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Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

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271–280 of 411 posts

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#271
post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://whale-alert.medium.com/the-satoshi-fortune-e49cf73f9...

Even if that analysis were accurate, that isn't mining "in private" before "publicly launching" as you claimed.

That's fair, my memory was incorrect. However, I don't think that makes a difference w.r.t. calling the coin premined.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#272
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, if you look at transaction cost, settle time, user friendliness, and currency risk, it doesn't even work as a medium of exchange, which is the definition of money. More than a decade on, approximately nobody uses Bitcoin for normal transactions. Compare with Venmo or MPesa, both of which launched around the same time, to se what actual digital money looks like. Both of those do way more transactions than Bitc…

Why does the bitcoin blockchain need to be used for normal transactions? Do you not think a neutral payment rail/unit of account between nation state level actor’s could be valuable?

_Anything_ that one could get central banks or nation states to agree to use would be valuable. The LOE the technical system (SWIFT, Bitcoin, whatever) is absolutely infinitesimal compared to negotiating a change of that magnitude.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#273
post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the ecosystem from 12 years ago is radically different from what it is now. Heck, it's radically different from what it was just 2 or 3 years ago. And well, it benefits (smart) ordinary people. That is, those who have invested or are investing. Smart money is here - and small investors are here too. And I'm saying purposefully "investing" as opposed to "trading". The former doesn't require any technical skills. As fo…

Yeah 12 years ago people actually thought they'd be using Bitcoin as it was intended: as a currency. Now most people know better than to do anything but trade it.

oh come on. - defi? - Twitter introducing tips in crypto? ..

personally speaking I'm paying every day with a crypto card (which gives me a few % cashback ..). But that's ok, you seem to purposefully want to miss the train, can't help people against themselves I guess :shrug:

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#274

> Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer An amazingly succinct title. Absolutely true. Whenever someone hypes up cryptocurrency, it is almost always for their personal gain, directly or indirectly.

https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf What was Satoshi lying about? What has he done with his riches? > The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks This is not the motivation of someone trying to get richer. It's someone who cares deeply about humanity. Is it so hard to believe that there are others in the space with similar motivations?

Who cares what Satoshi said back then. What Bitcoin has become now is a complete sham with early adopters stoking the flames of FOMO to get rich quick at the expense of everyone else.

I wish cryptocurrency fans would stop smelling their own farts for once and realize they aren't the absolute geniuses in finance that they claim to be. It's arrogant.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#275
post #269
post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At the very least, you can buy a piece of IP directly from the IP holder You're not really buying the IP in any meaningful way, though, you just get a non-exclusive, non-transferable (!) right to display it. They can still air it or license it to others without paying you royalties.

I understand that, I am likening it to purchasing a DVD of a game, which is something that used to happen. Maybe not in the NBA, but in soccer, some clubs do put out DVDs of famous victories. And even then, I'd say those mass-manufactured DVDs with 90 mins of content are intrinsically more valuable than a GIF-length video clip.

Ah, I think we agree then. I guess someone could make the argument that even though the license to reproduce is limited (e.g. it must be non-commercial), you technically have more IP rights with a TopShots NFT than with a DVD. But yeah, I'd take the DVD myself (if I still owned a player).

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#276
post #5

The whole NFT craze lost me when tech founders I once highly respected started pushing and showing off their ugly gifs and trading cards on Twitter. Bad taste of the bored rich is not a new thing, but I hope NFTs won't become a noble tradition.

I didn't understand NFT storm as well then I made a 10K collection of NFT images with my friend (I wrote the smart contract) in three weeks and earned $3M from that. I made a lot of money and now I'm part of the creator community but I still sometimes ask "Why?"

Nice subtle humble brag.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#277
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely correct. Bitcoin isn't the domain of NFT grifters, it's the domain of ransomware hostage-takers. We need to be accurate when discussing the various scams proposed.

That's not even remotely true.

What do you mean? Of course it is. How else has ransomware been able to thrive as of late?

The sooner governments abolish fiat to cryptocurrency exchanges and make such transactions illegal, the sooner this clown car of sadness will come to an end.

As much as I'm not a fan of China and the CCP, they are making some good moves in this department recently to eliminate unneeded capital flight. The US should follow in their steps here.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#278
post #10

Someone sees cryptocurrency as exactly what it is, and at some point in the future we will know who. But in the interim, lets not compare crypto to some utopian world that doesn't actually exist. In the current world which we inhabit, the many major currencies are either controlled or heavily influenced by people who: 1) Believe prices constantly rising is good for poor people. 2) Advocate that governments can spend…

> 1) Believe prices constantly rising is good for poor people. I mean, inflation actually does benefit poor people, when wages and prices rise at the same rate. Devaluing savings accounts isn't a big deal if you don't have any savings in the first place. Inflation also makes debt less valuable over time, making it gradually easier to pay off. The real problem is that (in the US) wages have been stagnant for decades.…

Well, there are a lot of ways of investing your money in ways that track or exceed inflation, so it's not like people without savings are doing well with inflation whereas all those people with savings are getting screwed.

Further though, I would imagine that people who have a little savings but not that much, would end up keeping that in a savings account rather than investing it. As such, the little savings poor people do have would be eaten away by inflation.

Also, like you suggest, wages are not rising with inflation so that just makes things even worse.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#279
post #72

I was involved in a blockchain (DeFi) startup. All the blockchain companies are mostly a huge pyramid scheme. The company I worked for has a lot of big claims, raised millions, wanted to solve world hunger, prioritized partnership, marketing, while having no working implementation. Others in the eco system are the same. The NFT scene is even more BS. It could destroyed uninformed people's life, just like gambling. Ho…

The most absurd thing I've ever heard was crypto could help people in Africa store their diplomas.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#280
post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Bitcoin is open source, the original founder is nowhere to be found, there were no VCs involved in its creation or in the distribution of the coins and the entire network is run out in the open. The Bitcoin network is a commons. Hmmm. You've conveniently danced around any suggestion or mention of the fact that the "creator" of bitcoin mined 1.1 million - 1/20th of all bitcoins that will ever exist(!) - coins in pri…

Those coins have never moved in all these years. You would think that Satoshi would want to spend and enjoy some of his riches right? To me this points towards Satoshi likely being dead (e.g. him being Hal Finney). Also, AFAIK those were mined because Satoshi was the first miner, not because he purposefully kept it private in order to get the most for himself before anyone else could participate.

Satoshi isn't Hal, and please stop suggesting it is. You put Hal's family in danger with this nonsense.
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