Why Most Blockchain Projects Are Bullshit – magic. – Medium

https://medium.com/helloitsmagic/why-most-blockchain-projects-are-bullshit-2e3918439270

And How to Spot the Ones That Aren’t

This is a good overview to blockchains and mountains of bullshit talk circulating around it:

The key to separating uses with promise from bullshit projects is asking what can onlybe done with the specific features blockchains provide, and whether those things are worth doing or having. In almost all useful cases, blockchains don’t solve technological problems, they solve people problems.

211 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Olga Kharif / Bloomberg:
    Report: 47% of traditional hedge funds have crypto investments, up from 29% in 2023; among who already invested in crypto, 33% plan for more by the end of 2024

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-10-10/almost-half-of-traditional-hedge-funds-are-dabbling-in-crypto

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    AI Bot Pumps Meme Coin 7,000% Following $50,000 Gift from Billionaire Marc Andreessen
    The sudden surge of meme coins like GOAT underscores a broader trend where digital memes are fueling speculative financial bets.
    https://decrypt.co/286478/ai-bot-pumps-meme-coin-7000-following-50000-gift-from-billionaire-marc-andreessen

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    In using a SIM swap to gain access to the official SEC X account and post false information about Bitcoin ETFs, one man managed to temporarily (and dramatically) increase the cryptocurrency’s price before selling off many of his assets.

    https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/10/how-alleged-sim-swap-and-hacked-x-account-drove-up-price-of-bitcoin-by-1k/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=null&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR06XTlldgKC2h9vgg4tHdBmrM_8xytrZo3qTkLTYSz0tIJISF9Sg_Vhf5E_aem_Krws9jASbuDhmkmBwPcq-Q

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    MK Manoylov / The Block:
    Filing: Microsoft puts an “assessment of investing in bitcoin” as a voting item for its December 10 shareholder meeting; its board recommends voting against it — – Microsoft placed an “assessment in investing in bitcoin” on the voting ballot ahead of its 2024 annual shareholder meeting in early December.

    Microsoft places ‘assessment in investing in bitcoin’ as a voting item for December shareholder meeting
    https://www.theblock.co/post/322962/microsoft-places-assessment-in-investing-in-bitcoin-as-a-voting-item-for-december-shareholder-meeting

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Zeke Faux / Bloomberg:
    The 2024 US election cycle showed how crypto has turned out to be a practically perfect special interest group for an era of unlimited corporate spending

    The Crypto World’s Victory Lap Begins
    The industry made a $135 million bet on the election. It paid off spectacularly
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-08/crypto-world-takes-victory-lap-after-big-us-election-bet-pays-off?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczMTEzMDQ0NiwiZXhwIjoxNzMxNzM1MjQ2LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTTU1NR1NEV1gyUFMwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIwNEFGQkMxQkYyMTA0NUVEODg3MzQxQkQwQzIyNzRBMCJ9.q3kg48Fe0kIRfYAhfL3gIse-8C6dl2BuRZ5OV8mVvww

    It might seem odd that an industry that started as a rebellion against government control would stake its future on politicians. But in the 15 years since the first Bitcoin was mined, the only use for crypto that’s found widespread appeal is trading on exchanges—in other words, using real money to gamble on the prices of made-up coins. (One of the most successful coins in crypto’s recent resurgence was “dogwifhat,” a Dogecoin knockoff whose logo is a dog wearing a beanie. Its market value is about $2 billion.) These crypto casinos are extremely profitable, and the SEC essentially wants to shut them down.

    The details of the SEC cases are technical. But pretend we’re talking about traditional gambling. The commission basically wants to restrict bets to a few racetracks, with strict drug testing for the horses. The crypto industry wants the field to be so wide open that people can bet their primary residences on livestreamed Nicaraguan cockfights and use shares in the winning gamecocks to pay for coffee at Starbucks.

    That’s not how crypto bros would describe it, of course. They call crypto an “American innovation” and talk about how it will give people financial freedom. The political ads the industry paid for don’t even mention crypto. Fairshake ads supporting Moreno said he would stop “illegal immigrants from taking Ohio’s tax dollars.”

    By the time the election rolled around, it seemed like crypto’s cynical strategy was working. Kamala Harris had started making overtures to the industry, albeit muddled ones, such as confusingly listing crypto regulation as part of her agenda to help Black men.

    Trump even began promoting his own cryptocurrency, World Liberty Financial, after his sons got pitched on the idea by a get-rich-quick guru who once called himself “the dirtbag of the internet.” Although the crypto industry viewed the Trump coin skeptically, several partisans told me it had created a helpful conflict of interest, making the former president more likely to follow through and ensure that crypto was regulated favorably if he won.

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Callan Quinn / CoinDesk:
    FTX sues crypto trader “Humpy the Whale” alleging margin trading market manipulation from January 2021 to September 2022, leading to FTX and Alameda losing $1B

    Humpy the Whale Cost FTX, Alameda $1 Billion in Losses, Lawsuit Alleges
    The suit also links him to organized crime in Eastern Europe and terrorist groups.
    https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/11/11/humpy-the-whale-cost-ftx-alameda-1-billion-in-losses-lawsuit-alleges/

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    a16z crypto:
    a16z says it is “very optimistic” that the US government will “foster innovation” in crypto and there is a “pathway for constructive engagement” with regulators

    A Positive Path Forward
    https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/a-positive-path-forward/

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Mitä ihmettä Bitcoinille tapahtuu?
    Yhdysvaltain presidentinvaalien tulos on antanut kryptovaluutoille vauhtia, ja Bitcoinin arvo on korkeampi kuin koskaan. Analyytikko sanookin ”Trump-pumpin” olevan voimissaan.
    https://www.iltalehti.fi/digiuutiset/a/35e653cf-7a1b-4b0d-bbfd-d2bfc7c3d738

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Brendan Greeley / Financial Times:
    A bitcoin strategic reserve is a resilience strategy for the “hodlers”, not the US state, as a bet on bitcoin is bullish on permanent institutional collapse

    The delusions behind a bitcoin strategic reserve
    https://www.ft.com/content/73fa6fd9-6f34-4e59-8f0f-04de3be7387a

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Daniel Kuhn / The Block:
    RTFKT, the digital wearables NFT startup Nike acquired in 2021, is shutting down by the end of January 2025; DefiLlama: RTFKT brought in nearly $50M in earnings — – RTFKT, the digital wearables NFT startup acquired by Nike in 2021, is shutting down, according to an announcement on Monday.

    Nike-owned NFT wearables startup RTFKT is winding down
    https://www.theblock.co/post/329097/nike-owned-nft-wearables-startup-rtfkt-is-winding-down

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Some kuohuu – ”Hawk Tuah”-naista syytetään härskistä petoksesta
    Haliey Welch on kiistänyt väitteet.

    Some kuohuu – ”Hawk Tuah”-naista syytetään härskistä petoksesta
    https://www.is.fi/digitoday/art-2000010886963.html

    Hiljattain kryptovaluutan lanseerannutta somepersoona Haliey Welchiä kohtaan esitetään laajaa kritiikkiä sosiaalisessa mediassa.

    Welchin keskiviikkona lanseeraaman Hawk-kryptovaluutan arvo saavutti 490 miljoonan dollarin markkina-arvon pian lanseerauksen jälkeen. Kuitenkin jo muutamassa tunnissa se menetti 95 prosenttia arvostaan.

    Reply

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