Remember when, 16 months ago, I warned you that Bitcoin buyers were going to get fleeced? Readers said things like:

The Value [of crypto] comes in the form of faith that it cannot and will not be manipulated.

Then, three months later, I warned you that Elon Musk was manipulating digital currency.

Now we see NPR running stories about people losing their life savings because the bottom fell out of the crypto pyramid scheme.

Yep. I called it.

Categories: economics

14 Comments

DMLMD · July 27, 2022 at 5:23 am

Tulips anyone?

Crypto will be another bubble that a future generation will think ‘how could anyone….”.

EN2 SS · July 27, 2022 at 7:44 am

I’m nobody, only a high school graduate, no financial training at all, but I agree/agreed with you. How can people think a made up/fantasy currency would ever work? Other than make the conmen that sucker in the gullible very rich? I want to say insanity, but stupidity is right up there. Caught a clip on Johnny Carson rerun about a conman hooking the hooker, explains it perfectly.

Toastrider · July 27, 2022 at 10:55 am

My only caveat is that I wouldn’t trust NPR to tell me what the weather is.

That being said, there’s a number of reasons I didn’t get on the crypto train.

Jonathan · July 27, 2022 at 11:47 am

My view is that it is wrong to say Crypto can’t be manipulated, it’s more to say the government can’t control it to the extent they can the dollar.
Anything can be manipulated, it’s just an issue of how hard it is. Anything made by man can be manipulated and misused by man.
Bitcoin has widely known rules, so in some ways it is easier to manipulate than other situations where the rules are more opaque.

    Big Ruckus D · July 27, 2022 at 5:06 pm

    Telling those who worship crypto they were going to get fucked was functionally the same as telling those who got covid shots they were going to get fucked, and then went and got them anyway. We couldn’t get through to the future victims in either case, as their beliefs were rooted in a cult.

    Now those of us who intuitively knew there was fuckery afoot get to kick back and watch these once supremely overconfident pricks take their preordained sodomizing with the proverbial horse cock. So far, I’ll admit it hasn’t been quite as enjoyable as I thought it would be to witness the self inflicted suffering of the arrogant shits who were sure they knew so much better than those of us sounding the alarm and casting doubt on an obvious scam.

    Guess I haven’t yet tamped down the last vestiges of my conscience. Which is not to say I haven’t been entertained at all. Many hearty laughs have been had while I watch the carnage unfold. But the schadenfreude has been tempered by my general sense of discontent at knowing it is all coming down, and will end up screwing me too, eventually. Having foreknowledge of the inevitable demise of civilization kind of sucks.

      EN2 SS · July 27, 2022 at 6:15 pm

      Not quite as enjoyable? I’m loving the crap out of it. If it’s a sin is the only thing I could possibly regret.

dave in pa. · July 27, 2022 at 4:04 pm

stuff is better than money I have found all to often in this world.
if it is the right stuff. never cared that much for gold as it is too hard to spend. silver is okay for the most part. but bitcoin ? electronic space of ones and zeros ? no thanks
food, meds and lead. tools

Danny's not here · July 27, 2022 at 7:09 pm

But let’s face it — most monetary transactions are, by and large, electronic. Cash is somewhat being shunted as a form of payment. Interesting times we’re living right now.

When the power goes out — referring to a storm, for example, cash is king.

Tennessee Budd · July 27, 2022 at 7:28 pm

“The Value [of crypto] comes in the form of faith that it cannot and will not be manipulated.”
Substitute ‘fiat dollars’ for ‘crypto’ and the sentence is equally true.

joe · July 27, 2022 at 7:39 pm

if you got in early and cashed out, it was real…everyone riding the train and didn’t get off, hopefully learned a lesson…anyone want to buy some beanie babies?…

    Divemedic · July 27, 2022 at 7:58 pm

    That is the essence of a pyramid scheme. The early investors always make the most while the later ones get shafted.

      Jonathan · July 28, 2022 at 11:33 am

      Don’t forget that the rules can change part way; remember Robin Hood and GameStop?
      I believe this is also why gold and silver still have low paper values but the “in hand” price is so much higher.

Skyler the Weird · July 27, 2022 at 8:31 pm

I bit on it. PayPal gave me $5 worth of Bitcoin ‘free’ if I purchased some from them. I got $15 worth. Today my $20 in Bitcoin is worth 13.62 even less considering a $1.99 transaction fee.

Robert Wood · July 27, 2022 at 10:07 pm

It’s the same that occurred with housing when the massive coal-seam gas projects were being developed here in Queensland about 5-10 years ago. House prices in small mining and agricultural towns hit astronomical levels, people jumped onboard to make money, then once the house prices dropped once the projects had completed people literally went bankrupt over having million-dollar mortgages for houses worth a fraction of that price. Completely stupid behaivour.

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