This is a fantastic compendium of articles underscoring the utter bullshit that pervades cryto currency and related high tech and "more innovative" forms of capital.
A few thoughts:
1) How this reminds me of my past:
The first article, which delved into "block chain" real estate transactions, reminded me of a client I had, many years ago,, who alleged that a former business associate had stolen his computer program which was, supposedly, worth millions.
Whenever I asked him a question, he gave me a long, meandering answer which I could never understand. Why was his program worth so much? Because it had utilized .... It all sounded like gobleygook. I was fairly new at the practice of law and I thought my inability to understand his brilliant ideas was the consequence of my ignorance of high tech, which was, according to Gordon, my client, akin to something like the second coming of Jesus.
I spent a year slaving for that bastard. Finally, I found out that he could not read the program in which the allegedly stolen code had been written. My client, who had alleged fraud and theft, was the fraudster. After all, if he wrote the computer code, he would have been able to read that computer code's language.
In this article, we are shown a clip in which a bunch of hypertalkative yuppies shoot the shit about "block chain" real estate transactions. Like my ex client, they keep talking AROUND THE ISSUE. They never even bother to define a "block chain" real estate transactions.
2) The world of crypto seems like this:
You have rendered a service. You want to get paid. The guy who is supposed to pay you says, "You don't want to get conventional money. Money is so passe and common. Isn't really cool to get a hundred buckets of shit instead of one hundred dollars."
Why is phony money supposed to be better than real money.
3) I think we have seen versions of this throughout human history. By "this" I mean the tendency to select imaginary alternatives to the real thing. Examples:
A) the fable of the king's new clothes;
B) Idolatry, the belief that a statuette, composed of wood or stone, somehow constitutes the divine
C( Alchemy, the medieval belief that one can make gold by tinkering with various types of metallic junk
I like the idea of Web3/Crypto/Smart contracts--especially the way they could potentially benefit creators, but I haven't seen a valid use case yet. BitClout, er, DESO looked great for a minute and had a really cool pioneer energy coursing through it. But dev indifference and anemic DAU numbers have left it as a sort of 2022 MySpace ghost town.
Thanks for the comment, Kevin. The more I think about the "best use cases", of which there are none, I revert to the thought that it may have started with a good idea, but just can't seem to find its proper footing. The idea of the Blockchain is intriguing but doesn't seem to be practical at this time. (Other than making some people rich by cheating some less fortunate folk.
An article right up my alley Paul! I enjoyed your "Sure" and "No" list and of course the information about the scams...ugh the more information about them the better.
I believe blockchain technology and NFTs have a future but certainly not as they exist today.
This is a fantastic compendium of articles underscoring the utter bullshit that pervades cryto currency and related high tech and "more innovative" forms of capital.
A few thoughts:
1) How this reminds me of my past:
The first article, which delved into "block chain" real estate transactions, reminded me of a client I had, many years ago,, who alleged that a former business associate had stolen his computer program which was, supposedly, worth millions.
Whenever I asked him a question, he gave me a long, meandering answer which I could never understand. Why was his program worth so much? Because it had utilized .... It all sounded like gobleygook. I was fairly new at the practice of law and I thought my inability to understand his brilliant ideas was the consequence of my ignorance of high tech, which was, according to Gordon, my client, akin to something like the second coming of Jesus.
I spent a year slaving for that bastard. Finally, I found out that he could not read the program in which the allegedly stolen code had been written. My client, who had alleged fraud and theft, was the fraudster. After all, if he wrote the computer code, he would have been able to read that computer code's language.
In this article, we are shown a clip in which a bunch of hypertalkative yuppies shoot the shit about "block chain" real estate transactions. Like my ex client, they keep talking AROUND THE ISSUE. They never even bother to define a "block chain" real estate transactions.
2) The world of crypto seems like this:
You have rendered a service. You want to get paid. The guy who is supposed to pay you says, "You don't want to get conventional money. Money is so passe and common. Isn't really cool to get a hundred buckets of shit instead of one hundred dollars."
Why is phony money supposed to be better than real money.
3) I think we have seen versions of this throughout human history. By "this" I mean the tendency to select imaginary alternatives to the real thing. Examples:
A) the fable of the king's new clothes;
B) Idolatry, the belief that a statuette, composed of wood or stone, somehow constitutes the divine
C( Alchemy, the medieval belief that one can make gold by tinkering with various types of metallic junk
Perfect summaries, David!
I like the idea of Web3/Crypto/Smart contracts--especially the way they could potentially benefit creators, but I haven't seen a valid use case yet. BitClout, er, DESO looked great for a minute and had a really cool pioneer energy coursing through it. But dev indifference and anemic DAU numbers have left it as a sort of 2022 MySpace ghost town.
Thanks for the comment, Kevin. The more I think about the "best use cases", of which there are none, I revert to the thought that it may have started with a good idea, but just can't seem to find its proper footing. The idea of the Blockchain is intriguing but doesn't seem to be practical at this time. (Other than making some people rich by cheating some less fortunate folk.
An article right up my alley Paul! I enjoyed your "Sure" and "No" list and of course the information about the scams...ugh the more information about them the better.
I believe blockchain technology and NFTs have a future but certainly not as they exist today.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the comment, Kelly. Hope you are enjoying the Chicago summer!