How is it unfounded? The carbon and ewaste problems are well documented. Any fixes for that (eg Proof of Stake) have either compromised Bitcoin's original focus on decentralization, continually delayed release, or both. Over a decade after Bitcoin's launch few use cases have emerged and none of them have proven durable. The ICO craze came and went. DeFi is still muddling along with ever more convoluted cryptoshadows of regulated fiat finance. NFTs are all the rage but currently about as intellectually stimulating as baseball cards. Hacks and scams abound far beyond any other industry.
Both "sides" of the crypto debate are welcome to share their opinions on HN. The constant stream of blockchain links on HN makes me think there are plenty of at least crypto-curious folks around. I'm not sure why the pro side feels so attacked. Share your thoughts. Share your use cases. Advance the field. Prove us on the other side wrong.
Without a benchmark this means nothing. Just because a new technology contributes to ewaste we should just ignore it and bury it? No use in trying to fix it right? Just kill the technology because it contributes to ewaste. That doesn't make any sense. Not to mention the majority of the uproar around Crypto being a danger to the environment is completely overblown https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/20/bitcoin-mining-environmental...
> Over a decade after Bitcoin's launch few use cases have emerged and none of them have proven durable
Durable in what sense? I can take some Bitcoin right now and purchase almost anything I want. Seems like that money use case is pretty durable to me.
> The ICO craze came and went. DeFi is still muddling along with ever more convoluted cryptoshadows of regulated fiat finance. NFTs are all the rage but currently about as intellectually stimulating as baseball cards. Hacks and scams abound far beyond any other industry.
You're just conflating scams with crypto as a technology. If you can't find merit in cryptocurrency while at the same time thinking NFTs are mostly a scam you lack imagination.
I'll be the first one to admit I think the following are all mostly scams, useless, or only serve to create bag holders:
- NFTs
- DAOs
- ICOs (not really a thing anymore)
That doesn't deter me one bit from thinking that Bitcoin, ETH, and a handful of layer 1s are genuinely useful in creating technology to digitize money and decentralize finance. How long is it going to take? Idk. 10 years seems like not enough time. Idk why people are complaining about the lack of use cases. Something as ground breaking as disrupting the banking system is going to be a multi-decade long endeavour. Scams will come and go. That seems like a natural progression.
Global BTC energy consumption is now double[1] what it was in July, meaning the claim that it's somehow getting better spurious. The article also acknowledges that the energy consumption criticism is a valid issue (even despite the stats being out of date).
But! Bitcoin does have one completely novel trick! It can operate without State backing. No authorities. No trust between parties (whether miner<->miner, node<->miner, or node<->node). Centralization seems somewhat questionable these days, but I think "decentralized enough" is a fair assessment.
None of this is something I look for in a currency, but I can appreciate how cryptocurrencies fill that niche for those who do.
Right. This is why.[1] That's the SEC's list of "cyber enforcement actions". They have been bringing the hammer down on about two ICOs a month since 2018. Last August, they started in on DeFi.[2] “The federal securities laws apply with equal force to age-old frauds wrapped in today’s latest technology,” said Daniel Michael, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Complex Financial Instruments Unit. “Here, the labeling of the offering as decentralized and the securities as governance tokens did not hinder us from ensuring that DeFi Money Market was immediately shut down and that investors were paid back."
[1] https://www.sec.gov/spotlight/cybersecurity-enforcement-acti...
Why do you assume that the replacement will be net-positive?
Likewise, you reference "decentralizing finance" as a positive thing that's occuring. However, to-date, this has been nothing but a mirage--as illusory as fractional-penny transaction fees and other promises.
We're not even on a path to decentralization, and it's not a temporary aberation to be sorted out. It's actually the design, despite the ruse that tries to focus us on the idea that anyone could operate a node. Crypto is at least as centralized as traditional currency/finance. It only seeks to displace the incumbent financial class with a new one.
What's the use case here?
It's marketing to a specific niche of tech bro, which is probably a large enough segment of Newegg's customers to justify it.
That's a long time to hold up the line at the grocery check out.
https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_average_transaction_f... - and current $1.76 is considered low compared to $50 per transaction craziness. So you have to go offchain
Again, I paid BTC for a laptop 9 years ago and it made sense for me then since it was mined BTC from 11 years ago.
In order to use BTC you need to obtain BTC and transaction fees kill any normal day to day use case.
This leaves BTC for less than legal uses where you do not care about fees.
So BTC itself might not qualify as a scam but as a mega enabler of scams and illegal activity.
EDIT: that $1.76 is just a on-chain fee for the network, most stores will charge you extra to use BTC since they do not care about BTC they want to cash out immediately so they use a 3rd party.
So unless you get paid in BTC you have very little reason to use BTC for payments.
It was exciting when I first looked at it and then I realized that this was actually not "democratizing" anything so much as ensuring a new class of folks would be able to create new centralized "everythings" in a new environment outside of the current system - without the benefit of the years of testing, regulation, and (sure) cruft that our current systems have because they're subject to political forces (which is actually a feature).
Maybe starting the wild west over again is a good thing? My money's on "not really" at the moment.
Not saying this justifies BlockFi’s behavior but the incentives for any bank is there!
Especially not typically fraudulent are the APY yield savings accounts whose deposits are insured.
Also I doubt you could find countless violations outside of (maybe?) insider trading based on MNPI at these institutions, but if you know of them you should report them - whistleblowers can make a lot of money!!
I'm somewhat pro-crypto for it's anti-establishment roots (which are barely visible these days) and so I find it interesting that the standard it's held to is much higher than that for existing 'finance' - for which the bar is incredibly low, seemingly for the only reason that society has developed a callous against all that (g)rubbing.
It isn't though. It's has all the worst aspects of Wall Street, more wolves and a few unique problems, without the redeeming feature of it facilitating massive amounts of real world activity, and you'll still find more people on here defending even crypto's most blatant scams than you'll find arguing that securitising subprime mortgages is the future of homebuying but just had a few teething problems.
A rant over two hours long about the endless grift and unfettered scamming that is crypto.
Two hours, and it doesn’t even cover all of it.