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Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

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Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#91

Post by yashg »

mypastself wrote: post #74

Somewhat relatedly, I’ve been wondering for a while now why so many people here are so intensely, emotionally against this tech (and consequently why so many mediocre articles on the topic with emotionally charged titles are upvoted to the front page). Plenty of different arguments are offered by the commentariat, some of which have merit. But whether the stated reasons are environmental issues, political implication…

>>getting rich overnight and flaunting their wealth Only a small fraction of early adopters became rich. Most of the suckers who joined the ponzi reading about these overnight riches have lost money. Like a typical ponzi.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#92

Post by aww_dang »

ddjsn111 wrote: post #58

The world needs decentralised assets. It’s the internet of money. Some are shitty, some are not. Monero and Algorand are two good examples. The latter carbon negative.

The core premise of these cryptocurrency haters is that they feel that their subjective value preferences are more valid than those of the market. This is a core tenet of central planning. It is plainly paternalistic.

Ironically, it is the central planning of interest rates which created an environment ripe for speculative bubbles. It is the heavy regulation of all things financial which has burdened online transactions. If not for onerous regulatory requirements perhaps cryptocurrencies would not have been popularized.

Then there are the obvious falsehoods and sloppy generalizations used to advance their argument. Not all cryptocurrencies are the same. Even if we accept their characterization of BTC as "wasteful" there are other options which are more efficient.

Their solution, predictably enough is to create more regulations and prohibitions. It is a tone deaf lack of self awareness. All the worse when they celebrate themselves as authorities on the topic.

Perhaps the interviewee is an expert on CS, but does that qualify him to centrally plan financial transactions? This is technocracy at its worst. A self appointed expert steps outside of his bounds to make wide sweeping proclamations.

Then there are the obvious cultural factors. An institutional academic favors institutional and bureaucratic control over markets, disregards the value of market consensus and individual preferences? Cultural bias and group-think or not?

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#93

Post by BiteCode_dev »

McDyver wrote: post #75
edent wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand this privacy argument - but I'm wondering what the practical downside is of this "spying"? I've been using credit cards online for decades and I am yet to encounter anything negative from doing so. I get that my credit card provider knows that I'm buying £X of goods from merchant Y. But unless that merchant is very specific, the card company doesn't know what I've bought. And, if it did... so what? Perha…

It's good you live somewhere where hiding your sexuality is not an issue. But, for argument's sake let's say you can be put in jail or killed for your sexuality. You want to buy something from a specific store that caters exclusively to your sexual preferences. The CC company sells that to your government (or another entity wanting to enforce that), then you are arrested or killed, or you family harassed.

Or religion, political inclinations, etc.

Basically people take for granted that they belong to the middle of the Gauss curve and forget this is neither true everywhere nor carved in stone, and certainly not consequence free.

Not to mention mass spying, which apparently every body is accepting now.

It feels like in the 30', where everybody is smooking cigarets and are think there is no problem right now with it, so they people raising concerns are not to be listened to.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#94

Post by _Algernon_ »

giantrobot wrote: post #33
bshepard wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely, yes, but the whole social metasystem does a lot of damage to the planet for the benefit of the few, so why scapegoat one part of the system?

Because it is wasteful by design and gets more wasteful as it scales. Transaction fees are onerous and transactions themselves are excruciatingly slow. Then the deflationary nature of cryptocurrencies makes them terrible currencies. It makes more economic sense to hold them than spend them. The rare events where their use doesn't involve crime are overwhelmed by the criminal uses.

Our entire fossil fuel driven economy is also "wasteful by design".

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#97

Post by Jach »

mypastself wrote: post #74

Somewhat relatedly, I’ve been wondering for a while now why so many people here are so intensely, emotionally against this tech (and consequently why so many mediocre articles on the topic with emotionally charged titles are upvoted to the front page). Plenty of different arguments are offered by the commentariat, some of which have merit. But whether the stated reasons are environmental issues, political implication…

I've been partial to this sentiment for a while but I like a simpler expression: it's just the virgin no-coiner vs. the chad bitcoiner. Dismissive? Absolutely. But these posts and comment threads deserve to be dismissed. If I felt like being slightly more constructive perhaps it'd be worth noting that it's an over-explanation because humans just don't need much reason to become this polarized and frothy about things, see e.g. Sports or the Robbers Cave Experiment (despite the latter having issues).

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#98

Post by mypastself »

yashg wrote: post #91
mypastself wrote: post #74

Somewhat relatedly, I’ve been wondering for a while now why so many people here are so intensely, emotionally against this tech (and consequently why so many mediocre articles on the topic with emotionally charged titles are upvoted to the front page). Plenty of different arguments are offered by the commentariat, some of which have merit. But whether the stated reasons are environmental issues, political implication…

>>getting rich overnight and flaunting their wealth Only a small fraction of early adopters became rich. Most of the suckers who joined the ponzi reading about these overnight riches have lost money. Like a typical ponzi.

That is roughly how the commenter described these people, and I have no doubt HN is far more likely than the average forum to be frequented by tech types who personally know successful early adopters.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#99

Post by roenxi »

edent wrote: post #49
lordofgibbons wrote: post #10

I will gladly stop using Monero if someone can tell me how to privately transact over the internet without CC companies (and others) spying on me and selling my data. Until there is a better solution, I'll keep using it.

I understand this privacy argument - but I'm wondering what the practical downside is of this "spying"? I've been using credit cards online for decades and I am yet to encounter anything negative from doing so. I get that my credit card provider knows that I'm buying £X of goods from merchant Y. But unless that merchant is very specific, the card company doesn't know what I've bought. And, if it did... so what? Perha…

I started in Monero after the Canadian trucker thing. The government response was scary. In no particular order, threats that got me interested in privacy coins:

1) Able to donate money without it being blocked (examples: Wikileaks, eight-wing political activism).

2) No trace of activity that can be used against me (examples: WWII, looks like it might happen again in the near future, situation is tense post-COVID).

3) When the next recession hits, want to have protections against government haircuts (a la Cyprus or the bail in mechanisms that were prepared after 2008).

Cryptos fit quite neatly into a threat model where my government going rogue seems to be possible but unlikely. It makes a lot of sense to me to have $1-10k in Monero as a weird emergency fund/political tool. Dunno how it will work out, this isn't really territory that has been open before. If cryptos weather the next recession and hold >50% of their value then I'd start looking to put more serious money in.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#100

Post by binarymax »

lordofgibbons wrote: post #10

I will gladly stop using Monero if someone can tell me how to privately transact over the internet without CC companies (and others) spying on me and selling my data. Until there is a better solution, I'll keep using it.

The privacy is a myth, if you want to actually use the cryptocurrency to pay for things in the real world. If you pay fiat to get monero, the exchange has your info. If you cash out monero for fiat to buy something, the exchange has your info. The wallet and transaction in chain are permanent in the ledger. So where is the privacy?
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