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No question this Theranos situation would have inspired a whole new wave of startup con artistry, but I think all those people are currently peddling shitcoins.

No question this Theranos situation would have inspired a whole new wave of startup con artistry, but I think all those people are currently peddling shitcoins. When the shitcoin bubble completely falls apart (a process which it may be going through right now), we might see a bunch of Theranoses popping up.

dkersten 9y ago
> a process which it may be going through right now Eh, I dunno. I'm not a big cryptocurrency fan, but that doesn't really sound like the current reality. It may have lost a lot of its December peak value, but the value of cryptocurrencies is still about where it was in November and has been stable there for a month or two. That's still a lot higher than the first ten months of 2017 (and previous years), so "completely falls apart" seems a bit strong.
- fragsworth 9y ago
  You've mistaken what I mean when I say "shitcoin bubble". I'm talking about the thousands of ICOs that are utter garbage. At some point that has to fall apart. Eventually you burn enough people and there's nobody left to scam, or governments step in to regulate it. There's a reason you don't see stock peddling scams anymore.
  - dkersten 9y ago
    Ah, ok, fair enough. It seems that I did misunderstand. Thanks for clarifying.
- Obi_Juan_Kenobi 9y ago
  There's a big difference between the 'regular' crypto market (btc ltc eth) and the shitcoin/ICO market. Watching 'dominance' of the various coins is an informative indicator (IMO) of the overall health of the system. https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/ https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/ (3rd chart down) Obviously market cap is an extremely fraught metric for coins (trade one token for $1.00, with a supply of trillions, and it's 'worth' trillions), but it should average out somewhat. Bitcoin is recovering a bit of dominance (which I think is a good sign), but that growing 'other' portion suggests that there's a lot of garbage, and that's only growing. So I agree with you; the crypto space is taking on more dubious value, more shitcoins, etc.
busterarm 9y ago
Everyone forgets the role that TED played in launching this crap. Something about that venue and presentation method turns off peoples' bullshit-detectors. I feel like it has lost its influence over the last few years as folks are a bit more clued in now, so I see another Theranos as _slightly_ less likely.

dkersten 9y ago

> a process which it may be going through right now Eh, I dunno. I'm not a big cryptocurrency fan, but that doesn't really sound like the current reality. It may have lost a lot of its December peak value, but the value of cryptocurrencies is still about where it was in November and has been stable there for a month or two. That's still a lot higher than the first ten months of 2017 (and previous years), so "completely falls apart" seems a bit strong.

fragsworth 9y ago
You've mistaken what I mean when I say "shitcoin bubble". I'm talking about the thousands of ICOs that are utter garbage. At some point that has to fall apart. Eventually you burn enough people and there's nobody left to scam, or governments step in to regulate it. There's a reason you don't see stock peddling scams anymore.
- dkersten 9y ago
  Ah, ok, fair enough. It seems that I did misunderstand. Thanks for clarifying.
Obi_Juan_Kenobi 9y ago
There's a big difference between the 'regular' crypto market (btc ltc eth) and the shitcoin/ICO market. Watching 'dominance' of the various coins is an informative indicator (IMO) of the overall health of the system. https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/ https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/ (3rd chart down) Obviously market cap is an extremely fraught metric for coins (trade one token for $1.00, with a supply of trillions, and it's 'worth' trillions), but it should average out somewhat. Bitcoin is recovering a bit of dominance (which I think is a good sign), but that growing 'other' portion suggests that there's a lot of garbage, and that's only growing. So I agree with you; the crypto space is taking on more dubious value, more shitcoins, etc.

busterarm 9y ago

Everyone forgets the role that TED played in launching this crap. Something about that venue and presentation method turns off peoples' bullshit-detectors. I feel like it has lost its influence over the last few years as folks are a bit more clued in now, so I see another Theranos as _slightly_ less likely.