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To be fair the same thing happens in the regular world. e.g. look at a list of the richest people in the USA and see how they made their money.

mikeyouse 3y ago
Elon, Bezos, Bill Gates, Ellison, Buffet, Paige, Brin, Ballmer, Bloomberg, Walton --- which of those billion/trillion dollar companies do you think in any way compares to the shambolic crypto world?
- fnimick 3y ago
  I mean, we joke that Oracle is a legal company with an engineering department... but at least they build things.
  - mikeyouse 3y ago
    Right. I don't like most of the people on that list and e.g. Oracle is a mess of a company that is actively hostile to the software world -- but they still sold $42 billion worth of goods/services to willing customers last year. Nothing at all like crypto trading.
mgraczyk 3y ago
The 20 richest people in the USA all make their wealth via profitable companies that have returned value to shareholders.
confoundcofound 3y ago
My problem is with the collective gaslighting the crypto industry is doing with respects to utility vs speculation. I never thought I would find myself on the side of the SEC, but I have enough experience in the space with investors to builders to confidently say the vast majority of the industry is about speculative gain. Specious claims of utility are often just a means to that end.
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
All of the 10 richest people in the US, with the exception of Warren Buffett (and even that I wouldn't really call an exception, more on that below), built real businesses with real products that are used by millions of people and companies. I think wealth inequality is a major problem of our time but I despise this painting everything with a (factually incorrect) bad brush. Re: Buffett is the only "pure investor" in the top 10, but even then Berkshire Hathaway is pretty famous for having a portfolio of some of the best managed companies in the business. It's not like Buffet is a day trader.

mikeyouse 3y ago

Elon, Bezos, Bill Gates, Ellison, Buffet, Paige, Brin, Ballmer, Bloomberg, Walton --- which of those billion/trillion dollar companies do you think in any way compares to the shambolic crypto world?

fnimick 3y ago
I mean, we joke that Oracle is a legal company with an engineering department... but at least they build things.
- mikeyouse 3y ago
  Right. I don't like most of the people on that list and e.g. Oracle is a mess of a company that is actively hostile to the software world -- but they still sold $42 billion worth of goods/services to willing customers last year. Nothing at all like crypto trading.

mgraczyk 3y ago

The 20 richest people in the USA all make their wealth via profitable companies that have returned value to shareholders.

confoundcofound 3y ago

My problem is with the collective gaslighting the crypto industry is doing with respects to utility vs speculation. I never thought I would find myself on the side of the SEC, but I have enough experience in the space with investors to builders to confidently say the vast majority of the industry is about speculative gain. Specious claims of utility are often just a means to that end.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

All of the 10 richest people in the US, with the exception of Warren Buffett (and even that I wouldn't really call an exception, more on that below), built real businesses with real products that are used by millions of people and companies. I think wealth inequality is a major problem of our time but I despise this painting everything with a (factually incorrect) bad brush. Re: Buffett is the only "pure investor" in the top 10, but even then Berkshire Hathaway is pretty famous for having a portfolio of some of the best managed companies in the business. It's not like Buffet is a day trader.