Delf
muesli"Cryptocurrencies are everything people don’t know about computers combined with everything they don’t understand about money."
Codhisattva@fribbledom AI is everything people don’t know about statistics combined with everything they don’t understand about brains.
LJ@Codhisattva @fribbledom OMG that's perfect.
Schroedingers_Cat@fribbledom AI is everything people don't know about computers combined with everything people don't know about inteligence.
AutisticMumTo3@fribbledom
Cryptocurrencies are a 'wild west' of gambling and scams with little or no regulations for the most part or at least that is how it seems to me
Cryptocurrencies are a 'wild west' of gambling and scams with little or no regulations for the most part or at least that is how it seems to me
JonathanYep that's how they started and that's how they'll end.
errorbodyDig deeper, find more.
🇳𝗮ꜟ𝖼𝘩@Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
When you think of NFTs, what do you have in mind? If the answer is images of apes or rocks which sell for hundreds of thousands of $ or even millions, I once more urge you to dig deeper. From the outside everything might look like a casino, a scam, toy money or stupid jpegs. While that is part of it, there's no reason denying that, it's not the entire picture. Critics love that image and I get it, it sure makes for good jokes, but don't stop there.
@Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
There are NTFs with real world utility. I just wanted to add that here because otherwise people only think about the three NFT projects they already know. That would be a shame.
@Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
https://empowa.io/project/collateral-nft/
There's a little FAQ at the end. I can't expect you to get what the project is about instantly as you've most likely never heard of it before. You can of course browse their entire web presence to learn more.
@errorbody @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
So, basically shares. Reinventing a centuries old concept with an extra layer of needless complexity.
So, basically shares. Reinventing a centuries old concept with an extra layer of needless complexity.
@Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
I don't see it that way. Owning shares make you a stakeholder in a company which rewards you with some divident. The collateral NFT support building climate resilient housing on the African continent. On top of that, because you take a little risk, you get extra tokens. The people making use of Empowa, I speak of the homeowners, often have an informal income. They don't get a credit. Using Empowa they rent to own their houses. The NFTs help the developers.
I don't see it that way. Owning shares make you a stakeholder in a company which rewards you with some divident. The collateral NFT support building climate resilient housing on the African continent. On top of that, because you take a little risk, you get extra tokens. The people making use of Empowa, I speak of the homeowners, often have an informal income. They don't get a credit. Using Empowa they rent to own their houses. The NFTs help the developers.
Simon Lucy@errorbody @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
So it's a pyramid collection which may benefit 2 families which might turn into 100. The current value of $EMP means it's about $37 a share and then how many houses can be built for $37 grand?
But then $EMP lost half its trading value over the year. Why use a volatile barely trading currency instead of just a regular currency? The benefits might attract children but children aren't able to invest in this not very novel scam.
@simon_lucy @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
The NFT serves as collateral and not to fund the houses themselves. If you'd use fiat currencies you couldn't get the community on board. Crypto is borderless and not tied to a nation and more accessible in that sense. I can use the fiat currency of my home country and buy ADA and swap it into EMP (which isn't available on many CEXs, yes). I'd see great use of a stablecoin because, as you've pointed out, EMP is a volatile asset.
@errorbody @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
What community?
Why would a fund not work rather than some valueless set of graphics. If it takes around $40k to build a couple of houses just start a fund for that.
@errorbody @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
I know it gets forgotten by those hyping unsafe tokens but any fund raising platform will take multiple currencies there's no need to get into conversion costs.
The $ and € are global currencies.
@simon_lucy @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom EMP may be volatile but it's not a hype token. Far from it. Yes, you can use multiple currencies on investment platforms but it's not without a hassle. I've tried to participate in a reg-cf thing from an US company. It was painful because banking works different on different continents. SEPA, IBAN, etc. Once your in crypto, you don't have to deal with that kinda stuff. You've your wallet, you buy a token or NFT from an exchange or marketplace. Done
@errorbody @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
Umm, that's the US banking system, most everywhere in the world is zero hassle other than ensuring it's the right set of account references.
But then most donations (and these really are donations) use intermediaries Debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, Stripe or one of 50 or more payment processors.
@errorbody @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
There is zero necessity for crypto currency unless you're money laundering, fleecing the optimistic fool, dazzled by poor technology or perpetuating the myth that sentiment adds value.
@simon_lucy @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
We disagree here and that's fine. We'll see how things play out.
@simon_lucy @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
Like I said, that's just an experience I had. The thing with crypto is that it is designed to not (necessarily) need an intermediary. You mentioned all those payment providers, in the fiat world they're handy but who needs them really if you just can send funds directly to the person, company, government, etc.? I for example don't use PayPal, I don't like the company, the people it made rich and don't want them to know about my purchases.
@simon_lucy @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
Oh and about MasterCard and Visa, I don't like them either. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/mastercard-visa-reach-30-bln-settlement-over-credit-card-fees-2024-03-26
You probably know about this, right? I don't wanna enable such companies.
This kind of convenience, meaning doing it the way we've done it for decades, helps them in the end. Not consumers, merchants or people who want to donate, etc.
@errorbody @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
That again is a US problem. One of the reasons there's so much cash usage is the nickel and diming that transactions attract as well as the still primitive trading and banking systems in the US.
@errorbody @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
I can transfer directly to another account it's trivially easy and the currency is irrelevant.
Currency is a separate trade and that's all that cryptocurrencies are along with a bet that they'll rise in value purely on market behaviour along with an assumption that they won't crash.
At the same time there is certainty that they will crash, usually for the benefit of a very few.
@simon_lucy @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
Cryptocurrencies are more than just currencies. That they are used as an investment product and hold for price gains: true - but only one aspect of their existence. Many coins and tokens are utility coins/tokens. For governance related actions. They literally express that you have a stake in something. That could be a DAO, an incubator program, a DApp, the entire blockchain.
@errorbody @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
Those are just notional uses, we've been using keys and certificates for a very long time and the Blockchain is just a linked list which is as basic a data structure as you can get.
A Blockchain doesn't solve a single new problem.
@simon_lucy @Naich @AutisticMumTo3 @fribbledom
Maybe it should focus on solving existing problems first then.
- transparency of supply chains (haven't undertaken a deep dive into this topic myself yet. Some nation states implement blockchain for this already)
- electronic voting: Estonia does it since 2005 (last year over half of the people eligible to vote chose i-voting as it is called in Estonia. I looking forward to the day I can vote at home using my phone or laptop.
Leen Kievit@fribbledom I treat them as 'solved sudokus', which apparently are collector items.
Vee@fribbledom Brilliant!!! 🤣 👍 👏 👏👏👏
Nicole ParsonsSlight addition...
"Cryptocurrencies are everything people don’t know about computers combined with everything they don’t understand about money, with national security implications. "
The intent of cryptocurrency is to supplant the US dollar as the global reserve currency, and add profligate & wasteful energy usage with national security implications.
The fossil fuel industry funds these initiatives to continue frying the planet & sabotage democracy.
The national security consequences of cryptocurrency. Texas is already drought stricken and water poor.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/us/bitcoin-mines-china-united-states.html
Robert Taylor@Npars01 @fribbledom I must say, we probably deserve it here in TexBanistan
Brosephine Wires@allynkhine @Npars01 @fribbledom I was born in Houston & lived their for 35 years. I have family in the DFW area and east Texas. I will both agree with you kinda, like on a technicality (the votes), but also hard disagree.
Texas Republicans have been working their asses off for decades just to dumb down the populace alone, starting with children— that’s in addition to all the rest of the voter suppression & convincing ppl of color not to bother bc their votes won’t be counted, it’s rigged, they can’t win/don’t have the numbers (WRONG), etc.
Remember the 2012 Texas GOP Party Platform literally said they wanted to remove the teaching of “critical thinking skills” from classrooms — like whaaaaat. Literally said that. Moses was a founding father in a history textbook (years later)??? Just absolutely bananas shit. And Texans have propaganda spewed at them daily from every direction from infancy about the evil monsters who hate freedom and God—that they will eventually identify as Dems/leftists.
It’s amazing the state is as blue as it is, but we can thank the oil industry for starters. They did a good thing—oops. The ship channel and other polluters near Houston—those corporations brought a lot of jobs, from blue to executive white collar. I read a many years ago that there were more people in Houston who were transplants than were actually born in the area. It’s a diverse city and it continues to grow and spread out in size (into many other small attached cities & communities—many of which turned blue in 2016 or 2020). And those people didn’t grow up being programmed.
Anyway. It’s fucking sad. Some GOP voters know exactly who’s to blame when there is no electricity or water, but they are scared shitless of voting for someone… who they think was selected by the devil (bc pastor said so). Or _____ insert other terrifying (to them) lie they have been fed. It’s fucking sad.
Rage Rumbles 🏴☠️🫂 🔞@Npars01 @fribbledom If everyone is dead who buys the fossil fuels? Seems a bit short-sighted to kill your customer base.
The explanation of what motivates the fossil fuel industry is Warren Buffet's "One Last Puff" business strategy.
Buffet's early investment strategy depended on finding a business on its last legs, stripping it of saleable assets, loading it with debt, & diverting its last ounce of profit elsewhere.
That's what the fossil fuel industry appears to be doing, ginning up profits & investing it in systems to prolong its primacy.
Oracle will train 50,000 Saudi nationals in Artificial Intelligence and other latest digital technologies - Intelligent CIO Middle East
The ‘Mostaqbali’ program, launched in collaboration with Future Work and supervised by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, will equip Saudi women, youth and working professionals with the IT skills and capabilities for the most in-demand jobs. Oracle has launched ‘Mostaqbali’ (My Future), an initiative to provide technical training to Saudi youth to equip them for the most
The Bitcoin network uses PoW (Proof of Work), but most other blockchains use other consensus mechanisms such as PoS (Proof of Stake) which only use a small fraction of energy. That's an important distinction to make.
Tröglödÿt@errorbody @Npars01 @fribbledom
not really
@troglodyt @Npars01 @fribbledom
Do you mind to explain? It's a huge difference in energy consumption. That has to be pointed out. People outside of crypto most often only hear about Bitcoin. They hear about the coal or fossil fuels being burnt for mining, etc. Bitcoin is big but other chains are already more important and they work differently.
@errorbody @Npars01 @fribbledom
it's mlm:s for vulnerable dudes, with a side of tax evasion, doesn't become tolerable just because one mlm doesn't burn through terawatthours of slightly randomised towers of saigon but instead has some other scheme to pull people in
@troglodyt @Npars01 @fribbledom
If you're worried about tax evasion you should point your arrows to the rich, the multimillionaires and the billionaires who by the grace of politicians don't have to worry about taxes at all. This has been the case for decades and they're free to do what they want. That's the true scandal.
You're describing a single segment of the people who use blockchain which isn't representative for the entire community which is very diverse.
John Wilson
@fribbledom who said it? Since it’s in quotes — does anybody know?
Probably John Oliver, but I tried to (lazily) find the actual source and couldn't.
James WallbankYes, it is John Oliver. Try this— https://medium.com/@michaelmolnar/why-blockchain-matters-21be03fb01b8
In fact try YouTube here for Oliver actually saying it—around 1 minute in.
Cryptocurrencies: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
@lowtech @fribbledom thanks so much, I really appreciate it. I watch the show religiously, I just have a bad memory and couldn’t pair the quote with its source in my head just then.
Weird 2 - Electric Boogaloo@fribbledom Applies to me as well, I guess... lol.
Coach Pāṇini ®
martenson@fribbledom --John Oliver
el Celio 🇪🇺 🇺🇦@fribbledom the secret of bitcoin trading:
"tell all your friends when the bitcoin is going up, stay silent when it's going down"
Phil Thane ✅@fribbledom I know a teeny bit about computers and even less about money but it's enough to convince me to give cryptocurrency a swerve. I wish I could dodge AI too but LLM text and fake images too easy for corporations to deploy so we'll get those like it or not.
Benjamin@fribbledom That's the single best explanation of this stuff that I've ever seen.
JW prince of CPH@fribbledom Just like how AI is everything people don't know about computers combined with everything they don't know about... well, anything.
Sumukha S@fribbledom I agree.
enistello@fribbledom "Cryptocurrencies are, personified, the burning of natural resources for the sole purpose of making money."
Dr Daniel, Photon Shepherd🇸🇪🇦🇺@fribbledom aaand Followed.