Crypto is not any more "controlled by math" than french fries are "controlled by chemistry". I hate everything about crypto but this is by far the cringiest talking point; probably because I'm a mathematician.

Can you please elaborate? :)

My initial reaction is a massive groan at the seamlessly meaningless platitude, but that's unfair. Maybe you were in a rush, on the phone, and there's a cogent argument that I'd be eager to hear out.

Edit: To elaborate: both "Controlled by violence" and "Controlled by math" I view as summarized and abstracted way beyond point of sheer uselessness; and only used to propagate a particular point of view. That point of view may be accurate or not, I may agree with it or not, but it does not include useful data or conduct a honest discussion. There's a lot of math involved in fiat money from central banks. There's nothing in crypto that may prevent or shield from violence. Individuals certainly earn money/wealth/value in certain way and their storage medium of choice cannot be summarized in such simple ways. And "Controlled by math" is massively misleading - at best, at best, we can say it has some origins in math. But it certainly is not controlled by math - it is ultimately controlled by people and institutions.

I personally place the long term value of all current crypto coins at 0$. Risk makes them a poor medium of exchange for the average person, and new investors eventually want to have positive returns on their investments.

You've obviously never fired an automatic weapon in a data center.