As the AI market continues to balloon, experts are warning that its VC-driven rise is eerily similar to that of the dot com bubble.

    • qwertyWarlord@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Crypto is 100% a bubble. It’s not an investment so much as a ponzi, sure you can dump money into it and maybe even make money, doesn’t mean it doesn’t collapse on a whim when someone else decides to dip out or the government shuts it down. Its value is exactly that of NFT’s because it’s basically identical, just a string of characters showing “ownership” of something intangible

      • stealin@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Whatever man, used electricity will become valuable someday, I just know it.

        • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Being able to pay for things anonymously is very valuable to me and to many other people. That’s just one example of what this technology can be used for.

          • zouden@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Bitcoin isn’t anonymous yet it’s the most valuable crypto. Monero is barely used. Most crypto people just want to get rich, they don’t actually care about using it.

            100% a bubble

            • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I could go to the local ATM and buy Bitcoin anonymously right now. So, unlike a credit card, it can be used anonymously. Monero is better of course and it doesn’t matter how many people use it. Even if a store doesn’t accept it directly, you can use it to buy gift cards for any store.

              I don’t care what most crypto people do, it’s irrelevant, just like the price is irrelevant and doesn’t affect my ability to use this technology.

              • primalanimist@lemmy.today
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                1 year ago

                I could go to the local ATM and buy Bitcoin anonymously right now So you walk around the city with your face covered, only buy stuff with cash, and never ride in your personally owned vehicle or the vehicle of a friend?

                The ATM has a transaction time and your bitcoin transaction record. There are enough cameras in the cities near ATMs (for this very reason) that you can be tracked if the government found you as interesting as you think you might be.

                • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  This person probably thinks venmo is anonymous too.

                  You’d be better off going to the ATM and getting cash and then using that cash for your purchase if you wanted to remain anonymous.

                  Bitcoin keeps a transaction log that’s integral to the technology behind it, and is retained longer than fucking Chase Manhattan transaction logs.

      • Patius@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        It’s not even a ponzi scheme, it’s just a good old fashioned bubble.

        It’s digital tulips.

    • qaz@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      NFTs yes but crypto is absolutely not a bubble. People are saying that for decades now and it hasn’t been truth. Yes there are shitcoins, just like shitstocks. But in general, it’s definitely not a bubble but an alternative investing method beside stocks, gold etc.

      What is the underlying mechanism that increases its value, like company earnings are to stocks? Otherwise, it’s just a reverse funnel scheme.

        • bigschnitz@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Money has value insofar as governments use it to collect tax - so long as there’s a tax obligation, there’s a mandated demand for that currency and it has some value. Between different currencies, the value is determined based upon the demand for that currency, which is essentially tied to how much business is done in that currency (eg if a country sells goods in its own currency, demand for that currency goes up and so does it’s value).

          This is not the same for crypto, there are no governments collecting tax with it so it does not have induced demand. The value of crypto is 100% speculative, which is fine for something that is used as currency, but imo a terrible vehicle for investment.

            • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Gold Standard

              Linking money to a material with intrinsic value for it’s value

              Gold has intrinsic value

              US Dollar moved to be a Fiat Currency

              US Dollar is backed by a Government

              Crypto has zero intrinsic value, not linked to anything with intrinsic value, and not backed by a Government

              Crypto is an imaginary “item” some people want to have valve. Value is created because of this want.

              US Dollar is legal tinder for all US debts, Crypto is not

              Crypto is not a currency but a digital commodity

              • jose423@lemmy.jgholistic.com
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                1 year ago

                Money and gold have value because they can be exchanged easily for goods and services that are really wanted. As long as crypto currencies make it hard to trade for goods ands services, they will be, at best, a fad, at worst, a scam. There needs to be market for crypto to work. All I see is promises, no real commitments to it.

                • Devccoon@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  All I ever see around crypto is this vague notion that it could someday be acknowledged and used widely as real money is. But so could bottle caps. I don’t see the mechanism for how it realistically happens. It’s no less a moonshot than it was 3 years ago, IMO.

                  Just because a lot of people are buying into crypto doesn’t make the underlying inefficiencies in its design (depending on the coin) disappear and make way for common usage. As it stands now, cryptocurrencies are basically glorified ponzi schemes. The people nonstop defending them deserve to be treated with constant skepticism because they have skin in the game and know there’s nothing preventing them from losing it all. It’s in their best interest to believe in it and spread that belief.

                  • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    You are forgetting that cryptocurrency has real uses. You can send money to people without using a bank or PayPal. I use it to pay for things online anonymously and being able to do that is very valuable to me and to other people. You can use crypto to buy a gift card for any store if they don’t accept crypto directly.

                    I have nothing to gain by saying this, since I don’t keep any significant amount of money in crypto. I don’t care what the price of Bitcoin or another coin is. It’s irrelevant and doesn’t affect my ability to use this technology.

                    Cryptocurrency is not a scam. It’s just a distributed ledger.

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Gold does not have intrinsic value. It is merely scarce (relatively speaking). The value of gold fluctuates all the time.

                • Sludgeyy@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Intrinsic - belonging naturally; essential

                  Gold has physical applications that are needed

                  Even if people didn’t want it because of the looks, gold would still be needed to make things

                  Gold has intrinsic value because it is always going to be worth something

                  Gold is never going to be worthless. That’s it intrinsic value.

                  • SCB@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    Much of gold’s value (certainly before the ending of the Gold Standard) was totally subjective. It looks pretty. Being rare and pretty gave it value.

                    I suppose you could tie some sort of value to technical application, but it isn’t intrinsic to gold itself. If society collapses tomorrow, gold isn’t suddenly going to be currency.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Money is a physical representation of the concept of value. Saying “what gives money value” is like asking “why does rain make clouds.”

              This is why printing money decreases the value of the currency - the value it represents has not changed so the value is diluted across the currency as the amount of currency expands.

          • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I don’t know if it’s good investment or not, but cryptocurrency has uses that are valuable to a lot of people. You can send money to other people without using a bank or PayPal and you can pay for things online anonymously. Some cryptocurrencies might have additional properties like Monero, which also gives you privacy. NFT might also have practical uses some day - for example it could be used for concert tickets.

        • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          What’s the underlying mechanism that gives money a value?

          A) the government backing it up along with its advanced military

          B) the fact that you have to pay taxes in it

    • Platomus@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      The only way for someone to make money in crypto is for someone else to lose it.

      Crypto is a scam.

        • bigschnitz@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Money isn’t an investment, it’s a currency. Of course it’s a bad investment and investing in forex is barely a better investment than crypto (purely because there’s less risk of a sovereign currency devaluing to 0).

          Investing in capital, like stocks, property, equipment etc does not require someone to lose money for the capital owner to profit. If I invest in a stock, each year I’m paid a dividend based on the profits of that organisation - no losers required. I could later sell that stock at the exact price I paid for it and come away with profit from those dividends. What determines whether it’s a good or bad investment, is the ratio of profit to the capital owner compared to cost of the asset. Crypto generates 0 profit, so it has 0 value as a capital investment.

        • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Stocks pay dividends to their share holders. Stocks also represent portions of companies that make other things.

          Basically you’re saying that crypto is like a shitty stock that doesn’t pay dividends, doesn’t generate a profit, makes nothing, is not actually valuable, and is only worth what you can sucker someone else into paying for it. I agree.

          But I also wouldn’t invest in such a stock.

      • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        How is distributed ledger a scam? It’s nothing new and we know exactly how it works. It has nothing to do with making money. If I use it to pay for things online how am I getting scammed? I’m sorry, but it seems you don’t fully understand what this technology is.

        • TurtleJoe@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          The blazing fast technology that allows for up to 7 transactions a second worldwide? Amazing.

          Don’t forget to pay your capital gains tax when you sell your butts online to buy your pizza.

          • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The slow transaction speed is a valid criticism, but it doesn’t make this technology a scam. Different cryptocurrencies have different speeds. With Litecoin I think it takes me 40 minutes to pay for something. I still prefer that over being tracked by my bank or having to use PayPal. I think you can pay instantly with Dash, but I haven’t used it.

            I don’t sell anything online, so what are you talking about?

      • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That video is probably the biggest piece of misinformation about cryptocurrency on YouTube and it’s sad to see that so many people have been fooled by it. Most people are so bad at understanding modern technology that they will believe a random youtuber who has no idea what he is talking about :(.

        Cryptocurrency is just a distributed ledger. NFT is just a certificate of ownership. Those technologies have real uses and nothing about them makes them a scam.