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Comment by CynicusRex | Hacker News Reader

>I still think it's a total bubble but have to admin there's a lot of other people who disagree.

It doesn't matter if they disagree; a pyramid scheme is a pyramid scheme no matter how successful. And if it somehow still ends up as the world reserve “currency”, then it'll have made a lot of profoundly incompetent, undeserving, and shady people rich. We'd be no better off, even worse off than before. Bitcoin fuels the fire it was set out to extinguish: greed induced financial crime. https://www.cynicusrex.com/file/cryptocultscience.html

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Agreed. It reminds me of diamonds. They're super expensive because the DeBeers family convinced everyone it's a sign of love and marriage. They're really not that rare and can be made in a lab. Aside from industrial grinders, there's really not much use for them.

It’s not anything like diamonds - diamond prices have slowly and consistently increased over the last 100 years and doesn’t see the crazy 20-30% swings in weekly prices that NFTs and even BTC sees. It’s considered a safe investment with a solid store or value. And dismissing them as “only useful for grinders” dismisses their value in jewelry. If millions find joy in having diamonds in their jewelry then I’d say there’s plenty of use for them.

I agree that it's not much like diamonds.

DeBeers was essentially a cartel, serving in a role kind of like a central bank. They manipulated the supply to keep prices high and reasonably stable and also manufactured the demand out of thin air. Their power has waned some; diamonds aren't worth much second hand anymore, but they're still overpriced at retail and there's still the legacy of marriage conventions requiring a diamond, now with the additional caveat that it must be natural.

The idea of DeBeers is anathema to the ideals of crypto currency, even if the reality of it is far from perfect.

> If millions find joy in having diamonds in their jewelry then I’d say there’s plenty of use for them.

If millions find joy in having BTC in their digital wallet then I’d say there’s plenty of use for them.

The only reason diamond prices haven't cratered is because of a company propping them up.

Which company is that?? You're probably referring to DeBeers, but your diamond knowledge is like 30 years behind the curve if this is the case. DeBeers does not have a diamond monopoly! This is a myth recycled over and over on the internet from people making some fake moral anti-diamond stance. DeBeers has less than a 30% market share, and aren't even the #1 producer of diamonds any longer.

The real reason diamonds haven't cratered is because they're a commodity that's always in demand - as long as people want to buy them they won't crater.

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