This is an interview with lawyer John Reed Stark, who was formerly the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Internet Enforcement.  His view is that crypto of all kinds is just one huge fraud that will end in financial destruction for most of the little people involved.  

 

Over the last decade, Stark has become one of the most credentialed critics of the burgeoning industry. After studying the industry at length, he has come to believe that it will end in a “financial cataclysmic event” that will hurt the most vulnerable of investors. Stark isn’t an all-out cynic. In the lead-up to the dot-com bubble, it was clear to him that the internet would lead to incredible innovation, he said. But with the world of cryptocurrency, he sees little more than a series of frauds and “get-rich-quick schemes” of remarkable size. 

 

“There have been awful frauds from unregulated people and regulated people,” Stark said. “But nothing comes close to the level of fraud in all these Web3 applications.”

 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7nkmg/the-secs-former-head-of-internet-enforcement-fears-how-the-crypto-story-ends

Oh dear! The man is a genius! Ha have concluded that the possible changes to to a part of the financial sector puts small investors in the most vulnerable position. Can he please try to say something that the majority of the human race hopefully not yet are aware of.

 

All decisions regarding economy, and possible investments comes with a risk. It´s up to the person investing to calculate that risk and take necessary steps to minimize the risks regarding maximum damage.

And combining Crypto, NFT'S ,Web3, the Metaverse etc the likelihood of scams is multiplied to the nth degree but equally money making opportunities will abound.

 

As always, caveat emptor.

Bought 10,000 coins at 400.  Sold at 55,000.

 

whose crying???  No tears.

 

now get out there and get rich!!!   Poor people make excuses.   You can do it!!

10 minutes ago, Iamfalang said:

Bought 10,000 coins at 400.  Sold at 55,000.

 

whose crying???  No tears.

 

now get out there and get rich!!!   Poor people make excuses.   You can do it!!

You are now worth $550 million? What are you doing here?

> Why bitcoin, NFTs,

 

please don't compare a godsend to a dog sh't.

 

 

 

 

 

A concert or sports event ticket can be an NFT. It can't be faked, lost or scalped. Any resale allowed could trigger a smart contract on the blockchain which pays something to the NFT creator. I totally get it.

 

What I don't get is what is so valuable with a stupid picture of a munkey?

 

 

3 hours ago, Captain Monday said:

What I don't get is what is so valuable with a stupid picture of a munkey?

tears of the person who've paid for it when you Right Click -> Save Image As... on it

Lord Kelvin (26 June 1824 – 17 December 1907) addressed the British Association for the Advancement of Science with these words: “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now".

 

(Not a fair quote, but you get the idea)

 

However, he also said.....

 

in 1902 ..... “Neither the balloon, nor the aeroplane, nor the gliding machine will be a practical success”.

Just what we need, another Bitcoin thread.

"What use could this company make of an electrical toy?"

- William Orton, president, Western Union Telegraph Company

He was quoted making the above statement when having the change to buy the patent for the telephone

"Do not bother to sell your gas shares. The electric light has no future."

- Professor John Henry Pepper, on Thomas Edison's electric light invention

 

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

- Charles H Duell, Commissioner of US Office of Patents, 1899

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."

- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929.

 

"Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929."There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will."

 - Albert Einstein, 1932.

 

"The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad."

- The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903.

 

"Television won't last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."
- Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946.

I am sure you get my point by. People say dumb <deleted>. All... the... time.... Even those in supposed positions of power/authority/knowledge. 

The analogies to the dot com bubble are indeed a worry for me as well. Just go back and look how long it took for the stars of those bubbles (amazon, google, etc) to financially get over the multitude of crapola that made up the dot com bubble. Nearly 10 years! There is a significant correlation to the crypto market (altcoins, DeFi, et al) that is worrying, i.e. 95% of the current crypto market has incredibly questionable usage cases and utility. 

 

Question now is do you think the scummy projects will die of natural attrition whilst the blue chips and Lv 1's succeed or do you think the scum will drag down the blue chips with for a considerable amount of time (years) before they can succeed.

 

I don't know the answer, its a risk that worries me though. There is going to be a cull at some point but what form will it take? Prices will tank when it happens.

Is the immediate future a trader's market or a hodler's mkt? I don't have 10 years left in my ageing hulk to play that long game as I am sure many others here don't either.

 

P.S. NFTs are going to be massive but not for any of the usage cases we see today which amount to little more than a "Ponzi".

On 3/17/2022 at 7:47 PM, treetops said:

Just what we need, another Bitcoin thread.

As the value of each thread decreases

On 3/17/2022 at 7:41 AM, Captain Monday said:

What I don't get is what is so valuable with a stupid picture of a munkey?

Pure greed and the horror of social marketing.

13 hours ago, mjnaus said:

"What use could this company make of an electrical toy?"

- William Orton, president, Western Union Telegraph Company

He was quoted making the above statement when having the change to buy the patent for the telephone

"Do not bother to sell your gas shares. The electric light has no future."

- Professor John Henry Pepper, on Thomas Edison's electric light invention

 

"Everything that can be invented has been invented."

- Charles H Duell, Commissioner of US Office of Patents, 1899

"Stocks have reached what looks like a permanently high plateau."

- Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929.

 

"Irving Fisher, Professor of Economics, Yale University, October 16, 1929."There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will."

 - Albert Einstein, 1932.

 

"The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad."

- The president of the Michigan Savings Bank advising Henry Ford's lawyer not to invest in the Ford Motor Co., 1903.

 

"Television won't last because people will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."
- Darryl Zanuck, movie producer, 20th Century Fox, 1946.

I am sure you get my point by. People say dumb <deleted>. All... the... time.... Even those in supposed positions of power/authority/knowledge. 

Wasn´t it an executive on IBM in the seventies that predicted the demand for personal computers to less then ten a year?

I think crypto currency is here to stay and grow.
It´s fueled by criminals, dark net and authoritharians and crypto is the answer to thieir wet dreams. The rest of us can tag along for the ride.

Fiat is a loser. Crypto is tech. 95% lose 5% do great.

 

 

On 3/16/2022 at 11:28 AM, Lacessit said:

You are now worth $550 million? What are you doing here?

Give me half

41,600 usd

 

No tears

 

The biggest crooks are all the parasites working in govt. They create nothing. 

 

Free enterprise is what creates things

On 3/17/2022 at 11:49 AM, Will B Good said:

Lord Kelvin (26 June 1824 – 17 December 1907) addressed the British Association for the Advancement of Science with these words: “There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now".

 

(Not a fair quote, but you get the idea)

 

However, he also said.....

 

in 1902 ..... “Neither the balloon, nor the aeroplane, nor the gliding machine will be a practical success”.

Lord Kelvin was born in Ireland, I rest my case.

 

He's not a scientist, but.......

 

"No one will need more than 637Kb of memory for a personal computer." ( Bill Gates )

How many years took it from computers became mainstream from first invented? 
 

crypto technology will be outdated the day we start using digital currency as mandatory for everyone, or maybe the next generation find other solutions. There is no guarantee it will be cryptocurrency’s.
 

Todays Cryptocurrency is a beast that use to much resources, same as old computers filled huge rooms, needed a huge cooling machine and also space for storage. Today same capacity of technology fits in a small 12 inch desktop computer or smaller.  
 

Something to think about. 

19 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Lord Kelvin was born in Ireland, I rest my case.

 

He's not a scientist, but.......

 

"No one will need more than 637Kb of memory for a personal computer." ( Bill Gates )

I wish he’d been correct. I was programming in the early 80’s, 19 kb of  memory, and I could write the whole Payroll program for a company with 1000+ employees. The ‘testing’ department would throw it back at me to re-write if there was greater than 4 second wait for the end user ( between input or output ).

 

I have a new laptop with 4 GB of RAM that takes 2 minutes to boot up and regularly ‘hangs’ midway through a process.

 

Progress? But I do get to view some pretty graphics and pictures whilst I’m waiting.

2 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

41,600 usd

 

No tears

 

The biggest crooks are all the parasites working in govt. They create nothing. 

 

Free enterprise is what creates things

Sure, like the internet, for instance.  Oh wait, that was created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration.  Or the GPS app in your cell phone.  Oh wait, the GPS was created and is maintained by the military at taxpayer expense for which device makers like Garmin, etc. pay nothing.  The development of touch-screen technology was funded by the European CERN as was the first browser.  And on and on.

 

Thank god for free enterprise. 

17 minutes ago, DaLa said:

I wish he’d been correct. I was programming in the early 80’s, 19 kb of  memory, and I could write the whole Payroll program for a company with 1000+ employees. The ‘testing’ department would throw it back at me to re-write if there was greater than 4 second wait for the end user ( between input or output ).

 

I have a new laptop with 4 GB of RAM that takes 2 minutes to boot up and regularly ‘hangs’ midway through a process.

 

Progress? But I do get to view some pretty graphics and pictures whilst I’m waiting.

Ahh i miss the 80s and 90s when your TV remote was working at he speed of light. Technology is fine but they have a habit of overcomplicating simple things now. Have to put a microprocessor in everything. If you stay in a fancy hotel nowdays you have touch panels to control the lighting. Absolutely backwards and unnecessary.

6 minutes ago, cmarshall said:

Sure, like the internet, for instance.  Oh wait, that was created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration.  Or the GPS app in your cell phone.  Oh wait, the GPS was created and is maintained by the military at taxpayer expense for which device makers like Garmin, etc. pay nothing.  The development of touch-screen technology was funded by the European CERN as was the first browser.  And on and on.

 

Thank god for free enterprise. 

And who created Bitcoin?

Imagine...the banks and fiat system poo pooing the competition they can't control.  Shocker.

See Canada as a reason you should remove your money from traditional banking asap.

or even Russia.

Everything shut off in a click like it was NEVER yours for any reason the person in charge decides.

Good riddance

4 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

41,600 usd

 

No tears

 

The biggest crooks are all the parasites working in govt. They create nothing. 

 

Free enterprise is what creates things

Well said.

1 hour ago, cmarshall said:

Sure, like the internet, for instance.  Oh wait, that was created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration.  Or the GPS app in your cell phone.  Oh wait, the GPS was created and is maintained by the military at taxpayer expense for which device makers like Garmin, etc. pay nothing.  The development of touch-screen technology was funded by the European CERN as was the first browser.  And on and on.

 

Thank god for free enterprise. 

I am guessing you worked for a Govenment department.

1 hour ago, Hummin said:

And who created Bitcoin?

Me and a mate on a barstool at Ko Samed.

1 hour ago, cmarshall said:

Sure, like the internet, for instance.  Oh wait, that was created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Administration.  Or the GPS app in your cell phone.  Oh wait, the GPS was created and is maintained by the military at taxpayer expense for which device makers like Garmin, etc. pay nothing.  The development of touch-screen technology was funded by the European CERN as was the first browser.  And on and on.

 

Thank god for free enterprise. 

And where did they get the $ from? Oh wait free enterprise.