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Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

wired.co.uk

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Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#51

Post by EA-3167 »

vvpan wrote: post #48
X6S1x6Okd1st wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't see any reason why someone working in cryptocurrency, but clear eyed about the possibility of down sides would "cross swords with Molly". She is an incredible source, as far as I can tell the *best* at finding and highlighting what's going wrong. That's incredibly valuable. rekt.news is also quite good, but skewed towards less reporting but more in depth. IMO Molly should be getting public good funding…

I do not think "crossing swords" is necessarily something aggressive, it could have been debate. I am quiet the blockchain-believer and follow and read Molly's twitter. Yet I do not think she should be unopposed in her views, on the contrary I want her to be challenged, it just comes with making a name for yourself as being anything-skeptic.

Crossing swords implies armed combat, it's definitely aggressive.

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#52

Post by snapcaster »

eli wrote: post #47
bombcar wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The most "legitimate" use for bitcoin and its friends is transferring funds electronically with people that others don't want you transferring funds with (e.g, avoiding payment processors, laws, etc). However, it remains to be seen if cryptocurrency could survive doing only that (e.g., without speculators) - because if there's no speculation how do you unload the currency? Only to others wishing to do the same. It's…

"avoiding laws" is not a "legitimate" use

I think you're using legitimate to mean "legal and most reasonable people would be okay with it" whereas the post you're responding to meant "legitimate" to mean an actual real technological advancement that wasn't doable with previous technologies

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#53

Post by wmf »

leashless wrote: post #9

I've crossed swords with Molly a couple of times. I was the release coordinator for Ethereum, and I've been active in the space a long long time. Here's what it boils down to: freedom is messy. The early days of the dotcom space were filled with carnage of a type which makes crypto look pretty normal. Amazon stock dropped >90% and a trillion and a half in value vanished from the market overall. https://en.wikipedia.o…

But it's the same innovation engine that ran Silicon Valley, the same type of people, it's just now they're less dependent on Goldman Sachs...

If this is true it's the biggest indictment of Silicon Valley ever. The goal was always to pump and dump on retail but finally they got to take the mask off? Fuck that forever.

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#54

Post by ilamont »

chasing wrote: post #26
leashless wrote: post #9

I've crossed swords with Molly a couple of times. I was the release coordinator for Ethereum, and I've been active in the space a long long time. Here's what it boils down to: freedom is messy. The early days of the dotcom space were filled with carnage of a type which makes crypto look pretty normal. Amazon stock dropped >90% and a trillion and a half in value vanished from the market overall. https://en.wikipedia.o…

The Web hit the scene in 1991. By 2003 how we shopped, worked, consumed media, communicated with friends and family, and interacted with information was in the process of changing radically. A million "little ambitions" to replace catalogue shopping and how hotel reservations were made were transforming how the world worked. Bitcoin hit the scene in 2011. By 2023 crypto's mostly a failed get-rich-quick scheme with a…

> And the deep dark secret at the heart of crypto is that — apart from the get-rich-quick stuff — it's neither particularly interesting nor useful. And it takes a lot of set dressing and hand-waving to make it seem like such.

Yep. For an example this week, see "Web3 Can Help Marginalized Communities Share Their Stories" (https://decrypt.co/142763/web3-can-help-marginalized-communi...)

“You can truly own your IP through the whole thing,” Bayne said, highlighting the advantages that Web3 brings to filmmaking. “Your community can be involved through every step, and you don't necessarily need the studios.”

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#55

Post by rlt »

DannyBee wrote: post #18
leashless wrote: post #9

I've crossed swords with Molly a couple of times. I was the release coordinator for Ethereum, and I've been active in the space a long long time. Here's what it boils down to: freedom is messy. The early days of the dotcom space were filled with carnage of a type which makes crypto look pretty normal. Amazon stock dropped >90% and a trillion and a half in value vanished from the market overall. https://en.wikipedia.o…

I doubt most of tech would appreciate being lumped in with crypto, which should be the first sign that your take is a little off. IE if you think you are just "tech being tech" but lots and lots of tech is like "uh, no, we aren't like you at all, please don't lump us in with you", that should tell you something. Beyond that, your take seems so divorced from reality i'm not even sure where to begin. I don't agree at a…

Of course “tech” isn’t a monolith, and neither is “crypto”. Many people into Bitcoin or crypto don’t appreciate being lumped into the very long tail of scams that are an inherent byproduct of permissionless money.

It would be a bit like pre-internet engineers dismissing the internet because it’s the world’s best porn distribution mechanism.

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#56

Post by vvpan »

I send money across borders to friends an organizations via blockchain. And millions of other people do, especially in countries with volatile financial systems. I much prefer crypto to anything else in this case. Hearing "no legitimate use case" arguments is awfully annoying when you get objective use from the thing being criticized.

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#57

Post by miracle2k »

DannyBee wrote: post #18
leashless wrote: post #9

I've crossed swords with Molly a couple of times. I was the release coordinator for Ethereum, and I've been active in the space a long long time. Here's what it boils down to: freedom is messy. The early days of the dotcom space were filled with carnage of a type which makes crypto look pretty normal. Amazon stock dropped >90% and a trillion and a half in value vanished from the market overall. https://en.wikipedia.o…

I doubt most of tech would appreciate being lumped in with crypto, which should be the first sign that your take is a little off. IE if you think you are just "tech being tech" but lots and lots of tech is like "uh, no, we aren't like you at all, please don't lump us in with you", that should tell you something. Beyond that, your take seems so divorced from reality i'm not even sure where to begin. I don't agree at a…

> Crypto has always been a subset of tech's goals, and is even framed that way 99% of the time in presentations/etc.

GP is simply saying that making a permissionless financial network a key element of the way value is exchanged across the world is a much more ambitious goal than selling books online.

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#58

Post by JumpCrisscross »

goodpoint wrote: post #40
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Crypto is a complete scam, with no legitimate or legal use case and nothing else to offer anybody It’s gambling. It should be regulated and taxed like gambling. It shouldn’t be banned, and academic exploration should be unfettered. But anyone making money off it should be monitored by the public and the law, and pay for that oversight.

It's much worse than that. It's a huge enabler for ransomware and other crimes with a side serving of environmental impact.

> a huge enabler for ransomware

This is a downside. But I don’t think it’s a crippling one. Tax and regulate the people proximate to it, and the system should net out.

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#59

Post by wustangdan »

ceejayoz wrote: post #32
wustangdan wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes exactly, on gold standard they would default, now they inflate. The US can issue debt in USD and even print 1 trillion USD coins. But what happens to the value of the currency when they repeatedly do that? Crypto (and other assets obviously) can act as a hedge against such bad government behavior.

> The US can issue debt in USD and even print 1 trillion USD coins. But what happens to the value of the currency when they repeatedly do that? Thus far, not all that much of consequence. > Crypto (and other assets obviously) can act as a hedge against such bad government behavior. Objection, Your Honor. Assumes facts not in evidence.

https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

From Jan 2019 to now we've had 17.4% inflation. Your purchasing power of the money in your bank account has been reduced. How have other assets faired in that time?

> Objection, Your Honor. Assumes facts not in evidence.

Okay longer timeline, if you held dollars in your savings account from Jan 2009 to now (during ZIRP) you've lost 30.5% of your purchasing power. How has the SP500 or houses fared in that time (even ignoring crypto)?

If losing 30% of your purchasing power is no consequence to you, please let me have a not much of consequence portion of your salary, thanks.

Re: Molly White Tracks Crypto Scams. It’s Going Just Great

#60

Post by iLoveOncall »

vvpan wrote: post #56

I send money across borders to friends an organizations via blockchain. And millions of other people do, especially in countries with volatile financial systems. I much prefer crypto to anything else in this case. Hearing "no legitimate use case" arguments is awfully annoying when you get objective use from the thing being criticized.

I send money across borders without blockchain. Without fees. Without having to wait 2 weeks for the transaction to be confirmed.
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