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The most downvoted comment in the Github issue seems totally right.. why did this guy put his life savings in a crypto? Even without making any mistake this see

The most downvoted comment in the Github issue seems totally right.. why did this guy put his life savings in a crypto? Even without making any mistake this seems like a dumb move.

howlgarnish 6y ago
While that's a very valid question, it's not helpful to the OP.
- kordlessagain 6y ago
  Nitpicking slightly, but "OP" is whoever started the thread in the forum where it is being discussed, not whomever wrote the original article. Only saying this because it keeps getting misused here on HN.
  - wodenokoto 6y ago
    I think I’ve made that mistake too once or twice. Do we have a good word that covers both the author of the post or the OP of the linked thread?
- cainxinth 6y ago
  What difference does that make? We aren't tech support. I do hope he gets his money back, but he deserves some chiding as well.
- jdu9 6y ago
  It is helpful for whoever is thinking of investing all their money in cryptocurrency and finds this on Google.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - twox2 6y ago
    Exactly. People need to know that there are many ways to make all your money go poof in crypto.
- Igelau 6y ago
  It's not helpful there, but it's definitely worth discussing here.
- Aeolun 6y ago
  I kind of feel like he got what he deserved? Like, it’s not fun to lose your life’s savings, but...
dastx 6y ago
It sounds dumb to you (and to me for that matter), but plenty of people have made a lot money like that (and plenty who have lost it). Regardless, neither me, you, or the down voted commenter are in a position to tell him he's dumb for doing it. Maybe there is good reason, maybe there isn't, it's not up to us to tell him he's right or wrong in this scenario.
- ashtonkem 6y ago
  Occasionally people get rich playing roulette, per a sibling comment. Occasional good luck doesn’t validate a bad decision making process.
  - dastx 6y ago
    I'm not validating a bad decision. I'm saying that we don't know anything about why he made that decision, and until we do, we have no right to judge him for it.
    - jjk166 6y ago
      It being a dumb decision is a reasonable null hypothesis. Sure maybe someone held a gun to his head and forced him to put his life savings into ethereum, but there's no reason to believe that to be the case.
aardshark 6y ago
So what? The comment is totally off topic and contributes nothing except to call the guy an idiot. The Github issue is not the right place to do that.
- fileeditview 6y ago
  I agree that the comment is a bit harsh but it may add something to the discussion. Hopefully it is a warning to others to not go this path. Where else would you leave such a warning if not in the actual thread?
  - squeaky-clean 6y ago
    If watching someone lose $50k USD equivalent doesn't prevent someone else from doing this sort of thing, a random internet meanie will definitely not dissuade them.
    - twox2 6y ago
      Random internet meanie aside, if this happened to a friend or a family member, I would absolutely try to explain to them that they were an idiot for putting their life savings into crypto in the first place.
- finiteloops 6y ago
  I'd call that the workaround patch for others who are exposed to the bug. (/s)
- pwdisswordfish0 6y ago
  Bug trackers are no place to even post the sort of message that OP posted to begin with. Once you permit that, then all bets are off on trying to keep out stuff that's "off topic". Dealing with people is sometimes annoying. Give anyone anything with a text box attached to a carrier than can convey a message, and it will devolve into people treating it like email or a general purpose message board(). Such is life in the GitHubiverse. (even ostensibly smart people who should be capable of dealing with semantic nuance, like people who write code)
Technically 6y ago
Wow, way to be completely rude for no reason.
ur-whale 6y ago
> this seems like a dumb move. It is, until said crypto triples in value. Then not so much. Some people have been known to bet the farm on the red at roulette. That's a dumb move indeed, unless you win of course.
- meowface 6y ago
  Obviously putting some % of your savings into it can be rational, but putting 100% of your savings in a volatile security just isn't wise. >That's a dumb move indeed, unless you win of course. No, betting everything you own on red when playing roulette is still a dumb move even if you win. Sometimes you can still be lucky while being dumb, but that's it. Similarly, it's dumb to wrestle a grizzly bear on a bet, even if you come out alive and win the bet.
  - ur-whale 6y ago
    Depends how old he is.
- fileeditview 6y ago
  It is always a dumb move. If you win you are just a stupid lucky person instead of just a stupid person.
gwbas1c 6y ago
> why did this guy put his life savings in a crypto Good point, (which was my first reaction.) But consider this: If, when you were young, you bought a few $1000 of Microsoft stock, Apple stock, Google stock, ect, when they went public, that investment could have grown to be the majority of your life savings. Perhaps dawidkabani13 just happened to buy some tokens at the right time? A lot of people don't save. Otherwise, this is a good example of why dumping all of your life savings into cryptocurrency is irresponsible.
- ghaff 6y ago
  I suppose that would be an example of "easy come, easy go" similar to if someone rode a stock way up and then it crashed. It does make sense to lock in profits at some point but, of course, you may not maximize your profits that way. Certainly there are stocks I've made modest gains of that would have been big wins had I held.
  - gwbas1c 6y ago
    All you need to do is sell enough to recoup your initial investment and expected profit, and then treat the rest like gambling.
- fileeditview 6y ago
  Let's put aside the comparison of cryptos and stocks for now. It is absolutely valid to do risky investments. Just as others have written you don't do them with your live savings. I really thought people would know that by now.
- londons_explore 6y ago
  Part of managing an investment portfolio is making sure it remains suitably balanced. If you bought $100 of crypto back in 2008, then when the price swung rapidly and it became a substantial proportion of your net worth, you probably should have thought "I only invested a token amount as a joke. Has anything changed since then? If not, I should sell all except the token amount I actually intend to own".
sergiotapia 6y ago
"You didn't learn. In what universe do you think a small mistake like that could crush your entire life? Not to mention all the hacks and scams threats. I am not sorry anymore for you, you seem irresponsible." I agree with you, I hope OP doesn't have a wife and children. He's totally careless and men cannot afford to be careless.
setgree 6y ago
A non-diversified portfolio is the predominant risk factor here. This guy lost his life savings in crypto, while other people poured everything into Worldcom, their dream home in Miami, etc. Crypto might be riskier than those classes of asset, and its evangelists might be at fault for encouraging first-time investors to make potentially ruinous bets -- but the story of people becoming overly invested, emotionally and financially, in the new hot thing is much older than ethereum. It was also in poor taste to scold him on the GH issue. It can wait, poor guy is just asking for help.
JaTochNietDan 6y ago
Yeah, I don't know about you but I've got all my life savings in the safe haven that is Tesla stock.
noxer 6y ago
Ever thought about that its simply not true? He wants help to get a significant amount of money back. People do everything in such a situation including making up a story that gets the maximum attention. Maybe it really was all his savings but lets assume it was only halve of it the story would almost certainly read exactly the same.

The most downvoted comment in the Github issue seems totally right.. why did this guy put his life savings in a crypto? Even without making any mistake this seems like a dumb move.

howlgarnish 6y ago

While that's a very valid question, it's not helpful to the OP.

kordlessagain 6y ago
Nitpicking slightly, but "OP" is whoever started the thread in the forum where it is being discussed, not whomever wrote the original article. Only saying this because it keeps getting misused here on HN.
- wodenokoto 6y ago
  I think I’ve made that mistake too once or twice. Do we have a good word that covers both the author of the post or the OP of the linked thread?
cainxinth 6y ago
What difference does that make? We aren't tech support. I do hope he gets his money back, but he deserves some chiding as well.
jdu9 6y ago
It is helpful for whoever is thinking of investing all their money in cryptocurrency and finds this on Google.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- twox2 6y ago
  Exactly. People need to know that there are many ways to make all your money go poof in crypto.
Igelau 6y ago
It's not helpful there, but it's definitely worth discussing here.
Aeolun 6y ago
I kind of feel like he got what he deserved? Like, it’s not fun to lose your life’s savings, but...

dastx 6y ago

It sounds dumb to you (and to me for that matter), but plenty of people have made a lot money like that (and plenty who have lost it). Regardless, neither me, you, or the down voted commenter are in a position to tell him he's dumb for doing it. Maybe there is good reason, maybe there isn't, it's not up to us to tell him he's right or wrong in this scenario.

ashtonkem 6y ago
Occasionally people get rich playing roulette, per a sibling comment. Occasional good luck doesn’t validate a bad decision making process.
- dastx 6y ago
  I'm not validating a bad decision. I'm saying that we don't know anything about why he made that decision, and until we do, we have no right to judge him for it.
  - jjk166 6y ago
    It being a dumb decision is a reasonable null hypothesis. Sure maybe someone held a gun to his head and forced him to put his life savings into ethereum, but there's no reason to believe that to be the case.

aardshark 6y ago

So what? The comment is totally off topic and contributes nothing except to call the guy an idiot. The Github issue is not the right place to do that.

fileeditview 6y ago
I agree that the comment is a bit harsh but it may add something to the discussion. Hopefully it is a warning to others to not go this path. Where else would you leave such a warning if not in the actual thread?
- squeaky-clean 6y ago
  If watching someone lose $50k USD equivalent doesn't prevent someone else from doing this sort of thing, a random internet meanie will definitely not dissuade them.
  - twox2 6y ago
    Random internet meanie aside, if this happened to a friend or a family member, I would absolutely try to explain to them that they were an idiot for putting their life savings into crypto in the first place.
finiteloops 6y ago
I'd call that the workaround patch for others who are exposed to the bug. (/s)
pwdisswordfish0 6y ago
Bug trackers are no place to even post the sort of message that OP posted to begin with. Once you permit that, then all bets are off on trying to keep out stuff that's "off topic". Dealing with people is sometimes annoying. Give anyone anything with a text box attached to a carrier than can convey a message, and it will devolve into people treating it like email or a general purpose message board(). Such is life in the GitHubiverse. (even ostensibly smart people who should be capable of dealing with semantic nuance, like people who write code)

Technically 6y ago

Wow, way to be completely rude for no reason.

ur-whale 6y ago

> this seems like a dumb move. It is, until said crypto triples in value. Then not so much. Some people have been known to bet the farm on the red at roulette. That's a dumb move indeed, unless you win of course.

meowface 6y ago
Obviously putting some % of your savings into it can be rational, but putting 100% of your savings in a volatile security just isn't wise. >That's a dumb move indeed, unless you win of course. No, betting everything you own on red when playing roulette is still a dumb move even if you win. Sometimes you can still be lucky while being dumb, but that's it. Similarly, it's dumb to wrestle a grizzly bear on a bet, even if you come out alive and win the bet.
- ur-whale 6y ago
  Depends how old he is.
fileeditview 6y ago
It is always a dumb move. If you win you are just a stupid lucky person instead of just a stupid person.

gwbas1c 6y ago

> why did this guy put his life savings in a crypto Good point, (which was my first reaction.) But consider this: If, when you were young, you bought a few $1000 of Microsoft stock, Apple stock, Google stock, ect, when they went public, that investment could have grown to be the majority of your life savings. Perhaps dawidkabani13 just happened to buy some tokens at the right time? A lot of people don't save. Otherwise, this is a good example of why dumping all of your life savings into cryptocurrency is irresponsible.

ghaff 6y ago
I suppose that would be an example of "easy come, easy go" similar to if someone rode a stock way up and then it crashed. It does make sense to lock in profits at some point but, of course, you may not maximize your profits that way. Certainly there are stocks I've made modest gains of that would have been big wins had I held.
- gwbas1c 6y ago
  All you need to do is sell enough to recoup your initial investment and expected profit, and then treat the rest like gambling.
fileeditview 6y ago
Let's put aside the comparison of cryptos and stocks for now. It is absolutely valid to do risky investments. Just as others have written you don't do them with your live savings. I really thought people would know that by now.
londons_explore 6y ago
Part of managing an investment portfolio is making sure it remains suitably balanced. If you bought $100 of crypto back in 2008, then when the price swung rapidly and it became a substantial proportion of your net worth, you probably should have thought "I only invested a token amount as a joke. Has anything changed since then? If not, I should sell all except the token amount I actually intend to own".

sergiotapia 6y ago

"You didn't learn. In what universe do you think a small mistake like that could crush your entire life? Not to mention all the hacks and scams threats. I am not sorry anymore for you, you seem irresponsible." I agree with you, I hope OP doesn't have a wife and children. He's totally careless and men cannot afford to be careless.

setgree 6y ago

A non-diversified portfolio is the predominant risk factor here. This guy lost his life savings in crypto, while other people poured everything into Worldcom, their dream home in Miami, etc. Crypto might be riskier than those classes of asset, and its evangelists might be at fault for encouraging first-time investors to make potentially ruinous bets -- but the story of people becoming overly invested, emotionally and financially, in the new hot thing is much older than ethereum. It was also in poor taste to scold him on the GH issue. It can wait, poor guy is just asking for help.

JaTochNietDan 6y ago

Yeah, I don't know about you but I've got all my life savings in the safe haven that is Tesla stock.

noxer 6y ago

Ever thought about that its simply not true? He wants help to get a significant amount of money back. People do everything in such a situation including making up a story that gets the maximum attention. Maybe it really was all his savings but lets assume it was only halve of it the story would almost certainly read exactly the same.