Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#121

Post by dandanua » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:17 AM UTC

wild-eep wrote: post #31

I left earlier this year, and worked in the space for a couple of years. I started with a neutral position on crypto, I didn't even think about it much. More like, its easy and pays well. But if people want to waste their money on tokens, go for it, but its not my cup of tea. Then I started to recognize that its predatory and actually not benign or harmless. It is taking advantage of people. It started to become gros…

I've worked at a crypto startup few years ago, on a quite high technical position, essentially a co-founder (one of many). The team ended up bullying, abusing and gaslighting me, because I didn't fit the narrative, I guess.

Cryptosphere is certainly a place for predators, that don't give a slightest f*ck about where the money come from.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#122

Post by martin_a » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:21 AM UTC

olalonde wrote: post #86

Thlom wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ETH has been a legitimate technology with real use cases for a decade now and all we’ve got is jpeg’s of apes. With the amount of real money, talent and hard work being pumped into this space we should have seen the use cases materialize by now. But there’s nothing. I’m sure someone uses it for something real, but I haven’t seen crypto actually solve a real problem any better than a plain old database. Please correct…

Use case: decentralized, censorship-resistant, programmable money. Sorry if it takes more than a decade to disrupt the most entrenched and powerful status quo on earth. Personally, I never thought it would come this far so quickly, and am quite happy with the pace of adoption and progress.

> decentralized, censorship-resistant, programmable money

accepted by nobody who has something valuable to offer

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#123

Post by tarkin2 » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:27 AM UTC

If bitcoin does crash and burn a lot of money with it, and is seen as the industry of scams and empty promises, then you may be tainted, sure.

Look for other jobs. It can’t hurt. And keep your skills and any side projects diverse too. Should you need to get out of the industry you can point at those unrelated projects and skills.

If your skillset is in demand then other companies should jump at you regardless. If you’ve done nothing but focus on Etherum and Solidarity for the last few years then I guess you’ll suffer.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#124

Post by hestefisk » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:30 AM UTC

granddemolisher wrote: post #89

latchkey wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In northern Vietnam, where I've done extensive travel, to this day, women store their meager wealth in gold fillings because that is the only place where they can put it and not have it stolen from them. There is no bank where they can deposit funds and even if there was, the Vietnam govt's version of FDIC is like $2k. Amazingly, they also have smart phones and the government has put 4G towers through the whole count…

Same is true for Bangladesh, India, Philippines, etc. They all have good Internet connectivity but too many unbanked people.

Mobile wallets are quite popular for the unbanked in those countries. You don’t need a decentralised ledger for that.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#125

Post by sshine » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:31 AM UTC

> Anyone else in a similar position?

Yes.

I’ve worked in fintech and recently transitioned to cryptocurrencies (implementing cryptography). The backlash I received from my peers for even going into finance was very comparable.

> the constant backlash from the public is nagging me

I’ve lost friends, and I’ve resorted to say that I work with cryptography (which is 100% true, but omits the application).

It feels like you need to either double down on your beliefs or selectively inform people what you do for a living, to keep working with crypto.

It’s hard to be a conscientious cypherpunk when you see how average people will bend towards being cheated by stonks.

Since people’s judgement matters to you, consider working with something that you’re proud to tell people. That’s part of why I quit my first job in finance.

When friends of friends ask for investment advice, I don’t get back to them; it feels like selling people drugs. I don’t mind that they invest, but I spent years understanding the landscape, and I avoid most of what I see, including NFTs.

> will I be unemployable

Yes, your skills and personality will get you another job. Presumably, the technical level of your current job is the best you’ve done so far.

If you’re reading Hacker News, you’re over-exposed to the criticism. In reality, people don’t think that much about it.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#126

Post by dig1 » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:32 AM UTC

cuteboy19 wrote: post #104

dig1 wrote: post #98

IMHO crypto space is good because the banking sector finally sees they have some competition. And crypto space is global, not tied to country banking sector lobbying (pardon, regulation :P). So, for example, in my country (and I believe many others as well), we have many banks. Still, you can't see competition between them - they usually charge the same/similar fees and give you a similar package. None of them will p…

The fair players like Celsius or maybe Terra Luna? I am almost genuine in this question because those two might probably have been in your "fair crypto" list a few months ago. Crypto practically incentivses scams. Why create something honest when you can rip off thousands of idiots and they will defend you for doing so? Crypto offers almost none of the services that normal banks offer. Crypto loans are overcollateral…

I don't find your examples convincing. Like in banking and finance, everyone is fair until they are proven to be not. For example, Knight Capital, Bernie Madoff, SAC, The Galleon Group, or banks like Merrill, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Deutsche, not to mention banks that went bust in recent years [1]... and yet, no one suggests that finance and banking world are scams.

As I mentioned, you need to know where to look, do your own research, and read numbers. Just like the above examples, they had some pretty unrealistic traces before they went down, but people wanted to believe otherwise.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bank_failures_in_the_U...

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#127

Post by cuteboy19 » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:35 AM UTC

justinzollars wrote: post #7

justinzollars wrote: post #6

> I also see true potential in the technology and ideology A good reason to continue on your path.

Also crypto isn't going anywhere, in fact its about to be adopted by the FED with a CBDC, FedCoin. The price is down today, but the price isn't what is important about the technology

CBDCs have nothing to do with crypto. Even if they did, it would clearly be a replacement and not an addition

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#128

Post by threeseed » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:35 AM UTC

dandanua wrote: post #121

wild-eep wrote: post #31

I left earlier this year, and worked in the space for a couple of years. I started with a neutral position on crypto, I didn't even think about it much. More like, its easy and pays well. But if people want to waste their money on tokens, go for it, but its not my cup of tea. Then I started to recognize that its predatory and actually not benign or harmless. It is taking advantage of people. It started to become gros…

I've worked at a crypto startup few years ago, on a quite high technical position, essentially a co-founder (one of many). The team ended up bullying, abusing and gaslighting me, because I didn't fit the narrative, I guess. Cryptosphere is certainly a place for predators, that don't give a slightest f*ck about where the money come from.

> Cryptosphere is certainly a place for predators, that don't give a slightest f*ck about where the money come from.

No many do care where it comes from.

They deliberately seek and out target vulnerable people e.g. third world countries, retirees who they know will be susceptible to their scams.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#129

Post by hirako2000 » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:35 AM UTC

latchkey wrote: post #84

olalonde wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a lot of stories like this. There are also a lot of unbanked people (1.7 billion worldwide). People who fail to see the value in Bitcoin/crypto often are not aware of those very real problems people are facing. Traditional banking is great so long as you are on the happy path.

In northern Vietnam, where I've done extensive travel, to this day, women store their meager wealth in gold fillings because that is the only place where they can put it and not have it stolen from them. There is no bank where they can deposit funds and even if there was, the Vietnam govt's version of FDIC is like $2k. Amazingly, they also have smart phones and the government has put 4G towers through the whole count…

Being in Vietnam i can attest the gap, and the gap also exists within the country. It isn't unusual to see customers at Starbucks opening their wallet to show they filled all the debit card pockets in full.

The population has an instinctive distrust for centralised authorities for the most part. Although very patriotic, they wouldn't place their life's worth of wealth in any of the several government controlled banks. Nor to the more independent or even foreign banks either. And it's good that way, Vietnam has a thriving crypto scene and may very well be one of top adopters of crypto. For what business use case they don't know quite yet, but it will come.

Re: Ask HN: Feel bad about working in crypto, what to do?

#130

Post by hirako2000 » Sun, Jun 19, 2022, 9:38 AM UTC

thinkingemote wrote: post #108

latchkey wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In northern Vietnam, where I've done extensive travel, to this day, women store their meager wealth in gold fillings because that is the only place where they can put it and not have it stolen from them. There is no bank where they can deposit funds and even if there was, the Vietnam govt's version of FDIC is like $2k. Amazingly, they also have smart phones and the government has put 4G towers through the whole count…

Do the phones get stolen?

They do, but such event is rather considered the victim's fault for being a careless idiot. Stealing a phone isn't more an act of selfish robbery than a merciless lesson for those who don't keep valuable items safe. Better the phone than the house!