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When people defend cryptocurrencies online, sometimes it's because they're invested in it and they're hoping to get rich.

(Only a real Sherlock Holmes could notice something this subtle. I eagerly await my upvotes!!)

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This strikes me as a catch-22. People who research cryptocurrencies / blockchains and conclude they are promising technologies are likely to both invest in them and also tell people they are promising. But that doesn't tell you anything about the direction of causality. It could be either "I invested in them so I tell people they're promising" or "I think they are promising so I invested in them".

I remember investing in Microsoft in the 90s and Apple when the iPhone came out and also telling lots people that I thought Windows 98 was really great and that the iPhone was a huge deal, but the primary reason I told people those things was not because of my investment in the stocks, rather I invested in the stocks because I thought those things were true.

And many of the people who show up to hate on cryptocurrencies participate in what amount to support groups for people who had the opportunity to buy but didn't.

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