https://theconversation.com/impulsive-psychopaths-like-crypto-research-shows-how-dark-personality-traits-affect-bitcoin-enthusiasm-180782

  • Cherufe [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Im an impulsive psychopath and yet I know better than to get into crypto :pathetic:

  • Teekeeus [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    Don't dark personality traits dominate corporate and finance scenes as well?

  • happybadger [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    https://i.redd.it/3t7wo5xmz9t81.png

    https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/u2nhjn/a_disturbing_comment_from_a_failed_nft_discord/

    If any cryptobro loses everything, the only compassion I have for them is pointing out that they can still sell their blood. Feral hogs.

  • ScotPilgrimVsTheLibs [they/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Crypto was kinda interesting at first. A form of currency with peer-to-peer privacy? Oh hell yeah!

    Then I learned about how much energy it took to mine the bitcoins. As if that was bad enough, it had to have the nasty cherry on top. It became solely something to be speculated on. Speculation is the second worst thing about capitalism next to pollution, it allows the ACTUALLY lazy to make money they didn't earn. If capitalism somehow didn't have pollution or speculation, I would have a chance at being this mfer -> :maybe-later-kiddo:

    • RNAi [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      If capitalism somehow didn’t have pollution or speculation

      It will still be shit cuz the key part is who has the power. A shit that hasn't caused an imminent collapse of all ecosystems tho

    • mittens [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      ngl I thought being able to send money worldwide without using my bank was kinda cool, in a doing something potentially illegal kinda way. but also the biggest coins are fucking useless at this, and this is by design. you can't even buy weed with this shit anymore.

  • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Getting a big wave of "If you invest in Bitcoin then you are a crazy person who eats babies" media on the verge of a Crypto rug-pull?

    :curious-marx:

    • MerryChristmas [any]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I never saw Fight Club so for a long time I thought that dude was just super buff.

  • MerryChristmas [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    Beyond environmentalist critiques, what makes crypto so much worse than the USD? Susceptibility to pump and dumps, massive volatility spikes, rug pulls, etc - all of these same issues exist in money markets, right? I get why this particular brand of bro gets mocked relentlessly around here, but I don't see any real difference between crypto bros and other stock bros beyond the aesthetic.

    Having said that, half the reason I post my opinions on here is to have someone more knowledgeable than me challenge them. I'm happy to hear why others believe this is a bigger issue than it seems.

    • SerLava [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      It's way worse.

      • Crypto is d r a m a t i c a l l y more volatile than actual money.
      • Predatory and wasteful as it is, trading stocks has an actual remnant of a useful function- it often (though less and less every year) invests money into something with at least some actual utility to humans.
      • Crypto is just a ponzi scheme. Every dollar someone makes is another dollar lost by someone else. And it's not the rich people losing -This one is crucial. The influx of working class victims of this crypto scheme has directly stolen their money- they can't simply "hold" until the number goes back up. They have bills to pay or they'll die. That's how deep pocketed motherfuckers pump money out of poor people.
      • You said not to mention the environmental concern, but holy God damn, it's so fucking bad. One Bitcoin transaction takes the same energy as a suburban house uses in two months. It's going to get us fucking killed

      It's like someone looked at the monetary system and thought, this is pretty evil but like, it's hardly even trying

      • MerryChristmas [any]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        You can definitely bring up environmental concerns! I agree with the stance that it's ecologically unsound, but I just don't think that the ecological arguments are going to be very convincing to a population that largely rejects climate science.

        Also, BTC is already pretty outmoded. There are more efficient ways of handling transactions with ETH these days - still needlessly destructive, but uh, I guess a little less so? I haven't looked at the numbers, but throw in some carbon offsets and most people (libs) will be satisfied. This is already exactly what is happening in the "activist investor" communities.

        I guess I am just cynical, but I think all of this blockchain stuff is inevitable. If capital wants it to happen then it is going to happen, and if that's the case, I'm just trying to figure out how it is going to impact me and my community. Apologies if it seemed like I was dismissing environmental concerns as that definitely wasn't my intention!

        • SerLava [he/him]
          ·
          2 years ago

          Those are good points, and don't worry it didn't really come across as dismissive of the environmental damage.

          I do know most of the newer cryptocurrencies are much less destructive that Bitcoin, but they're all still like, thousands of times worse than just, Visa.

          You're also right to notice that there are all these mother fucking billionaires peddling crypto and NFTs and shit. They will absolutely keep it afloat longer, but from what I've read they can't keep it going forever. It's still ultimately a pure speculative asset that has no underlying value other than the ponzi scheme itself.

    • RNAi [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      Rather than "the USD" you meant "stock market"

      The USD, unlike crypto, has this cool quality of being able to easily be interchanged for goods and services.

      • MerryChristmas [any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        To be fair, I've only ever bought crypto as a young person for the express purpose of purchasing drugs on the internet. In that very specific scenario, the dollar was worthless while crypto could be exchanged for goods and services.

        But yes, you're right, I'm conflating assets with currency here and putting too much weight behind my personal experiences. I realize that isn't the way most people interact with crypto these days, and even if it were, facilitating a black market is not a point in crypto's favor.

        • RNAi [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          edit-2
          2 years ago

          Anyways, stock market people are the OG psychopaths, they even made a literal movie about it

    • mittens [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      the dan olson video is mega spot on in one particular way. these zero-trust distributed networks approach validation in the most brute force way possible and it makes blockchain completely unscalable. there's simply no way that crypto becomes an acceptable currency because the ledger will start to shit itself before it ever meets demand. the coins that don't fucking get stuck for hours processing transactions or require hefty additional fees to move coins around are only fast because they're niche and underused. there's simply no use case where blockchains are preferable to traditional payment operators and it's doomed to remain as a hobby horse for the most detestable people online.

      • MerryChristmas [any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I actually haven't seen that video, but that is an interesting point. Thanks, I'll check it out!

    • FlakesBongler [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Personally, the problem that I have with crypto is that they're purposefully targeting the working class

      Think about how often you hear them telling people that crypto is a fast and easy way to make money, how they're putting commercials during the Super Bowl and putting out news about delivery boys becoming millionaires

      The average Joe thinks the stock market is this byzantine enigma (mainly because of decades of stock bro shit), but is constantly being hit with propaganda about how easy crypto is, you just trade some dollars for BoingCoin and you'll make money back!

      Of course, they're never told that the majority of people who profit off this shit are already rich and make their money from selling crypto to the masses

      At the end of the day, someone with 20 dollars is able to at least get something to eat and someone with $20 of PlopBloks can't

      • MerryChristmas [any]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        Thanks, this one makes sense to me. I see the ponzi scheme criticism levied against crypto a lot, and I don't really see how that's any different from the stock market or our retirement funds or like... the economy in general. It's just one giant over-leveraged ponzi scheme held together by duct tape and massive amounts of debt.

        But I do see how this provides a more efficient method of robbing the working class, and you're right, that is a big problem. I don't think it's unique to crypto, but crypto is uniquely enticing due to all of the lottery ticket type stories, the tech evangelism and the Twitter guys talking about how easy it is to get rich. There's also a much lower barrier to entry, with lots of coins being valued like penny stocks, so people are more likely to jump in without doing their research. I can see how that would lead to an environment rife with pump and dumps.

        It's also worth noting that the same folks sitting on the boards of our banks are sitting on the boards of exchanges like CoinBase, so they clearly see the opportunity to fleece some suckers.