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On anti-crypto toxicity

blog.mollywhite.net

111–120 of 734 posts

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#111
post #107
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> that isn’t deflationary So you believe inflation is a good thing?

Inherently deflationary asset guarantees it's going to be used as a speculation vehicle rather than money.

...which is good because it helps us move away from the throw-away society mentality. Bitcoin is very effective environmental activism.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#112
because it takes hours to validate a payment?

because it consumes too much power?

because it created wealth out of farts

because it promotes money laundering

because it promotes toxicity (pump and dump)

because it is backed by the USD

because USA owns the majority of it

because it is centralized (exchanges)

because it is CIA's testbed for the digital USD

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#113
post #64
post #13

The problem is that while these topics are interesting (and even crucial these days) they're often used in bad faith by people who are just in it because of the get-rich-quick scheme. You'll often see people push some cryptotoken using a thin veneer of political activism, saying that it's about taking control back or redistributing wealth etc... but it's rarely more than that. In my experience if you attempt to push…

Your whole four paragraphs can be simplified to: 90% of projects out there are scams and have a crypto-token attached to it with a pyramid scheme on it and there also exists a 10% of projects somewhere that it is not purely a 'get-rich-quick-scheme', or a 'web3' crypto project that doesn't require a crypto-token attached to the product that has utility? Thus, it also must mean that it is not going away 100% guarantee…

It’s hard to fully avoid it and move on while people are still being scammed. My position on cryptocurrency is identical to my position on home marketing businesses: I’ll happily concede that there could in principle be a good one, and that in the scheme of things it’s not the largest issue in the world, but when so many people are being sold false promises it’s hard for me to just brush that under the rug.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#114
The article goes to some length to talk about what questions the crypto community is asking itself. Very conspicuously, there is no discussion of sustainability, operational effectiveness, or how to ensure people born in 2022 can get into this system when bitcoin is already 40k a pop. Like any system, how do new entrants get a foothold? Why are questions of energy use and lag time on each transaction left for only the reader to ponder?

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#115
post #105
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is that with so many more scams than real projects, and so much focus on buzzwords, it’s more likely to fall for a scam than to actually find a real useful project. And even the not-entirely-a-scam projects, be it NFTs, the entire ETH or BTC sphere, are so full of money laundering, trade front running, people using it as investment vehicle, etc. that you can’t trust these projects either.

Buy Bitcoin. Everything else is a scam. And if you want to launder money use Dollars just like everyone else.

That’s the issue, even Bitcoin can’t really be used as currency anymore. I used bitcoin when it was still new. In our friend circle, we paid each other with thousands of bitcoins for a single pizza back then. And yet it was still more usable as currency back then than it is nowadays.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#116
post #2

Waaay back, I thought Bitcoin was a cool technology, and convinced some friends of mine with businesses to accept it. We had a lot of fun with it - it was really cool to pay for your beer by scanning a QR code and seeing the transaction come through this public, distributed, tamper proof ledger, like magic, with no need for money, banks or any of the other financial infrastructure we're used to. Sadly, the "crypto sp…

Largely crypto seems to fail at being distributed internet money. If a project is fast and cheap enough for it that correlates with being too niche to be viable. We have seen BTC and ETH lose their function as internet money as transactions and prices have gone up.

Then you did not look (closely) enough at BTC. When transaction prices went up in 2017 [1] the second layer technology "Lightning" was invented and build-out.

Right now, Joe Average, can transact for fractions of pennies. [2]

[1] http://melaurent.github.io/spamattack/

[2] https://bitcoinist.com/lightning-cnbc-sent-btc-to-a-ukranian...

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#117
post #2

Waaay back, I thought Bitcoin was a cool technology, and convinced some friends of mine with businesses to accept it. We had a lot of fun with it - it was really cool to pay for your beer by scanning a QR code and seeing the transaction come through this public, distributed, tamper proof ledger, like magic, with no need for money, banks or any of the other financial infrastructure we're used to. Sadly, the "crypto sp…

Largely crypto seems to fail at being distributed internet money. If a project is fast and cheap enough for it that correlates with being too niche to be viable. We have seen BTC and ETH lose their function as internet money as transactions and prices have gone up.

Bitcoin being a crypto asset (I know everyone will want to dig in on that moved goal post, but it doesn't matter) is still extremely valuable and a massive step towards its intended goal. As a settlement layer, which is by now clearly what it should be, it is very good, and layer-2 and centralized layer-3 solutions if and when adopted will bring it the rest of the way.

There is so much meta talk about crypto on the internet, but no one has the chops to actually talk about the ups and downs, challenges and successes of something like the lightning network, which is perhaps one of the most important developments in the space despite not being a speculative vehicle.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#118
post #65
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When do you think that happened? For me it was around 2012. Thats when I exited crypto and never looked back. I actually built an app before that which would easily transfer money between countries, by finding matching local trades. Unfortunately to turn it into a service, it requires the currency to both be popular and stable.

>I actually built an app before that which would easily transfer money between countries, by finding matching local trades. Is this the same idea as Wise (aka TransferWise)/hawala?

Never heard of those but if it makes you money instead of charging you then its the same.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#119
post #3
post #2

Waaay back, I thought Bitcoin was a cool technology, and convinced some friends of mine with businesses to accept it. We had a lot of fun with it - it was really cool to pay for your beer by scanning a QR code and seeing the transaction come through this public, distributed, tamper proof ledger, like magic, with no need for money, banks or any of the other financial infrastructure we're used to. Sadly, the "crypto sp…

Depends on the people you hang with. I'm currently at devconnect in Amsterdam and it's full of people who care about tech. Really nice a crowd and even a bit more diverse than the rest of IT.

Unfortunately at the the surface, it’s all cranks. The people you see trending on Twitter and such almost seem like an alien species. And then there’s all the advertising for exchanges and such being blatant “get in at the bottom of the pyramid scheme” nonsense.

I was also “into” crypto roughly early, never found a community (nor should I have to), that’s all I see, and that’s all I therefore assume exists.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#120
post #74
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your whole four paragraphs can be simplified to: 90% of projects out there are scams and have a crypto-token attached to it with a pyramid scheme on it and there also exists a 10% of projects somewhere that it is not purely a 'get-rich-quick-scheme', or a 'web3' crypto project that doesn't require a crypto-token attached to the product that has utility? Thus, it also must mean that it is not going away 100% guarantee…

The issue is that with so many more scams than real projects, and so much focus on buzzwords, it’s more likely to fall for a scam than to actually find a real useful project. And even the not-entirely-a-scam projects, be it NFTs, the entire ETH or BTC sphere, are so full of money laundering, trade front running, people using it as investment vehicle, etc. that you can’t trust these projects either.

Exactly. Hence my questions about regulations that haven't been answered since you seem to answer for that other person:

> Is it going away 100% guaranteed due to the rampant scams everywhere?

> So since 2017, there has been no regulations, crackdowns and legislation that has been proposed to regulate anything related to crypto and nothing has changed?

From the other reply:

> Buy Bitcoin. Everything else is a scam.

Buy Bitcoin and use it for what? Currency? Payments?

Bitcoin has failed at being useful at all and it's intended purpose which is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Not an 'investment', 'store of value' and 'digital gold'.

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