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Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

defector.com

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Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#81
I won't pretend I'm a computer genius or anything, but I feel like I understand tech at least more than the average Joe - at least, I'm the designated IT guy for computer problems faced by anyone I know.

The fact that, despite having it explained multiple times by multiple sources multiple ways, I still can't seem to wrap my head around how crypto functions... Makes me suspicious. It feels like the whole idea is to obfuscate it's functionality to the point it becomes this incomprehensible enigma - by design.

If it's not easy to comprehend, and instead a strange mystery number that moves between even stranger mystery-er numbers, someone is bound to think those numbers must be worth something - otherwise it wouldn't exist, right?

Basically what I'm saying is cryptocurrency sends me into an existential spiral of thoughts about how all value is just perceived and agreed upon and 90% of what we call "the economy" is just fake. Look up fractional reserve banking and join the existential crisis with me!

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am an artist. Have shown in galleries, museums and rubbed shoulders with all sorts of dealers etc in Manhattan art world. What you see in the nft space is pretty normal.. for every genuine, talented artist there are 1000 copy cats just gaming the market trends. For every genuine, professional art seller/buyer there are 1000 used car salesmen looking to flip hype and bad taste for quick profit, screw over naive and…

What's lacking is an agreed upon mechanism for distinguishing the real artists from the hacks, and the real buyers from the flippers.

Real art is what you agree in your mind is real art.

If you are trying to find something to filter out art that will not skyrocket in prices that's different. You need to find out what people are buying and only buy those. Each subgroup will be buying different types of art so research is required.

Anything is real art. A rock you brought in or a painting made by a computer. As long as you see it as art, special and perhaps get an emotion from it.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#83
post #72

I was involved in a blockchain (DeFi) startup. All the blockchain companies are mostly a huge pyramid scheme. The company I worked for has a lot of big claims, raised millions, wanted to solve world hunger, prioritized partnership, marketing, while having no working implementation. Others in the eco system are the same. The NFT scene is even more BS. It could destroyed uninformed people's life, just like gambling. Ho…

"I worked for a sleezy startup that was scamming people, therefore all companies are scams"

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#84
post #5

The whole NFT craze lost me when tech founders I once highly respected started pushing and showing off their ugly gifs and trading cards on Twitter. Bad taste of the bored rich is not a new thing, but I hope NFTs won't become a noble tradition.

I must be getting old because I just don't get NFT's. They look stupid and I don't get why anyone would buy them. Declining tech companies and startups seem to be trying to crowbar them into their products much like Blockchain when it was new and shiny. Perhaps younger me would of seen something I can't anymore.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#85

ICANN isn't perfect (not even close, lol) - but I wish a consortium of countries would just create their own crypto. Unfortunately this would probably devolve to what we currently have with individual fiat. Would anyone even use a not-for-profit backed "crypto"? I don't mean in the blockchain-backed sense, more in the ICANN/gift-cards/points globally distributed sense.

You mean ENS?

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#86
Not going to say that no one lies about it but I had to transfer a sizable amount of money between two banks at about the same time I did a transaction from my home with BTC that took all but 20 minutes without the need for fax machines.

There are advantages to cryptocurrencies and one can very much want a future where currencies they would use isn't hampered by government.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#87

Cryptocurrency gives people something they want. At best it might a new decentralized leaderless censorship-resistant free-as-in-freedom finance platform. At worst it might be a new decentralized leaderless pyramid scheme where we don't even need a Bernie Madoff because now we have The Algorithm. If I am simultaneously cynical and hopeful, maybe it will have an adolescence of B and mature into A.

Except its not very decentralized and leaderless. It is dominated by a few ultra rich players, to an even greater extent than the stock market. And that didn't democratise finance either.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#88

It’s pretty clear from the article that the author thinks markets are intrinsically bad, most entrepreneurs and founders are generally bad, and that economic activity is generally better coordinated and controlled by the state. And it’s pretty clear from the upvotes and comments that many here agree with this viewpoint. And that’s fine. That’s a completely defensible world view, that many smarter than me have held th…

It's only "bad" if you believe in democracy and equality. Markets are great for those who benefit from them. I just don't see cryptos benefiting the majority of mankind. They pretty much reinforce or retain existing power structures.

Re: Cryptocurrency is something people tell lies about in hopes of getting richer

#89
post #63

The rebranding of MySQL as blockchain was a brilliant move for sales. Bit torrent is decentralized and it doesn't use "blockchain". "Blockchain" only works for money and nothing else

I mean, if you look at transaction cost, settle time, user friendliness, and currency risk, it doesn't even work as a medium of exchange, which is the definition of money. More than a decade on, approximately nobody uses Bitcoin for normal transactions. Compare with Venmo or MPesa, both of which launched around the same time, to se what actual digital money looks like. Both of those do way more transactions than Bitc…

Add Starbucks to that list
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