Live data from Hacker News

The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

newyorker.com

91–100 of 332 posts

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#91

If crypto goes down in value to ten percent, or one percent of its current value, will people who believe in it admit it was a grift? If it goes up in value again, 2x or 10x its current value, will people who said it was a grift admit it was more than that? I would bet money (fiat or digital) that, in either case, most people on either side will just say "I haven't been proven right yet ", because it's just camps yel…

> If it goes up in value again, 2x or 10x its current value, will people who said it was a grift admit it was more than that?

I've called it a grift since 2017 so yeah. Being a grift has nothing to do with its price and everything to do with its fundamental structure.

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, exactly. I've been working in crypto for 4 years and counting, still haven't purchased a single token as an investment. I don't like downside risk, I like to build product. We've weathered one bear market, we'll weather another. Thankfully there's cool stuff in the ecosystem that isn't a scam, but it's not newsworthy, so it doesn't go viral.

Can you give some examples of cool stuff that isn't a scam? I'm genuinely curious.

Bitcoin is not a scam. Your mileage may vary on other tokens.

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#93

Crypto cannot create wealth, only move it around. If too many people become crypto-rich and try to spend it on real-world assets, the assets will just inflate in price. What can happen is that crypto could replace other forms of money. Governments will likely fight this tooth and nail however, because crypto is currently an anti-government technology.

> Governments will likely fight this tooth and nail however, because crypto is currently an anti-government technology. Democratic governments represent the will of the people, and I don't think a technology can be pro-government or anti-government, it ultimately depends on what the people what. I think you are correct though for autocratic governments. Would you for example say that guns are clearly anti-government…

>Democratic governments represent the will of the people

Such as the will of the people for pot to remain technically illegal throughout the entire nation, or the will of the people for a president to be elected with a minority vote?

>Would you for example say that guns are clearly anti-government or pro-government?

Neither. Guns are a tool usable by a variety of actors for a variety of purposes. Banning guns (or restricting them in a way that isn't restricted to the government such as implementing a burdensome taxation scheme for automatic weapons or short barreled rifles/shotguns) in non-government hands is firmly pro-government, however. Banning guns for 'felons' who are only that way because they are enemies of the state (such as pot dealers or someone who 'vandalized' a government owned wall with a work of art a la California felony vandalism laws) is firmly pro-government.

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#94
post #35

Crypto cannot create wealth, only move it around. If too many people become crypto-rich and try to spend it on real-world assets, the assets will just inflate in price. What can happen is that crypto could replace other forms of money. Governments will likely fight this tooth and nail however, because crypto is currently an anti-government technology.

Crypto lets governments track every citizen's purchase ever made, forever. KYC ensures that a wallet is tied to a person. I am surprised governments haven't yet jumped on this fully (without proof of work, just a government run digital currency and a blockchain).

Oh ho, they are. You have no idea how hard they are jumping in.

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm extremely skeptical that this silent majority exists because I don't see crypto being used for anything other than hodl-ing. Do you have indicators you can point to of cryptocurrency being used as a real currency?

its only real use cases are in transferring money internationally and buying drugs off the darknet

It’s not particularly great for that, either. Every transaction is traceable and publicly visible.

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#96
The issue here is actually pretty easy to grok. Crypto is a new market, so there is a historical amount of information asymmetry between consumers and producers. This brings a lot of scammers to the space. A lot of crypto is definitely bullshit, but there are some use-cases that I admire that aren’t just gambling on Shit coins.

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#97
post #35

Crypto cannot create wealth, only move it around. If too many people become crypto-rich and try to spend it on real-world assets, the assets will just inflate in price. What can happen is that crypto could replace other forms of money. Governments will likely fight this tooth and nail however, because crypto is currently an anti-government technology.

Crypto lets governments track every citizen's purchase ever made, forever. KYC ensures that a wallet is tied to a person. I am surprised governments haven't yet jumped on this fully (without proof of work, just a government run digital currency and a blockchain).

The government you would most expect to love that idea has done exactly that:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_renminbi

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#98

Crypto cannot create wealth, only move it around. If too many people become crypto-rich and try to spend it on real-world assets, the assets will just inflate in price. What can happen is that crypto could replace other forms of money. Governments will likely fight this tooth and nail however, because crypto is currently an anti-government technology.

The drop in ransomware might have something to do with it, since there's less money going into crypto from victims right now.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/ransomware-has-gone-down-becau...

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#99

If crypto goes down in value to ten percent, or one percent of its current value, will people who believe in it admit it was a grift? If it goes up in value again, 2x or 10x its current value, will people who said it was a grift admit it was more than that? I would bet money (fiat or digital) that, in either case, most people on either side will just say "I haven't been proven right yet ", because it's just camps yel…

> If it goes up in value again, 2x or 10x its current value, will people who said it was a grift admit it was more than that? I've called it a grift since 2017 so yeah. Being a grift has nothing to do with its price and everything to do with its fundamental structure.

how is BTC not fundamentally sound. You can literally take 1 Billion dollars worth of BTC and cross the border without anyone questioning you. How does that not change how you see things ?

Re: The Great Crypto Grift May Be Unwinding

#100
post #3

> On Monday, the Financial Times published an interview with Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the FTX crypto-trading exchange, in which he said bitcoin doesn’t have a future as a means of payment because it is too complicated and environmentally costly. https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/1526098754163687424

Imo it doesn't have a future as a means of payment because it's lack of privacy leads to a lack of fungibility (which is essential for a currency).
Post reply on HN