There’s been some chatter about blockchains again since BTC has hit another peak; just figured that a cautionary/inspirational anecdote might help frame this for folks. To comment on a point...
There’s been some chatter about blockchains again since BTC has hit another peak; just figured that a cautionary/inspirational anecdote might help frame this for folks.
To comment on a point raised by the article’s interviewee:
That his teenager was capable of making $50,000 in an evening, Biesk theorizes, speaks to the fundamentally different relationship kids of that age have with money and investing, characterized by an urgency and hyperactivity that rubs up against traditional wisdom.
“To me, crypto can be hard to grasp, because there is nothing there behind it—it’s not anything tangible. But I think kids relate to this intangible digital world more than adults do,” says Biesk. “This has an immediacy to him. It’s almost like he understands this better.”
Maybe I’m not deep enough into crypto “or” vanilla culture, but to analogize, this just looks like standard speculation writ large (due to an absence of regulation). People saw BTC skyrocket, and for reasons personal to everyone, they felt the need to gamble on finding the next penny stock to explode. “Kids these days” are more used to using social media as a distribution platform vs a way to keep up with Aunt Jean, I guess, which might be what makes this unfamiliar.
I think it's odd to attribute this to youthfulness rather than a method to rugpull exit scam people out of their money, which happens time and time again with various coins created by a plethora...
I think it's odd to attribute this to youthfulness rather than a method to rugpull exit scam people out of their money, which happens time and time again with various coins created by a plethora of people from different demographics precisely because of the intangible nature of crypto currencies.
The 'immediacy' of money is palpable throughout society when costs of living have been the driving factor in societal unrest.
They reported on the one person who got really lucky. This is how the whole scheme works. Make it sound like its a great investment. Hype up the success stories. Draw in the masses. It's just...
They reported on the one person who got really lucky. This is how the whole scheme works. Make it sound like its a great investment. Hype up the success stories. Draw in the masses. It's just gambling.
The story could just as easily been "thousands of people collectively lose $50,000 due to teen scammer.", and it would be every bit as valid. It's not like he created anything of value, these...
The story could just as easily been "thousands of people collectively lose $50,000 due to teen scammer.", and it would be every bit as valid. It's not like he created anything of value, these ephemeral memecoins are purely a zero sum game, yet somehow, people on pumpfun and similar spaces keep falling for the same grift over and over.
The fact that these kinds of stories are reported this way is no coincidence, and just helps to set the stage for the next scam.
edit: Before I forget, I just want to point out here that the real "winners" in this story isn't even this kid. It's the operator of pumpfun who make 1% on every transaction through the site, which translates to multiple millions of dollars per day, by running an unregulated casino. For children. That is regularly flooded with CSAM and other highly questionable content.
The crypto space seems to be in an all out competition to out-slime each other and continue to expose the absolute worst parts of human nature.
I don't understand people. Let's punish the troll by throwing more goats at it.
As part of their revenge campaign, crypto traders continued to buy into Gen Z Quant, driving the coin’s price far higher than the level at which Biesk’s son had cashed out. At its peak, around 3 am PT the following morning, the coin had a theoretical total value of $72 million; the tokens the teenager had initially held were worth more than $3 million. Even now, the trading frenzy has died down, and they continue to be valued at twice the amount he received.
I don't understand people. Let's punish the troll by throwing more goats at it.
There’s been some chatter about blockchains again since BTC has hit another peak; just figured that a cautionary/inspirational anecdote might help frame this for folks.
To comment on a point raised by the article’s interviewee:
Maybe I’m not deep enough into crypto “or” vanilla culture, but to analogize, this just looks like standard speculation writ large (due to an absence of regulation). People saw BTC skyrocket, and for reasons personal to everyone, they felt the need to gamble on finding the next penny stock to explode. “Kids these days” are more used to using social media as a distribution platform vs a way to keep up with Aunt Jean, I guess, which might be what makes this unfamiliar.
I think it's odd to attribute this to youthfulness rather than a method to rugpull exit scam people out of their money, which happens time and time again with various coins created by a plethora of people from different demographics precisely because of the intangible nature of crypto currencies.
The 'immediacy' of money is palpable throughout society when costs of living have been the driving factor in societal unrest.
In this case, its the nerd equivalent of a bully taking lunch money.
I really like this analogy, so much that I wouldn't mind making a noise comment pointing that out.
Boom, wish granted
<self>Joke</self>
Honestly he would have done okay if he soft pulled $1000 out at a time. He's learned fast though, kid's going places.
They reported on the one person who got really lucky. This is how the whole scheme works. Make it sound like its a great investment. Hype up the success stories. Draw in the masses. It's just gambling.
The story could just as easily been "thousands of people collectively lose $50,000 due to teen scammer.", and it would be every bit as valid. It's not like he created anything of value, these ephemeral memecoins are purely a zero sum game, yet somehow, people on pumpfun and similar spaces keep falling for the same grift over and over.
The fact that these kinds of stories are reported this way is no coincidence, and just helps to set the stage for the next scam.
edit: Before I forget, I just want to point out here that the real "winners" in this story isn't even this kid. It's the operator of pumpfun who make 1% on every transaction through the site, which translates to multiple millions of dollars per day, by running an unregulated casino. For children. That is regularly flooded with CSAM and other highly questionable content.
The crypto space seems to be in an all out competition to out-slime each other and continue to expose the absolute worst parts of human nature.
Uh oh. Calling @updawg! We need a determination here.
Seems cromulent to me? Irregardless, I don’t want to offend, so I await updawg’s thoughts with baited breath.
I'm inclined to agree with you, but I defer to our esteemed colleague in matters of writ largedness.
CC: @kacey
I already silently approved of it, but thank you for the alert.
Perhaps the alerts should be
writ larger
so you can see them?
Yes--that's a great idea--thank you--I appreciate it--very much.
(눈‸눈)━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ
I don't understand people. Let's punish the troll by throwing more goats at it.
The bright side is that there's no way this stuff isn't getting regulated when there are so many off-the-wall examples like this going on.