3 ms·

> The problem is that just about everyone here could be a multi-millionaire if they had just taken a few minutes to set up pool mining on their gaming rig back

by rank0 5y ago

> The problem is that just about everyone here could be a multi-millionaire if they had just taken a few minutes to set up pool mining on their gaming rig back in 2010. You can say this about anything. Look at the stock market right now relative to 2010. If anyone had known the future, they'd be betting on sports and buying lotto tickets. Way OTM TSLA calls would've made me rich beyond my wildest dreams. If the only response you have to the detractors is "you're jelly," then you're just falling for your own confirmation bias. I have been using crypto since 2012. > But the amount of hate and skepticism on this forum is way, way out of proportion to the reality of the thing. Crypto has enabled a staggering amount of fraud and criminal activity. Not everything criminal bothers me personally...but financial crimes and exploiting gullible desperate investors really rubs me the wrong way. Oh also, its insanely inefficient to have a global network of redundant computers perform trivial work which could be done by a single web app.

twox2 5y ago
Boiler rooms that sell bogus investment opportunities have been around for decades and extract more money from the gullible than crypto scams ever have.
- rank0 5y ago
  Yeah and that shit is awful too.
jordanpg 5y ago
I disagree that this is exactly the same as the stock market or the lottery. I think the fact that it is a technology that many in the tech sector missed the value of, during a time that they and only they (ie. pre-Coinbase) could have gotten involved, gives it particular sting. Regardless of criminal activity and fraud, my main point is still that it is a new and interesting technology. No one knows what useful things it will be used for (or not) in 10 and 100 years, just like all new technologies. Usually people on HN are positive and constructive about new techs. I observe that in the realm of crypto, people are incredibly negative, dwelling on things, like fraud and criminal activity in the present, that don't seem very important to me on a long timeline with unlimited possibilities. I am confident in the market's ability to correct those kinds of things, where there is real value. My suspicion is those same folks wouldn't hold those opinions if they were super-lucky crypto millionaires. I think the money is causing a general lack of self-reflection in this realm: like I said, bitterness, embarrassment, and frustration. I spot those emotions in myself if I am honest.

by rank0 5y ago

twox2 5y ago

Boiler rooms that sell bogus investment opportunities have been around for decades and extract more money from the gullible than crypto scams ever have.

rank0 5y ago
Yeah and that shit is awful too.

jordanpg 5y ago

I disagree that this is exactly the same as the stock market or the lottery. I think the fact that it is a technology that many in the tech sector missed the value of, during a time that they and only they (ie. pre-Coinbase) could have gotten involved, gives it particular sting. Regardless of criminal activity and fraud, my main point is still that it is a new and interesting technology. No one knows what useful things it will be used for (or not) in 10 and 100 years, just like all new technologies. Usually people on HN are positive and constructive about new techs. I observe that in the realm of crypto, people are incredibly negative, dwelling on things, like fraud and criminal activity in the present, that don't seem very important to me on a long timeline with unlimited possibilities. I am confident in the market's ability to correct those kinds of things, where there is real value. My suspicion is those same folks wouldn't hold those opinions if they were super-lucky crypto millionaires. I think the money is causing a general lack of self-reflection in this realm: like I said, bitterness, embarrassment, and frustration. I spot those emotions in myself if I am honest.