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Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

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Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#221

Post by boringg »

HeckFeck wrote: post #202
boringg wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about how they convert to useable local currency for day to day operations? Off ramps are still guarded unless i'm mistaken.

Even if you are prevented, at least having money in BTC is better than having no money at all. And there are always workarounds. It wouldn't be impossible to use an exchange in another country, for one.

Yeah but under an authoritarian regime they can just squeeze you until you run out of operating cash since it would likely be a long game. I recognize that there are benefits to having some assets - I still don't believe this to be a strong enough argument.

Also - in that case you are just talking about hiding assets from the government. While the use case for dissidents is good - to me I would wager the amount of people who are using it for fraud is far greater.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#222

Post by n_time »

Free markets and network effects leads to the accumulation of wealth and power by the few. Piketty did the hard work of documenting this. Getting away from theory and into business strategy, network effects are an often discussed strategy in start-up culture to become a "unicorn". What is a unicorn? Usually the winner of a battle to seize a market leveraging "disruption" brought on by new technology.

A truly decentralized, unregulated network will therefore lead to more power being seized by fewer. That is, a decentralized financial network will tend to lead towards the centralization of the value represented within that network. Without the ability for democracy to step in and regulate that network.

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are an inherently anti-government project, through placing all governments in a single authoritarian perspective and insisting that they must be decentralized; "crypto" is fundamentally anti-democratic. Throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#223

Post by Ostrogodsky »

steelstraw wrote: post #129
nikanj wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't support robocall spammers, even if their tech stacks might contain interesting nuggets. At best your typical crypto project is just a planet-destroying unregulated casino, at worst it's criminal fraud. I don't care that it might contain cool tech. The same goes for e.g. ransomware. It might be innovative. It's still a huge blight on humanity.

Bitcoin and crypto might seem unnecessary in a democracy with a stable currency and it's easy to focus on the scams. But in countries with deeply unstable economies and authoritarian politics, it is a lifeline. Bitcoin has been used by dissidents and activists in places like Cuba, Nigeria, and Belarus. In Russia, the country’s most prominent opposition politician and Putin critic, Alexei Navaly, has raised millions i…

I am Venezuelan, I will tell you what 99% of Venezuelans would tell you. They will prefer.... USD. Bitcoin had its heyday when the country was in that horrible time of hyperinflation and strict foreign currency control, and, since stupidity seems to have a limit the government relaxed a bit the controls and people also got smarter regarding the use of USD. Now, people pay using USD bills, you can have USD accounts in Venezuela (risky but possible) and a sizable part of the population have an US bank account so they pay within Venezuela with Zelle transfers. Bitcoin is still used but by far people will default to the convenience and security of the green beast.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#224

Post by giaour »

axg11 wrote: post #60

The relentless number of anti-crypto and anti-web3 articles on HN is tiring. Nobody is forcing anyone to partake in this new technology. Skepticism is healthy, but criticism without being constructive is not. There are clearly _some_ novel ideas in the crypto space, even if you think the state of the community today is not healthy. Thousands of teams are exploring ideas on many different fronts (e.g. L1s, L2s, NFTs).…

> Nobody is forcing anyone to partake in this new technology.

Nobody is forcing anyone to burn fossil fuels, either, but we all breathe and thus can't opt out of its negative externalities. This argument only works when externalities are acceptable or nonexistent.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#225

Post by rideontime »

duxup wrote: post #21

Help me out here… Does it matter? It feels like most web3 discussion is just discussion and none of the core parts exist at all…. and some folks just threw nfts and crypto currency into the bucket to have something concrete to point to. I don’t have a problem with discussion about meta discussion but I’m also skeptical that it matters/ that this is just meta about meta …. with nobody doing any of this web3 stuff.

You’re correct. NFTs only exist to justify the blockchain’s existence.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#226

Post by akiselev »

capableweb wrote: post #197
kerneloftruth wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see anything mean in the comment, and I also fully agree (it's really well-stated). Being direct and not mincing words is not being mean.

It's not mean, it's just very skewed in one way without acknowledging different perspectives. Take this sentence: > At best your typical crypto project is just a planet-destroying unregulated casino, at worst it's criminal fraud Obviously the "at best" part is still a negative, just like the "at worst". That's no way of starting a curious conversation and frankly, it makes for boring reading no matter if you're for/a…

Pointing out that a spade is a spade does make for boring reading.

I don't understand what more there is to say about NFTs but maybe I'm just taking crazy pills.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#227

Post by kongolongo »

A_non_e-moose wrote: post #189
jsharf wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Usually I hate skeptical mean comments like this on hackernews. Right or wrong, there's a certain level of empathy missing. And yet... In this case I find myself guiltily agreeing.

Skepticism is like an anchor, too much and you go nowhere, too little and you're adrift. The interesting questions are how much and where do you place your skepticism? NFTs sound enough alarms for me that I feel the need to drop anchor on that before steering to any BS with potential financial consequences.

I think if you're going to support anything - crypto or otherwise, you should start with some level of skepticism, if it can overcome that initial skepticism then maybe it is worth believing in, otherwise remain skeptical imo.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#228

Post by ravenstine »

micromacrofoot wrote: post #117
axg11 wrote: post #60

The relentless number of anti-crypto and anti-web3 articles on HN is tiring. Nobody is forcing anyone to partake in this new technology. Skepticism is healthy, but criticism without being constructive is not. There are clearly _some_ novel ideas in the crypto space, even if you think the state of the community today is not healthy. Thousands of teams are exploring ideas on many different fronts (e.g. L1s, L2s, NFTs).…

No one's being forced, but it seems many people are being tricked. It's important to inject a considerable amount of skepticism into a conversation that is often dominated by proponents in it only to make money off of speculation.

Those people are probably going to be tricked anyway. Many things in society are tricks. Google is a trick. Self-help is a trick. Fast food is a trick. MLM is a trick. Political ideologies are tricks. Everyone wants to be lied to, or rather everyone wants to believe in something, and they'll throw away their money just to maintain that belief. While aspects of the world of cryptocurrency are tricks, it's hardly unique to it or the responsibility of others to prevent people from being tricked.

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#229

Post by 8note »

axg11 wrote: post #60

The relentless number of anti-crypto and anti-web3 articles on HN is tiring. Nobody is forcing anyone to partake in this new technology. Skepticism is healthy, but criticism without being constructive is not. There are clearly _some_ novel ideas in the crypto space, even if you think the state of the community today is not healthy. Thousands of teams are exploring ideas on many different fronts (e.g. L1s, L2s, NFTs).…

Imo the crypto is an overemphasized implementation detail. If a genuinely novel product is going to happen, it's a product that would do just fine without the crypto.

If the selling point of your product isn't the product, it seems like you're focusing on the wrong thing

Re: Web3 and crypto skepticism is growing and people are finally starting to listen

#230

Post by toss1 »

CPLX wrote: post #146
steelstraw wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin and crypto might seem unnecessary in a democracy with a stable currency and it's easy to focus on the scams. But in countries with deeply unstable economies and authoritarian politics, it is a lifeline. Bitcoin has been used by dissidents and activists in places like Cuba, Nigeria, and Belarus. In Russia, the country’s most prominent opposition politician and Putin critic, Alexei Navaly, has raised millions i…

> Putin can do a lot of things, but he can't freeze a bitcoin account. He can if he's got the private key.

... and Putin has lots of thugs happy to wield USD$5 (RUB 388) wrenches to obtain those private keys, and the globally known precedent of the year-long torture & murder of Sergi Magnitsky to let the key-holders know that there's no way out.
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