year I'm explaining why it crashed and why it's to be avoided. Also, why blockchain and crypto are not the same thing. There are many who participated in the 2017 speculation that will actively avoid and advise against participation this go around. The bubble popped and it will be many years before we see worthy investments take shape.

I never understand why people try to separate blockchain and bitcoin.

Probably because Blockchain got also used outside cryptocurrencies and furthermore because there are now cryptocurrencies that are not Blockchain-based?
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