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+--- Thread: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies (/showthread.php?tid=6561)
Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Minimalist - 05-01-2021
Last night on Real Time.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Gwaithmir - 05-02-2021
Reminds me of the Tulip Mania from 1637.
Tulip mania - Wikipedia
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Minimalist - 05-02-2021
Excellent history lesson.... although even there at least there was a tulip.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Dānu - 05-02-2021
Cryptocurrency turns resources into money by the application of work. Computation is a product just like anything else. Bill Maher is just ignorant.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - SYZ - 05-02-2021
Personally, and at my age, I don't need to give a flying fuck about so-called cryptocurrency.
Without really knowing all that much about it, or caring then, I agree with Maher—as far as
it goes.
From Cryptocurrency For Dummies, I've taken this brief piece which outlines the supposed
advantages of cryptocurrency over cash or credit cards—but excludes debit cards which pay the
user interest on a positive balance. My comments in [brackets].
• Reducing corruption: [not in Australia; maybe in South America] With great power comes great responsibility. But when you give a ton of power to only one person or entity, the chances of their abusing that power increase. The 19th-century British politician Lord Acton [Acton's been dead for 120 years] said it best: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Cryptocurrencies aim to resolve the issue of absolute power by distributing power among many people [so more chance of corruption along the chain] or, better yet, among all the members of the network. That’s the key idea behind blockchain technology anyway.
• Eliminating extreme money printing: Governments have central banks, and central banks have the ability to simply print money when they’re faced with a serious economic problem [not in Australia; has never happened in our 250-year history]. This process is also called quantitative easing. By printing more money, a government may be able to bail out debt or devalue its currency. However, this approach is like putting a bandage on a broken leg [silly analogy]. Not only does it rarely solve the problem, but the negative side effects also can sometimes surpass the original issue.
• Giving people charge of their own money: [I already have that] With traditional cash, you’re basically giving away all your control to central banks [nonsense] and the government. [the Federal government underwrite. the money you hold with banks] If you trust your government, that’s great [I do], but keep in mind that at any point, your government is able to simply freeze your bank account [not so] and deny your access to your funds [not so]. For example, in the United States, if you don’t have a legal will and own a business, the government has the right to all your assets if you pass away. [not in Australia] Some governments can even simply abolish bank notes the way India did in 2016 [atypical]. With cryptocurrencies, you and only you can access your funds. [wishful thinking by cryptocurrency marketers!]
• Cutting out the middleman: With traditional money, every time you make a transfer, a middleman like your bank or a digital payment service takes a cut [not so; card transactions are fee-free to account holder]. With cryptocurrencies, all the network members in the blockchain are that middleman; their compensation is formulated differently from that of fiat money middlemen’s and therefore is minimal in comparison [so it can be whatever they want, with no official oversight?].
• Serving the unbanked: A vast portion [how vast?] of the world’s citizens has no access or limited access [how limited?] to payment systems like banks. Cryptocurrencies aim to resolve this issue by spreading digital commerce around the globe so that anyone with a mobile phone can start making payments. And yes, more people have access to mobile phones than to banks [citation?]. In fact, more people [how many?] have mobile phones than have toilets [classic, pathetic strawman], but at this point the blockchain technology may not be able to resolve the latter issue.
Put simply, there is NO necessity, or immediate financial advantage, for the average punter in
playing this game—which is, ultimately, what it is. Just like 'Monopoly' is. (This article sounds like
a lot like a typical timeshare marketing presentation LOL.)
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Minimalist - 05-03-2021
I'm trying to ascertain the difference between this and the average Ponzi scheme.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Dom - 05-03-2021
It is widely used internationally in legal grey areas, such as online gambling, as well as in downright criminal enterprises. But, there are also perfectly legitimate online businesses offering it as payment method. It has the advantage of anonymity.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Cavebear - 05-03-2021
(05-03-2021, 01:36 AM)Minimalist Wrote: I'm trying to ascertain the difference between this and the average Ponzi scheme.
There is none.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Minimalist - 05-03-2021
Ah....Poor Bernie Madoff died too soon.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Cavebear - 05-03-2021
(05-03-2021, 04:21 AM)Minimalist Wrote: Ah....Poor Bernie Madoff died too soon.
Three words about cryptocurrency: "Dutch Tulip Craze".
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Aegon - 05-03-2021
(05-01-2021, 04:53 PM)Minimalist Wrote: Last night on Real Time.
This bit will age just as well as this one
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Minimalist - 05-03-2021
Two more 3-word references.
dot com bubble
sub-prime mortgages
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Aegon - 05-03-2021
(05-03-2021, 06:37 PM)Minimalist Wrote: Two more 3-word references.
dot com bubble
sub-prime mortgages
If you're comparing cryptos to the dot com bubble, then investors will be fine sticking with BTC, and ETH, at least. Since obviously not every dot com went under when the bubble burst. Quite to the contrary, actually - some of them became the biggest companies on the planet. Cryptos will have long-term utility so there's no doubt the value will steadily increase over time just like it has for years. But there are so many cryptos now, and obviously not all of them will stand the test of time.
If you're comparing cryptos to sub-prime mortgages, that doesn't make any sense to me.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Bucky Ball - 05-03-2021
I think we should go (back) to beaver pelt money and trade them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_money
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Minimalist - 05-03-2021
The comparison is that people threw a lot of money away on over-valued financial gimmicks and stocks. But at least there was something tangible there at one point, however ludicrously inflated its value was.
Have fun with your monopoly money.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - SYZ - 05-03-2021
Bitcoin and other digital coins plunged last week, wiping over $200 billion off the value of the
entire cryptocurrency market. President Biden is expected to raise long-term capital gains tax
for the wealthiest Americans to 43.4%, including a surtax—which has led to a wave of selling
in crypto markets, which have had a great year with bitcoin climbing more than sixfold in the
last 12 months.
Why ‘Black Swan’ author Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls bitcoin an open Ponzi scheme...
https://www.cnbc.com/video/2021/04/23/why-black-swan-author-calls-bitcoin-an-open-ponzi-scheme.html
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - GenesisNemesis - 05-04-2021
Isn't Bill Maher an anti-vax moron? https://www.forbes.com/sites/ninashapiro/2019/11/03/bill-maher-supports-vaccine-autism-connection/?sh=21d4644a723d
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - SYZ - 05-05-2021
Oh shit oh dear!
Quote:"It seems to be more realistic to me if we're just gonna be realistic about it" Bill Maher said.
"It probably happens so rarely but no one wants, you can't say it happens one in a million times,
because then somebody will think 'Well, I could be that millionth one'.
Obviously Maher has never studied and/or understood simple statistics.
And even IF his claim of one in a million were true (it's not) then it'd
be statistically insignificant. According to the US National Safety Council,
Mortality Data for 2019, the chance of being killed by lightning is one
in 138,849. Does Maher never go outside when it's raining?
—It's a pity, because I agree with a lot of stuff he says on a wider range
of topics, but as an informed commentator, rather than as a self-professed
medical authority such as this case. It's a fine line between expertise and
opinion that Maher sadly, and dangerously, steps over here.
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Full Circle - 06-14-2021
This is an imaginary conversation going on in my head between a believer in Crypto and Joe Public:
You should own Crypto.
Why?
The value is going through the roof!
What is it?
It’s a Blockchain digital currency.
A what?
A BDC, you can use it to transfer money around without government intervention.
Oh. Why would I want that?
That’s not important (wink, wink). What’s important is that you can make money owning it!
Wait, I thought you said it was a currency, isn’t that the same as money?
No! Well, yes…kind off. You see the price of Crypto is going up, unlike regular money.
Why?
More and more people want it.
Why?
Because the price is going up.
Huh? That sounds like a pyramid scheme.
No, no, no! That’s not it at all, it’s it’s it’s an investment, yeah, that’s it, an investment.
Ok, so I “invest” in one of these crypto coins and what happens?
Someone else buys it from you for more than you paid for it.
What currency do they use to buy it from me, the same crypto coin?
Of course not, that would be silly, they would pay you in dollars or pounds or even Euros.
So why wouldn’t I just own dollars, pounds or Euros in the first place?
‘Cause no one is bidding those up!
Oh. What happens if I can’t find a buyer for my crypto coin who’ll pay me in some other currency as much or more than what I paid for it in the first place?
Well, you would lose the difference in the other currency. But that will never happen!
I thought I read that BitCoin lost half its value recently?
That was just a blip, don’t worry about that. By the way, would you like to buy my BitCoin for $100,000.00?
RE: Bill Maher on Cryptocurrencies - Mr Greene - 06-17-2021
[Accountant hat on:]
I get people asking me for my view of cryptocurrency though if tell them it's a commodity with no intrinsic value and that the lack of regulation enables a substantial number of scams, they'll likely interrupt and try to get me to repeat what the crypto-salesman told them, even if it's blatent BS and self contradictory.
eg; the fact that 'work' has been done does not confer any value whatsoever, though salesmen trot this out to the marks time after time.
Yes you can make money if you invest at the bottom value and get out before the drop same as with any other investment, however it a gamble, You can double your money right now; just sell everything you own, take it to a casino and put it on black.
Is this a good move?