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NFT scams, toxic 'mines' and lost life savings: the cryptocurrency dream is fading fast | David A Banks (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 years ago by rysiek@szmer.info to c/technology@lemmy.ml

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[–] guojing@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 years ago

Well, I don’t what we call a thing that manipulates them. Sure, it’s not called a “central bank”. But clearly cryptocurrencies can be manipulated:

on a blockchain level (example, another example, and [https://web3isgoinggreat.com/single/juno-accidentally-transfers-36-million-in-seized-funds-to-inaccessible-wallet-address](Juno is thinking of doing this a second time in a row))
on voting power level (here, for example);
on “we will block you from doing any business” level, blacklisted wallets are a thing.
and on monetary “create money out of thin air” level — Tether always claimed that it’s backed 1:1 with cash; well, it isn’t.

Yes there are risks when you invest money in cryptocurrency, just like there are risks in every investment. The market is also much more volatile than stocks, so I wouldnt recommend to put your life savings there. And to be honest, I have never seen anyone suggest that.

Well, as long as you pay the exorbitant transaction/gas fees (which are there because the supply of particular cryptocurrency is capped, and so some form of rewarding miners is needed, apparently), and if you can afford to wait sometimes days for the transaction to be confirmed.

Yes, Bitcoin isnt really usable as a currency (unless you are rich). Has been the case for many years. There are many other coins that can be used instead.

I mentioned Tether above, in that exact context. Consider the following:

Tether is not a real cryptocurrency, exactly because a single company has full control over the supply. Again, I wouldnt recommend you to invest your money in Tether.

Oh and by the way: Tether was in turn used to manipulate Bitcoin prices.

Of course crypto markets are manipulated, just like stock markets are manipulated. If you dont know that then you are really gullible.

So far you have not named a single problem that cryptocurrencies actually solve. You mentioned a bunch of features some claim they presumably have, but not a single actual solved problem. It’s like saying “cars are great, they have wheels, and you don’t need a bus, and they come in all sorts of colors, too!” in response to a question “what problem do cars solve?”

If it doesnt solve any problem for you, then you can simply ignore the topic. The rest of us will still discuss about it.