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

Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 203 posts

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#41

Post by agumonkey »

voz_ wrote: post #8
afc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when have you been waiting? What will you do in twenty years if it hasn't burst by then? And in forty? Continue to wait?

There's not a single problem it solves. A technical solution in search of a problem is a hilariously poor investment, esp when any distributed system will do the same work - but better. And all the "value" stuff on it like NFTs is just a giant ponzi scheme from any way you look at it.

I think the only problem it tries to solve is skipping the potential middle man. And "freeing" the people. To be honest, even though i'm mostly a non believer (but invested) I think there's a chance it shakes some of the practice of the current financial system and may allow for some organic useful flow between parties. It might also very well lead to nothing :)

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#43

Post by miracle2k »

voz_ wrote: post #8
afc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when have you been waiting? What will you do in twenty years if it hasn't burst by then? And in forty? Continue to wait?

There's not a single problem it solves. A technical solution in search of a problem is a hilariously poor investment, esp when any distributed system will do the same work - but better. And all the "value" stuff on it like NFTs is just a giant ponzi scheme from any way you look at it.

Can we please stop with the "existing tech can do it better" that sometime technologists have convinced themselves of for some reason.

The whole point of these systems is to be permissionless and censorship-resistant. Simple yard stick: If your proposed alternate "distributed system" is harder to use successfully for extorting ransomware payments, then it does not do the same work, and it does not do it better.

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#44

Post by antihero »

donatj wrote: post #37
5e92cb50239222b wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If climate change is finally taken seriously at some point, I hope they get clamped down on very hard. Unlike meth labs and "terrorists", a large mining farm can be traced by power usage. (Unless you're using solar, then go ahead and mine all you want.) Crypto fanatics are doing nothing of any practical value while greatly helping out with destroying our planet. We've been having rolling blackouts recently because of…

> doing nothing of any practical value while greatly helping out with destroying our planet Serious question, where does this line of thinking end? Gaming rigs use upwards of a thousand watts, no practical value in gaming. Watching sitcoms on a television has no practical value. Phones capable of doing things other than making calls have no practical value, but we charge them all the time. Honestly I think providing…

Gaming and TV shows use a fraction of the energy to bring joy to far more people. Even if your enjoyment comes from watching numbers go up so you can get rich quick, it's literally burning through power and advanced components to do it at a rate like nothing else ever conceived. And it achieves basically nothing. Crypto is currently useless at doing anything other than making some people rich.

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#45

Post by spiorf »

naruvimama wrote: post #29

My biggest fear is that institutions & governments jumping into this pyramid scheme, throwing our hard earned money to make billionaires out of snake oil men. Bitcoin was fine as long as it was a small geeky fun currency with actual small transactions. It became a pyramid scheme once speculators jumped in. I am open to government or industry backed crypto or digital currency.

> government or industry backed digital currency

That's your bank account and credit cards etc..

The whole point of cryptocurrency is to not to be backed or controlled by any single entity.

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#46

Post by tdsamardzhiev »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #18
afc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when have you been waiting? What will you do in twenty years if it hasn't burst by then? And in forty? Continue to wait?

Some bubbles last decades. Still bubbles.

Or centuries. Back in late 17th century, people thought the Ottoman Empire will fall apart any moment now, but the "falling apart" took like 200+ years.

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#47

Post by burnished »

donatj wrote: post #37
5e92cb50239222b wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If climate change is finally taken seriously at some point, I hope they get clamped down on very hard. Unlike meth labs and "terrorists", a large mining farm can be traced by power usage. (Unless you're using solar, then go ahead and mine all you want.) Crypto fanatics are doing nothing of any practical value while greatly helping out with destroying our planet. We've been having rolling blackouts recently because of…

> doing nothing of any practical value while greatly helping out with destroying our planet Serious question, where does this line of thinking end? Gaming rigs use upwards of a thousand watts, no practical value in gaming. Watching sitcoms on a television has no practical value. Phones capable of doing things other than making calls have no practical value, but we charge them all the time. Honestly I think providing…

Our other uses (which may need to be curtailed, not arguing for or against that here) have comparatively fixed costs. Proof of work inherently increases energy consumption to keep difficulty up.

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#48

Post by question11 »

voz_ wrote: post #8
afc wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when have you been waiting? What will you do in twenty years if it hasn't burst by then? And in forty? Continue to wait?

There's not a single problem it solves. A technical solution in search of a problem is a hilariously poor investment, esp when any distributed system will do the same work - but better. And all the "value" stuff on it like NFTs is just a giant ponzi scheme from any way you look at it.

Corrupt or semi corrupt governments? (more than 50% of the world is impacted).

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#49

Post by unicornmama »

MadSudaca wrote: post #26
voz_ wrote: post #4

I can't wait for this bubble to burst so I never have to hear about these tulips again.

Maybe it’s be like the dotcom bubble. It’ll burst in a big way, leaving many people broke, then from the aftermath good projects will emerge and will come to redefine the world.

Even before the dot com bubble burst, we saw businesses with practical value producing applications of the Internet.

Today it’s over 10 years of crypto. I have only observed one application of crypto that touches the real economy - with a relatively obscure token.

Everything else, seems to be just be playing financial games inside of crypto, money laundering, side-stepping regulations, speculative meme assets and of course scams.

Can you point to an actual application of crypto that touches the real economy? I will be very interested!

Re: Crypto lobbying is going ballistic

#50

Post by user-the-name »

andruby wrote: post #15
voz_ wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's not a single problem it solves. A technical solution in search of a problem is a hilariously poor investment, esp when any distributed system will do the same work - but better. And all the "value" stuff on it like NFTs is just a giant ponzi scheme from any way you look at it.

I do think there is at least one problem that crypto currencies solve better than the status-quo: sending money internationally. It has less regulation than the official channels. Can have better privacy. Can be cheaper. Can be faster. Compared to Western Union, international wire transfers and the likes, sending money home for foreign workers (remittance), seems to be much better with Stellar, or other low-fee crypt…

I see you're using the word "can" a lot to cover up the fact that it is not actually doing those things.

And less regulation means more crime - the only reason the ransomware epidemic exists is cryptocurrency. Remittance is also not actually cheaper with cryptocurrency if you actually count all the fees, but most likely more expensive than Western Union.

Cryptocurrency delivers none of what it promises. It only delivers crime and ecological destruction.

Post reply on HN