5 ms·
No, 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 itsel
by fleddr 5y ago
No, 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.
- postalrat 5y agoKnowing you don't know isn't the same as knowing exactly what you are doing.
- FabHK 5y agoYou make a case for crypto speculation as the only way for youngsters to get rich. I'd like to point out that crypto is arguably a negative-sum game, ie only some can get rich, and only at the expense of others. This is in stark contrast to equity markets as a whole.
- fleddr 5y agoThere's no need to point out the obvious, but yes, you're right...risk.
- FabHK 5y agoIt's not only that it's risky. It's that by construction it can't work for everyone. You can only get rich at the expense of someone else.
- fleddr 5y agoI didn't say it works for everyone, I explained why people take the risk, what the macro backdrop is for this behavior. It's quite disappointing that nobody engages with that point. Further, getting rich at somebody's expense is business as usual for any asset, be they stocks, housing, metals, anything. It's a false morality to think that this is a behavior that "good" people widely reject. Absolutely everybody in a position to do so, will. Have you ever met a home owner that gives a social discount to his inflated house when selling? I don't think so.
- FabHK 5y ago> Further, getting rich at somebody's expense is business as usual for any asset, be they stocks, housing, metals, anything. No, see, that's the point I am trying to make and that you are not getting. Housing and the economy as a whole are constructive activities that create value. Crypto is not, as far as I can tell.
- fleddr 5y ago
- yunohn 5y ago> I guess growing your money is popular, who would figure that. But… how is /everyone/ getting rich? Crypto is provably negative sum. Someone has to lose money for you to make money. And miners, exchanges, etc are all middle layers that extract large %s of fees. Where is the extra value generated to be able to make everyone a profit?
- fleddr 5y agoHow do you get the idea that everyone is getting rich? That's not the case in any market.
- Etherlord87 5y agoA market enables you to trade more easily. And trade enables you to exchange something you value less for something you value more. That's the value gained. If instead of making a series of barter exchanges like a chain of quests in an RPG game, you can simply sell stuff you produce for money, and buy stuff you want for money, you gain time. Of course markets have their pathologies like speculation, and, it seems to me, unfortunately cryptos are mostly speculation.
- akimball 5y agoCrypto is not probably negative sum without resort to false premises.
- yunohn 5y agoCould you maybe explain further?
- overtonwhy 5y ago"exponential growth rate" = pyramid scheme? You only need to get 3 friends to sign up... What a dramatic post. Do you get paid to write dystopian sci fi?
- fleddr 5y agoNo, but I should.