4 ms·

crypto is a techincal monetary system yet the most techical people does not like it.. something to think about.

petermelias 5y ago
I've thought about this a lot because my less technical friends are often surprised when I tell them I am not "super into" BTC. I wonder if it is because I am used to dealing with the fragility of digital systems (not to unfairly discount their strengths either) -- so then paper money almost feels like a relief to hold in my hand and just slap on the counter and smell that fresh legal tender.
- Jensson 5y ago
  It is easiest to trick people by saying "other people love this!". Engineers believe in crypto currency, so HODL! Or, the kids today view NFT's as hockey cards, they gonna soar like crazy! You might not see the value in this, but others do and that will make you rich! Basically it is a way to make people turn off their sanity checker "Oh yeah, I don't see the value, I guess I just don't understand, but I still want in on this opportunity!".
  - questionto 5y ago
    oh if we are on that kind of position then crypto is ok for anybody.. anyone can try to create value from nothing and make people believe... actually they did already ... someone created facebook make people believe that it worths billions... but if someone claims that this is a revolutionary monetary system then I'd become suspicious..
    - Jensson 5y ago
      > someone created facebook make people believe that it worths billions Facebook make billions on ads, you don't have to make people believe when you are making wads of cash. And even when Facebook was new the business model was proven to be valuable by Myspace and the many other similar sites making lots of money on ads. So your post here just strengthens my argument, the fact that you don't see the difference between the two just proves that you have turned off your own sanity checker. Edit: What we are seeing now is similar to the investment craze in IT before the dotcom bubble. No sanity there, people just invested without thinking. I'll believe in crypto when people starts to think before investing in it.
      - questionto 5y ago
        I think you didn't get the point .. making crypto the default banking system is paradigm shift and efficient paradigmal application. I gave the facebook example because the economic approach which offers that supply and demand is right tools to decide whats good for humanity is simply not accurate.
  - petermelias 5y ago
    Yeah makes sense. Basically just trigger peoples' FOMO response?
Kiro 5y ago
The only reason we do not like it is because we missed out. As technical people we should have known but we didn't and that's humiliating.
- Ma8ee 5y ago
  Not really. I still just think it is a stupid pyramid scheme.
  - Kiro 5y ago
    Sure but you're mostly mad that you missed out and so am I.
    - Ma8ee 5y ago
      Why would I be mad? If my neighbour happens to win the lottery, I'm not going around being annoyed that I didn't play. Playing on bitcoin was stupid then and is even more stupid now. That it made some people very rich hasn't changed that fact.
      - Kiro 5y ago
        You didn't miss out on anything by not playing the lottery. It's not like you would have also won if you just bought a ticket yourself. It may be stupid and bad but the only reason we have strong feelings against it is because we missed out. You can convince yourself all you want but deep within we both know it's true.
        Ma8ee 5y ago
        It’s great for you that you think you know more about my inner states than I do myself. Just because you feel you missed out doesn’t mean that everyone else do. It just doesn’t bother me that some people are becoming rich while I’m just plodding along in my comfortable upper middle class life. The only reason I’m pissed at Bitcoin is because they are spewing out greenhouse gases for almost no use.
AnthonyMouse 5y ago
Keep in mind that HN is also oriented towards VCs and finance people who see cryptocurrency as a rival. Some evidence for this is that the environmental argument is easily dispatched with: Cryptocurrency is on the demand side and the climate change problem is on the supply side. We need to switch from fossil fuels to non-fossil fuels, which we need to do independent of whether or not cryptocurrency exists, and then people mining cryptocurrency powered by solar panels is not a real problem. Pass a carbon tax. There are also cryptocurrencies that use proof of space (e.g. Chia) or proof of stake, which don't have the same energy footprint even on the demand side. But people who say this are regularly downvoted here by people who presumably dislike cryptocurrency for other reasons and see the alleged environmental impact as a strong lever for getting undecided people against it.

I've thought about this a lot because my less technical friends are often surprised when I tell them I am not "super into" BTC. I wonder if it is because I am used to dealing with the fragility of digital systems (not to unfairly discount their strengths either) -- so then paper money almost feels like a relief to hold in my hand and just slap on the counter and smell that fresh legal tender.

Jensson 5y ago
It is easiest to trick people by saying "other people love this!". Engineers believe in crypto currency, so HODL! Or, the kids today view NFT's as hockey cards, they gonna soar like crazy! You might not see the value in this, but others do and that will make you rich! Basically it is a way to make people turn off their sanity checker "Oh yeah, I don't see the value, I guess I just don't understand, but I still want in on this opportunity!".
- questionto 5y ago
  oh if we are on that kind of position then crypto is ok for anybody.. anyone can try to create value from nothing and make people believe... actually they did already ... someone created facebook make people believe that it worths billions... but if someone claims that this is a revolutionary monetary system then I'd become suspicious..
  - Jensson 5y ago
    > someone created facebook make people believe that it worths billions Facebook make billions on ads, you don't have to make people believe when you are making wads of cash. And even when Facebook was new the business model was proven to be valuable by Myspace and the many other similar sites making lots of money on ads. So your post here just strengthens my argument, the fact that you don't see the difference between the two just proves that you have turned off your own sanity checker. Edit: What we are seeing now is similar to the investment craze in IT before the dotcom bubble. No sanity there, people just invested without thinking. I'll believe in crypto when people starts to think before investing in it.
    - questionto 5y ago
      I think you didn't get the point .. making crypto the default banking system is paradigm shift and efficient paradigmal application. I gave the facebook example because the economic approach which offers that supply and demand is right tools to decide whats good for humanity is simply not accurate.
- petermelias 5y ago
  Yeah makes sense. Basically just trigger peoples' FOMO response?

Kiro 5y ago

The only reason we do not like it is because we missed out. As technical people we should have known but we didn't and that's humiliating.

Ma8ee 5y ago
Not really. I still just think it is a stupid pyramid scheme.
- Kiro 5y ago
  Sure but you're mostly mad that you missed out and so am I.
  - Ma8ee 5y ago
    Why would I be mad? If my neighbour happens to win the lottery, I'm not going around being annoyed that I didn't play. Playing on bitcoin was stupid then and is even more stupid now. That it made some people very rich hasn't changed that fact.
    - Kiro 5y ago
      You didn't miss out on anything by not playing the lottery. It's not like you would have also won if you just bought a ticket yourself. It may be stupid and bad but the only reason we have strong feelings against it is because we missed out. You can convince yourself all you want but deep within we both know it's true.
      - Ma8ee 5y ago
        It’s great for you that you think you know more about my inner states than I do myself. Just because you feel you missed out doesn’t mean that everyone else do. It just doesn’t bother me that some people are becoming rich while I’m just plodding along in my comfortable upper middle class life. The only reason I’m pissed at Bitcoin is because they are spewing out greenhouse gases for almost no use.

AnthonyMouse 5y ago

Keep in mind that HN is also oriented towards VCs and finance people who see cryptocurrency as a rival. Some evidence for this is that the environmental argument is easily dispatched with: Cryptocurrency is on the demand side and the climate change problem is on the supply side. We need to switch from fossil fuels to non-fossil fuels, which we need to do independent of whether or not cryptocurrency exists, and then people mining cryptocurrency powered by solar panels is not a real problem. Pass a carbon tax. There are also cryptocurrencies that use proof of space (e.g. Chia) or proof of stake, which don't have the same energy footprint even on the demand side. But people who say this are regularly downvoted here by people who presumably dislike cryptocurrency for other reasons and see the alleged environmental impact as a strong lever for getting undecided people against it.