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I visited Brazil recently (3-4 months ago), I got into cryptocurrency-talk or some shitcoin peddled by cashiers, Uber drivers, waiters in some restaurants, acqu

by piva00 4y ago

I visited Brazil recently (3-4 months ago), I got into cryptocurrency-talk or some shitcoin peddled by cashiers, Uber drivers, waiters in some restaurants, acquaintances that aren't tech-savvy at all, etc. That's when it downed on me how big this whole thing got outside of internet chatter, it downed how many vulnerable people are exposed to the fallout of a crypto implosion.

DonHopkins 4y ago
It's so ironic how all those libertarian crypto-bros think they've got the inside track and they're so much smarter than everyone else, when actually they're just as gullible and common and deluded as random cashiers, Uber drivers, waiters, bartenders, used car salesmen, chiropractors, cosmeticians, shoeshine boys, and ordinary hoi polloi on the street, all being influenced by the exact same mass market ads and hype all over the world.
- melenaboija 4y ago
  Yup, and seems to be getting worse: “Families in despair over IM Academy: ‘The crypto-sect has kidnapped our children’”[1] https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-04-18/families-in-despair-over-im-academy-the-crypto-sect-has-kidnapped-our-children.html https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-04-18/families...
- FabHK 4y ago
  Well, people that got in early and got out about 6m ago (or now, still) might have made good money. Attributing it to a deep understanding of the technology is almost certainly wrong; attributing it to a certain street-smart understanding of bubbles, marketing, and hype might be correct. Though I'm inclined to just call it luck.
- twirlock 4y ago
blep_ 4y ago
("dawned") ... but yeah. It's depressing. Countries with already bad economic conditions (like "we literally don't have functioning currency" level, not the things US residents complain about) seem particularly susceptible to it.
- piva00 4y ago
  I really thought I had written "dawned"... I think it's the same issue I have when writing "ratio", I always end up writing "ration". Thanks for the correction.
  - bcrl 4y ago
    The older I get, the more errors my typing contains versus the mental stream of consciousness I intended to type.
  - dizhn 4y ago
    The way I type compute always involves deleting the r at the end. :)
- yellowapple 4y ago
  Because they're actually using it as a currency. Consequently, they probably won't feel as much of the pain speculators are feeling right now / will continue to feel; as long as the amount of $FOO earned from a day's work pays for the day's expenses, they have little reason not to continue adopting and using $FOO (for whatever value of $FOO we're using). Put differently: when the options are "failed local currency" v. "hard to obtain foreign currency" v. "easy to obtain electronic currency", you and I would probably be inclined to use the third option.

by piva00 4y ago

DonHopkins 4y ago

It's so ironic how all those libertarian crypto-bros think they've got the inside track and they're so much smarter than everyone else, when actually they're just as gullible and common and deluded as random cashiers, Uber drivers, waiters, bartenders, used car salesmen, chiropractors, cosmeticians, shoeshine boys, and ordinary hoi polloi on the street, all being influenced by the exact same mass market ads and hype all over the world.

melenaboija 4y ago
Yup, and seems to be getting worse: “Families in despair over IM Academy: ‘The crypto-sect has kidnapped our children’”[1] https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-04-18/families-in-despair-over-im-academy-the-crypto-sect-has-kidnapped-our-children.html https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-04-18/families...
FabHK 4y ago
Well, people that got in early and got out about 6m ago (or now, still) might have made good money. Attributing it to a deep understanding of the technology is almost certainly wrong; attributing it to a certain street-smart understanding of bubbles, marketing, and hype might be correct. Though I'm inclined to just call it luck.
twirlock 4y ago

blep_ 4y ago

("dawned") ... but yeah. It's depressing. Countries with already bad economic conditions (like "we literally don't have functioning currency" level, not the things US residents complain about) seem particularly susceptible to it.

piva00 4y ago
I really thought I had written "dawned"... I think it's the same issue I have when writing "ratio", I always end up writing "ration". Thanks for the correction.
- bcrl 4y ago
  The older I get, the more errors my typing contains versus the mental stream of consciousness I intended to type.
- dizhn 4y ago
  The way I type compute always involves deleting the r at the end. :)
yellowapple 4y ago
Because they're actually using it as a currency. Consequently, they probably won't feel as much of the pain speculators are feeling right now / will continue to feel; as long as the amount of $FOO earned from a day's work pays for the day's expenses, they have little reason not to continue adopting and using $FOO (for whatever value of $FOO we're using). Put differently: when the options are "failed local currency" v. "hard to obtain foreign currency" v. "easy to obtain electronic currency", you and I would probably be inclined to use the third option.