Re:Show HN: An Ethereum-authenticated community on Web3, sci...
by everfree on Sunday July 09, 2023 @03:04AM
(#36652296)
> I test drugs for meth so people don't consume them. Upon finding a tainted batch, I do my best to investigate and report the offending party to the appropriate precinct. Then I also inform people within a geosocial circle about the problem. This denies profit and helps clean up bad actors.
I write up fraudulent cryptocurrency products so people don't use them. Upon finding a grift, I do my best to investigate (reporting it is futile because police don't understand solidity code). Then I also inform people within a social circle about the problem. This denies profit and helps clean up bad actors.
For example, I wrote up TerraUSD's faulty stability scheme to my social circle months before the project actually ended up imploding and making national news.
But neither of us have some ethical imperative to do any of that. I could just... not be the guy who writes up scams. You could just... not be the guy who tests stuff for meth. There's nothing morally wrong about just using your tools to do stuff, without any concern for any illegal things that other people are using those same types of tools to do.
> How many people have needlessly lost so much of their earnings because they, in good faith, trusted people like you and these other wholesome "old school cryptography nerds"?
None, because people like me do not encourage others to invest in cryptocurrency. In fact, I recommend against it unless someone has some background in computer science, because it's so easy to get scammed. I only share my cryptocurrency knowledge with others if they bring up the topic first and actively ask for my input. In fact, I'm kind of annoyed in a way that cryptocurrency went so mainstream and is no longer a niche hacker hobby - the community used to feel so much more tightly knit back in 2010 when I was part of a small group of libertarian nerds posting on the bitcointalk forums. IIRC, I only missed Satoshi's last post there by about a year.
> I'm mad at the people. The people who created this perfect shit storm of scams and grifts, along with the grifters themselves.
Alright, then why are you mad at me? I didn't create any scams or grifts. The only crimes I committed were to learn more than you about this new imaginary ledger system, then trade some of my Real Money for these imaginary casino chips that I used to play pretend with some of my buddies on the forums. It's not my fault people started mortgaging their houses over monopoly money.
> Keep dodging accountability, pond scum.
Keep getting angry at me for using mathematics. Maybe someday I'll be held accountable for all those poor numbers I multiplied together.
I write up fraudulent cryptocurrency products so people don't use them. Upon finding a grift, I do my best to investigate (reporting it is futile because police don't understand solidity code). Then I also inform people within a social circle about the problem. This denies profit and helps clean up bad actors.
For example, I wrote up TerraUSD's faulty stability scheme to my social circle months before the project actually ended up imploding and making national news.
But neither of us have some ethical imperative to do any of that. I could just... not be the guy who writes up scams. You could just... not be the guy who tests stuff for meth. There's nothing morally wrong about just using your tools to do stuff, without any concern for any illegal things that other people are using those same types of tools to do.
> How many people have needlessly lost so much of their earnings because they, in good faith, trusted people like you and these other wholesome "old school cryptography nerds"?
None, because people like me do not encourage others to invest in cryptocurrency. In fact, I recommend against it unless someone has some background in computer science, because it's so easy to get scammed. I only share my cryptocurrency knowledge with others if they bring up the topic first and actively ask for my input. In fact, I'm kind of annoyed in a way that cryptocurrency went so mainstream and is no longer a niche hacker hobby - the community used to feel so much more tightly knit back in 2010 when I was part of a small group of libertarian nerds posting on the bitcointalk forums. IIRC, I only missed Satoshi's last post there by about a year.
> I'm mad at the people. The people who created this perfect shit storm of scams and grifts, along with the grifters themselves.
Alright, then why are you mad at me? I didn't create any scams or grifts. The only crimes I committed were to learn more than you about this new imaginary ledger system, then trade some of my Real Money for these imaginary casino chips that I used to play pretend with some of my buddies on the forums. It's not my fault people started mortgaging their houses over monopoly money.
> Keep dodging accountability, pond scum.
Keep getting angry at me for using mathematics. Maybe someday I'll be held accountable for all those poor numbers I multiplied together.