It might be worth noting that one of the authorities the author refers to, Emin Gün Sirer, has started his own cryptocurrency project, Avalanche. His critiques of the blockchain space are thus presumably a bit more nuanced that the author's own.
The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
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Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#32was ready to give this a shot, but what?? > They do not meet any of the standard tests for money (especially the three classic criteria of store of value, medium of exchange, and unit of account) That's a really difficult claim to swallow. Especially without further explanation than a wall of citations that I'm not going to bother chasing because I know the claim is false. At least provide a quick synopsis/summary fo…
> Especially without further explanation than a wall of citations that I'm not going to bother chasing because I know the claim is false If you refuse to read the evidence cited, how could you possibly validate or refute your position?
Read carefully: I'm refusing to read it unless you give me a compelling short synopsis. Why? I'm not going to read just a bunch of links that you throw at me. I want you to at least show me some indications that you have spend some effort thinking about it, especially after you've made a claim that is trivially refutable by personal experience.
If a flat-earther just gave you a wall of links, would you read it? No. You would demand at least a short synopsis of why these are compelling reads.
Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
The mental gymnastics these salty nocoiners will go through, show how much they actually do get it, deep down inside.
My experience the last 10 years is that HN will hate on Bitcoin every chance they get. I've never gotten a clear answer on why this is other than jealousy and a lack of understanding. I'm surprised your comment is even still viable. But of course any non-sense anti-Bitcoin article will jump straight to the front page.
Yeah, HN ironically has a deep hate for any Crypto. Quite frankly a lot of HN probs missed out/dismissed BTC earlier years and now it just continues to trend up whilst the best money managers in the world/companies are adding it to their portfolio...the denial is real.
https://youtu.be/_L3gNaAVjQ4?t=8307
Describes HN comments and attitude towards next level/pushing boundaries tech.
Enjoy the sidelines.
Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#34Anyone old enough to remember what the press said in the 90s about the Internet will recognize the similarities.
The Internet is full of fraudulent websites. It's full of porn. Email isn't as warm as a hand-written letter. Communicating online isn't professional. Etc.
Guess what, all those things were true but they turned out not to matter. You can do whatever else you want in a network that also carries porn. You learn to dodge fraud. Email is freaking convenient once everybody is using it, standards of behavior change, etc.
Cryptocurrency may be something or it may not. It's in very early stages. Even those who are interested have trouble following everything that is happening. But it's not even Internet-in-the-90s. It's Internet-in-the-70s. You can be skeptical about it, you can ignore it, but I don't see why someone would spend so much of their time being opposed to it.
Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#35Just observing that every time this guy publishes a paper about crypto, there's a bull market.
* David Golumbia, “Cryptocurrencies Aren’t Currencies. They Aren’t Stocks, Either” (Motherboard, Aug 22, 2017)
* David Golumbia, The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism (University of Minnesota, 2016), chapter 5
Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#36I don't follow the blockchain world very well, but he makes an interesting point about it. Are there any projects, other than a few cryptocurrencies, that have impacted any industries significantly?
I feel like we are all still waiting for blockchain to be adopted by something that makes it really useful.
Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#37Over the last several years I've come to the realization that most "cryptocurrency is garbage" posts boil down to the author underestimating or ignoring the financial realities of those living in other countries or circumstances.
There are those that live in countries with hyperinflation or US sanctions that don't think that cryptocurrency is garbage.
Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#38If cryptocurrency had the "money" aspect removed, we wouldn't be having these arguments, as it's indefensibly bad from a technology standpoint. It doesn't scale, wastes energy, encourages fraud, has buggy/immutable "smart" contracts, is "anonymous" yet a public blockchain, etc etc.
It's been a "startup" for 10 years and the only product-market fit so far is for speculators, darknet sellers, tax evaders, betting/gambling sites, and straight-up Ponzi fraud. However, it's like catnip to a certain section of libertarians and get-rich-quick types - who want to replace the Fed with an early-adopter oligarchy.
Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#39One point of contention re: inflationary vs deflationary currencies:
When most Bitcoin proponents I've talked to say that Bitcoin is deflationary, they mean in the context of "bitcoin as exclusive currency". I.e. there are theoretically a finite number of coins, so in a world where they're actually used to buy milk and eggs they theoretically would increase in value over time, ergo deflationary.
Unfortunately I find most Bitcoin adherents have at best a partial understanding of monetary theory (not that I can claim total mastery of that subject) in particular when it comes to understanding deflation/inflation. Inflationary systems can survive for many years in relative stability (cf. our current system) whereas in a deflationary system there is a financial disincentive to participate in the economy writ large, because your coins will be worth more if you just let them sit in your bank account. It encourages hoarding behaviour where large piles of coins sit dormant/stagnant and the engine of economic activity shuts down with lack of activity.
I know people who bought 1000 bitcoins for pennies back in 2010 and they seem to be willingly blind to this, because of course bitcoin is not widely used. It's just something you buy for $X hoping to ride the next bubble of speculation and sell for $(10 * X) so you can cash it back into fiat currency and retire at age 35 to your oceanfront property you just bought.
A vanishingly small number of bitcoin enthusiasts seem to actually want btc to replace all fiat currencies.
Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> very damaging to the environment That's not accurate: not all cryptocoins are secured by an ever-escalating proof-of-work.
proof-of-work is supported by value of cryptocurrency, and does not something of inherent value. Contrast this with stocks, for which trading value depends on technical analysis and is slightly random, but in the end it is supported by some concrete thing.
Proof of work provides the man hours equivalent of security for the cryptocurrency, much the way that a standing military provides the man hours equivalent of security for a centralized national currency.