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Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

drewdevault.com

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Re: Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

#11

Post by knorker »

cies wrote: post #2

It's in it's infancy. In two decades we will know what it means to us as mankind. Cars were also dangerous, unregulated, expensive and excessively polluting. It got a lot better on all these points, and not all due to the cars: some of it was a mind shift that mankind had to make. Same will hold true for cryptocurrency.

But cars had value. They have value. They had value from day 1.

Cryptocurrencies just don't. It's all smoke and mirrors, where everything would be better without the blockchain. Without irreversibility. Without everything about it.

There are whole books about how terrible and useless it is.

And please do what the article said: How much of your own money is dependent on you selling the lie of cryptocurrency or smart contract to the next level in this multi level marketing?

I sold my BTC when it was at $15k, because I felt disgusted in participating in this super-immoral going-nowhere-moral tech, so my balance is 0.

I made a profit, sure, but regret touching it at all.

> Same will hold true for cryptocurrency.

By this logic you could start kicking puppies, because "eventually something good will come out of kicking puppies", and just as baseless reasoning.

Re: Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

#12

Post by baggy_trough »

elite_hackers wrote: post #10
cies wrote: post #2

It's in it's infancy. In two decades we will know what it means to us as mankind. Cars were also dangerous, unregulated, expensive and excessively polluting. It got a lot better on all these points, and not all due to the cars: some of it was a mind shift that mankind had to make. Same will hold true for cryptocurrency.

What are you talking about? Cars are an absolute disaster for humanity... one of the biggest mistakes humans ever made. Maybe try another analogy

"one of the biggest mistakes humans ever made"? come on.

Re: Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

#13

Post by shrubble »

tima101 wrote: post #7

> Cryptocurrency is one of the worst inventions of the 21st century. I am ashamed to share an industry with this exploitative grift. It has failed to be a useful currency, invented a new class of internet abuse, further enriched the rich, wasted staggering amounts of electricity, hastened climate change, ruined hundreds of otherwise promising projects, provided a climate for hundreds of scams to flourish, created sho…

Now do the Federal Reserve.

1955 Tappan Zee bridge: $55 million.

2013 Tappan Zee bridge: $4 billion for basically the same bridge. Due in part to the destruction of the USD caused by the Fed.

Re: Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

#15

Post by kordlessagain »

tima101 wrote: post #7

> Cryptocurrency is one of the worst inventions of the 21st century. I am ashamed to share an industry with this exploitative grift. It has failed to be a useful currency, invented a new class of internet abuse, further enriched the rich, wasted staggering amounts of electricity, hastened climate change, ruined hundreds of otherwise promising projects, provided a climate for hundreds of scams to flourish, created sho…

If we look at Lightning, it enables a full implementation of the 402 response code flow, which would allow for decentralized identity and payments in the use of machine learning networks for a wide variety of AI based systems. One such use case may end up being the "killer" use case for crypto and may make up for the speculative phase we're in now.

Re: Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

#16

Post by dTal »

knorker wrote: post #11
cies wrote: post #2

It's in it's infancy. In two decades we will know what it means to us as mankind. Cars were also dangerous, unregulated, expensive and excessively polluting. It got a lot better on all these points, and not all due to the cars: some of it was a mind shift that mankind had to make. Same will hold true for cryptocurrency.

But cars had value. They have value. They had value from day 1. Cryptocurrencies just don't. It's all smoke and mirrors, where everything would be better without the blockchain. Without irreversibility. Without everything about it. There are whole books about how terrible and useless it is. And please do what the article said: How much of your own money is dependent on you selling the lie of cryptocurrency or smart c…

I have to say I am very impressed by your moral compass's sense of market timing!

Re: Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

#17

Post by SeanLuke »

shrubble wrote: post #13
tima101 wrote: post #7

> Cryptocurrency is one of the worst inventions of the 21st century. I am ashamed to share an industry with this exploitative grift. It has failed to be a useful currency, invented a new class of internet abuse, further enriched the rich, wasted staggering amounts of electricity, hastened climate change, ruined hundreds of otherwise promising projects, provided a climate for hundreds of scams to flourish, created sho…

Now do the Federal Reserve. 1955 Tappan Zee bridge: $55 million. 2013 Tappan Zee bridge: $4 billion for basically the same bridge. Due in part to the destruction of the USD caused by the Fed.

The reason the dollar is a currency is because of the existence of a force (in this case, the Fed) that can tamp down speculation and deflation. Cryptocurrency doesn't have this, and that is its central failing.

Re: Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

#18

Post by JBorrow »

cies wrote: post #2

It's in it's infancy. In two decades we will know what it means to us as mankind. Cars were also dangerous, unregulated, expensive and excessively polluting. It got a lot better on all these points, and not all due to the cars: some of it was a mind shift that mankind had to make. Same will hold true for cryptocurrency.

What is your stake in crypto?

Re: Cryptocurrency Is an Abject Disaster

#19

Post by spir »

Cryptocurrency is not an abject disaster.

Drew is right that proof of work mining is expensive and has serious negative externalities.

Drew is also right that cryptocurrency, via its growth, hype, and decentralized and self-sovereign nature, is often an ideal vehicle for certain kinds of criminal activity, including pump-and-dump fraud or ransomware.

Drew is right (perhaps indirectly) that many or most well-meaning crypto projects will end up losing money for most of their investors.

But, there's a lot more going on in crypto. At this point, if you think crypto is wholesale a scam, bad for the world, or a fad, you're simply misinformed.

As Drew observes, Bitcoin has a cost problem. For that reason, many crypto insiders think that BTC's reign as the #1 top crypto will come to an end within a few years.

More reading on Bitcoin's cost problem https://twitter.com/RyanBerckmans/status/1386505715938775044

In contrast to Bitcoin, the Ethereum community is actually building many useful things and will soon stop proof of work mining, replacing it with proof of stake. As a result, Ethereum earns enough actual revenue that ETH is expected to generate lots of cash, like a Buffet stock, in the coming decade.

Today, much of Ethereum's revenue is what we may call "reflexive" or insular, in that the revenue is related to cryptocurrency services or speculation. That might make Ethereum's apps appear to be "not useful" or "scams". However, I think it'd be a mistake to conclude that just because most early Ethereum apps are related to crypto, that they'll all be. Ethereum apps are increasingly connecting with the regular economy, and that's the primary growth opportunity.

Further reading on Ethereum's cash flow https://ethereumcashflow.com

Disclosure: I hold ETH and no BTC, and am the author of both links.

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