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Always treat every single crypto project as a scam. It is one of the safest bets you can make. Everyone involved is a scammer, every exchange is untrustworthy,

Always treat every single crypto project as a scam. It is one of the safest bets you can make. Everyone involved is a scammer, every exchange is untrustworthy, and nobody can be trusted. If you're trying to start an honest project in this space, you really need to ask yourself why you would put yourself in a situation where you are the only honest person in a room full of scammers.

berkes 6y ago
> If you're trying to start an honest project in this space, you really need to ask yourself why you would put yourself in a situation where you are the only honest person in a room full of scammers. This is one reason why I pulled the plug on my startup in the sphere. In the best case you're disadvantaged by all the scammers and liers: they can make promises, cut corners, rip investors where you are being careful, covering all bases, and trying to put a real case and working sofware out. In the worst case, your honesty is helping the scammers by adding credibility to their case.
- user-the-name 6y ago
  Exactly. Plus, you run the risk of either getting exploited yourself by the scammers, or feeling the pressure to act more dishonestly to keep up.
viraptor 6y ago
That's an emotional response going the other way. Why not just think of the project itself as if the blockchain side of it never existed? Is there a real product, is there a visible progress, is the time investment happening in the development rather than empty announcements?
- user-the-name 6y ago
  "Why not blind yourself to relevant context" is not a really a great way to make good decisions.
  - viraptor 6y ago
    There has to be a better way to address this because "Why not blind yourself to relevant context" cuts both ways. You said "Always treat every single crypto project as a scam." - but if you ignore all blockchain ideas and still see a healthy and useful product, but ignore it as a scam - that's also blinding yourself to context.
    - user-the-name 6y ago
      Because a scam product will lie to you in order to look like a healthy and useful product. If you ignore the hints that it is a scam (that it is a cryptocurrency project, where 90% or more of all projects are, in fact, scams), you will be more likely to fall for the lies.
      - viraptor 6y ago
        I didn't mean looking at future promises - that's part of the crypto game. I mean if the project mostly does what you expect from it now and continues development towards the rest - why does it matter if people see it as a scam on the crypto front? You're getting the value you need out of it.
        user-the-name 5y ago
        You say you don't mean looking at future promises, and then contradict that in the next sentence.

berkes 6y ago

> If you're trying to start an honest project in this space, you really need to ask yourself why you would put yourself in a situation where you are the only honest person in a room full of scammers. This is one reason why I pulled the plug on my startup in the sphere. In the best case you're disadvantaged by all the scammers and liers: they can make promises, cut corners, rip investors where you are being careful, covering all bases, and trying to put a real case and working sofware out. In the worst case, your honesty is helping the scammers by adding credibility to their case.

user-the-name 6y ago
Exactly. Plus, you run the risk of either getting exploited yourself by the scammers, or feeling the pressure to act more dishonestly to keep up.

viraptor 6y ago

That's an emotional response going the other way. Why not just think of the project itself as if the blockchain side of it never existed? Is there a real product, is there a visible progress, is the time investment happening in the development rather than empty announcements?

user-the-name 6y ago
"Why not blind yourself to relevant context" is not a really a great way to make good decisions.
- viraptor 6y ago
  There has to be a better way to address this because "Why not blind yourself to relevant context" cuts both ways. You said "Always treat every single crypto project as a scam." - but if you ignore all blockchain ideas and still see a healthy and useful product, but ignore it as a scam - that's also blinding yourself to context.
  - user-the-name 6y ago
    Because a scam product will lie to you in order to look like a healthy and useful product. If you ignore the hints that it is a scam (that it is a cryptocurrency project, where 90% or more of all projects are, in fact, scams), you will be more likely to fall for the lies.
    - viraptor 6y ago
      I didn't mean looking at future promises - that's part of the crypto game. I mean if the project mostly does what you expect from it now and continues development towards the rest - why does it matter if people see it as a scam on the crypto front? You're getting the value you need out of it.
      - user-the-name 5y ago
        You say you don't mean looking at future promises, and then contradict that in the next sentence.