4 ms·

All of these folks need to be in prison along with Andreeson Horowitz. All bloody crooks the lot of them. The largest ponzi scheme in the history of humanity an

All of these folks need to be in prison along with Andreeson Horowitz. All bloody crooks the lot of them. The largest ponzi scheme in the history of humanity and they wonder why the world is not getting better.

dibt 4y ago
Did AH take money from retail investors? I suppose you can claim they pumped these products. I'm not convinced it's any different than what happens with an IPO that started with VC money. I'm not saying it's good, just that it's as bad as anything that's regulated.
- shuckles 4y ago
  Would you consider cashing out pre-ICO tokens for bogus projects to “accredited investors” (ie retails) as “taking money”?
  - dibt 4y ago
    I have no doubt that anybody that had access to pre-release allocations were well aware of the risks. Net worth was likely checked. They don't need to be treated like a child. Probably a civil matter anyway - no expectation of jail, which was what the parent commenter referenced.
    - shuckles 4y ago
      I was referring to insiders selling at ICO to retails. I’m sure insiders were savvy and made plenty of money.
- wolski 4y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSXQgCP3WQw&t=1620s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSXQgCP3WQw&t=1620s A good explanation on how these schemes usually work out.
beambot 4y ago
Largest might be a stretch. I suggest spending some time reading about John Law, the South Sea Bubble, and the Mississippi Company. When you realize that all of these ponzi schemes ultimately resulted in modern central banking, you might reasonably contend that the largest ponzi scheme is still sitting right here in plain sight -- with crypto illuminating (mocking?) the essence of fiat-denominated "wealth" and "money".
- boppo1 4y ago
  Can you give us a TL;DR on how those schemes resulted in modern central banking? It's challenging to find solid info on the introduction/acceptance of central banking as the status quo. Lots of it veers hard into conspiracy theory and information that I can tell is wrong from a handful of college finance courses. I know this is the second (or third) central banking paradigm that has existed in the US. The last one got shut down by ol' AJ, but I don't really understand how that all went down and how it's different (or similar) to what we have now.
  - beambot 4y ago
    The ~1 hour YouTube series The History of Paper Money by Extra Credit is a good, factual starting point presented in an entertaining fashion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nZkP2b-4vo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nZkP2b-4vo
- rottencupcakes 4y ago
  Is it really a ponzi scheme if it’s enforced via threat of violence?
  - beambot 4y ago
    Perhaps -- in the same way that the difference between a religion & a cult is really just a matter of scale and mass acceptance. To be clear: I'm not advocating against the model of money as we know it today... All models are wrong, but some are useful.

dibt 4y ago

Did AH take money from retail investors? I suppose you can claim they pumped these products. I'm not convinced it's any different than what happens with an IPO that started with VC money. I'm not saying it's good, just that it's as bad as anything that's regulated.

shuckles 4y ago
Would you consider cashing out pre-ICO tokens for bogus projects to “accredited investors” (ie retails) as “taking money”?
- dibt 4y ago
  I have no doubt that anybody that had access to pre-release allocations were well aware of the risks. Net worth was likely checked. They don't need to be treated like a child. Probably a civil matter anyway - no expectation of jail, which was what the parent commenter referenced.
  - shuckles 4y ago
    I was referring to insiders selling at ICO to retails. I’m sure insiders were savvy and made plenty of money.
wolski 4y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSXQgCP3WQw&t=1620s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSXQgCP3WQw&t=1620s A good explanation on how these schemes usually work out.

beambot 4y ago

Largest might be a stretch. I suggest spending some time reading about John Law, the South Sea Bubble, and the Mississippi Company. When you realize that all of these ponzi schemes ultimately resulted in modern central banking, you might reasonably contend that the largest ponzi scheme is still sitting right here in plain sight -- with crypto illuminating (mocking?) the essence of fiat-denominated "wealth" and "money".

boppo1 4y ago
Can you give us a TL;DR on how those schemes resulted in modern central banking? It's challenging to find solid info on the introduction/acceptance of central banking as the status quo. Lots of it veers hard into conspiracy theory and information that I can tell is wrong from a handful of college finance courses. I know this is the second (or third) central banking paradigm that has existed in the US. The last one got shut down by ol' AJ, but I don't really understand how that all went down and how it's different (or similar) to what we have now.
- beambot 4y ago
  The ~1 hour YouTube series The History of Paper Money by Extra Credit is a good, factual starting point presented in an entertaining fashion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nZkP2b-4vo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nZkP2b-4vo
rottencupcakes 4y ago
Is it really a ponzi scheme if it’s enforced via threat of violence?
- beambot 4y ago
  Perhaps -- in the same way that the difference between a religion & a cult is really just a matter of scale and mass acceptance. To be clear: I'm not advocating against the model of money as we know it today... All models are wrong, but some are useful.