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Gell-Man Amnesia Effect in full effect. Will we remember when we read the next PR piece/pump and dump disguised as journalism?

johnebgd 5y ago
No one in the media seems to still question if cryptocurrencies are serious investment assets despite little actual proven utility beyond being a speculative investment asset.
- caslon 5y ago
  >Why Cryptocurrency Is A Giant Fraud >Speculators might make money on it, but the arguments for its usefulness fail completely. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/why-cryptocurrency-is-a-giant-fraud https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/why-cryptocurrency-is... >Bitcoin is the greatest scam in history >It’s a colossal pump-and-dump scheme, the likes of which the world has never seen. https://www.vox.com/2018/4/24/17275202/bitcoin-scam-cryptocurrency-mining-pump-dump-fraud-ico-value https://www.vox.com/2018/4/24/17275202/bitcoin-scam-cryptocu... >The Great Cryptocurrency Scam https://www.forbes.com/sites/jayadkisson/2018/11/20/the-great-cryptocurrency-scam/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jayadkisson/2018/11/20/the-grea... >Dogecoin Creator Says Crypto Is a Scam >Jackson Palmer went on Twitter for the first time in two years to remind us that the wealthy are ruining everything—even cryptocurrency. https://gizmodo.com/dogecoin-creator-says-crypto-is-a-scam-1847292956 https://gizmodo.com/dogecoin-creator-says-crypto-is-a-scam-1...
  - johnebgd 5y ago
    Articles you cited are from years ago or a contributor (not an employee) of Forbes. I met Jackson Palmer in 2017/2018 and he had a level head for looking through this mania. Even the Tether fraud hasn’t stopped the Bitcoin buying frenzy.
    - caslon 5y ago
      The first one was from under a year ago.
    - brianobush 5y ago
      > Even the Tether fraud hasn’t stopped the Bitcoin buying frenzy. OT, but why would Tether impact Bitcoin? They are totally different use cases of crypto.
      - antishatter 5y ago
        The market structure allows tether to be printed and then to pump Bitcoin. So it doesn’t matter what the use case is.
- ekanes 5y ago
  I’d like to bet someone on this. If you or others are interested maybe we can refine a wager. :) I’m thinking that in 7 years there will be something built with blockchain tech (not cryptocurrency) that is used by 10M people? (I know you said cryptocurrencies but many people conflate the two and feel it’s all bogus..)
  - mkr-hn 5y ago
    Anyone could win instantly by pointing out git. The hype is new, but not the concept.
    - CRConrad 5y ago
      Is git fueled by superfluous energy-wasting (=environment-destroying) "proof of work"?!?
      - ilikepi 5y ago
        There's a decent amount of bike-shedding over which workflow is the best, and that is a sort of inefficient "fuel" for git as a tool at some level...
    - Cederfjard 5y ago
      What definition do you have of blockchain tech that git fits into it?
      - throwawaylinux 5y ago
        From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain "A blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, that are linked together using cryptography.[1][2][3][4] Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data (generally represented as a Merkle tree). [etc]" Do you have a definition that git doesn't fit into (without getting too pedantic, e.g., git being a DAG of records rather than a list)?
deepsun 5y ago
Well, some icons are half-lying/half-BSing/half-actually doing cool stuff. Will we remember their lies? PS: you know who I'm talking about, just don't want to invite fans here.
potta_coffee 5y ago
I remember thinking that all the hype about her was somewhat over the top.
- ch4s3 5y ago
  I was going through a health tech startup incubator at the time, and it became a bit of a meme where we'd poke fun at anyone who bought into Theranos. Some went as far as putting together a slide deck to debunk the claims about running labs on such tiny volumes of blood. This was when and where I learned about the heterogeneity of blood.
  - erosenbe0 5y ago
    It was an obvious farce. If they had real tech they could have simply done a million comparative tests on the military/VA or at free clinics and showed the relative accuracy.
    - ch4s3 5y ago
      Yeah it was surprising that so many people with health care backgrounds fell for it.
jondwillis 5y ago
you turn the page, and you forget.
WalterBright 5y ago
I got conned by pump and dump stock scam. The perpetrators got sentenced to 5 years. I was amazed to get a restitution check in the mail. I hope to be smarter next time.
- smarks 5y ago
  Wow, that is amazing! What portion of your investment was returned? You don't have to say the actual amounts if you don't want, but I'm curious about whether you got 1/10, 1/2, or all of your investment back.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    Actually, all of it! (It wasn't a large amount, though.)
r00fus 5y ago
I will never forgive Bloomberg for their atrocious handling of Apple/Amazon/Supermicro "hacking" case where they didn't retract their claims despite no proof or evidence. I never cite that publication, it's toxic to me.
- throwtheacctawy 5y ago
MomoXenosaga 5y ago
No of course not, we as a society do not learn from history very well. It's not like this woman is the first con man ever to defraud investors. And she won't be the last.

johnebgd 5y ago

No one in the media seems to still question if cryptocurrencies are serious investment assets despite little actual proven utility beyond being a speculative investment asset.

caslon 5y ago
>Why Cryptocurrency Is A Giant Fraud >Speculators might make money on it, but the arguments for its usefulness fail completely. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/why-cryptocurrency-is-a-giant-fraud https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/04/why-cryptocurrency-is... >Bitcoin is the greatest scam in history >It’s a colossal pump-and-dump scheme, the likes of which the world has never seen. https://www.vox.com/2018/4/24/17275202/bitcoin-scam-cryptocurrency-mining-pump-dump-fraud-ico-value https://www.vox.com/2018/4/24/17275202/bitcoin-scam-cryptocu... >The Great Cryptocurrency Scam https://www.forbes.com/sites/jayadkisson/2018/11/20/the-great-cryptocurrency-scam/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jayadkisson/2018/11/20/the-grea... >Dogecoin Creator Says Crypto Is a Scam >Jackson Palmer went on Twitter for the first time in two years to remind us that the wealthy are ruining everything—even cryptocurrency. https://gizmodo.com/dogecoin-creator-says-crypto-is-a-scam-1847292956 https://gizmodo.com/dogecoin-creator-says-crypto-is-a-scam-1...
- johnebgd 5y ago
  Articles you cited are from years ago or a contributor (not an employee) of Forbes. I met Jackson Palmer in 2017/2018 and he had a level head for looking through this mania. Even the Tether fraud hasn’t stopped the Bitcoin buying frenzy.
  - caslon 5y ago
    The first one was from under a year ago.
  - brianobush 5y ago
    > Even the Tether fraud hasn’t stopped the Bitcoin buying frenzy. OT, but why would Tether impact Bitcoin? They are totally different use cases of crypto.
    - antishatter 5y ago
      The market structure allows tether to be printed and then to pump Bitcoin. So it doesn’t matter what the use case is.
ekanes 5y ago
I’d like to bet someone on this. If you or others are interested maybe we can refine a wager. :) I’m thinking that in 7 years there will be something built with blockchain tech (not cryptocurrency) that is used by 10M people? (I know you said cryptocurrencies but many people conflate the two and feel it’s all bogus..)
- mkr-hn 5y ago
  Anyone could win instantly by pointing out git. The hype is new, but not the concept.
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    Is git fueled by superfluous energy-wasting (=environment-destroying) "proof of work"?!?
    - ilikepi 5y ago
      There's a decent amount of bike-shedding over which workflow is the best, and that is a sort of inefficient "fuel" for git as a tool at some level...
  - Cederfjard 5y ago
    What definition do you have of blockchain tech that git fits into it?
    - throwawaylinux 5y ago
      From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain "A blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, that are linked together using cryptography.[1][2][3][4] Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a timestamp, and transaction data (generally represented as a Merkle tree). [etc]" Do you have a definition that git doesn't fit into (without getting too pedantic, e.g., git being a DAG of records rather than a list)?

deepsun 5y ago

Well, some icons are half-lying/half-BSing/half-actually doing cool stuff. Will we remember their lies? PS: you know who I'm talking about, just don't want to invite fans here.

potta_coffee 5y ago

I remember thinking that all the hype about her was somewhat over the top.

ch4s3 5y ago
I was going through a health tech startup incubator at the time, and it became a bit of a meme where we'd poke fun at anyone who bought into Theranos. Some went as far as putting together a slide deck to debunk the claims about running labs on such tiny volumes of blood. This was when and where I learned about the heterogeneity of blood.
- erosenbe0 5y ago
  It was an obvious farce. If they had real tech they could have simply done a million comparative tests on the military/VA or at free clinics and showed the relative accuracy.
  - ch4s3 5y ago
    Yeah it was surprising that so many people with health care backgrounds fell for it.

jondwillis 5y ago

you turn the page, and you forget.

WalterBright 5y ago

I got conned by pump and dump stock scam. The perpetrators got sentenced to 5 years. I was amazed to get a restitution check in the mail. I hope to be smarter next time.

smarks 5y ago
Wow, that is amazing! What portion of your investment was returned? You don't have to say the actual amounts if you don't want, but I'm curious about whether you got 1/10, 1/2, or all of your investment back.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  Actually, all of it! (It wasn't a large amount, though.)

r00fus 5y ago

I will never forgive Bloomberg for their atrocious handling of Apple/Amazon/Supermicro "hacking" case where they didn't retract their claims despite no proof or evidence. I never cite that publication, it's toxic to me.

throwtheacctawy 5y ago

MomoXenosaga 5y ago

No of course not, we as a society do not learn from history very well. It's not like this woman is the first con man ever to defraud investors. And she won't be the last.