Schadenfreude

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Expand view Topic review: Schadenfreude

Re: Schadenfreude

by Trigfea63 » Fri Jun 17, 2022 4:01 am

Crypto is just the modern version of a pyramid scheme.
It's not, entirely. There's an element of a pyramid scheme to it. There's an element of tax evasion, too. But there are also true believers driving the technology forward. Blockchain technology does seem to have some useful applications, for example, as a way of recording transactions in a publicly available form that can't be altered. Cryptocurrency, properly implemented, also has the potential to eliminate the insane profits that banks, bankers, credit cards and similar intermediaries make off of nearly every money-transfer in the US economy.

Crypto in its current state reminds me of the internet of the 1999 "bubble" era: an immature industry/technology, and yes, a lot of shenanigans. Not all internet-based businesses of that era were scams, though (Amazon.com launched in 1997), and the concept of an internet-based business has now proven itself, in spades.

Re: Schadenfreude

by flash2015 » Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:33 am

Who do you think has read only one article on what?

Re: Schadenfreude

by Fluminator » Fri Jun 17, 2022 3:12 am

I always enjoy the people who read one article on it and think they're experts and know what it "really is".

Re: Schadenfreude

by Gwyn » Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:56 pm

flash2015 wrote:
Thu Jun 16, 2022 3:52 pm
Stocks were vastly overvalued due to all the liquidity pumped into the system...so I am not too worried about their fall (so far).

At least in its current form, I argue that crypto is a big scam or as Bill Gates said it is "100% based on greater fool theory"...I really want to see all this BS go to zero as that is its real value.
Crypto is just the modern version of a pyramid scheme.

It's unregulated gambling. People are just hoping to sell before the price tanks and they're the ones left holding the bag.

Hence why all the Crypto bros have been hyping the shit out of it - they want more people to buy it so that the prices go up, so that *they* aren't the ones left holding the bag when it crashes.

Re: Schadenfreude

by flash2015 » Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:41 pm

Jaguar wrote:
Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:53 pm
flash2015 wrote:
Thu Jun 16, 2022 3:52 pm
I really want to see all this BS go to zero as that is its real value.
Any currency's, or indeed asset's, real value is determined solely by the esteem of others. I recommend you read the following very short essay:

https://miltonfriedman.hoover.org/inter ... 15061/full

"The Yap Islanders regarded stones quarried and shaped on a distant island and brought to their own as the concrete manifestation of wealth. For a century and more, the “civilized” world regarded as a concrete manifestation of its wealth metal dug from deep in the ground, refined at great labor, and transported great distances to be buried again in elaborate vaults deep in the
ground. Is the one practice really more rational than the other?"
I understand how you are defining it...but I am explicitly meaning from an investment perspective. When you generally "invest" in something it is because you are hoping to get a return from it in someway. Theoretically at least you invest in the stock market to get a share of the future profits from a company producing goods or services. On their own the artifacts of a particular blockchain produce nothing.

You could also be "investing" in something because of its inherent scarcity. Picasso isn't going to create any more paintings...but you believe the demand for Picasso paintings will only continue to increase. I think the original idea behind bitcoin was that it would be "scarce". There would only ever be 21M bitcoins. The problem with crypto though is it is too easy to create your own blockchain...as pretty much every man and his dog has done. So there is no inherent scarcity to provide any value here.

You could argue that crypto can really be that replacement currency. But that is not how people are ACTUALLY using it. Most of these ledger artifacts are NOT being used, people are just holding them in the hope that they increase in value to sell to the next sucker. That does NOT make a currency. And even if they did use them, most of the blockchains couldn't scale to anything close to the total number of transactions that occur any day in an economy...especially without using a metric butt-tonne of energy. Crypto on its own already wastes more energy than some small countries.

Re: Schadenfreude

by flash2015 » Thu Jun 16, 2022 6:05 pm

Inflation worldwide is terrible of course. I saw a story from Australia yesterday where people were cutting the stalks off the broccoli to save money (the broccoli was $11.99AUD/kg). And the next few months will be rough with petrol prices continuing to rise as well as the full effects of the loss of the Ukraine harvest become apparent.

I think recession is inevitable as reserve banks around the world overshoot on interest rate targets. Just as they underestimated inflation last year, I think they are overestimating it now. Already there are some "green shoots". Chip supply pressures are starting to ease, lumber prices have fallen, inventories are rising which will mean discounting and reduced pressures on shipping. Anecdotally I am already seeing imported food items that we buy regularly falling in price.

It is all distressing but since we live below our means so we aren't in financial distress (knock on wood/famous last words). I am still hoping that in the next few years I get to the point where I don't have to work.

Re: Schadenfreude

by Jaguar » Thu Jun 16, 2022 5:53 pm

flash2015 wrote:
Thu Jun 16, 2022 3:52 pm
I really want to see all this BS go to zero as that is its real value.
Any currency's, or indeed asset's, real value is determined solely by the esteem of others. I recommend you read the following very short essay:

https://miltonfriedman.hoover.org/inter ... 15061/full

"The Yap Islanders regarded stones quarried and shaped on a distant island and brought to their own as the concrete manifestation of wealth. For a century and more, the “civilized” world regarded as a concrete manifestation of its wealth metal dug from deep in the ground, refined at great labor, and transported great distances to be buried again in elaborate vaults deep in the
ground. Is the one practice really more rational than the other?"

Re: Schadenfreude

by Fluminator » Thu Jun 16, 2022 4:28 pm

What's your take on the broader economy right now? If crypto and stocks are the only thing that have caught your eye, I'm curious where you live.

Re: Schadenfreude

by flash2015 » Thu Jun 16, 2022 3:52 pm

Stocks were vastly overvalued due to all the liquidity pumped into the system...so I am not too worried about their fall (so far).

At least in its current form, I argue that crypto is a big scam or as Bill Gates said it is "100% based on greater fool theory"...I really want to see all this BS go to zero as that is its real value.

Re: Schadenfreude

by Fluminator » Thu Jun 16, 2022 12:55 am

It's a lot more than just crypto going down the drain. I'd be more worried about those right now.

Re: Schadenfreude

by Wusti » Wed Jun 15, 2022 10:52 pm

Yes

Schadenfreude

by flash2015 » Wed Jun 15, 2022 10:06 pm

I am really feeling the schadenfraude as I watch crypto prices sink. It is like the force and I can feel it flowing through me. I am loving it.

Does that make me a bad person?

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