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Hmmm 🤔
(jlai.lu)
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this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2024
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Agreed that crypto influencers are atrocious people.
However, when crypto has had three booms in seven years, you can ridicule it all you want, but it makes sense to put a small percentage of your investment money into it.
The return of investment on crypto doesn't come from any value it generates. It comes from other people who made bad bets and lost their money on the same. That makes investing in crypto the same as participating in a Pyramid. Your argument, if taken for face value, can easily be extended to defend pyramid schemes.
The same is, however, true for most of the stock market.
The only counter argument is dividends, which are extremely rare in most industries, and barely a dent relative to an investor's portfolio.
You can argue that owning a piece of a company who generates value is not the same thing as owning some useless cryptographic token.
What's the difference between a useless cryptographic token and a useless piece of paper if there are people willing to give me things I want for either?
The piece of paper you're talking about is useful to exchange goods.
The cryptographic token is not because it's too volatile and transactions are costly.
There is a reason the only things using Bitcoin as an actual currency are illegal things, buying credit card numbers or paying for ransomware.
That's just not true. Monero, litecoin, bch... transactions cost less than a penny. No one uses bitcoin for illegal things anymore (it's tracable and forever on the blockchain, people use monero instead) but if they were wouldn't that mean bitcoin is useful for exchanging goods?
I use crypto for a bunch of legitimate things like paying for my VPN, phone bill, donating to foss projects etc.
I use it because it's more private, faster and more convenient for me. I can always have it with me, use it from any place, any time, for anything I want with no hidden fees and no one can seize, freeze, track or control my money. If you think that thoes things are valueable only to criminals you must have lived under some 1st world rock for a while.
Capitalism is a pyramid scheme.
I use crypto to privately pay for my VPN, phone bill, to donate to foss projects. I sold some digital items online for crypto. I use it because it's faster, more private (if done correctly) and convenient than using a credit card or bank transfer. No one can seize, freeze, or control my crypto. I can donate, pay or get paid on my own terms with no middle man. If visa, mastercard, banks or fintech companies generate value then so does crypto.
I was talking about the use of crypto as an investment, not as currency. While the latter was the purpose that cryptocurrencies were originally designed for, the former now far outweighs it.
Thank you for your reply.
People who call crypto a pyramid scheme <-> People who know the difference between pyramid and Ponzi scheme
PS: if you think crypto is a pyramid scheme, stay away from crypto.