Crypto is Crapping the Bed

[wise_rita]

I know nothing of this topic so I thought I'd start a discussion to get some insights from people who know more/are invested in it.

A YouTuber brought up a good point that it's only ever existed in a low interest rate environment, which I hadn't thought about before.

I have nothing beyond that to bring to the discussion!  Does anybody have any thoughts?

[ellipses84]

I was going to post something similar. IDK much about crypto and was wondering. All I can offer is a meme.

[wise_rita]

ellipses84 doesn't look like anybody else feels qualified to comment!

[krystee]

I have never liked it or or invested in it due to its environmental impact, but I always wondered if I was stupid not to.

[dr.girlfriend]

The most I can say is that DH was at SXSW when Bitcoin was first introduced and everyone who attended the presentation got like 5 bitcoin and it's too bad he didn't go!

That said, all money is fake, but crypto seems faker than most, and I know we're a long way from the gold-backed dollar or whatever but money representing nothing and backed by nothing never made sense to me. Plus just how bad it seems for the world and how prone to illegal shenanigans...I would not be sad if the whole thing just flopped. To me it's always seemed like a fancier version of beanie babies. :-)

[RockNVoll]

I will not pretend to be anything but an amateur observer of the sector, though I'm doing my best to try to understand it. Cryptocurrencies are one thing, but it's the underlying blockchain technology that I think is most interesting. So many potential uses and it's not going to go away.

As I understand it, one of the reasons for the recent tanking of cryptocurrencies is because of the failure of TerraUSD/Luna shaking confidence.  I don't understand crypto well enough to feel comfortable investing in it today, but I'm trying to learn more if only so I don't get left behind in understanding a major technological/financial/social tool. 

[quesyrah]

Jun 18, 2022 16:15:42 GMT -5 krystee said:

I have never liked it or or invested in it due to its environmental impact, but I always wondered if I was stupid not to.

I’ve never heard this and really know nothing about crypto. What is the environmental impact?

[krystee]

quesyrah

www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cryptocurrency-environmental-impact?amp

Here is an article and this is a quote about the impact in just one year in one country:
“This results in nearly 40 billion pounds of carbon dioxide produced by US Bitcoin mining alone.”

[dr.girlfriend]

On this same topic, this was an interesting read:

ez.substack.com/p/code-is-lol?s=w

[dr.girlfriend]

Jun 19, 2022 12:47:47 GMT -5 krystee said:

quesyrah

www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cryptocurrency-environmental-impact?amp

Here is an article and this is a quote about the impact in just one year in one country:
“This results in nearly 40 billion pounds of carbon dioxide produced by US Bitcoin mining alone.”

I always think of this tweet (I'm too lazy to upload the screenshot so I'm C&P'ing:

@wkdart

Cryptocurrency is literally like an eight-year-old's concept of an evil businessman. He just plugs his pollution machine in and gets money for it. It doesn't make anything, it just. Pollutes. And makes money. Like a fucking Captain Planet villain

1:15 AM · Apr 25, 2021·Twitter for Android

[Deleted]

I know next to nothing about Crypto. That said, my BIL and a bunch of guys at his work were all investing a new currency called ApeCoin. I heard that one of the guys invested like $60k. BIL convinced H that this was an amazing opportunity and I reluctantly agreed to invest $1k because that was all I was willing to lose. Our purchase is now worth $220 whomp whomp

[jlt19]

Jun 19, 2022 12:47:47 GMT -5 krystee said:

quesyrah

www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cryptocurrency-environmental-impact?amp

Here is an article and this is a quote about the impact in just one year in one country:
“This results in nearly 40 billion pounds of carbon dioxide produced by US Bitcoin mining alone.”

Huh. I clearly knew even less about crypto than I thought I did. I assumed the mining was electronic and that this was all done in the cloud or something. I thought the whole point of crypto was to be electronic and now I’m not seeing the benefit at all when we have a million different ways to buy/save/spend electronically with our current currency.

Never mind. I was right in that the “mining” is technical and not physical but it’s the emissions from the computers that do the mining that are so bad? I don’t know, that’s all FAR too complicated for me.

But so is blockchain, which my company is involved in and has tried to dumb it down for us tech people. Still don’t get it, lol

[krystee]

jlt19 that’s what I have not understood about crypto. With Apple Pay/zelle/Venmo, why do we need an electronic currency? I get the importance of blockchain for logging/recording purposes, but I don’t understand why we need cryptocurrency.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jun 20, 2022 17:00:51 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Jun 19, 2022 12:47:47 GMT -5 krystee said:

quesyrah

www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cryptocurrency-environmental-impact?amp

Here is an article and this is a quote about the impact in just one year in one country:
“This results in nearly 40 billion pounds of carbon dioxide produced by US Bitcoin mining alone.”

Huh. I clearly knew even less about crypto than I thought I did. I assumed the mining was electronic and that this was all done in the cloud or something. I thought the whole point of crypto was to be electronic and now I’m not seeing the benefit at all when we have a million different ways to buy/save/spend electronically with our current currency.

Never mind. I was right in that the “mining” is technical and not physical but it’s the emissions from the computers that do the mining that are so bad? I don’t know, that’s all FAR too complicated for me.

But so is blockchain, which my company is involved in and has tried to dumb it down for us tech people. Still don’t get it, lol

Yeah, my very layman's understanding is you have racks and racks of computers running super hot and requiring major cooling systems.

[dr.girlfriend]

Jun 20, 2022 17:05:10 GMT -5 krystee said:

jlt19 that’s what I have not understood about crypto. With Apple Pay/zelle/Venmo, why do we need an electronic currency? I get the importance of blockchain for logging/recording purposes, but I don’t understand why we need cryptocurrency.

I think the idea was to have something both decentralized and anonymous.  Hence all the potentially illegal uses.  

[quesyrah]

Jun 19, 2022 12:47:47 GMT -5 krystee said:

quesyrah

www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cryptocurrency-environmental-impact?amp

Here is an article and this is a quote about the impact in just one year in one country:
“This results in nearly 40 billion pounds of carbon dioxide produced by US Bitcoin mining alone.”

Thank you!

[quesyrah]

Jun 19, 2022 14:01:54 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Jun 19, 2022 12:47:47 GMT -5 krystee said:

quesyrah

www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cryptocurrency-environmental-impact?amp

Here is an article and this is a quote about the impact in just one year in one country:
“This results in nearly 40 billion pounds of carbon dioxide produced by US Bitcoin mining alone.”

I always think of this tweet (I'm too lazy to upload the screenshot so I'm C&P'ing:

@wkdart

Cryptocurrency is literally like an eight-year-old's concept of an evil businessman. He just plugs his pollution machine in and gets money for it. It doesn't make anything, it just. Pollutes. And makes money. Like a fucking Captain Planet villain

1:15 AM · Apr 25, 2021·Twitter for Android

I had no idea! Thanks

[goldengirlz]

Jun 20, 2022 17:05:10 GMT -5 krystee said:

jlt19 that’s what I have not understood about crypto. With Apple Pay/zelle/Venmo, why do we need an electronic currency? I get the importance of blockchain for logging/recording purposes, but I don’t understand why we need cryptocurrency.

I can’t answer the “why do we need it” question, but I wouldn’t put Apple Pay, Zelle and Venmo in the same category as crypto except for the fact that they all move money around. But those apps aren’t trying to circumvent the current financial system. Crypto is (or at least aims to be) a whole new currency system that’s global, decentralized, (theoretically) independent of inflation and private. So the use cases are far beyond the ability to transfer funds from one entity to another.

At any rate, H threw about $500 into dogecoin, which I can only assume is $500 we’ll never see again. I’m not willing to invest more than play money at this point — i.e. about the same as I’d be willing to spend in Vegas.

[wise_rita]

Jun 20, 2022 19:54:07 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Jun 20, 2022 17:05:10 GMT -5 krystee said:

jlt19 that’s what I have not understood about crypto. With Apple Pay/zelle/Venmo, why do we need an electronic currency? I get the importance of blockchain for logging/recording purposes, but I don’t understand why we need cryptocurrency.

I think the idea was to have something both decentralized and anonymous.  Hence all the potentially illegal uses.  

Oh yes, money laundering was going to be my response. 


Signed,

Slowly making my way through Ozark

[niq]

Long timers know my views on this stuff, so this is me:

[dr.girlfriend]

Another update I found interesting from over here in the peanut gallery:

www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/24/electricity-consumption-mine-bitcoin-plummets-crypto-crisis-widens-cryptocurrency