• kescusay@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Same as their past: Get-rich-quick schemes, outright scams, massive wastes of electricity, criminal funding tools, investment instruments that aren’t backed by actual companies making anything (and are therefore 100% speculation)… and sometimes some interesting technology.

    • Bobby Turkalino@lemmy.yachts
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      10 months ago

      investment instruments that aren’t backed by actual companies making anything (and are therefore 100% speculation)

      Yep, only the evil bad crypto has ever done this! Our revered financial institutions would never sanction such filt-

      2008 enters the room

      SHIT

  • treadful@lemmy.zip
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    10 months ago

    Fuck banks and fuck the banking system.

    Paying for shit through my browser via an almost-immediately settled transaction is great and I wish it was more commonly accepted. Lots of growing pains ahead but the concept isn’t going anywhere. There’s also plenty of valid criticism of current implementations but writing off the entire idea is just foolish.

    • Chill Dude 69@lemmynsfw.com
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      10 months ago

      Fuck banks and fuck the banking system.

      I’m sorry to be so blunt about this, but you’re kind of being a willing sucker. Inviting people to hate the banks has been the most underrated, under-the-radar, flawlessly effective political smoke-and-mirrors distraction, for generations. And here you go, just buying right into it.

      As a distraction, it’s absolutely perfect, because it works from every possible political angle. If you’re a liberal/progressive/socialist, the banks can be a stand-in for capitalism. You can scream about the evils of the banking system, without actually using the word “capitalism,” and maybe get some people onto your side.

      If you’re a libertarian/fiscal-conservative/anti-globalist-right-winger, you can accuse the banks of being covertly or overtly controlled by <insert group that you hate> and you can feature them in all kinds of conspiracy theories about The Libs™ weakening your native nation by coupling it to the monetary systems of other nations that you dislike, etc.

      If you’re in the political middle (or claim to be), you can pick and choose from any of the above.

      In reality, the banking system is going to be necessary for the next couple of centuries. Period. That’s a fact. Nothing can change that, even if it was a good idea to change it. Which I’m not really sure of, because of all the political distraction that always surrounds the whole thing.

      The fact remains: people getting all riled up about “the bankers” is music to the ears of every politician who doesn’t actually have any intention of passing good laws, to help people’s lives. Or repealing shitty laws that are fucking up people’s lives.

      If you think getting rid of the banking system would instantly solve all our problems, I’ve got an apparently very low-interest loan I can give you, to buy a bridge in Brooklyn.

      • treadful@lemmy.zip
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        10 months ago

        I’m sorry to be so blunt about this, but you’re kind of being a willing sucker.

        Not really a way to start a discussion so I’ll just assume you aren’t interested.

  • chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    10 months ago

    They will be the only way to transact without being surveilled or without requiring the permission and approval of banks, payment providers, and governments. They will continue to displace banking systems in parts of the world where those are corrupt and do not have basic functionality. They will continue to enable people to do business and cooperate across borders. If we remain long enough without a unified world government, I believe the credible neutrality of cryptocurrency, which is higher than any fiat currency can have, will likely cause one of them to become the global reserve currency.

  • SorteKanin@feddit.dk
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    10 months ago

    I’m not really opposed to the idea of cryptocurrencies. I think being able to exchange value without having to go through any middle-men (i.e. banks) could be valuable. It’s kind of like cash in that sense but digital.

    I am however very opposed to the execution so far:

    1. Wasteful proof-of-work algorithms that spend way too much electricity.
    2. Treating them more as stocks/investments gambling instead of as an actual currency.
    3. New cryptocurrencies seem to crop up every day. This is more of a pyramid scheme than actual innovation at this point.

    If those three improve, then maybe it will actually be okay. It’s unclear whether (1) will happen ever, as anyone leaving the proof-of-work cryptocurrencies behind for other less wasteful ones just make mining more valuable for the ones that are still mining the proof-of-work currency (as far as I understand). But maybe it will eventually be better, though it doesn’t seem that way right now.

    (2) happening is a little more likely - it would likely slowly happen if people started using it for actual payments and goods. If goods had a price based on a cryptocurrency, the value of the cryptocurrency would be more stable (I would guess; disclaimer I am not an economist or anything like that). But still, this is not too likely to happen, at least it hasn’t happened yet in any big way.

    (3) is also problematic and not likely to change any time soon. It seems like we will never agree on using just one of the cryptocurrencies and if we don’t, I can’t really see it taking off.

    So generally, unless something changes with how cryptocurrencies are currently handled (ironically, maybe nations need to step in and “bless” a single one for anything to change), I don’t really see a bright future for cryptocurrencies.

  • Ragdoll X@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I expect that Elon or some other famous person is going to use Dogecoin again to scam their fans and make a quick buck in the near future.

    I like that Ethereum’s system changed to use far less energy and thus emit less carbon.

    I guess Monero can be useful if you want to buy drugs online or whatever, which I’m fine with.

    I know that some people feel really strongly about crypto, either positively or negatively, but I’m mostly disinterested. It’s not going to become a particularly useful currency any time soon and it’s way too volatile, so if I ever decide to invest in something I’ll pick normal stocks instead.

    • Restaldt@lemm.ee
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      10 months ago

      Sucks what happened with NFTs being applied to literally the lowest hanging fruit for what it could be used for

      The best use case for nfts i read was providing a nft for digital purchases like books,songs, or micro transactions/dlcs for video games so you could keep track of what you own digitally by the nft possibly even transferring your purchases to other accounts

      But no.

      Monkey pictures.

      Because $$$$

  • Sean@lemmy.worldM
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    10 months ago

    It’s all a scam and the people who buy into it are idiots. Crypto is basically on par with the stock market, horse racing, and scratchy lottery tickets.

    • Pixel@lemmy.sdf.org
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      10 months ago

      lmao lumping those all together as scams. Spoken like someone who is either too poor or too stupid to participate effectively.