https://theconversation.com/impulsive-psychopaths-like-crypto-research-shows-how-dark-personality-traits-affect-bitcoin-enthusiasm-180782
https://theconversation.com/impulsive-psychopaths-like-crypto-research-shows-how-dark-personality-traits-affect-bitcoin-enthusiasm-180782
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.
It's way worse.
It's like someone looked at the monetary system and thought, this is pretty evil but like, it's hardly even trying
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!
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.
That’s why I hate both
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.
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.
Anyways, stock market people are the OG psychopaths, they even made a literal movie about it
American Stock Guy, right? I think I caught that one.
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.
I actually haven't seen that video, but that is an interesting point. Thanks, I'll check it out!
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
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.