• 4dpuzzle@beehaw.org
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    8 months ago

    The return of investment on crypto doesn’t come from any value it generates. It comes from other people who made bad bets and lost their money on the same. That makes investing in crypto the same as participating in a Pyramid. Your argument, if taken for face value, can easily be extended to defend pyramid schemes.

    • sherlockholmez@lemmy.ml
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      8 months ago

      The same is, however, true for most of the stock market.

      The only counter argument is dividends, which are extremely rare in most industries, and barely a dent relative to an investor’s portfolio.

      • erwan@lemmy.ml
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        8 months ago

        You can argue that owning a piece of a company who generates value is not the same thing as owning some useless cryptographic token.

    • jarfil@beehaw.org
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      8 months ago

      People who call crypto a pyramid scheme <-> People who know the difference between pyramid and Ponzi scheme

      PS: if you think crypto is a pyramid scheme, stay away from crypto.

    • qwerty@discuss.tchncs.de
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      8 months ago

      I use crypto to privately pay for my VPN, phone bill, to donate to foss projects. I sold some digital items online for crypto. I use it because it’s faster, more private (if done correctly) and convenient than using a credit card or bank transfer. No one can seize, freeze, or control my crypto. I can donate, pay or get paid on my own terms with no middle man. If visa, mastercard, banks or fintech companies generate value then so does crypto.

      • 4dpuzzle@beehaw.org
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        8 months ago

        I was talking about the use of crypto as an investment, not as currency. While the latter was the purpose that cryptocurrencies were originally designed for, the former now far outweighs it.