Step 1: Lose a lot of money in crypto. Step 2: Try to make a career out of hating crypto.
Step 1: Lose a lot of money in crypto.
Step 2: Understand that it's a ponzi scheme.
Which is true? What a most vexing conundrum!
“The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
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Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#12It would not matter if this title were changed to "The biggest fraud of all time": why Ben Mckenzie became a crypto critic yet HN commenters will often zero-in on the name "Ponzi". I always enjoy when HN commenters defend crypto by focusing on the definition of "Ponzi Scheme". It illustrates a commenter's moral and ethical blindspot. Perhaps the victims and critics of cryptocurrency only care that fraud is being comm…
Of course it matters. You can't just call a bank robber a rapist and label everybody who corrects your statement a morally and ethically flawed person.
> You can't just call a bank robber a rapist and label everybody who corrects your statement a morally and ethically flawed person.
Yes, but that isn't what is happening here. It sounds like you might be one of the people with the aforementioned blindspot.
Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#13> Bitcoin and crypto is only marketing. It’s only a story It's interesting when people make such blanket statements because then all you need is one counterexample to prove them wrong. When I was a teeneager in a third world country with a pegged and tightly controlled currency, Bitcoin was the only way I could pay for books and servers online. It was thanks to Bitcoin that I truly felt connected to the rest of the w…
In USA many cannabis business settle deals with BTC (and others) so, I think it's still functioning as a currency.
They have little or no choice, because the federal governments lack of pace changing the status of THC means financial institutions are reluctant to service the msrket. They pay higher marginal rates of exchange in effect, and are at risk of sudden valuation fluctuations.
Seriously, do you think the storefronts would do this, if they could stick to fiat?
Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#14Step 1: Lose a lot of money in crypto. Step 2: Try to make a career out of hating crypto.
Step 1: Lose a lot of money in crypto. Step 2: Understand that it's a ponzi scheme. Which is true? What a most vexing conundrum!
¿Pourquoi pas les deux?
Step 1: Lose a lot of money in crypto.
Step 2: ¿
Step 3: Understand that it's a ponzi scheme & try to use what you've learned to recoup some of the loss.
Also, I've taken the liberty of adding the inexplicably missing crucial "step 2" in the comments from both of you. You're welcome.
Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#15It would not matter if this title were changed to "The biggest fraud of all time": why Ben Mckenzie became a crypto critic yet HN commenters will often zero-in on the name "Ponzi". I always enjoy when HN commenters defend crypto by focusing on the definition of "Ponzi Scheme". It illustrates a commenter's moral and ethical blindspot. Perhaps the victims and critics of cryptocurrency only care that fraud is being comm…
As @patdennis famously tweeted:
> Sick of people calling everything in crypto a Ponzi scheme. Some crypto projects are pump and dump schemes, while others are pyramid schemes. Others are just standard issue fraud. Others are just middlemen skimming off the top. Stop glossing over the diversity in the industry.
Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#16> Bitcoin and crypto is only marketing. It’s only a story It's interesting when people make such blanket statements because then all you need is one counterexample to prove them wrong. When I was a teeneager in a third world country with a pegged and tightly controlled currency, Bitcoin was the only way I could pay for books and servers online. It was thanks to Bitcoin that I truly felt connected to the rest of the w…
You say the currency was tightly controlled? So, presumably, the fact that it was hard to obtain foreign exchange or pay for things abroad was a deliberate choice by your government, and not a technical problem?
The use case of crypto is the circumvention of regulation. Your story seems to confirm it.
Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#17Seeing people still argue about the legitimacy of the crypto space, after FTX, after so many hacks and rug pulls gives me more hope for the future of this space than anything else.
Actual developments in the space are quite technically dense, so I don't expect to see those discussed in HN.
Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course it matters. You can't just call a bank robber a rapist and label everybody who corrects your statement a morally and ethically flawed person.
> You can't just call a bank robber a rapist and label everybody who corrects your statement a morally and ethically flawed person. Yes, but that isn't what is happening here. It sounds like you might be one of the people with the aforementioned blindspot.
Yes, but I'm still wrong, without elaboration, and add then a touch of gaslighting? Jez.
Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#19It would not matter if this title were changed to "The biggest fraud of all time": why Ben Mckenzie became a crypto critic yet HN commenters will often zero-in on the name "Ponzi". I always enjoy when HN commenters defend crypto by focusing on the definition of "Ponzi Scheme". It illustrates a commenter's moral and ethical blindspot. Perhaps the victims and critics of cryptocurrency only care that fraud is being comm…
It’s clearly a misnomer.
We should call it what it is, and what people will call it in a 100 years: Crypto Scheme
Re: “The biggest Ponzi of all time”: why Ben McKenzie became a crypto critic
#20This is the guy that lost several hundred thousand dollars trying to time the market shorting crypto (as an enthusiast, I think you have to be crazy to use perpetual futures for anything except hedging strategies). Since then he has pivoted from being a journeyman actor to joining the anti-crypto speaking circuit. There are a lot of people in government that despise crypto, and these people get elevated at committee…
Also, I did not know this was a thing:
> a 24-part online course on cryptocurrencies, taught by the current US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler
As much as I love the SEC, they're going to be ever slightly biased against crypto currencies...