Really good article. Is there other resource about the “geopolitic of crypto” as they put it?
Not that I know of, but if I find one, I will post it.
This website is a good resource on crypto critique. You might like it.
Thanks!
Fading fast, just because of a 50% crash in price? Did everyone already forget that such crashes happen about once every year? Its not a big deal, and in a few months prices will probably go up again. Agree about NFTs though, their only purpose seems to be scamming.
If someone refers to cryptocurrency as crypto again I’m going to jump from a 6th floor.
crypto
At least I don’t have to care about tests now.
Thank you. I dropped into this bad habit, this is a much-welcome prod to shake it off.
It’s mostly fair.
A currency is just a currency. An NFT is something unrelated. A currency being crypto doesn’t stop it from being mostly used for evil. Cryptocurrencies are an important advance for mankind, but they does not solve all of the world’s problems.
Bitcoin specifically even has a few of its own new problems, which newer currencies have solved.
I honestly don’t think they solve any problems, at all. I have not seen any proof they actually do.
They’re a great way to make a quick buck if you get in early enough, just like any pyramid/ponzi.
Though it does seem it’s not early enough anymore. 🤷♀️
None at all?!
- Has intrinsic value due to scarcity, like a gold-standard currency (as opposed to today’s fiat currencies). So it can’t be devalued or manipulated by a central bank.
- You don’t need to hold physical coins, or ask a 3rd party (like a bank) to store your money for you
- Can be send instantly anywhere in the world, without going through expensive money-transfer agents
- Money cannot be created out of nothing. If you want to loan somebody money, it has to really exist.
There are multiple important benefits. They may not all be important for you right now, but saying it doesn’t solve any problems at all is just ridiculous.
The people who say it’s a ponzi scheme are people who don’t know what ponzi schemes are.
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it is influenced by the amount of investment put into it
All currencies have this problem. Bigger ones suffer less from it, so you might not notice it. In fact it’s even worse than you say.
- Whales actively manipulate the price for profit. It’s not a ponzi scheme. You’re confusing two different things. If you want a buzzword it’s a pump and dump.
- This doesn’t affect only currencies but any commodity. Look at oil or food or land or gold. All have exactly the same problem you cite for bitcoin. In fact gold is a very good analogy for bitcoin. You can understand it better by thinking of it as “digital gold”.
We don’t need to get into the environmental aspects
Thanks. That’s a tired auld one.
your biggest stake holders now are the incredibly wealthy
I’ve thought about this a bit. Right now, I don’t think the currency itself can or should solve this. The only working solution is redistributing wealth through the tax system. It works very well when done properly. So profits from bitcoin should be taxed like any currency trade. Income in bitcoin should be normally. Inheritance tax, and all the rest, should all be agnostic to which currency you use. This is the only proven way.
If there’s a crypto out there that isn’t available for fiat investment
That’s a very good idea. How would it work? Have you seen been anything written about this already?
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It’s not a Ponzi exactly, it’s called a pump-and-dump. But yes it’s very common and very bad.
I agree that crypto currencies seem to be used much more for cynical investment profiteering, and much less for commerce, that fiat currencies. Probably because they are new. Investors are much faster at exploiting any new thing.
Bitcoin has not failed yet. It might become like company shares, an ostensibly useful thing that in practice is just a money-making game for professional gamblers. Or it might find a real large-scale use in the economy. It depends on so many factors.
The environmental issue really deserves its own discussion. There are several valid ways of looking at it. For example:
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Bitcoin’s model was simple and robust and successful. But bitcoin’s value increased too much, too fast, making mining very profitable. It’s a victim of its own success.
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It’s easily fixed, for example by borrowing Monero’s proof-of-work algorithm. But the bitcoin devs need to be given an incentive to change it.
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This is capitalism - everything gets exploited for profit until it is devastated. It’s not a bitcoin issue it’s sick-society issue.
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I personally believe that the GPU and electricity crises are being driven by datacentres (collecting human behaviour data) and AI (finding ways to exploit that data for profit and power) but bitcoin is being used as a scapegoat.
And anyway the solution is not just “ban the bad things”. There are effective ways to disincentivise people from exploiting electricity.
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Has intrinsic value due to scarcity, like a gold-standard currency (as opposed to today’s fiat currencies).
In other words, it’s designed to provide pay-off to those who jump-in early, as long as they convince more people to jump in, and assuming they get out early enough.
So it can’t be devalued or manipulated by a central bank.
Well, I don’t what we call a thing that manipulates them. Sure, it’s not called a “central bank”. But clearly cryptocurrencies can be manipulated:
- on a blockchain level (example, another example, and [https://web3isgoinggreat.com/single/juno-accidentally-transfers-36-million-in-seized-funds-to-inaccessible-wallet-address](Juno is thinking of doing this a second time in a row))
- on voting power level (here, for example);
- on “we will block you from doing any business” level, blacklisted wallets are a thing.
- and on monetary “create money out of thin air” level — Tether always claimed that it’s backed 1:1 with cash; well, it isn’t.
Not to mention manipulation by dudebros like Elon Musk, whose one tweet can just send cryptocurrencies up or down like a roller-coaster.
You don’t need to hold physical coins, or ask a 3rd party (like a bank) to store your money for you
And yet pleny of cryptocurrency people ask 3rd parties to store their assets for them. Which leads to pain.
Also, with cash you also also technically don’t need physical coins. Banknotes are a thing, you know. 😜
Can be send instantly anywhere in the world, without going through expensive money-transfer agents
Well, as long as you pay the exorbitant transaction/gas fees (which are there because the supply of particular cryptocurrency is capped, and so some form of rewarding miners is needed, apparently), and if you can afford to wait sometimes days for the transaction to be confirmed.
Money cannot be created out of nothing. If you want to loan somebody money, it has to really exist.
I mentioned Tether above, in that exact context. Consider the following:
Tether only holds a part (a “fraction”) of the actual hard cash they would need to back it 1:1 with USD. You know how much? A whole 2.9%, last time they produced any numbers on it, as far as I can see. Everything else is commercial paper, bonds, etc. They are literally gambling on the stock market with their supposed “backing cash”. This is basically what the Big Banks were doing before the 2008 crash, by the way.
Congratulations, you just invented (badly) fractional reserve banking. One of the core things cryptobros pinky-promised never to do. 🤣
No wonder people lost their minds when Tether de-pegged by roughly 5% this week!
Oh and by the way: Tether was in turn used to manipulate Bitcoin prices.
If all this is not “creating money out of nothing”, I don’t know what is. Think about it: one of the biggest cryptocurrencies out there, and pretty damn important one, literally just goes “I promise, just trust me” on the whole “every USDT is backed 1:1 by USD” thing, and everyone is just, you know, fine with that.
There are multiple important benefits. They may not all be important for you right now, but saying it doesn’t solve any problems at all is just ridiculous.
So far you have not named a single problem that cryptocurrencies actually solve. You mentioned a bunch of features some claim they presumably have, but not a single actual solved problem. It’s like saying “cars are great, they have wheels, and you don’t need a bus, and they come in all sorts of colors, too!” in response to a question “what problem do cars solve?”
The people who say it’s a ponzi scheme are people who don’t know what ponzi schemes are.
Well, Financial Times might actually have a reasonably good understanding what a Ponzi scheme is. And so, here we are. The whole article is basically this scene from The Office, and it’s finger-lickin’ good.
Well, I don’t what we call a thing that manipulates them. Sure, it’s not called a “central bank”. But clearly cryptocurrencies can be manipulated:
on a blockchain level (example, another example, and [https://web3isgoinggreat.com/single/juno-accidentally-transfers-36-million-in-seized-funds-to-inaccessible-wallet-address](Juno is thinking of doing this a second time in a row)) on voting power level (here, for example); on “we will block you from doing any business” level, blacklisted wallets are a thing. and on monetary “create money out of thin air” level — Tether always claimed that it’s backed 1:1 with cash; well, it isn’t.Yes there are risks when you invest money in cryptocurrency, just like there are risks in every investment. The market is also much more volatile than stocks, so I wouldnt recommend to put your life savings there. And to be honest, I have never seen anyone suggest that.
Well, as long as you pay the exorbitant transaction/gas fees (which are there because the supply of particular cryptocurrency is capped, and so some form of rewarding miners is needed, apparently), and if you can afford to wait sometimes days for the transaction to be confirmed.
Yes, Bitcoin isnt really usable as a currency (unless you are rich). Has been the case for many years. There are many other coins that can be used instead.
I mentioned Tether above, in that exact context. Consider the following:
Tether is not a real cryptocurrency, exactly because a single company has full control over the supply. Again, I wouldnt recommend you to invest your money in Tether.
Oh and by the way: Tether was in turn used to manipulate Bitcoin prices.
Of course crypto markets are manipulated, just like stock markets are manipulated. If you dont know that then you are really gullible.
So far you have not named a single problem that cryptocurrencies actually solve. You mentioned a bunch of features some claim they presumably have, but not a single actual solved problem. It’s like saying “cars are great, they have wheels, and you don’t need a bus, and they come in all sorts of colors, too!” in response to a question “what problem do cars solve?”
If it doesnt solve any problem for you, then you can simply ignore the topic. The rest of us will still discuss about it.
The more I think of it, the more I come to the conclusion that cryptobros looked at the banking system and broader financial sector, correctly figured out there are a bunch of serious problems with them, and then misidentified the underlying problem as technology used instead of greed.
They are basically focusing implementation details instead of figuring out how to fix the actual source of the problem.
That’s a good way of looking at it.
I guess part of the idea way taking the power away from the greedy people, which fixes one small part of the problem.
Part of it was fixing the implementation details, which solves another part of the problem. But yes a purely technical solution is not enough on its own. Bitcoin is not a magic bullet to solve greed. My answer below talks a bit about that.
Bitcoin is not a magic bullet to solve greed.
It’s way worse than that. Cryptocurrencies are a way to supercharge greedy and corrupt people, by giving them a powerful unregulated tool to play with. And all at a tiny cost of emitting thousands of tons of CO2 at a time when parts of India are already starting to become uninhabitable.
How many emissions do you think millions of bank employees cause with their cars, flights, heated houses, and general consumption? Particularly as most banks are located in the U.S, which has the highest pollution levels in the world. Surely thats much worse than mining farms.
Except it is constantly manipulated by, for example, Elon Musk on Twitter and celebrities who then procede to rug pull. And it’s not even really decentralized, because when needed, the blockchain can be changed (like what happened with Ethereum years ago, that got split into two blockchains) or blocked (like what is happening now with Luna). But you also get all the cons of decentralization: you got robbed by an hacker? Well, fuck you, no one can do nothing about it. Someone sent a malicious NFT to your wallet without your consent? Too bad you clicked on it, now your wallet’s empty.
"Can be send instantly anywhere in the world, without going through expensive money-transfer agents ": except transitions on a blockchain are incredibly costly.
Yes there are risks with everything, and if its too risky for you thats okay. Others will keep using it. Btw blockchain transactions are only expensive with bitcoin and ethereum, most others are extremely cheap.
Yes there are risks with everything, and if its too risky for you thats okay. Others will keep using it.
Can they then please not make a big thing out of losing everything because of gambling in a cryptocassino? And maybe please do not ask the Fed to step in?
Can they please stop appropriating artists’ works, or activists’ faces?
That’s what really gets me going. I don’t care what cryptobros do with their money and if they want to put it in a machine that spits out random amounts on the other end, be my guest. But can they please stop insisting on affecting everyone else in the world?
Can they then please not make a big thing out of losing everything because of gambling in a cryptocassino? And maybe please do not ask the Fed to step in?
I did not ask this so-called Fed anything. And of course some people will lose money, thats what happens in a market. If you want zero risk, play some video game instead.
Can they please stop appropriating artists’ works, or activists’ faces?
Yes it is very easy to copy or pirate digital art, big surprise. And some people combined that with cryptocurrency. Do you think no crime has ever been committed using us dollars?
That’s what really gets me going. I don’t care what cryptobros do with their money and if they want to put it in a machine that spits out random amounts on the other end, be my guest. But can they please stop insisting on affecting everyone else in the world?
It is obvious that you care a lot about “what cryptobros do with their money”. The only question is, why?
