this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2024
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politics

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Did you hear the one about the couchsurfing dolphin...?

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[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 months ago (5 children)

I'm always confused about what this means, "bitcoin is a scam." It isn't. It does the thing it says it does. The fact that some bad actors use it for nefarious purposes doesn't mean the technology is lying, either

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 months ago

Crypto does the thing it says it does: enable peer-to-peer transactions that require the advance permission of no third party or government. It really is digital cash.

The problem is that's the best medium for scams. No matter which crypto you transact in, there is always a point where the transaction becomes immutable, no backsies, no "reverse the charges", no "court order to confiscate funds". The money is gone, and can't be compelled to come back unless the scammer is compelled to send it back. And if the scammer is outside the reach if the victim's governmental law enforcement, the literally nothing can be done.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

The correct thing to say is “there are a majority of cryptocurrencies that are scams”. I think the problem is “Bitcoin” is being used like “kleenex”, as a catch all for blockchain or cryptocurrency. Bitcoin itself is not a scam.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

People who buy NFTs are getting what they pay for, too. We can debate whether they are paying way too much for bits, but people also pay too much for jewelery and yet there are lots of jewelery stores.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

I probably have one to sell you too.

I won’t charge you a penny more than I bought it for in 2021.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Yeah but if we're being real most people primarily consider bitcoin to be an investment and not a method for making discrete transactions.

So it's 90% a get-rich-quick pyramid scheme, 9% a method for making illegal transactions, 1% a method for people that are paranoid about the gub'ment to make transactions in a convoluted way to make it more difficult for the government to track transactions they didn't bother looking at anyway.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I've heard nation based currencies have also been used for scams. But yeah, BTC is the problem, let's all keep Janet Yellin in charge of our collective net worth. (/s) smh.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Janet Yellen is not in charge of the United States money supply. You’re thinking of the Federal Open Market Committee, which is comprised of the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board, the president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, and four of the eleven regional Federal Reserve Bank presidents on a yearly rotating basis.

And I’m not sure why you’re bringing up a criticism of our collective net worth on a discussion around whether Bitcoin is used in scams, unless you’re trying to push the narrative that traditional fiat currency is somehow worth less than an unbacked security. Which is both irrelevant to the conversation, and a pretty good indication that you don’t really understand how currency works.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Thanks for your input. You are correct. I'm pretty sure I don't understand how currency works. My point, which you ignore, is that all forms of of currency have been used in scams. Did you notice the (/s) at the end of the second sentence, which I used to indicate the snarky, and sarcastic nature of that sentence? Do you disagree, specifically that all forms of currency can, probably all have been, and all will continue to be used in scams?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Sure, and I’ll even broaden that. I’m pretty sure everything that has ever been used as a medium of exchange has been used in a scam somewhere, and the easier it is to use that medium of exchange, the more scams have been perpetrated using it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago