The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent • Hacker News Board

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#71

Post by rleahy22 » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 8:31 PM UTC

dnautics wrote: post #32

rleahy22 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Y…

Isn't the article and points made within, the short synopsis?

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#72

Post by Daishiman » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 8:39 PM UTC

zwarag wrote: post #51

Daishiman wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Internet-in-the-70s was incredibly, astoundingly useful, and people weren't in it for the potential, but because it was offering them something, _today_. I'm not seeing a single BTC enthusiast who's out for the utility of it. They are, quite literally, all of them into it for the speculatory potential.

> I'm not seeing a single BTC enthusiast who's out for the utility of it. Isn't that the point of BTC. If you could see them, it would not be `pseudoanonymous` right?

I can tell everyone I use Signal for the privacy aspect without being specific about its contents.

I cannot reasonably believe that there's people actually trading on BTC out of its utility if they don't talk about it. Unless of course all that activity is fundamentally illegal, which is a definitely something I'm willing to entertain.

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#73

Post by Daishiman » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 8:42 PM UTC

rebuilder wrote: post #66

pmiller2 wrote: post #65

Re: BTC is not money In addition to attacking the "BTC is money" argument by claiming it isn't really a medium of exchange, I would take exception at saying it's any sort of "store of value," either. As I understand it, 1 BTC is born after somebody cracks a specific SHA-256 hash. Okay? Big deal. That means all you can really say is that whoever successfully mines said BTC came up with the answer to a very specific ma…

I see where you're coming from, but what is there that is valuable, absent people believing it is valuable?

Our human bodies and minds have objective necessities to stay alive and thrive. The value of art may be abstract in most contexts, but if I'm hungry an apple is valuable, and if I'm cold, wood is valuable.

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#74

Post by atrisx » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 8:52 PM UTC

drchopchop wrote: post #49

Daishiman wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Internet-in-the-70s was incredibly, astoundingly useful, and people weren't in it for the potential, but because it was offering them something, _today_. I'm not seeing a single BTC enthusiast who's out for the utility of it. They are, quite literally, all of them into it for the speculatory potential.

Yup, and it's the one topic where a subset of HN commenters continue to overlook an incredible amount of technical/product deficiencies, just because it could potentially make them rich. If it had actual utility, people would be spending it and not just hodling.

People are spending it. And a lot of it. You need to spend ether to put smart contracts into the Ethereum blockchain and you also pay for transaction fees with it.

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#75

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 9:06 PM UTC

I've never seen centralization as such a bad thing. We need a human to fix things when they go wrong. If my bank account or my visa card get stolen, eventually there is somebody I can talk to to get this fixed. If there is an economic crisis or runaway inflation, people smarter than I am are at least going to try to mitigate it. When the shit hits the fan for unprecedented, unforeseen reasons, we can resolve that with judgment and fairness. This centralized human factor can go terribly terribly wrong, but it's no less necessary for it.

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#76

Post by na85 » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 9:48 PM UTC

zorked wrote: post #34

Anyone 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 le…

The internet of 1970s solved a problem.

Other than "easier to buy drugs than with cash", what problem does bitcoin actually solve?

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#77

Post by patrickaljord » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 10:05 PM UTC

kylebenzle wrote: post #15

Rallerbabs wrote: post #7

Earlier 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.

I don't know if it's jealousy but it really feels like a disdain for plebs. Cryptocurrencies gives access to stock-like exchanges and financial tools to plebs and that's something that should be reserved to coastal elites. You can also see it in how hard they pushed for ICOs being regulated by SEC, getting a chance to get rich by investing in early ventures is for billionaire VCs only, not plebs!

Also, many coastal elites missed the crypto boat and therefore would rather treat it as a scam they were right to ignore rather than admit their mistake even when mainstream financial institutions invest billions in it. They will deny it to the end.

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#78

Post by dralley » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 10:13 PM UTC

na85 wrote: post #76

zorked wrote: post #34

Anyone 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 le…

The internet of 1970s solved a problem. Other than "easier to buy drugs than with cash", what problem does bitcoin actually solve?

Propping up AMD's revenues during some rough spots?

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#79

Post by verdverm » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 10:50 PM UTC

socrates1998 wrote: post #36

I 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.

There are some Proof of Authority systems like Hyperledger making inroads in the physical supply chain.

FinTech will likely adopt some form of blockchain tech, there is interesting research and some usefulness to clearing trades, but not likely public / permissionless systems.

Some gov'ts will likely digitize their currency for different reasons

Re: The blockchain/cryptocurrency space is mostly fraudulent

#80

Post by pochamago » Mon, Nov 09, 2020, 11:08 PM UTC

"the vast majority of whom span the ideological spectrum from the moderately far right to outright Nazis."

Honest question, is blockchain now another category in which political affiliation now decides how you are supposed to feel about it? I don't really understand why that would be.