Not necessarily a bad person. But to think that people that may not have the education to understand NFTs deserve to be robbed seems to justify to prey on people.

NFTs are an absurdity, but millions are spend on advertising them to an unprotected public. That are the real culprits.

Scammers do not deserve to get any money, that's for sure.

You don't need to have the education to understand NFTs to have the knowledge not to put bets down on things you don't understand.

Most people don't understand things they invest in/buy.

Most people buying stocks don't understand the company as well as someone who works in the sector.

Most casual art appreciators don't know how to tell if a painting they're buying is a forgery.

Most people buying a house don't know how to assess the foundation, and even if they get a professional assessment, they don't have the same knowledge of the housing market as professionals. Maybe that neighbourhood is slated for rezoning in 5 years that would devalue the property.

Heck, even people buying gold/diamonds get ripped off on fakes/synthetics.

Outside of investments, most people here have probably bought a car. Do people who buy a car deserve to get ripped off if they don't understand how every component works well enough to inspect it themselves?

It appears crypto bros are on the verge of re-inventing market regulation!

If every transaction required perfect understanding by both parties, there would be no markets. We have regulations to reduce the amount of understanding needed to participate in markets without getting fleeced, which makes the markets function.

Precisely the point!

I feel the same way about it I do when I see someone blasting down the freeway on a motorcycle in shorts and t-shirt.

If something happens, then we should try to help, but I'm not showing up for the candle lit vigil and pretending it's crazy that 1+1=2.

Seems more like someone walking down the sidewalk at 1am and stopping to buy a drink from a lemonade stand, and getting jumped by a gang and mugged.

Crypto is new and unknown for most people, and high risk-high reward. Lemonade stands are tried and tested, and most people understand them well. I think a better analogy would be someone walking into a trap-house and buying drugs: they might have the high of their life, or they could get robbed. There are no regulations, so it is up to the individual to use their "street-smarts" to be successful. A person who gets robbed buying drugs or loses Crypto in a scam can be criticized, whether this is "victim blaming" or "being realistic" is just semantics.

I don't think they "deserve" to be robbed but I do think at this point the sketchiness of the defi sector is pretty apparent.

I think DeFi and NFT are different sectors?

But weirdly exactly the same actors.

you're probably right. swap DeFi with NFTs and the sentence still holds though.

Yes, people who spend their money on things you don't approve of deserve to lose their money.

Please disapprove real estate, buying a house is really too expensive and it makes it difficult to find decent housing.

patiently waiting for a "vancouver real estate market drainer" phishing service that can cause a real world market crash.

There we go, a use case for NFTs! If Vancouver real estate was all on the block chain then people could steal it and so people wouldn't want to own it because it'd get stolen, and prices would drop!

Thank you anon. You are my hero.

Seriously tho, how are people affording these mortgages? Is everyone living paycheck to paycheck or what?

the percentage of american wage earners who are living paycheck-to-paycheck is probably a lot higher than you think it is.

even couples with dual six figure salaries.

Lifestyle often expands to consume available income. And sometimes more.

hey let's buy a $60,000 pontoon boat on a 60-month loan, and a jetski, what could possibly go wrong

It's clear the GP isn't making a categorical claim about disapproval.

It's more likely they think that the victims here had every available opportunity to exercise basic diligence. I'm not sure I actually agree with that (I think a lot of the people getting scammed here are being predated on by a market that thrives on misinformation), but that's a far cry from how you've interpreted the comment.

To be honest I'm more concerned with the "deserve to be scammed" part. The "because I don't like it" is cherry on top.

My point is if you read that comment it takes a second of introspection to come to an answer.

People don't deserve to be scammed. Imagine if your own grandma or teenage cousin fell victim to this.

Teenagers have been getting scammed for years. Not that they deserve it, but advertising the impossible to the gullible has a long history.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray_specs

lol who's grandma is buying NFTs? my teenage cousin doesn't have any money so better they get scammed now and learn.

I don’t know if they “deserve” it but I sure hoped they learned a valuable lesson about cryptocurrencies.

> am I a bad person if I think that people buying the latest hyped NFT deserve to have their 'crypto' drained?

I'll tell you this: the scummy thieves who drain these deserve it even less.

Crypto is a net negative for the world, so anyone should feel free to pillage crypto assets and redistribute them to other more noble causes.

People must learn to avoid crypto. We can teach them why.

What other things do you disapprove of that absolve people of the crime of theft?

PS: Read your HN profile: Submitting stories is by far the best way to earn karma. Comments are small potatoes.

Not strictly theft, but I approve of people criminally obstructing actions which are bad for the environment. Destruction or obstruction of coal power mining/generation or smaller movements like deflating the tires of luxury SUVs.

If the law doesn't take environmental action seriously then individuals have to take control. Destroying the entire crypto market, even criminally, would be a benefit to the world.

If you truly believe that? Then yes.

yes