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Is it similarly immoral for an investor to put money into a startup that they "know" (highly suspect) will fail?

No one knows what will happen, even if they claim they do. The options aren't only "know it will go up" or "know it will go down". That was my point that you were so dismissive of.

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That's an interesting and, I think, complicated question. It's easy to uncomplicate it though; for instance, posit that the "investor" not only "invests" but also talks the "investment" up. Deliberate deception for profit has another name: fraud.

I think that's what a lot of these alternate cryptocurrencies are doing. People get in early and hope that there are enough fools who get in late to sell their massive holdings to them. Then these same people try to do the same to other people down the line. Eventually, it becomes clear that there are no more people to buy into the alternate currency, and the entire thing shits the bed.

I'm not sure where you draw the line between a "currency" like this and Bitcoin, but I think it's important to look at what the bulk of transactions are for. Bitcoin, despite rampant speculation, is still used for some things - avoiding Paypal, drug transactions, etc. Litecoin is more on the speculation side, but still has a fair amount of use. Dogecoin has its use on Reddit. But a lot of these other coins are only for speculation, and it's basically gambling to put money into them and hope that you get out before everyone goes "Well, that's all, folks! We're done here!"

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