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It's been amusing to watch HN's overwhelmingly negative reaction to cryptocurrencies. Yes, there are absolutely some shady things going on with cryptocoins, b

It's been amusing to watch HN's overwhelmingly negative reaction to cryptocurrencies. Yes, there are absolutely some shady things going on with cryptocoins, but the response to them here seems pretty overblown. What I suspect is that many startup types have sour grapes over how they could have made nearly as much money speculating on digital tokens as they did building their web or app business. It's too bad, since there actually are some interesting technologies beginning to come out of the cryptocurrency sphere. These opportunities will get overlooked by everyone in SV apparently, though.

anonymous5133 9y ago
the investors who don't know what they're doing will overlook it and miss out. The skilled investor will always have an open mind and always be willing to at least review interesting projects even if it is cryptocurrency or token based project.
- QAPereo 9y ago
  And by skilled investors, you mean people with enough capital to manage the insane risk. So skillfull... Besides, let’s wait to heap laurels on investors until after the music stops.
jacksproit 9y ago
It’s also amusing to see this straw man argument and rebuttal get posted in almost every single discussion about cryptocurrencies.
- chroem- 9y ago
  For what it's worth, this is the first time I've seen it. Not sure it's fair to call it a strawman though.
  - thanksgiving 9y ago
    Couldn't we say the same thing about gold? I'm sure if you look far enough, you'll find someone willing to "sell" you gold and hold the gold for you when they don't have the said gold. Or replace gold with US dollars or tulips or Amazon.com stock or whatever. How is this a Bitcoin issue?
    - blunte 9y ago
      This absolutely has been done with gold mining ventures, just as it was done with oil drilling ventures. That's why some regulation on solicitation of investments in crypto currency ventures would be beneficial. It is developing though.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - thisisit 9y ago
    The "sour grapes" and "jealously" has been the go-to explanation, if it can even be call that on each of the cryptocurrency thread.
    - verylittlemeat 9y ago
      Bitcoin is just like any other investment I don't see how people can have "sour grapes" about it. So you knew about bitcoin or even had bitcoins when they were fractions of a cent? So what...most people would have sold when they reached $5 or $10 or $50 thinking they were at the peak.
- blunte 9y ago
  Look up OneCoin. That is just one of dozens of scams riding on Bitcoin coattails, attracting (greedy/foolish) people, and taking most for a bad ride. Most of these scams have been done in the height of the penny stocks days, and the SEC has (or had in the past) put a lot of effort into protecting less saavy investors. Lastly, I work for a client in this space. My client is doing a legit business, but we constantly deal with customers who have made and lost money in dozens of these ponzis over the last couple of years.
  - baddox 9y ago
    Of course there are scams involving Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. How many scams involving US dollars do you suppose there are?
juicyfroot 9y ago
This. It is almost as if Hacker News is techno-luddite. Anyone who's paying attention knows that this is revolutionary technology. There is only the bitcoin protocol that is the main innovation here. You can change coin supply, change POW algorithm, change the block time, etc but it is still "bitcoin". Once you understand that, then you can imagine where this is all heading
brucephillips 9y ago
Perhaps you could point out specifically what GP is wrong about, rather than using vague flourishes like "overblown" and "sour grapes".
noncoml 9y ago
> It's been amusing to watch HN's overwhelmingly negative reaction to cryptocurrencies Not all cryptocurrencies. Only the ones with "intrinsic value". Just because I print pieces of paper in my basement, doesn't mean that there is an intrinsic value in them. > It's too bad, since there actually are some interesting technologies beginning to come out of the cryptocurrency sphere 100% agree with this. There are some interesting ideas and technologies. > What I suspect is that many startup types have sour grapes over how they could have made nearly as much money speculating on digital tokens as they did building their web or app business I can only speak for myself: No. No sour grapes. Since day 1 I thought Bitcoin was a pyramid/Ponzi kind of scheme. I would never have taken part in such a system.
- brucephillips 9y ago
  > Not all cryptocurrencies. But the one with "intrinsic value". Just because I print pieces of paper in my basement, doesn't mean that there is an intrinsic value in them. Basement paper doesn't have a guaranteed fixed supply.
- tambienben 9y ago
  >Since day 1 I thought Bitcoin was a pyramid/Ponzi kind of scheme. So, how well do you actually understand it?
  - noncoml 9y ago
    Not sure what you are trying to do by taking a sentence out of context. > No. No sour grapes. Since day 1 I thought Bitcoin was a pyramid/Ponzi kind of scheme. I would never have taken part in such a system. The point of the paragraph was to show that it is not sour grapes as suggested.
    - tambienben 9y ago
      Not sure why you would avoid a still relevant question.
      - 9y ago

anonymous5133 9y ago

the investors who don't know what they're doing will overlook it and miss out. The skilled investor will always have an open mind and always be willing to at least review interesting projects even if it is cryptocurrency or token based project.

QAPereo 9y ago
And by skilled investors, you mean people with enough capital to manage the insane risk. So skillfull... Besides, let’s wait to heap laurels on investors until after the music stops.

jacksproit 9y ago

It’s also amusing to see this straw man argument and rebuttal get posted in almost every single discussion about cryptocurrencies.

chroem- 9y ago
For what it's worth, this is the first time I've seen it. Not sure it's fair to call it a strawman though.
- thanksgiving 9y ago
  Couldn't we say the same thing about gold? I'm sure if you look far enough, you'll find someone willing to "sell" you gold and hold the gold for you when they don't have the said gold. Or replace gold with US dollars or tulips or Amazon.com stock or whatever. How is this a Bitcoin issue?
  - blunte 9y ago
    This absolutely has been done with gold mining ventures, just as it was done with oil drilling ventures. That's why some regulation on solicitation of investments in crypto currency ventures would be beneficial. It is developing though.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- thisisit 9y ago
  The "sour grapes" and "jealously" has been the go-to explanation, if it can even be call that on each of the cryptocurrency thread.
  - verylittlemeat 9y ago
    Bitcoin is just like any other investment I don't see how people can have "sour grapes" about it. So you knew about bitcoin or even had bitcoins when they were fractions of a cent? So what...most people would have sold when they reached $5 or $10 or $50 thinking they were at the peak.
blunte 9y ago
Look up OneCoin. That is just one of dozens of scams riding on Bitcoin coattails, attracting (greedy/foolish) people, and taking most for a bad ride. Most of these scams have been done in the height of the penny stocks days, and the SEC has (or had in the past) put a lot of effort into protecting less saavy investors. Lastly, I work for a client in this space. My client is doing a legit business, but we constantly deal with customers who have made and lost money in dozens of these ponzis over the last couple of years.
- baddox 9y ago
  Of course there are scams involving Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. How many scams involving US dollars do you suppose there are?

juicyfroot 9y ago

This. It is almost as if Hacker News is techno-luddite. Anyone who's paying attention knows that this is revolutionary technology. There is only the bitcoin protocol that is the main innovation here. You can change coin supply, change POW algorithm, change the block time, etc but it is still "bitcoin". Once you understand that, then you can imagine where this is all heading

brucephillips 9y ago

Perhaps you could point out specifically what GP is wrong about, rather than using vague flourishes like "overblown" and "sour grapes".

noncoml 9y ago

> It's been amusing to watch HN's overwhelmingly negative reaction to cryptocurrencies Not all cryptocurrencies. Only the ones with "intrinsic value". Just because I print pieces of paper in my basement, doesn't mean that there is an intrinsic value in them. > It's too bad, since there actually are some interesting technologies beginning to come out of the cryptocurrency sphere 100% agree with this. There are some interesting ideas and technologies. > What I suspect is that many startup types have sour grapes over how they could have made nearly as much money speculating on digital tokens as they did building their web or app business I can only speak for myself: No. No sour grapes. Since day 1 I thought Bitcoin was a pyramid/Ponzi kind of scheme. I would never have taken part in such a system.

brucephillips 9y ago
> Not all cryptocurrencies. But the one with "intrinsic value". Just because I print pieces of paper in my basement, doesn't mean that there is an intrinsic value in them. Basement paper doesn't have a guaranteed fixed supply.
tambienben 9y ago
>Since day 1 I thought Bitcoin was a pyramid/Ponzi kind of scheme. So, how well do you actually understand it?
- noncoml 9y ago
  Not sure what you are trying to do by taking a sentence out of context. > No. No sour grapes. Since day 1 I thought Bitcoin was a pyramid/Ponzi kind of scheme. I would never have taken part in such a system. The point of the paragraph was to show that it is not sour grapes as suggested.
  - tambienben 9y ago
    Not sure why you would avoid a still relevant question.
    - 9y ago