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What I hate about crypto: These extreme positions on the subject. It has become like politics, bipartisan. How is this useful? Where is the middle ground?

dsr_ 5y ago
The middle ground is "I have no use for cryptocurrency." The extremes are "Cryptocurrency is the future of all money" and "Cryptocurrency is a fractal set of scams all the way down."
- Uehreka 5y ago
  For a long time I was happily sitting in the “I have no use for cryptocurrency” zone, occasionally checking in to see if things changed or reading a blog post here and there to see if there was something I was missing. But as the energy usage has ramped up to nation-state levels without an accompanying increase in usefulness, I’ve slid much more in the “cryptocurrency is dangerous to humanity” direction. Idk if I’d call it a “fractal set of scams”, but I think “more bad than good” is a fair characterization.
- herodoturtle 5y ago
  > The middle ground is "I have no use for cryptocurrency." I'd argue that the middle ground is "We'll see." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII
  - quickthrowman 5y ago
    > re: wait and see I’d argue that the web had Facebook, EBay, Google, and Amazon 13 years after launching, what are the crypto folks waiting for if it’s so revolutionary? Where are the killer apps, and how much longer do we have to wait?
- BrissyCoder 5y ago
  "Cryptocurrency is a fractal set of scams all the way down." I really like that description. Did you come up with that?
  - dsr_ 5y ago
    I am sure that the description of something bad as being fractally (self-similar on repeating scales) bad is not original to me.
mratsim 5y ago
To be fair, Internet in the 90s was the same: https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/internet/2016/08/25-years-here-are-worst-ever-predictions-about-internet https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/internet/2016/08/2...
zahrc 5y ago
Unfortunately it’s only black or white, no grey area. Agree with one position, be branded by the opposition. I like the idea of crypto currencies, if done well, but what we see are not actual currencies, imho. They are volatile assets at best, but usually just scams generally. And if they aren’t designed to be scams, they will definitely be abused as one, looking at DOGE.
- billosag 5y ago
  There really is no middle ground. Either you are short bitcoin and will pay the penalty or are long bitcoin and will benefit from "hardest money wins" in action.
fsflover 5y ago
The middle ground is “proof-of-stake cryptocurrency is going to be useful”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27604772 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27604772
- bb88 5y ago
  The middle ground is when people stop actually using cryptocurrencies to speculate and crypto actually back the security they're selling with real assets. Kind of like Tether, but you know, not Tether.
nicholasbraker 5y ago
The middle ground is that it's fine to invest in stuff which is characterized by volatility as long as the consequences are on your own account and you can justify the reasons to do so. Apart from the fact that most media outlets thrive by feeding a bi-partisan story, there's in essence only yourself to blame. The crypto market as of now has a lot of similarities to the pre-2000 Internet bubble. Lots of shitcoins and creation of a large bubble. The fact that incumbent investment firms and companies are looking into it doesn't mean they have it right. Time will tell how this all plays out.

dsr_ 5y ago

The middle ground is "I have no use for cryptocurrency." The extremes are "Cryptocurrency is the future of all money" and "Cryptocurrency is a fractal set of scams all the way down."

Uehreka 5y ago
For a long time I was happily sitting in the “I have no use for cryptocurrency” zone, occasionally checking in to see if things changed or reading a blog post here and there to see if there was something I was missing. But as the energy usage has ramped up to nation-state levels without an accompanying increase in usefulness, I’ve slid much more in the “cryptocurrency is dangerous to humanity” direction. Idk if I’d call it a “fractal set of scams”, but I think “more bad than good” is a fair characterization.
herodoturtle 5y ago
> The middle ground is "I have no use for cryptocurrency." I'd argue that the middle ground is "We'll see." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII
- quickthrowman 5y ago
  > re: wait and see I’d argue that the web had Facebook, EBay, Google, and Amazon 13 years after launching, what are the crypto folks waiting for if it’s so revolutionary? Where are the killer apps, and how much longer do we have to wait?
BrissyCoder 5y ago
"Cryptocurrency is a fractal set of scams all the way down." I really like that description. Did you come up with that?
- dsr_ 5y ago
  I am sure that the description of something bad as being fractally (self-similar on repeating scales) bad is not original to me.

mratsim 5y ago

To be fair, Internet in the 90s was the same: https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/internet/2016/08/25-years-here-are-worst-ever-predictions-about-internet https://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/internet/2016/08/2...

zahrc 5y ago

Unfortunately it’s only black or white, no grey area. Agree with one position, be branded by the opposition. I like the idea of crypto currencies, if done well, but what we see are not actual currencies, imho. They are volatile assets at best, but usually just scams generally. And if they aren’t designed to be scams, they will definitely be abused as one, looking at DOGE.

billosag 5y ago
There really is no middle ground. Either you are short bitcoin and will pay the penalty or are long bitcoin and will benefit from "hardest money wins" in action.

fsflover 5y ago

The middle ground is “proof-of-stake cryptocurrency is going to be useful”: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27604772 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27604772

bb88 5y ago
The middle ground is when people stop actually using cryptocurrencies to speculate and crypto actually back the security they're selling with real assets. Kind of like Tether, but you know, not Tether.

nicholasbraker 5y ago

The middle ground is that it's fine to invest in stuff which is characterized by volatility as long as the consequences are on your own account and you can justify the reasons to do so. Apart from the fact that most media outlets thrive by feeding a bi-partisan story, there's in essence only yourself to blame. The crypto market as of now has a lot of similarities to the pre-2000 Internet bubble. Lots of shitcoins and creation of a large bubble. The fact that incumbent investment firms and companies are looking into it doesn't mean they have it right. Time will tell how this all plays out.