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I fear that the message will get lost in Munger's decision to use the CCP banning crypto as an example. See the first comment in the post. Munger is right and

I fear that the message will get lost in Munger's decision to use the CCP banning crypto as an example. See the first comment in the post. Munger is right and China was right. They're not wasting tons of precious energy and talent on creating scams, ponzis, casinos, rug pulls, and unlicensed securities. Grew some balls and ban crypto or at least create clear regulation that the majority of crypto falls in the securities category. It's a disease in its current form.

jakupovic 4y ago
Geeat idea rely on censorship and greater government control to regulate technology. Do we remember mp3s? Or decss code? Seriously don't expect a technology site to take this side. Just wow
- senttoschool 4y ago
  Great idea to rely on government control to regulate drugs. Why not just let everyone smoke crack, cocaine, opium, and eat fentanyl everyday.
  - atemerev 4y ago
    In Portugal and Switzerland, you can do that (with some restrictions; you need to register as a drug user, only on-site consumption is allowed, and you’ll get psychological and paramedical help). But yes, technically, you can buy pharmaceutical-grade heroine here from the government, not some street weirdo. And you know, it works. No shady drug dealers on the streets (can’t compete with the government), less and less drug consumers each year (because it is totally uncool, and there are people helping you quit). I don’t understand why Swiss/Portuguese model is not adopted everywhere immediately. It works great.
    - mamonster 4y ago
      I do not know about Portugal, but that is absolutely not how it works in Switzerland. >No shady drug dealers on the streets Patently false from my experience, what cities do you have in mind? From my own experience absolutely not the case in Lausanne, Geneva, Montreux, Zürich or Basel. In Lausanne Flon area they will literally line up to offer their wares on Saturday night at around midnight - 1 AM with absolutely no regard for the police. Riponne is even worse hearing from people who still live there. >Less and less drug consumers each year Is that like for hard drugs only or in general? Might be true for heroin/crack, absolutely not true if you include weed. In cities like Lausanne the amount of times you smell weed on the streets has gone up massively in the last 10 years.
      - atemerev 4y ago
        Geneva: Quai 9, https://www.premiereligne.ch/ https://www.premiereligne.ch/ (haven’t seen a drug dealer in the wild here for about 8 years already). I have heard that something like this works in Zurich, too. Re: weed, it is still technically illegal here, but fully decriminalized, and nobody pays any attention if someone smokes it. I think it is a good thing, even though I don’t do it myself.
        mamonster 4y ago
        I can guarantee you that if you hit up Paquis on a Saturday evening you will find absolutely everything, from spice to heroin.
        atemerev 4y ago
        Maybe. But I remember Paquis of 15 years ago, and it has been much worse.
jcarrano 4y ago
> not wasting tons of precious energy and talent If it's China and the government owns that energy and talent then yes. If it is a free country, then the government has no businesses telling us how to best invest our resources and talent.
- nicbou 4y ago
  It can however regulate the harmful externalities of where that talent is invested. Fraud and tax evasion are still criminal. Destroying energy with reckless abandon could be. I really don't like crypto, but I don't see why everything I dislike should be illegal. The active harm it causes should be illegal though, but I believe that it's largely the case already. Besides, crypto bros weren't exactly cracking the atom before crypto became profitable. The rest of our industry is devoted to either making people click ads, or creating toll roads on every human interaction.
agumonkey 4y ago
I was under the impression that there weren't that many people engineering crypto. Small startups and teams.
unity1001 4y ago
> They're not wasting tons of precious energy and talent on creating scams, ponzis, casinos, rug pulls, and unlicensed securities All of those exist in the financial derivatives market. And the finance sector in general...
marcusverus 4y ago
> Munger is right and China was right. They're not wasting tons of precious energy and talent on creating scams, ponzis, casinos, rug pulls, and unlicensed securities. So, the case for regulating crypto is that it, sans regulations, crypto harms consumers. Makes sense. The case for banning it is... what exactly? Charlie didn't bother to make the case. All you say is that it "wastes time and precious energy". But time-wasting is a cornerstone of the modern economy, and there's no way crypto ranks even in the top 100 on that front. And electricity is not a finite resource, so banning a technology just to reduce energy use makes no sense. What's the actual case for a ban?
- senttoschool 4y ago
  In the US, we've banned many illegal drugs, casinos, scams. Crypto resembles all three.

jakupovic 4y ago

Geeat idea rely on censorship and greater government control to regulate technology. Do we remember mp3s? Or decss code? Seriously don't expect a technology site to take this side. Just wow

senttoschool 4y ago
Great idea to rely on government control to regulate drugs. Why not just let everyone smoke crack, cocaine, opium, and eat fentanyl everyday.
- atemerev 4y ago
  In Portugal and Switzerland, you can do that (with some restrictions; you need to register as a drug user, only on-site consumption is allowed, and you’ll get psychological and paramedical help). But yes, technically, you can buy pharmaceutical-grade heroine here from the government, not some street weirdo. And you know, it works. No shady drug dealers on the streets (can’t compete with the government), less and less drug consumers each year (because it is totally uncool, and there are people helping you quit). I don’t understand why Swiss/Portuguese model is not adopted everywhere immediately. It works great.
  - mamonster 4y ago
    I do not know about Portugal, but that is absolutely not how it works in Switzerland. >No shady drug dealers on the streets Patently false from my experience, what cities do you have in mind? From my own experience absolutely not the case in Lausanne, Geneva, Montreux, Zürich or Basel. In Lausanne Flon area they will literally line up to offer their wares on Saturday night at around midnight - 1 AM with absolutely no regard for the police. Riponne is even worse hearing from people who still live there. >Less and less drug consumers each year Is that like for hard drugs only or in general? Might be true for heroin/crack, absolutely not true if you include weed. In cities like Lausanne the amount of times you smell weed on the streets has gone up massively in the last 10 years.
    - atemerev 4y ago
      Geneva: Quai 9, https://www.premiereligne.ch/ https://www.premiereligne.ch/ (haven’t seen a drug dealer in the wild here for about 8 years already). I have heard that something like this works in Zurich, too. Re: weed, it is still technically illegal here, but fully decriminalized, and nobody pays any attention if someone smokes it. I think it is a good thing, even though I don’t do it myself.
      - mamonster 4y ago
        I can guarantee you that if you hit up Paquis on a Saturday evening you will find absolutely everything, from spice to heroin.
        atemerev 4y ago
        Maybe. But I remember Paquis of 15 years ago, and it has been much worse.

jcarrano 4y ago

> not wasting tons of precious energy and talent If it's China and the government owns that energy and talent then yes. If it is a free country, then the government has no businesses telling us how to best invest our resources and talent.

nicbou 4y ago
It can however regulate the harmful externalities of where that talent is invested. Fraud and tax evasion are still criminal. Destroying energy with reckless abandon could be. I really don't like crypto, but I don't see why everything I dislike should be illegal. The active harm it causes should be illegal though, but I believe that it's largely the case already. Besides, crypto bros weren't exactly cracking the atom before crypto became profitable. The rest of our industry is devoted to either making people click ads, or creating toll roads on every human interaction.

agumonkey 4y ago

I was under the impression that there weren't that many people engineering crypto. Small startups and teams.

unity1001 4y ago

> They're not wasting tons of precious energy and talent on creating scams, ponzis, casinos, rug pulls, and unlicensed securities All of those exist in the financial derivatives market. And the finance sector in general...

marcusverus 4y ago

> Munger is right and China was right. They're not wasting tons of precious energy and talent on creating scams, ponzis, casinos, rug pulls, and unlicensed securities. So, the case for regulating crypto is that it, sans regulations, crypto harms consumers. Makes sense. The case for banning it is... what exactly? Charlie didn't bother to make the case. All you say is that it "wastes time and precious energy". But time-wasting is a cornerstone of the modern economy, and there's no way crypto ranks even in the top 100 on that front. And electricity is not a finite resource, so banning a technology just to reduce energy use makes no sense. What's the actual case for a ban?

senttoschool 4y ago
In the US, we've banned many illegal drugs, casinos, scams. Crypto resembles all three.