"Blowing Up the Crypto Cartel" by Jacob Silverman, "The Baffler"

[Strelnikov]

https://thebaffler.com/outbursts/blowin ... -silverman

This should be in any BLP of Sam Bankman-Fried or Wikipedia article on cryptocurrencies.....it turns out the entire thing is a front, a cartel posing as a free market (color me shocked!) where the "whales" are gaming the entire system. I guess we have to bring in RICO, and all the young Micheal Corleones of crypto are going to have to hide out in their own little Sicilies, the blood sticky on their hands. Scam Banko-Fraud blew the door off, and we can see the perpetual motion machine is powered by an old man tuning a crank while he nibbles on cheese.

[journo]

This article says it's hard for retail investors to make money in crypto.

You had to try to lose money to between 2011-2018 in crypto to actually lose money. It is the largest financial bubble in all of human history.

[journo]

Also, the space is regulated to hell already. You are already required to report every single crypto sale and buy to the IRS, rather than an average sell/buy for beginning and end of year. Is that required of all commodity trades? not really. Also if you sell crypto outside of exchanges and as a business, you need a money transmitter license, is that required of selling video games as a business? Not really. Government hasn't decided if it's a commodity or money but regulates it as if it is both.

We don't need more laws protectecting boomers in this space. Anyone with any sense knew to avoid Binance and FTX. Legal action on both are fine but won't destroy crypto. It's common wisdom in the space not to leave 'crypto' in the hands of anyone else, including exchanges, because ownership requires owning the private key. Crypto is only meant to be as safe as storing a box of money in your house, should you choose to own the private key. Additionally, outside ransomware, no one is forcing anyone to use or participate in crypto. You have to go out of your way to participate in this every-man-an-island simulator.

I don't personally like the every-man-an-island philosophy. But when the real-world 'help each other out' society doesn't actually do that, I find myself in cryptoland making money there, which is sometimes more profitable.

[ericbarbour]

You are already required to report every single crypto sale and buy to the IRS

Which is impossible to enforce, so let's laugh at the Feds once again....