Bitcoin: no angel investors, only Faustian bargains

The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Bitcoin: no angel investors, only Faustian bargains

Foo Diddley: Oct 29, 2011; cat

Taerkar posted:

Even better I'm seeing some of the Cryptocultists claim that the economic sanctions against Russia are proof of how Cryptocoins are better because other countries totally can't destroy the value of crypto like they can a FIAT CURRENCY.

For some reason they're really upset about the stories of the plutocrats not having access to their funds.

it's because they sincerely believe that one day they will be the plutocrat

# ? Apr 2, 2022 17:17

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# ? May 29, 2024 17:38

Macichne Leainig: Jul 26, 2012; by VG

HODL

Bitcoin 100k by end of 2021

# ? Apr 2, 2022 17:26

ultrafilter: Aug 23, 2007; It's okay if you have any questions.

Space Fish posted:

1) Crypto (always just Bitcoin if another coin does wrong, Bitcoin is the pure child) represents an opportunity for green energy, not waste. In fact, over 75% of Bitcoin is mined using green energy thanks to initiatives out of Texas. Incentivizing green energy to be used for mining will advance wind and solar farms, thereby making green energy's adoption smoother for all other applications. This one kinda makes sense to me, IF miners are actually resisting those coal plants that were previously revived, and IF green energy is actually advancing as a result. Everyone's sources are crypto blogs that aren't critically reviewed, so I've got no solid harbor for this claim, either. I have trouble believing anyone has verifiable info on the complete picture of what energy sources are used to mine today's Bitcoin beyond self-reporting.

If there were no bitcoin we could use less energy overall and we could use that green energy on other things.

# ? Apr 2, 2022 17:38

Ghost Leviathan: Mar 2, 2017; Exploration is ill-advised.

A lot of this comes down to how despite claiming so, they really can't get their heads around the idea that all currency is a social construct, and that the US dollar is backed by the US government, with its economic and military might, backing it. Though pretty much mainstream socio-political thought across the Western world has had the idea of material conditions surgically excised from it, and you get particular dysfunctional beliefs and modes of thought that manifest in distinctly different ways across the political spectrum. (Like say, liberal obsession with :decorum:

, prosperity gospel, Austrian Economics, talking about privilege without ever mentioning wealth, and of course the ultimate endgame, anti-semitism)

# ? Apr 2, 2022 17:49

Macichne Leainig: Jul 26, 2012; by VG

Ghost Leviathan posted:

A lot of this comes down to how despite claiming so, they really can't get their heads around the idea that all currency is a social construct, and that the US dollar is backed by the US government, with its economic and military might, backing it.

But have you considered the US government is now making GovCoin? So now obviously cryptocurrency is legitimate. Check mate :colbert:

# ? Apr 2, 2022 17:53

for fucks sake: Jan 23, 2016

IGDA calling out play-to-earn as a pyramid scheme.

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/04/game-dev-group-says-addressing-nft-gamings-ethical-issues-is-a-priority/

# ? Apr 2, 2022 18:03

ymgve: Jan 2, 2004; Offensive Clock

tango alpha delta posted:

my favorite part about crypto is that every bit of programming has been written in an interpreted language, instead of a compiled language because compiled languages generally require better planning and bug squashing before you can even get a complete loving working executable.

any clown cowboy can spin some poo poo up in an interpreted language that kind of looks like it works.

not sure where you get this from. bitcoin, and all bitcoin based forks and altcoins is c++. the official ethereum client is coded in go. smart contracts on the ethereum chain is compiled to bytecode. the 320 million hack done recently was done on solana, which uses rust.

and I don't understand why you think compiled languages are better than interpreted ones, you are perfectly capable of doing poo poo code and loving up compiled languages. ever heard about buff�Zmo�6��_!��%�}��A��k�6��>�D�D)Q �8�_D�zsd�v�)AS���}~y�c�

ymgve fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Apr 3, 2022

# ? Apr 3, 2022 01:28

Marshal Prolapse: Jun 23, 2012; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

Collateral Damage posted:

Assuming they're actual crypto people and not just stock photo models or randomly generated, there's a better than average chance they both are.

Among other things.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 01:38

Mumpy Puffinz: Aug 11, 2008; Nap Ghost

how come everyone who loves the blockchain wants fiat us currency?
Are they scamming us?

# ? Apr 3, 2022 01:44

Macichne Leainig: Jul 26, 2012; by VG

Mumpy Puffinz posted:

how come everyone who loves the blockchain wants fiat us currency?
Are they scamming us?

Ah, but you see, 1 BTC = 1 BTC. :smug:

# ? Apr 3, 2022 01:47

vortmax: Sep 24, 2008; In meteorology, vorticity often refers to a measurement of the spin of horizontally flowing air about a vertical axis.

Plan R posted:

Subjecting my ~mid-70s parents to this poo poo should be a crime. Thankfully I've inoculated them against this entire wall of bullshit and fraud; like reverse mortgages.

Excuse me Magnum PI says on the teevee all the time that reverse mortgages aren't a scam. Are you saying Magnum is lying to me? He's a stand-up man of action!

# ? Apr 3, 2022 08:28

Doomtrain: Sep 12, 2006; A mood train?

I see Netflix made a documentary on the QuadrigaCX CEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW2BPQ15OSw

# ? Apr 3, 2022 10:11

Sombrerotron: Aug 1, 2004; Release my children! My hat is truly great and mighty.

Taerkar posted:

Even better I'm seeing some of the Cryptocultists claim that the economic sanctions against Russia are proof of how Cryptocoins are better because other countries totally can't destroy the value of crypto like they can a FIAT CURRENCY.

For some reason they're really upset about the stories of the plutocrats not having access to their funds.

It could be argued that crypto currencies would allow middle or even low-class Russians to avoid at least some of the sanctions' effects, but presumably that would start with someone accepting rubles for crypto (which is either a non-starter or a really poor decision on the crypto seller's part) and somehow end with converting the acquired crypto into a non-worthless actually useful currency. Even if you could manage that, I expect having any real access to that currency will be highly challenging as long as the aforementioned sanctions are still in place. I suppose there's still a theoretical possibility of using your crypto funds to buy things, but, well, lol.

Mumpy Puffinz posted:

how come everyone who loves the blockchain wants fiat us currency?
Are they scamming us?

This is what always strikes as fundamentally paradoxical, and as a result as extremely revealing, about crypto enthusiasts' motives. If fiat currency really is the devil and will collapse any day etc. etc., why is the absolute #1 selling point for buying any crypto always "it's going to be worth so many [fiat currency of choice]"? There might be a handful of exceptions to this rule, but I'm fairly confident that none of those exceptions are attracting large amounts of money anyway. It may be pure cognitive dissonance where they actually wholeheartedly believe that they'll only be financially safe if they convert their savings into crypto, but simultaneously measure that crypto's worth exclusively in a regular and supposedly soon-to-be-obsolete currency, but I suppose that just underlines how nakedly opportunistic and greed-driven the whole thing is.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 11:55

notwithoutmyanus: Mar 17, 2009

Taerkar posted:

Even better I'm seeing some of the Cryptocultists claim that the economic sanctions against Russia are proof of how Cryptocoins are better because other countries totally can't destroy the value of crypto like they can a FIAT CURRENCY.

For some reason they're really upset about the stories of the plutocrats not having access to their funds.

I love this one when they say it because they don't realize they're literally quoting Russian propaganda with a pro-Russian Soviet view. I mean Russia is now justification for crypto regulations and sanctions and people are obviously shocked that such a thing could ever come to crypto! :v:

# ? Apr 3, 2022 12:40

HootTheOwl: May 13, 2012; Hootin and shootin

Sombrerotron posted:

It could be argued that crypto currencies would allow middle or even low-class Russians to avoid at least some of the sanctions' effects,

This argument would be wrong.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 13:51

Taerkar: Dec 7, 2002; kind of into it, really

They'd be safe from the sanctions as their wallets are compromised and drained quickly. The average person's understanding of info security is piss poor after all.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 14:15

Sombrerotron: Aug 1, 2004; Release my children! My hat is truly great and mighty.

HootTheOwl posted:

This argument would be wrong.

Yes, that was sort of my point. If it helps, for "could be argued" and "would allow", read "might be argued" and "could theoretically allow". The conclusion is the same either way, i.e. crypto will not be helping the general Russian populace here (if that would even be desirable (it would not for a variety of reasons, of course)).

# ? Apr 3, 2022 16:40

notwithoutmyanus: Mar 17, 2009

Someone in one of my chat channels basically said as a theory, he wonders if the purpose of bitcoin is to deliberately crash third world countries.

IE: build up their reliance on it, and then crush them all to buy them. He does understand it's speculative, but I guess it's also vaguely plausible. :vvv: presumably the US or whatever major power can survive it.

notwithoutmyanus fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Apr 3, 2022

# ? Apr 3, 2022 19:15

PhazonLink: Jul 17, 2010

Who is doing the buying.

Also ignore the sort of real life conspiracy/tiny atom of truth of China helping build basic infrastructure in those places and them building up/planning their soft power.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 19:19

Jose Valasquez: Apr 8, 2005

notwithoutmyanus posted:

Someone in one of my chat channels basically said as a theory, he wonders if the purpose of bitcoin is to deliberately crash third world countries.

IE: build up their reliance on it, and then crush them all to buy them. He does understand it's speculative, but I guess it's also vaguely plausible. :vvv: presumably the US or whatever major power can survive it.

Someone finally came up with something dumber than reality

# ? Apr 3, 2022 19:29

ymgve: Jan 2, 2004; Offensive Clock

It�s not that dumb, if you think on the level of individuals and not countries. Stuff like getting it popular in Venezuela is a clear attempt by sellers to take the money of poor citizens there, now that the first world countries have mostly realized it�s a scam

# ? Apr 3, 2022 19:39

divabot: Jun 17, 2015; A polite little mouse!

I wrote a thing on why blockchain bridges are correctly viewed as very fat pinatas.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 20:07

EorayMel: May 30, 2015; WE GET IT. YOU LOVE GUN JESUS. Toujours des fusils Bullpup Fran�ais.

divabot posted:

I wrote a thing on why blockchain bridges are correctly viewed as very fat pinatas.

quote:

That is, the blockchain is only usable if you work around actually using it.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 20:18

Taerkar: Dec 7, 2002; kind of into it, really

notwithoutmyanus posted:

Someone in one of my chat channels basically said as a theory, he wonders if the purpose of bitcoin is to deliberately crash third world countries.

IE: build up their reliance on it, and then crush them all to buy them. He does understand it's speculative, but I guess it's also vaguely plausible. :vvv: presumably the US or whatever major power can survive it.

That's a side effect that they're perfectly fine with.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 20:35

Khorne: May 1, 2002

Went to the drug store today and there were magazines with the heading "An in-depth guide to cryptocurrency".

What a world! For some reason there was a lite coin on the visible part of the cover.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 21:16

istewart: Apr 13, 2005; Still contemplating why I didn't register here under a clever pseudonym

Khorne posted:

Went to the drug store today and there were magazines with the heading "An in-depth guide to cryptocurrency".

What a world! For some reason there was a lite coin on the visible part of the cover.

I wonder if they came from American Media - the tabloid operation headed by a Trumper that put out a glossy one-off magazine a few years ago praising Mohammed bin Salman to the high heavens. I only ever saw that one at the local CVS drug store.

# ? Apr 3, 2022 21:34

drk: Jan 16, 2005

Khorne posted:

Went to the drug store today and there were magazines with the heading "An in-depth guide to cryptocurrency".

What a world! For some reason there was a lite coin on the visible part of the cover.

Saw the same thing today at Whole Foods and had the same thought about litecoin

# ? Apr 4, 2022 01:33

BigBadSteve: Apr 29, 2009

ymgve posted:

... and I don't understand why you think compiled languages are better than interpreted ones, you are perfectly capable of doing poo poo code and loving up compiled languages. ever heard about buff�Zmo�6��_!��%�}��A��k�6��>�D�D)Q �8�_D�zsd�v�)AS���}~y�c�

idgi

# ? Apr 4, 2022 09:27

Vesi: Jan 12, 2005; pikachu looking at?

BigBadSteve posted:

idgi

that's a buffer overflow

modern compiled languages try to avoid them either with weird tricks (rust) or garbage collection (go), typically you have to declare your code intentionally unsafe before you can do them

# ? Apr 4, 2022 11:42

A Wizard of Goatse: Dec 14, 2014

notwithoutmyanus posted:

Someone in one of my chat channels basically said as a theory, he wonders if the purpose of bitcoin is to deliberately crash third world countries.

IE: build up their reliance on it, and then crush them all to buy them. He does understand it's speculative, but I guess it's also vaguely plausible. :vvv: presumably the US or whatever major power can survive it.

what if IMF but on the blockchain

# ? Apr 4, 2022 14:14

LifeSunDeath: Jan 4, 2007; still gay rights and smoke weed every day

A Wizard of Goatse posted:

what if IMF but on the blockchain

Access to drinking water but on the blockchain

# ? Apr 4, 2022 14:25

ymgve: Jan 2, 2004; Offensive Clock

Vesi posted:

that's a buffer overflow

modern compiled languages try to avoid them either with weird tricks (rust) or garbage collection (go), typically you have to declare your code intentionally unsafe before you can do them

not entirely correct, garbage collection is more about avoiding memory leaks. modern languages avoid buffer overflows and memory corruption by having actual bounds checking so you can't place something into the 1000th position in a 10 item list.

# ? Apr 4, 2022 14:30

Space Fish: Oct 14, 2008; The original Big Tuna.

LifeSunDeath posted:

Access to drinking water but on the blockchain

https://www.digitalsignagetoday.com/articles/digital-signage-blockchain-head-to-the-restroom/

The dream is still alive each time I wash my hands.

# ? Apr 4, 2022 14:31

LifeSunDeath: Jan 4, 2007; still gay rights and smoke weed every day

Space Fish posted:

https://www.digitalsignagetoday.com/articles/digital-signage-blockchain-head-to-the-restroom/

The dream is still alive each time I wash my hands.

holy poo poo reading marketing language is such a waste of life. "THIS THING HAS 6 RADIOS AND LASERS AND RFID 5G NANO BOTS, IT WILL PRINT GOLD AND ALSO ENSURE YOUR EMPLOYEES NEVER UNIONIZE!"

Then covid happened. Good luck finding anyone who was an anti masker before who will wash their hands at Buffalo Wild Wings now.

# ? Apr 4, 2022 14:35