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The more I watch the crypto space, the more I observe that it has developed an inherently misaligned set of incentives. The people who are creating headlines fo

The more I watch the crypto space, the more I observe that it has developed an inherently misaligned set of incentives. The people who are creating headlines for each new approach are the ones who have already bought in and will benefit most from others being convinced of its value and buying in as well. Just like it took decades for it to be common for personal financial advisors to be fiduciaries, I wonder if there is space for "experts" who commit to not having a stake in any crypto and just commenting on which ones seems to be creating real technological value. I might support a patreon for that. Of course, anonymity on the blockchain would make it hard to "trust" that these "experts" were really unbiased. P.S. I know crypto is better used to refer to cryptographic technology as a whole, but referring to this area as "cryptocurrency" is insufficient since many are trying to move beyond being currencies, and "blockchain" is insufficient because many are trying alternatives to the basic blockchain introduced by bitcoin.

KasianFranks 8y ago
Like the stock market there will be plenty 'outside analysts' providing buy/sell/hold ratings on crypto and similar to the stock market, it's likely none of these analysts will be unbiased. Just ask Henry Blodget.
rdl 8y ago
Probably easiest to just use a crypto fund fiduciary if you're looking to invest for financial return. "Which tech should I build cool projects in" is a more HN-style problem. The problem with cryptocurrencies is you sort of have to solve both simultaneously.
justboxing 8y ago
> are the ones who have already bought in and will benefit most from others being convinced of its value and buying in as well. Yes. Pyramid scheme. Rather than passively waiting for others to be convinced of it's value, most of the scam coin ICOs actively pay influencers on twitter[1], reddit and telegram and other channels a lot of money to shill / "promote" their sh*t coins... [1] $105K for McAfee to tweet: https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/2/17189880/john-mcafee-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-twitter-ico https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/2/17189880/john-mcafee-bitco... Related: If you ever wondered how ICOs get a lot of attention even if they suck here are some hints. => https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/8g8opf/if_you_ever_wondered_how_icos_get_a_lot_of/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/8g8opf/if_y...
xiphias 8y ago
Bitcoin devs are just what you described. They could have easily made millions of dollars by creating alt coins / ICOs before, with their technological knowledge they could have pulled it off as well, but they care more of their Bitcoin-only reputation and hard work that improves Bitcoin.

KasianFranks 8y ago

Like the stock market there will be plenty 'outside analysts' providing buy/sell/hold ratings on crypto and similar to the stock market, it's likely none of these analysts will be unbiased. Just ask Henry Blodget.

rdl 8y ago

Probably easiest to just use a crypto fund fiduciary if you're looking to invest for financial return. "Which tech should I build cool projects in" is a more HN-style problem. The problem with cryptocurrencies is you sort of have to solve both simultaneously.

justboxing 8y ago

> are the ones who have already bought in and will benefit most from others being convinced of its value and buying in as well. Yes. Pyramid scheme. Rather than passively waiting for others to be convinced of it's value, most of the scam coin ICOs actively pay influencers on twitter[1], reddit and telegram and other channels a lot of money to shill / "promote" their sh*t coins... [1] $105K for McAfee to tweet: https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/2/17189880/john-mcafee-bitcoin-cryptocurrency-twitter-ico https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/2/17189880/john-mcafee-bitco... Related: If you ever wondered how ICOs get a lot of attention even if they suck here are some hints. => https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/8g8opf/if_you_ever_wondered_how_icos_get_a_lot_of/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/8g8opf/if_y...

xiphias 8y ago

Bitcoin devs are just what you described. They could have easily made millions of dollars by creating alt coins / ICOs before, with their technological knowledge they could have pulled it off as well, but they care more of their Bitcoin-only reputation and hard work that improves Bitcoin.