I was one of the lucky ones who bought bitcoin so I could buy acid on the internet. Years later I put a down payment on a house with the change that I forgot about. DARE was wrong.
I mined a few back in the day. I think I got a couple pizzas and a new router out of it. Could've bought a decent house at the peak value. Oh well.
It's the American Dream
Sometimes i feel like im the only one living it, i see it as Karmic justice because i tip really well and try to be nice to animals.
All those GWh wasted on “mining” only got us closer to the edge.
Electricity better spent than what is dimming our night skies with light pollution, IMO, but also proof of stake fixed that.
The GPU mining got me a free GPU and several hundred dollars, for the cost of about 10 cents per KWh. I'd take that "scam" any day of the week, and so I mined until it was over for GPU mining. No regerts.
noo you don't understand it's going to the moon noooo hodl hodl hodl nooooooooo plz buy my crypto thank you :(
I have invested a total of $2000 in crypto.
I took out $2000 when I had like $12000.
I have no idea how much what is left is now. Probably $500-$700. Definitely less than a months rent.
Imma let it ride. I have rss feeds that'll let me know if any of the coins I own spike for some reason. Otherwise, whatever.
This is the way to do it. What I've got is all profit too, whether that means a million dollars or just one.
I have rss feeds that’ll let me know if any of the coins I own spike for some reason.
Ooh, that sounds handy! Mind if I ask where those feeds are coming from?
Same. I had the money to spare and the means to mine so why not? We made more doing that than I have in working for the last few years and even if it were gone tomorrow it wouldn't affect our livelihood. It's just so nice thing to have when we are old.
I sleep well at night knowing nobody will steal my thing I don't care about because I don't own any. I just wanted you all to know that.
I genuinely tried to look for a legit way to make it an option for paying in a small online store without having to depend on paypal or a bank gateway.
Well transaction fees for any big coin are like many dollars per transaction. It's ridiculous. For smaller transaction fees you have to go to smaller coins that can disappear or lose half their value one day to the next.
And still, if we forget thar people wouls need to pay like a 14€ fee for 1€ transaction. They still have to go to a exange to change their money, and then I have to change it back, because very little things can be bought with crypto, less with cryptos that doesn't have ridiculous transaction fees.
Did I mention than transaction are not instantaneous either? Unless you pay big transaction fee or use some obscure coin that no one uses.
At the end, I ended up with paypal. I really wanted a way to be "independent" of big companies for transaction. But crypto is completely ruined (if it was ever functional that I doubt it). It's not a coin, they are just speculation and bets. With cybercrime and drug dealing being the only "real" uses it has.
Layer 2 networks like Arbitrum resolve the issue of high transaction fees and still be able to transact in ETH. I get there is hurdles compared with the simplicity of PayPal, but at least some of us prefer decentralized payment options where possible.
I tried to do the same for an online marketplace I wanted to create so I didn't have to fuck around with the legal stuff and the sellers could do whatever they wanted with the money and have them deal with legal when exchanging the crypto at an exchange. The closest project with some stability and something was the Blockchain Telos with their pinned Telos USD coin. It seemed promising, but I gave up.
Bitcoin Lightning Network would have solved your fee and speed problem. You can use BTC at many businesses
Like it was basically just digital gold… which is also a terrible currency in physical form.
I mean it is very very useful for specific purposes, like purchasing, uh, certain substances in certain, uh... unregulated online marketplaces.
As far as being a currency for other purposes goes though, I think it is incredibly unfit for purpose. And as far as being an investment vehicle goes it's essentially a ponzi scheme.
Also the hands down best way to do remittances. No more will WorldRemit steal 15% of my remittance, nor screw me on the exchange rate.
Gold is useful in that it always remains gold but that's the extent of it.
Wouldn't say terrible. Just volatile and with a specific use cas. But incaseyour currency loses value you still have some wealth wich you can use for financial interactions (assuming you still have access to it)
Its useful in that it can be used to perpetuate scams
You make more money as the cult leader but you have more fun as a follower
It also helps morons and crooks self-identify.
I have a friend who bought some eth in like 2015 (or whenever) just to see if he could make money on it. Same guy told me he once bought coke on the darkweb. As far as I know, he only did each of these once to see if they were true.
I would not associate with anyone who is an active participant in crypto. Much less anyone who owns and hypes NFTs. That's like telling me you like cops / are pro-life / believe Jesus needs to save me. All of these are signs that we are not compatible.
Extremely relevant...
I love that "Web 1.0" link on the bottom for us NoScript users. Enough webs already!
Hah, cool! I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out. 👍
The idea was great, but it was ruined by greed.
It's always been a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
How did you buy drugs online before crypto? I think it's made it much easier. Also for international transactions of large sums I used to pay fees for services and crypto allows for an easy universal standard with no middle men. Micropayments never caught on, but it would be a nice solution for that as well. This argument that we already have money, we don't need different money never flew with me. Crypto has its place, it was just abused as an investment commodity way too early and this massive inflation completely suffocated any practical application.
[greed!] The cause of and solution to all of our problems
- homer Simpson
I welcome you to my comment thread where people downvote me for being a living example of where cryptocurrency solves a problem better than anything else.
the idea was great
I have questioned this ever since I learned that the more adoption there is, the less efficient mining becomes, ergo more power is wasted accomplishing the exact same task for no extra benefit. Difficulty creates a back asswards system that makes adoption a con.
This sounds like everything ever.
Having a huge penis got worse the greedier I was
MY APES IS GOAN
Someone could just send you a copy
I can understand monero since you can actually use it as a currency on some certain websites, but that's basically it. I do not care about crypto anymore because of the almost toxic culture it can brew.
Back when reddit was a thing, I asked how to even start with crypto (what type of wallet, general set up general use etc) and just didn't even talk about the actual mining (I remember saying something around the lines of "I'm looking to mine because it's supposed to get extra cold this winter, I do not care about actually getting any crypto" and those dense mfers kept linking a website that calculates how much I would make with the cost of electricity and the efficiently of it all... like.... I didn't even care about making anything, I just didn't want it going into the ether)
Anyways that's my rant
I ran a very small mining operation at home back in the day and it definitely was all about trying to optimize everything.
Today, I don't think mining is economically viable without running a data center, but I still mine in the winter and turn my computer into a space heater for my home office. It definitely doesn't cover the power cost but it does offset a small portion of it.Not affiliated in any way but Nicehash is what I use now since it (mostly) runs out of the box with minimal configuration.
As a side note, don't mine on laptops - you won't get enough heat to keep a room warm and you might end up with something failing from overheating.
Clearly you didnt figure out how to turn crypto into fancy monitors and overpriced speaker systems.
Way back when Bitcoin was first being talked about on Slashdot, I mined for a while. On my processor. For like a month. I got about 1/20 of a Bitcoin out of it.
And then I lost interest for a long time. And then it became clear blockchain is an infinite self-similar fractal of scams and ponsis.
I haven't done anything with my 1/20 of a Bitcoin. I don't have any expectation it will go up or down. If the bubble takes back off and inflates so much 1/20 of a Bitcoin becomes life-changing money, I might try to sell it. Maybe if a bunch of crypto-owning crypto-skeptics organize a mass sell event to drive it to zero, I'll take part. Otherwise, it'll stay where it is for the forseeable future.
Ironic that someone like me who believes wholeheartedly that blockchain is snake oil is such a model hodler.
You’ve basically explained why crypto can’t work.
Deflationary currencies don’t make sense to spend because their future value will be higher.
The outcome is people hold onto them in the hopes they gain value. The exact opposite of what you want for a currency.
As a counterpoint: From the perspective of the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin is not inherently deflationary as long as mining continues to introduce new coins. Mining rewards do drop over time, but new Bitcoin will continue to be generated until the year ~2140.
I think the view of Bitcoin being deflationary now is based on its increasing/volatile value against other currencies which does encourage people to hold with the expectation that they can sell for more in the future. I'd argue that this is price discovery and not deflation. If it remains where it is now, then I agree that it will just be another casino. If the value stabilizes eventually, then it does offer some benefits, especially in countries where the local currency is a less reliable way to hold money.
Disclosure: I do hold some crypto and obviously would prefer it to go up but it won't change my life. I just think it's an interesting experiment at the end of the day.
For sure. Also, the inherent unscalability of blockchain as a technology makes for a payment system far too slow for your typical payment scenarios, which makes transferring Bitcoin a pain in the ass, further incentivising hodling.
(Just to address some of the "akshully"s I'm probably going to get for the above, you can make blockchain fast if you centralize it like Solana does, but if you're going to centralize it, you're better off using Postgres than blockchain.)
I think largely the argument that convinces some people that cryptocurrency is worth "investing in" is that it's going to revolutionize the way we pay for things. In which case the fact that it doesn't work as a currency completely robs it of any legitimacy as a security.
If you want something that does have potential to improve the way we go about buying groceries, look into GNU Taler.
Bitcoin, not CrYPtO.... fucking noobs
…and yet here you are making a post about it. :)
Yeah....Luke with NFTs, the thing really has an Emperors New Suit vibe, to me.
I still don't understand the "you own it" argument of NFTs. When you buy an art piece from the creator normally, don't you also own it? Like when you commission a piece from an artist the rights are transferred to you once you pay them right?
Also, trading NFTs is basically the same as rich asshole private collectors trading Van Gogh's and Pablo Picasso's, just dumbed down to get normies in on the action. I know NFTs promise to give the artist a cut of the revenue, but one, they're paid in tokens that are infamously difficult to actually buy anything with other than more crypto, not "real" money that they can spend on food or more art supplies, basically the techbro version of paying in exposure. Two, there is absolutely zero things stopping literally anyone from minting an NFT from stolen art and getting a cut too with, by design, no way for the real artist to take down those NFTs or for people who bought it thinking it's genuine and that they're supporting the artist to reverse their transactions. In fact AFAIK that's the majority of NFTs in existence, so to say it's "all about artists" while doing nothing to address that means you don't actually give a shit about artists.
This is like someone from the 80s telling everyone how dumb the internet is because all there is are BBS full of nerds flaming each other. If all you think NFTs are is internet pictures you don’t understand the technology.
Crypto is the hack. On your wallet...
And here I am sitting at the bank trying to resolve a credit card transaction being rejected to pay for my student loan, something that wouldn't be an issue if they accepted cryptocurrency. But sure, whatever makes you feel better about yourself.
Update: there was nothing they could do, and I am forced to make an overseas bank transfer with a 50$ + 1/20% fee every month from now on. My bank fucked me hard by arbitrarily blocking these credit card transfers.
Credit cards allow chargebacks. Huge advantage for the consumer to get back their money from theft or scams. With crypto, once its gone, its gone (like cash or other physical possessions).
They allow chargeback because it is so easy to steal credit card information and illegally use your card. Which is why they also sometimes block legitimate transactions and put me in the position I am in right now.
I've never had any issues like this in crypto, neither have I ever been scammed or had funds stolen off of my crypto wallet.
crypto might have a few benefits
Sorry, you must be new to Lemmy. Here, talking about cryptocurrencies in any positive light is considered bad taste, and you absolutely deserve any flak you may receive for this transgression.
/s
the text is sarcastic but the circlejerk is real
edit: I agree cryptocurrency is not good but people here act like it's going to personally shoot your dog
That is most of the internet though, and for good reason.
Except for maybe the crypto bro bubbles and the crypto exchanges where they invent new scams.
why should we talk positively about a ponzi scheme?
are you also going to defend MLMs?
I hope GNU Taler becomes known.
Not arguing about the merits of blockchain, but if your money is in a bank, it is on a computer that depends on cryptography (TLS) for controlling access.
edit: Well, ok, at least then it's not just crypto standing between your assets and someone else. Then there's going to be at least another layer, like multifactor authentication, VPN/MPLS, etc., depending on the point being attacked.
I think generally the big issue that people have with crypto is that there are so many irreversible mistakes you can make, not that the underlying security is worse/better than a bank. There are lots of ways to securely manage crypto, but most people don't have the tools, expertise, and discipline to do so. Even simple things like being diligent about randomly generating strong passwords, hardening your accounts and devices against account theft and social engineering, etc.
At the end of the day if you lose your bank password, account details, etc, you can go to a branch with your id and get access. If you are scammed and money is transferred from your account, the bank will generally make you whole or be able to reverse the transaction. None of those safeguards exist in crypto, and many would say that is a feature, not a bug. Which is fine, I get it, I was a crypto early adopter because I liked the math side of it. But it's not what most people need or can integrate into their life.
I will also say that I laughed long and hard about reports of NFT smart contracts being used to execute malicious code sent as an NFT, which is a massive security issue, but I don't think it's fair to lump the whole crypto ecosystem into the NFT cesspool.
I kinda love cryptocurrency but you nailed the problem. For me all of the features sound like power. To others they sound like risk.
It'll be interesting to see which traditions endure over the decades. The stereotypical "crypto bro" squirrels away his own coins, but doesn't have a plan for when he dies. So these "lost coins" will gradually become a majority of the total supply. Meanwhile groups like families and unions can use shared accounts to majority-approve each expense, and cycle through users over time.
I wish the technology itself was used to replace the stock market, i.e. blockchain to take care of transactions in a truly transparent fashion, coins as a replacement for stocks. Other than that there isn't much that crypto can do better and more efficiently than the systems in place right now except maybe international money transfers in certain countries...
Except that your bank will probably not prevent you to withdraw your money, will probably not be banned from other banks, and will probably not tweet "oh shit someone stole everything, nothing to do its gone, so you are ruined, bye"
You very well know that is not what is being talked about here.
Crypto reality and butt coin will like this
I don't hodl, i use it. Very convenient with crypto cards etc. I've had banks close my accounts before until i explain where money is coming from etc. Banks are cancer. I'm so glad there's an alternative
Most people on this thread don't understand that it's just a better way to do transactions
Better way to get scammed. I never see big winners from Crypto. Money doesn't just come out of nowhere, its like stocks someone pays eventually.
Speculation and investimg in a crypto is the scam, it is stocks based on nothing, but as a IOU transactional tool it is no different that paper money or creditcard. Used in many places for micro transactiona at street vendors via phone app. Anything with CEO that held back coins before public offering is aget rich quick scam. Bitcoin is the only decentralized one with no person running it.
Lol all these people acting like holding the coins until they increase in value is the only reason people use them are missing the point of crypto. Every transaction you make with your bank accounts and cards, is used to build a profile about you. Usually to advertise. These banks can do whatever thet want to you. They can close your account at will. They can give (and do give) a copy of all of your financial data to law enforcement simply because they believe you are "suspicious". Thats all they have to say and then, good luck with the legal proceedings to get that FDIC insured money back from them. The goal of crypto is for mainstream adoption. We want a world where your financial data can be YOURS. Im not saying dont use your countries own currency (unless you live in Venezuala in which case there is another use case of Crypto) but all of you have been fed these lies and fear about crypto because the ruling financial lords want you to feel that way so they end up maintaining financial control. Why do you think the USA is so eager to change the lending rules for crypto now, to make it the exact way the banks do it now? (Google it) seems odd that they try to discredit its use yet also want more rules for it, doesnt it? Also you can accept 6 different kinds of Crypto on shopify stores alone now, and more merchants will follow suit in the future. It isnt about holding a shit token to try and get money at least for the ones who actually care about its currency use case it isnt. Btw, Monero solves all the privacy concerns people have with BTC.
You should use line breaks more often.
Cryptocurrency is our one and only way to be free from the banks,
Banks are shitty, but at least my government guarantees my debit and savings accounts up to €100k.
The crypto space is filled with cowboys and speculators.
Cryptocurrency is our one and only way to be free from the banks,
Stupid is as stupid does.
people that think that cryptosis scam don't know anything about crypto
You're giving real money to unregulated corporations run by tech-bros in exchange for a string of numbers that you don't understand and the promise that you'll get money back one day.
Yeah, that's a scam.
well that's the thing regulation is already coming, xrp for example is the first regulated crypto out there. Bitcoin and ether have trillions of dollars of investments from some of the biggest investment firms in the world and Banks all over the world are adopting it as a store of value so you go ahead and tell me that it's still a scam any more so than any other currency and I'll go ahead and keep investing in crypto.
Crypto is a scam. It's yet another example of a pyramid scheme usually that seldom pays off.
I'll start taking crypto seriously when you stupid shills stop trying to get rich off of that shit and actually fucking achieve something useful with Crypto that isn't enriching yourselves or others in the hopes that you too will be enriched.
Enjoy being the bail-in liquidity for bailing out the banks and the rich.
