• FIash Mob #5678@beehaw.org
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    10 months ago

    Agreed that crypto influencers are atrocious people.

    However, when crypto has had three booms in seven years, you can ridicule it all you want, but it makes sense to put a small percentage of your investment money into it.

    • 4dpuzzle@beehaw.org
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      10 months ago

      The return of investment on crypto doesn’t come from any value it generates. It comes from other people who made bad bets and lost their money on the same. That makes investing in crypto the same as participating in a Pyramid. Your argument, if taken for face value, can easily be extended to defend pyramid schemes.

      • qwerty@discuss.tchncs.de
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        10 months ago

        I use crypto to privately pay for my VPN, phone bill, to donate to foss projects. I sold some digital items online for crypto. I use it because it’s faster, more private (if done correctly) and convenient than using a credit card or bank transfer. No one can seize, freeze, or control my crypto. I can donate, pay or get paid on my own terms with no middle man. If visa, mastercard, banks or fintech companies generate value then so does crypto.

      • sherlockholmez@lemmy.ml
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        10 months ago

        The same is, however, true for most of the stock market.

        The only counter argument is dividends, which are extremely rare in most industries, and barely a dent relative to an investor’s portfolio.

        • erwan@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          You can argue that owning a piece of a company who generates value is not the same thing as owning some useless cryptographic token.

          • qwerty@discuss.tchncs.de
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            10 months ago

            What’s the difference between a useless cryptographic token and a useless piece of paper if there are people willing to give me things I want for either?

            • erwan@lemmy.ml
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              10 months ago

              The piece of paper you’re talking about is useful to exchange goods.

              The cryptographic token is not because it’s too volatile and transactions are costly.

              There is a reason the only things using Bitcoin as an actual currency are illegal things, buying credit card numbers or paying for ransomware.

              • qwerty@discuss.tchncs.de
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                10 months ago

                That’s just not true. Monero, litecoin, bch… transactions cost less than a penny. No one uses bitcoin for illegal things anymore (it’s tracable and forever on the blockchain, people use monero instead) but if they were wouldn’t that mean bitcoin is useful for exchanging goods?

                I use crypto for a bunch of legitimate things like paying for my VPN, phone bill, donating to foss projects etc.

                I use it because it’s more private, faster and more convenient for me. I can always have it with me, use it from any place, any time, for anything I want with no hidden fees and no one can seize, freeze, track or control my money. If you think that thoes things are valueable only to criminals you must have lived under some 1st world rock for a while.

      • jarfil@beehaw.org
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        10 months ago

        People who call crypto a pyramid scheme <-> People who know the difference between pyramid and Ponzi scheme

        PS: if you think crypto is a pyramid scheme, stay away from crypto.

      • FIash Mob #5678@beehaw.org
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        10 months ago

        Your comment does not make sense in light of facts. Crypto boomed in 2017, 2020, and is currently booming again.

        • MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
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          10 months ago

          I’m suggesting that my “investment budget” is nothing.

          I think this one flew right over your head.

          Specifically, I’m making light of the fact that no matter how hard I try to make a living wage, I still struggle to make everything work, indirectly shedding light on the recent discussions about stagnant wages and out of control inflation, raising costs to live while providing me no means by which to afford those increases.

          Most months I barely have enough left over to buy myself a single meal at a restaurant as a once-a-month treat, nevermind have money set aside for retirement or have an “investment budget”.