Comment by thinkingtoilet
7 days ago
I got into bitcoin around 2011ish for some time. I was never a True Believer but I was a 'soft believer'. At the time, when people asked me if Bitcoin is the future I would always say "I think it or something like it will be very useful". Fast forward 10 years and there's been no actual use of crypto. No killer app. No disrupting the finance world. It seems to be used exclusively by smart people as a means of extracting wealth from people who don't understand it.
We built useful, legitimate services off crypto (think paying people out for doing work online). But the regulation became insurmountable.
I will admit however, almost everyone "interested" in crypto has never made a transaction.
How did crypto solve something that Zelle,PayPayl,cashapp,venmo, etc did not also solve for paying people remotely?
> It seems to be used exclusively by smart people as a means of extracting wealth from people who don't understand it.
How is that any different from other financial markets? A fool and his money are easily parted, while targeting desperate people with get rich quick schemes are also an easy play. The crypto/stocks/etc are just different tools to achieve the same result.
> How is that any different from other financial markets?
It's unregulated.
Although to be fair, it seems everything else is going in that direction too (https://news.bloomberglaw.com/esg/doge-targets-sec-next-for-...)
Please try and think for a second. You're telling me you can't see the difference in investing in a S&P ETF vs. crypto investing? Really? There is no difference there for you?
you just put bumpers on it to make a smart ass comment. Investing in the S&P is not the only way to invest with stocks. People trying to take money from people are not peddling S&P investments.
In every market down turn, those that are not wealthy end up having to sell of stocks to stop the bleeding. Those that are wealthy increase their wealth by buying up what the others are selling. The concept of a forced market crash is not unthinkable. Especially the current situation. Those that are friendly to the current administration are about to be greatly rewarded.
Cryptocurrencies is one of those things that makes me embarrassed for the whole tech industry. I wish it was the only thing...
The quiet majority who avoids such things are easily lost among all the pump and dump nonsense. A ~single digit percentage of the general population has basically zero morality, but they can have a huge impact.
I realized it was likely a profitable long term investment back when bitcoin was ~10-15$, but I objected to it on moral grounds and didn’t get involved. It’s not even something I regret, just another life choice.
which moral grounds? how does that involve buying and holding, the most passive outcome possible
11 replies →
Well at least we redeemed ourselves with NFTs huh?
Honestly with POTUS and his family releasing NFT's I'm not sure whether you're joking.
> Fast forward 10 years and there's been no actual use of crypto. No killer app. No disrupting the finance world.
Just today I answered call on my mom's phone from unknown number. Regarding payout from blockchain investment account. Not the killer app and disruption we deserve, but the only one we got.
The killer app is crime. Old scams have flourished. Entire new forms of scam have been invented. Crypto currency has been a game changer for criminal organizations.
> It seems to be used exclusively by smart people as a means of extracting wealth from people who don't understand it.
I'm all for an era of crypto feudalists