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None of these "cryptocurrencies" address inequality. One can draw parallels between generational wealth in our present system, and the wealth of early adopters

None of these "cryptocurrencies" address inequality. One can draw parallels between generational wealth in our present system, and the wealth of early adopters in both proof-of-work and proof-of-stake systems. If anything, the attraction seems to be gambling on getting in early in hopes of profiting from these flaws.

toolz 5y ago
Most crypto addresses inequality directly by giving everyone the same access as anyone else. No dark pools, no naked shorts, public ledgers are commonplace, no brokerage license required to participate directly, the list goes on and on. Equality is not equity, in case there was any confusion (maybe there wasn't) but crypto has incredibly strong claims to equality in money.
- rainonmoon 5y ago
  Except that massive swaths of people disenfranchised by the conventional systems of economics are also shut out of crypto by its byzantine entry requirements. Yes, people with massive amounts of disposable income interested in trading but with no ability to competitively trade against private firms can find a home in crypto, sure. That has nothing to do with the wealth inequality faced by someone who, say, has to work six days a week at minimum wage to support a family and doesn't have the time or energy to figure out how to benefit from this stuff.
  - rmbyrro 5y ago
    Then we need to think how to make crypto accessible to them. There's huge opportunity to create real value to society in this space. These folks are being smashed by inflation. They're getting poorer everyday. We have to figure out how to allow them to quickly escape this rat race through a non-inflationary currency.
    - dmitriid 5y ago
      > how to allow them to quickly escape this rat race through a non-inflationary currency. And into a rat race of "how much can you HODL and get rich quick through scams and/or currency trading"
      - toolz 5y ago
        We have legalized and normalized gambling almost everywhere in the world. I'm not sure that society wants or has the ability to get rid of "get rich quick scams", but believing crypto is nothing but scams is just revealing a heavily inaccurate biased information source.
        dmitriid 5y ago
        > but believing crypto is nothing but scams is just revealing a heavily inaccurate biased information source. There is no other source. If there was, crypto proponents would actually provide one. As it stands, though, there are exactly three types of crypto projects: - scams (the absolute vast majority) - can be and have been implemented in a better, more efficient, and more scalable way without blockchain. And as such, are borderline scams - circular. The vast majority of "DeFi" which mostly exists to rotate and speculate on cryptocurrencies And there are exactly two types of people in the crypto space: - people who know exactly what's up - gullible fools
        rmbyrro 5y ago
        And there are two types of judgement about crypto and blockchain: - Ones who look at them as tools that can be used for good or evil, just like anything else - The cynical ones
    - jack_pp 5y ago
      If you earn X and your bills are say 80% of X then you can not afford to risk putting your money in any cryptocurrency because if it drops by more than 20% then you can not afford to pay your bills and you might wind up without electricity or not even being able to pay your rent. This is an argument for having limits on brokerages for you being already wealthy because if you are not then there's a big chance you will wind up on the streets and that's bad for society.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

toolz 5y ago

Most crypto addresses inequality directly by giving everyone the same access as anyone else. No dark pools, no naked shorts, public ledgers are commonplace, no brokerage license required to participate directly, the list goes on and on. Equality is not equity, in case there was any confusion (maybe there wasn't) but crypto has incredibly strong claims to equality in money.

rainonmoon 5y ago
Except that massive swaths of people disenfranchised by the conventional systems of economics are also shut out of crypto by its byzantine entry requirements. Yes, people with massive amounts of disposable income interested in trading but with no ability to competitively trade against private firms can find a home in crypto, sure. That has nothing to do with the wealth inequality faced by someone who, say, has to work six days a week at minimum wage to support a family and doesn't have the time or energy to figure out how to benefit from this stuff.
- rmbyrro 5y ago
  Then we need to think how to make crypto accessible to them. There's huge opportunity to create real value to society in this space. These folks are being smashed by inflation. They're getting poorer everyday. We have to figure out how to allow them to quickly escape this rat race through a non-inflationary currency.
  - dmitriid 5y ago
    > how to allow them to quickly escape this rat race through a non-inflationary currency. And into a rat race of "how much can you HODL and get rich quick through scams and/or currency trading"
    - toolz 5y ago
      We have legalized and normalized gambling almost everywhere in the world. I'm not sure that society wants or has the ability to get rid of "get rich quick scams", but believing crypto is nothing but scams is just revealing a heavily inaccurate biased information source.
      - dmitriid 5y ago
        > but believing crypto is nothing but scams is just revealing a heavily inaccurate biased information source. There is no other source. If there was, crypto proponents would actually provide one. As it stands, though, there are exactly three types of crypto projects: - scams (the absolute vast majority) - can be and have been implemented in a better, more efficient, and more scalable way without blockchain. And as such, are borderline scams - circular. The vast majority of "DeFi" which mostly exists to rotate and speculate on cryptocurrencies And there are exactly two types of people in the crypto space: - people who know exactly what's up - gullible fools
        rmbyrro 5y ago
        And there are two types of judgement about crypto and blockchain: - Ones who look at them as tools that can be used for good or evil, just like anything else - The cynical ones
  - jack_pp 5y ago
    If you earn X and your bills are say 80% of X then you can not afford to risk putting your money in any cryptocurrency because if it drops by more than 20% then you can not afford to pay your bills and you might wind up without electricity or not even being able to pay your rent. This is an argument for having limits on brokerages for you being already wealthy because if you are not then there's a big chance you will wind up on the streets and that's bad for society.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]