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So Crypto Andys like to hand-wave about the risk of a 51% attack but consider this: > This is in addition to the long-standing concentration of Ethereum mining
by jmyeet 5y ago
So Crypto Andys like to hand-wave about the risk of a 51% attack but consider this:
> This is in addition to the long-standing concentration of Ethereum mining power, with normally three and sometimes only two mining pools controlling over 50% of the mining power.
There is further hand-waving about how Proof-of-Stake (over Proof-of-Waste) will magically fix these problems. But it's actually this PoW computing power that makes the network more resilient to hostile takeover.
I've heard it described that the attraction of Crypto is the essence of the American Dream: by getting rich by doing nothing while lauding how smart you are over other people. So much of Crytpo can be explained by Bitcoin FOMO. Everyone just jumps on the latest shitcoin or NFT because "I'm not missing out this time".
Ultimately something has to create value or it will come crashing down. The only use case we really have is illegal activity. Some of that is justified on ethics grounds (eg bypassing capital controls in Venezuela). A lot of it is just shady.
There's a ton of talk about the "potential". So far the offshots (eg NFTs, Web3) are just ludicrous boondoggles in finding problems for a solution. I have doubts this will ever create value for the masses.
- gbersac 5y agoHere's a good explanation of why blockchain is the future with real world utility: https://markmanson.net/newsletters/mindfck-monthly-97 https://markmanson.net/newsletters/mindfck-monthly-97
- mw888 5y agoYour comment is two points with no direct connection, and both are underdeveloped. Bitcoin as a settlement layer is useful. The idea that it needs to do anything more than securely manage a trillion dollar market cap digitally with no hacks, and no avenues for a profitable hack in the medium term is just common ignorance of what’s valuable.
- thebean11 5y agoI think there's at least some value that can potentially be created. The fact that you can take out a loan or buy insurance and your counterparty is a smart contract is pretty interesting. It could seriously bring down insurance margins if you no longer have drones of people administering policies. Obviously remains to be seen how practical it is.
- ngc248 5y ago>>> The fact that you can take out a loan or buy insurance and your counterparty is a smart contract is pretty interesting. it would be like if google is your insurance provider. If something goes wrong (it eventually will) there would be no recourse, no one to talk to ... all hail our algorithmic overlords.
- cuteboy19 5y agoIn DeFi to take out a loan of $100 you need to have collateral worth $200 or more. If the value of the collateral ever goes below $200 then it is immediately autosold. Moreover the collateral has to be on the blockchain as well, so concrete assets like houses cannot be used for this purpose. The main issue with insurance is actually assessment. All smart contracts do is replace execution, which was never a hassle to begin with.
- thebean11 5y agoFor sure, DeFi loans aren't practical at the moment (for anything but speculation), and may never be practical for something like a mortgage or even a credit card. I still find it pretty mind blowing that an algorithm can loan me money. For insurance I don't agree. Something basic like weather insurance (widely used in agriculture) is already possible. The hardest part is getting the weather information onchain in a way that's trusted by the buyers and sellers of the insurance. Weather oracles do exist though.
- WJW 5y ago> I still find it pretty mind blowing that an algorithm can loan me money. Algorithmic lending has been a thing for decades though. What do you think a credit score is for if not a tool to let computers decide whether to give you credit or not?
- thebean11 5y agoAn algorithm might help decide who to lend to, but the algorithm isn't actually lending the money. You aren't paying the algorithm back. Pretty big difference there.
- bpodgursky 5y ago> by getting rich by doing nothing while lauding how smart you are over other people This is exactly how I envision the dream of old world wealth you see on Downton Abbey or similar. Get born into a minor lordship somewhere in England and spend your days educating yourself (maybe leisurely publishing a book or two) and raking in tax revenue from the commoners.
- rsync 5y ago"This is exactly how I envision the dream of old world wealth you see on Downton Abbey or similar." Then you misunderstand ... That world you're envisioning is what happens after the "getting rich". In the case of feudalism - and its remnants - the "getting rich" involved murderous expropriation of the lands and property of anyone that got in the way by sociopaths who hoarded and coveted everything that entered their awareness. I think it was pretty hard work, actually ...
- bpodgursky 5y agoYeah but that all happened in like 1071. The dream is to inherit that wealth and be born into the upper-crust. Nobody wants get their hands dirty with the murdering and exploiting!
- asasidh 5y ago"So much of Crytpo can be explained by Bitcoin FOMO. Everyone just jumps on the latest shitcoin or NFT because "I'm not missing out this time". This 200%
- null0pointer 5y agoI think this is true. I also think the flipside of the coin is true. So much of the crypto hate can be explained by jealousy and anger at missing out.
- asasidh 5y agoTrue. Bitcoin was once in a multi generation innovation.
- bobkazamakis 5y agocorrect. the eternal september of crypto andys who don't understand anything about the design of the systems they wax on about has nuked the fridge.
- jerry1979 5y agoWhat is a Crypto Andy?
- jmyeet 5y agoIt comes from Twitch [1]. While it often refers to streamers, it has transcended that. An andy is someone who is identified by whatever adjective is applied. So a Crypto Andy is someone who is all and only about crypto, basically. Put another way: Andys are indistinguishable from each other apart from one defining characteristic. And those Andys with that characteristic are likewise indistinguishable and interchangeable. [1]: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/andy-slang https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/andy-slang
- layer8 5y agoI had to laugh at the article’s example of "React Andy", which I first gave a different interpretation.
- Raidion 5y agoAndy is a fairly new and derogatory/tongue in cheek term (from twitch, long story) that basically means people that get attention from jumping on someone else's creative bandwagon. Basically someone else does the creation, and you become an Andy by trying to get involved without really adding much value.
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- causticcup 5y ago>that basically means people that get attention from jumping on someone else's creative bandwagon. That isn't what the term Andy means in the Twitch world. It's just a way to refer to the style of content that someone makes on Twitch. For example, a "React Andy" is someone who makes reactionary content, a "1k Andy" is someone that is stuck at 1k average viewership, a "Crypto Andy" is someone who is obsessed with crypto.
- usrusr 5y ago> The only use case we really have is illegal activity. But isn't that enough? If we refuse to get rich from investing in ransom futures we have no-one to blame than ourselves. At least that's how I read those typical victory lap posts by crypto winners. Or by proclaimed crypto winners desperately trying to extend the pyramid. Yes, I'll happily skip out on ransom future wealth.
- fleddr 5y agoNo, the only use case is not illegal activity. NFTs, smart contracts in general, gaming, defi/lending/staking, DEX, DAO, Filecoin/IPFS, and a few more in itself are not illegal. You may consider them to be useless, but that's not the same thing as illegal. Even if you scrap all that, there's the remaining core use case of speculation. Which in itself is also not illegal and an incredibly important use case, if not THE use case. You may be frown upon speculation, look down on it, judge it anyway you please, but it does not change the fact that 100M+ people with an exponential growth rate are into it. I guess growing your money is popular, who would figure that. The point I would like to get across is that instead of judging, you should have a deeper look at the WHY. Many people think that these risk takers are plain dumb, selfish, irresponsible. If only regulation would protect them against themselves. That's not the situation at all. They're fully self-aware. They are young people born into an economy that is plain broken to them. Burdened by student debt, stagnant/unlivable wages, unaffordable housing, zero or negative interest rates, high inflation, no job security, unaffordable healthcare. They barely get by and have no outlook of ever getting ahead, owning any asset or wealth, and the very simple goal of a basic middle class life has become unattainable. In a backdrop that cruel, why not throw the little money you have into a shitcoin? It might do a 10x. It might also go to zero. Who cares? You didn't have any meaningful wealth to begin with. And that is the appeal of crypto. It's not fueled by greed for the sake of greed, it's fueled by desperation. Nothing to lose, everything to win. Crypto is an asymmetrical bet, and the only one available to everyone.
- ddorian43 5y ago> They're fully self-aware. This is extremely insulting statement to make to them (who believe for real) and to us(who do not). They are not. If you want to gamble go buy TQQQ and SOXL.
- fleddr 5y agoI don't know what any of that means. How is self-awareness insulting? Many young crypto proponents call themselves "degens" or "ape investors". Self-deprecating terms that give insight into their psyche: they know exactly what they're doing.
- wpietri 5y agoThis is beautiful and perfect: > the essence of the American Dream: by getting rich by doing nothing while lauding how smart you are over other people Thanks for sharing it.
- orzig 5y agoBut is it true? Any nation of 330M will have some loud arrogant people, but is “getting rich by doing nothing” uniquely American in aspiration or reality? I’d argue no - our aspiration is that we’re farmer cowboys, our rich all the more so. Our reality is more complicated, but (for its many flaws) different than alleged here.
- wpietri 5y agoI don't think any one thing sums up America. But having lived on 4 continents, I'd say the "get rich by doing nothing" thing is unusually common and unusually accepted in America. Historian Walter McDougall wrote a whole book on the American duality of "hustle", meaning both an energy for making things happen and scamming somebody. And he wrote that well before the recent rise of "hustle culture". You could also look at American pyramid scheme pioneers like Amway and Herbalife, both of which I consider scams. Or our huge manipulation culture of the sort potrayed in Glengarry Glen Ross or Mad Men. Or the way that scammer/marketing energy merged with Protestantism to create both the tent revival and now the megachurch.