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Building on this, what does that tell you about the state of crypto when the coins that actually have libertarian values built into them (Zcash and monero) have

Building on this, what does that tell you about the state of crypto when the coins that actually have libertarian values built into them (Zcash and monero) have not exploded in value? That crypto is generally dominated by marketers and pump and dumps.

throwaway82652 5y ago
This is not news to anyone working in cybersecurity. It's still very difficult to sell security technology to the general public. The only people who really want to use it is people who are either very smart technologically or they have a lot to lose. So that basically means only C-level executives, high ranking government officials, very wealthy investors and other rich people, major celebrities, and hardcore computer geeks. It doesn't matter if you try to incentivize it in some kind of money making scheme. And actually it would be very bad if these coins exploded in value because then they would become a bigger target for criminals and fraud just like bitcoin currently is.
gojomo 5y ago
It tells me it's still early. Many still think Bitcoin offers anonymity. It takes life experience to fully appreciate privacy, & there's tons of naive enthusiasm in crypto that will "grow up" into better, more-private options. Still, over a number of time periods – including the last year – Zcash's value appreciation has outperformed Bitcoin. The real contest, and shake out of true value, is a multi-decade marathon. If your impression, based on what you've seen, is that "crypto is generally dominated by marketers and pump and dumps", well I suppose you're the expert about what's in your junk info-diet. But even if most email, by count, is spam or promotional, people with good filters see little of it, and it'd be a total misreading of the transformative social/economic value of email to say it "is dominated by marketers". I have good filters against seeing, or spending any attention, on the carnival-barker & naive-speculator froth. (And, any truly momentous economic shift is often wrapped in a phalanx of such pretenders & hangers-on. I don't mistake the lampreys for the whale.) And looking at tangible measures, like total market cap, real innovators with interesting tech & growing histories of stability are a comfortably majority of all value.

throwaway82652 5y ago

This is not news to anyone working in cybersecurity. It's still very difficult to sell security technology to the general public. The only people who really want to use it is people who are either very smart technologically or they have a lot to lose. So that basically means only C-level executives, high ranking government officials, very wealthy investors and other rich people, major celebrities, and hardcore computer geeks. It doesn't matter if you try to incentivize it in some kind of money making scheme. And actually it would be very bad if these coins exploded in value because then they would become a bigger target for criminals and fraud just like bitcoin currently is.

gojomo 5y ago

It tells me it's still early. Many still think Bitcoin offers anonymity. It takes life experience to fully appreciate privacy, & there's tons of naive enthusiasm in crypto that will "grow up" into better, more-private options. Still, over a number of time periods – including the last year – Zcash's value appreciation has outperformed Bitcoin. The real contest, and shake out of true value, is a multi-decade marathon. If your impression, based on what you've seen, is that "crypto is generally dominated by marketers and pump and dumps", well I suppose you're the expert about what's in your junk info-diet. But even if most email, by count, is spam or promotional, people with good filters see little of it, and it'd be a total misreading of the transformative social/economic value of email to say it "is dominated by marketers". I have good filters against seeing, or spending any attention, on the carnival-barker & naive-speculator froth. (And, any truly momentous economic shift is often wrapped in a phalanx of such pretenders & hangers-on. I don't mistake the lampreys for the whale.) And looking at tangible measures, like total market cap, real innovators with interesting tech & growing histories of stability are a comfortably majority of all value.