Bitcoin struck me as having that whiff of criminality when it first was introduced. That whiff has now become a stench thanks in part to the legal bribery enabled by "Citizens United."
We should all be appalled by lobbying and the whole “money is speech” concept. We as individual voters should have as much influence as special interest groups. All campaign financing should be band and candidates should get a set amount with which to campaign. This is one reason why democracy is under siege. Special interests (corporations , organized religions, etc.) don’t have the power to in true democracy. The people do.
Of course Donald Trump always cares more about money than the the well-being of people. "Trump, who called crypto a "scam," pledges to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet"." is a typical money pandering act by the man called by Mary Trump who knew him up close and personally, THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS MAN.
I have personally always thought of bit coin and cryptocurrency as a dangerous scam. I trust my intuition. I wish more of our voting public had developed inner wisdom and intuition. It's never too late because this ability is inherent.
I have to admit that I do not understand bitcoin; it just seems hinky to me. I post my artwork on Instagram and was swamped by people wanting me to sell my art through some kind of NFT process that involved bitcoin. I had to post a "no interest in NFT's" to stop what I felt was the kind of pressure one gets from scammers. Not having a good understanding makes it hard for me to comment, but at the very least, Judd's revelations about Trump's plan for involving our federal government in this dubious enterprise is verification that I want nothing to do with it. I hope that Harris's efforts to communicate with this industry is about making it less nefarious and risky for Americans.
You did the right thing. Avoid it like the plague that it is. If you want a detailed explanation of Bitcoin, crypto, NFT's and their complete lack of usefulness (beyond maybe some minor roles here and there) read this series by Stephen Diehl: https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog/against-crypto.html
In the modern global economy, we have "fiat money." That is, the money is inherently worthless. This is absolutely necessary because there is not single commodity or basket of commodities to back up money that can keep up with 8 billion people in our mechanized, digitized era.
The money gains worth through the pledges of governments and through the fact that there is a limited amount of it. As the economy grows, new money has to be created. (Imagine if the U.S. had the same number of dollars it had in 1798!) The Fed creates this money, and I believe the interests of bankers get too much weight in their decisions, BUT there is some control through democratic channels such as the President and Congress. Now ask yourself, who makes bitcoin and whose interests do they represent?
It's bad enough that crypto is used to avoid taxes and to launder drug money, etc. It's bad enough that they pollute the atmosphere to make the crypto digits. It's bad enough that crypto traders like SB-F sometimes turn out to be fraudsters. But, in the end, you can't be sure that the software people who make it go aren't crooks.
This is a great explanation without being muddled by the overly technical details. Thank you for that. The question of who makes & benefits is stellar and one I may want to learn more about.
AND if crypto currency is such a good thing, why are they not donating in crypto rather than US $ ? Clearly this is a scam to make those with enough “disposable” cash like the Winklevoss Twins richer through the creation of a new monetary avenue that most ppl cannot afford to take the risk investing in. When I see a 3-card Monty dealer in the subway I keep walking. In the long run, NOTHING beats the US Dollar!
The comedian Whitney Cummings said as much ages ago, but yeah it would be nice if journalists and finance “experts” would come clean about what a scam it is!
Bitcoin was the first crypto currency and is still the only one whose creators are invisible. No single person, or group of people, have been willing to take credit for its creation. I suspect it was created by China to undermine faith in the US dollar, and its working. Ponder for a minute a world where the only acceptable currency is created and controlled by China. We aren't far from that future.
Crypto currency is a scam, pure and simple, pushed by a handful of second generation rich white tech dudes (and, apparently, the congresswomen who love them). So why wouldn't magnet and steel attract in a powerful embrace, just like Trump and the crypto dudes. If there is a whiff of "getting away with something," there's Trump with his nose a twitchin' and his hand held out.
The U.S. government buying, or confiscating crypto and selling it makes the crypto market fall. That piece of information alone, even to a person with no brain for financials, should make you pause. Why is crypto so fragile? Because,like the man said, it is based on NOTHING without the dollar backing it. Just ridiculous and foolish and so big a scam it is hard to see the forest for the trees, if you will.
I caution those of you who back away from this convo because it is difficult to understand to instead lean in. I challenge anyone to explain how crypto works or why it should appeal to John Q. Public. Saying, "You'll get rich!" is a load of Dr. Doolittles Cure-All Tonic. It's a long con, get in at your own peril, but get ready to sleep in a tent.
Crypto isn't difficult to understand - it's Bernie Madoff in Trump clothing. And anyone who buys into it is going to lose everything. Ex-President Ponzi scheme is always on the lookout for the latest grift. I hope he buys up a bunch, then loses it like he's lost everything else he's every put his flippin' name on. DonnieCoin? GriftCoin? FelonCoin? Maybe hold an Apprentice finale for best name that will fail bigly. BiglyCoin??
Bitcoin is also destroying the environment: "Electricity demand associated with U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations in the United States has grown very rapidly over the last several years. Our preliminary estimates suggest that annual electricity use from cryptocurrency mining probably represents from 0.6% to 2.3% of U.S. electricity consumption."
Thanks for posting the link to this article. While they call it mining, it is not mining in the true sense of digging. It is more like a video game where you have to figure out a puzzle. And it takes server farms of electricity to play the cypto game.
FFS these people are all stupid AF. There is no utility or usefulness behind Bitcoin or crypto other than a Ponzi scheme, money laundering and fraud. Period. The fact that anyone is doing anything other than slapping regulations on this mess is a testament to just how much b.s. people will swallow when $$ is involved.
I always wondered how actual fascism became a thing but we're seeing it in America. These brain-dead trump followers just parrot the words he says but they don't actually know what they mean. Taking away all our freedoms is the Republican agenda. They try to cling to power by any means necessary and it's sad that so many people are blinded by their hate for LGBTQ that they vote red.
I’ll never forget Justice Sam (“I know what’s best for you”) Alito shaking his head like a petulant, spoiled schoolboy when President Obama correctly criticized the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision during a State of the Union address. Obama was correct about that disastrous decision, and the fact that it gives disproportionate power to organizations to basically buy our government. And now the crypto scammers are trying their hand at buying Washington. I wonder how much those Supreme Court justices made off of that decision. But without an enforceable code of ethics for the Court, I guess we’ll never know. America: Going once! Going twice! SOLD!
Theil, Yarvin, Musk and the Casino Monarchists, who don't believe in democracy want to use crypto to loot the Federal government, hide the money and pretend they've lowered the country's debt.
It's like the 1990s tech and dotcom bubble (companies that don't make money but are valued at $400 a share) and the residential real estate bubble (no doc loans, a buyer endlessly leveraging their real estate 'assets' to buy more and driving up the prices). It's a never ending shell game with these guys.
Until the rules of the game are changed for everyone and their is a level playing field and the incentives to turn tech stocks and residential real estate and now crypto into casino chips, this will continue.
It's time to end voo doo/casino economics, raise taxes, pay off the debt and restore sanity to America's financial markets and democracy.
Read this if you want an excellent analysis of crypto - even if you're not up on financial terms, a basic understanding of money will be enough to comprehend the utter b.s. that it is: https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog/against-crypto.html
This crypto stuff is scary. It is shaped exactly like a pair of manacles, and that's why nobody wants it. But sociopathic wealth hoarders get what they want, and they want us all to wear the manacles.
Every billionaire is a threat to democracy everywhere. End this nonsense. Seize their money and end their constant attacks on liberty.
Bitcoin struck me as having that whiff of criminality when it first was introduced. That whiff has now become a stench thanks in part to the legal bribery enabled by "Citizens United."
What an ironic name, eh?
We should all be appalled by lobbying and the whole “money is speech” concept. We as individual voters should have as much influence as special interest groups. All campaign financing should be band and candidates should get a set amount with which to campaign. This is one reason why democracy is under siege. Special interests (corporations , organized religions, etc.) don’t have the power to in true democracy. The people do.
Of course Donald Trump always cares more about money than the the well-being of people. "Trump, who called crypto a "scam," pledges to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the planet"." is a typical money pandering act by the man called by Mary Trump who knew him up close and personally, THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS MAN.
I have personally always thought of bit coin and cryptocurrency as a dangerous scam. I trust my intuition. I wish more of our voting public had developed inner wisdom and intuition. It's never too late because this ability is inherent.
When a conman like Trump calls bitcoin a "scam" he means it as a compliment.
I guess it takes on to know one.
I have to admit that I do not understand bitcoin; it just seems hinky to me. I post my artwork on Instagram and was swamped by people wanting me to sell my art through some kind of NFT process that involved bitcoin. I had to post a "no interest in NFT's" to stop what I felt was the kind of pressure one gets from scammers. Not having a good understanding makes it hard for me to comment, but at the very least, Judd's revelations about Trump's plan for involving our federal government in this dubious enterprise is verification that I want nothing to do with it. I hope that Harris's efforts to communicate with this industry is about making it less nefarious and risky for Americans.
tRump is, as usual, pandering.
You did the right thing. Avoid it like the plague that it is. If you want a detailed explanation of Bitcoin, crypto, NFT's and their complete lack of usefulness (beyond maybe some minor roles here and there) read this series by Stephen Diehl: https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog/against-crypto.html
In the modern global economy, we have "fiat money." That is, the money is inherently worthless. This is absolutely necessary because there is not single commodity or basket of commodities to back up money that can keep up with 8 billion people in our mechanized, digitized era.
The money gains worth through the pledges of governments and through the fact that there is a limited amount of it. As the economy grows, new money has to be created. (Imagine if the U.S. had the same number of dollars it had in 1798!) The Fed creates this money, and I believe the interests of bankers get too much weight in their decisions, BUT there is some control through democratic channels such as the President and Congress. Now ask yourself, who makes bitcoin and whose interests do they represent?
It's bad enough that crypto is used to avoid taxes and to launder drug money, etc. It's bad enough that they pollute the atmosphere to make the crypto digits. It's bad enough that crypto traders like SB-F sometimes turn out to be fraudsters. But, in the end, you can't be sure that the software people who make it go aren't crooks.
This is a great explanation without being muddled by the overly technical details. Thank you for that. The question of who makes & benefits is stellar and one I may want to learn more about.
Has anyone ever asked "why is crypto valued in dollars?"
That is one interesting question I have never heard anyone ask. I would love for someone to ask Lummins that to see her response.
AND if crypto currency is such a good thing, why are they not donating in crypto rather than US $ ? Clearly this is a scam to make those with enough “disposable” cash like the Winklevoss Twins richer through the creation of a new monetary avenue that most ppl cannot afford to take the risk investing in. When I see a 3-card Monty dealer in the subway I keep walking. In the long run, NOTHING beats the US Dollar!
You took the words right out of my keyboard. Well said.
The comedian Whitney Cummings said as much ages ago, but yeah it would be nice if journalists and finance “experts” would come clean about what a scam it is!
Bitcoin was the first crypto currency and is still the only one whose creators are invisible. No single person, or group of people, have been willing to take credit for its creation. I suspect it was created by China to undermine faith in the US dollar, and its working. Ponder for a minute a world where the only acceptable currency is created and controlled by China. We aren't far from that future.
Crypto currency is a scam, pure and simple, pushed by a handful of second generation rich white tech dudes (and, apparently, the congresswomen who love them). So why wouldn't magnet and steel attract in a powerful embrace, just like Trump and the crypto dudes. If there is a whiff of "getting away with something," there's Trump with his nose a twitchin' and his hand held out.
The U.S. government buying, or confiscating crypto and selling it makes the crypto market fall. That piece of information alone, even to a person with no brain for financials, should make you pause. Why is crypto so fragile? Because,like the man said, it is based on NOTHING without the dollar backing it. Just ridiculous and foolish and so big a scam it is hard to see the forest for the trees, if you will.
I caution those of you who back away from this convo because it is difficult to understand to instead lean in. I challenge anyone to explain how crypto works or why it should appeal to John Q. Public. Saying, "You'll get rich!" is a load of Dr. Doolittles Cure-All Tonic. It's a long con, get in at your own peril, but get ready to sleep in a tent.
Crypto isn't difficult to understand - it's Bernie Madoff in Trump clothing. And anyone who buys into it is going to lose everything. Ex-President Ponzi scheme is always on the lookout for the latest grift. I hope he buys up a bunch, then loses it like he's lost everything else he's every put his flippin' name on. DonnieCoin? GriftCoin? FelonCoin? Maybe hold an Apprentice finale for best name that will fail bigly. BiglyCoin??
Oh kill two birds: Jesuscoin.
Bitcoin is also destroying the environment: "Electricity demand associated with U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations in the United States has grown very rapidly over the last several years. Our preliminary estimates suggest that annual electricity use from cryptocurrency mining probably represents from 0.6% to 2.3% of U.S. electricity consumption."
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=61364 February 1, 2024
Thanks for posting the link to this article. While they call it mining, it is not mining in the true sense of digging. It is more like a video game where you have to figure out a puzzle. And it takes server farms of electricity to play the cypto game.
FFS these people are all stupid AF. There is no utility or usefulness behind Bitcoin or crypto other than a Ponzi scheme, money laundering and fraud. Period. The fact that anyone is doing anything other than slapping regulations on this mess is a testament to just how much b.s. people will swallow when $$ is involved.
But the blockchain!!!
Hahahahaha!
I always wondered how actual fascism became a thing but we're seeing it in America. These brain-dead trump followers just parrot the words he says but they don't actually know what they mean. Taking away all our freedoms is the Republican agenda. They try to cling to power by any means necessary and it's sad that so many people are blinded by their hate for LGBTQ that they vote red.
I agree with Trump’s early assessment — crypto is a scam.
I’ll never forget Justice Sam (“I know what’s best for you”) Alito shaking his head like a petulant, spoiled schoolboy when President Obama correctly criticized the Supreme Court’s “Citizens United” decision during a State of the Union address. Obama was correct about that disastrous decision, and the fact that it gives disproportionate power to organizations to basically buy our government. And now the crypto scammers are trying their hand at buying Washington. I wonder how much those Supreme Court justices made off of that decision. But without an enforceable code of ethics for the Court, I guess we’ll never know. America: Going once! Going twice! SOLD!
Trump is going after donations wherever he can get them. Didn’t he just talk about devaluing the dollar? There you go— pandering for donations.
Crypto: The Subpriming of American Democracy.
Theil, Yarvin, Musk and the Casino Monarchists, who don't believe in democracy want to use crypto to loot the Federal government, hide the money and pretend they've lowered the country's debt.
It's like the 1990s tech and dotcom bubble (companies that don't make money but are valued at $400 a share) and the residential real estate bubble (no doc loans, a buyer endlessly leveraging their real estate 'assets' to buy more and driving up the prices). It's a never ending shell game with these guys.
Until the rules of the game are changed for everyone and their is a level playing field and the incentives to turn tech stocks and residential real estate and now crypto into casino chips, this will continue.
It's time to end voo doo/casino economics, raise taxes, pay off the debt and restore sanity to America's financial markets and democracy.
Read this if you want an excellent analysis of crypto - even if you're not up on financial terms, a basic understanding of money will be enough to comprehend the utter b.s. that it is: https://www.stephendiehl.com/blog/against-crypto.html
This crypto stuff is scary. It is shaped exactly like a pair of manacles, and that's why nobody wants it. But sociopathic wealth hoarders get what they want, and they want us all to wear the manacles.
Every billionaire is a threat to democracy everywhere. End this nonsense. Seize their money and end their constant attacks on liberty.