Yes, I know that it still exist, and yes, decentralized currency which utilizes distributed, cryptographic validation is not actually a strictly bad idea, but…

Is the speculative investment scam, which crypto substantially represented, finally dead? Can we go back to buying gold bars and Pokemon cards?

I feel like it is, but I’m having a hard time putting my finger on why it lost its sheen. Maybe crypto scammers moved on to selling LLM “prompts?” Maybe the rug just got pulled enough times that everyone lost trust.

1 point

No, the market is down. stocks are down.

permalink
report
reply
2 points

Bitcoin’s in the low $29kus region lately (up from $26kus), so it looks like it’s going to keep going. Also, big real money investors are now pretty long on cryptocurrency, so there is a vested interest in keeping it around.

Plus, you know, folks buying stuff on the black and grey markets with it. Wish I didn’t have to mention drugs, but it’s the easiest way to keep getting insulin for folks these days in addition to the usual recreational compounds.

permalink
report
reply
7 points

It will never die. I believe it will wax and wane over the years. Being incredibly anonymous and deregulated means it will always be a great place for the evil doers to manipulate the market and make money off of it. Because of that there will always be some people using it.

I think one of the biggest failings of cryptocurrency in general is that people view it as a replacement for cash or debit cards when in reality with how slow and expensive the transactions are it is more of a replacement for clearing houses. When you get money sent to your bank you can use it right away because the bank trusts you and provides that service but the money isn’t truly there yet. You may have heard the phrase of “the check cleared” or something similar. It takes a long time for those processes to complete and crypto is faster than it.

permalink
report
reply
2 points

considering the comments, it’s right now the best time to buy some eth

permalink
report
reply
5 points

Bitcoin is still around 30k a pop, so I wouldn’t say it’s dead yet. But I foresee a big crash in the months or years to come: the hype has passed, and the real uses of crypto are very few. It’s also not a good investment since the expected returns are 0. Once people finally realize that, I see the price falling to 1k or even less.

permalink
report
reply
1 point

It still has value in getting currency out of hostile countries such as China and Argentina. For regular consumers? The ship has sailed.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

expected returns are 0

That’s the same thing with gold though. There are other reasons to invest in something than just returns. Some folks want something to maintain its value. Bitcoin being deflationary is supposed to be a good hedge against inflation. (But it’s far to volatile to really serve that purpose in my opinion.)

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Well, gold has the added benefit that it has served this purpose for thousands of years.

Would you really count on an extremely complex electronic currency requiring a distributed array of machines to get you through a major crisis?

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

You mistake me, I’m not saying Bitcoin is better than gold. I was just pointing out that returns are not the only reason.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

You know that this was being said multiple times in the last 10 years?

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

People have realized it, and they don’t seem to care.

Every time there is a market correction, the prices fall such that more folks can buy in. Folks might not be able to buy in right now at $29kus, but if and when the price falls back to $25kus at some point the price point might be more conducive.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

I was there when it hit $50 and said that the bubble has to pop soon, so at what time are we accepting crypto coins as just an alternative if you want to gamble?

permalink
report
parent
reply

Technology

!technology@beehaw.org

Create post

A nice place to discuss rumors, happenings, innovations, and challenges in the technology sphere. We also welcome discussions on the intersections of technology and society. If it’s technological news or discussion of technology, it probably belongs here.

Remember the overriding ethos on Beehaw: Be(e) Nice. Each user you encounter here is a person, and should be treated with kindness (even if they’re wrong, or use a Linux distro you don’t like). Personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Subcommunities on Beehaw:


This community’s icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Community stats

  • 3K

    Monthly active users

  • 3.3K

    Posts

  • 81K

    Comments