4 ms·

This is a gambling addiction, full stop. We don't need to invent new terms like "cryptocurrency addiction" it's just gambling!

alphabet9000 5y ago
It's a specific kind of gambling addiction, in the same way saying someone has a 'heroin addiction' could have just been described as a 'drug addiction'. If you say someone has a gambling addiction, the mental picture is probably someone going to a casino to gamble. A 'cryptocurrency addiction' changes the mental picture to someone sitting in front of their computer watching numbers go up and down. The word refines the mental image for someone else. But, I think it's normal to be skeptical though of new invented terms in general, since it can be used as propaganda to create fear or stigma about some very specific thing someone has an agenda of getting rid of. Cynical take: maybe someone trying to introduce the word cryptocurrency addiction has an interest in seeing the price go down, e.g. they're shorting it, etc. In the same way someone else might not want there to be stigma about crypto currencies, because they own some and want to see the price go up!
- skystarman 5y ago
  I think you make a great point but not calling it what it is, "gambling", elides the risk inherent in investing in crypto. It's one of the most volatile assets anyone can invest in. The vast majority of people are investing in it are driven to it by hype alone. This is gambling. There is no other way to describe it more generally. People in media and elsewhere calling it "investing" hides the fact that the risk is not much better than betting on a few hands of blackjack. And hey betting relatively small amounts at a casino OR on crypto is totally fine, go for it! Betting more than you can afford to lose it's just insanity.
agumonkey 5y ago
one tiny aspect about cryptocurrencies that doesn't exist anymore on other assets: the hype the amount of guru groups with followers, neverending notifications of volatility, new ~revolutionary idea~ it can, and does, mess with people's mind a lot
- me_me_me 5y ago
  cuz that doesn't exist with poker gurus, or books selling algorithms to win at blackjack.
  - agumonkey 5y ago
    Poker probably, old stocks a lot less

alphabet9000 5y ago

It's a specific kind of gambling addiction, in the same way saying someone has a 'heroin addiction' could have just been described as a 'drug addiction'. If you say someone has a gambling addiction, the mental picture is probably someone going to a casino to gamble. A 'cryptocurrency addiction' changes the mental picture to someone sitting in front of their computer watching numbers go up and down. The word refines the mental image for someone else. But, I think it's normal to be skeptical though of new invented terms in general, since it can be used as propaganda to create fear or stigma about some very specific thing someone has an agenda of getting rid of. Cynical take: maybe someone trying to introduce the word cryptocurrency addiction has an interest in seeing the price go down, e.g. they're shorting it, etc. In the same way someone else might not want there to be stigma about crypto currencies, because they own some and want to see the price go up!

skystarman 5y ago
I think you make a great point but not calling it what it is, "gambling", elides the risk inherent in investing in crypto. It's one of the most volatile assets anyone can invest in. The vast majority of people are investing in it are driven to it by hype alone. This is gambling. There is no other way to describe it more generally. People in media and elsewhere calling it "investing" hides the fact that the risk is not much better than betting on a few hands of blackjack. And hey betting relatively small amounts at a casino OR on crypto is totally fine, go for it! Betting more than you can afford to lose it's just insanity.

agumonkey 5y ago

one tiny aspect about cryptocurrencies that doesn't exist anymore on other assets: the hype the amount of guru groups with followers, neverending notifications of volatility, new ~revolutionary idea~ it can, and does, mess with people's mind a lot

me_me_me 5y ago
cuz that doesn't exist with poker gurus, or books selling algorithms to win at blackjack.
- agumonkey 5y ago
  Poker probably, old stocks a lot less