TLDR: meme coin rug pulls, among other issues around centralization
Crypto-believers often blame greedy financiers as the cause of the Great Recession in 2008. But we argue that crypto is not immune to these same risks.
Public blockchains operate on a distributed peer-to-peer network. This network provides each user a complete record of transactions that is updated in real time. Users can send digital cash between themselves without relying on a centralized authority.
Since each user has a full record of transactions, the system promises full transparency. But our research demonstrates that public blockchains, and the cryptocurrencies that run on them, do not actually replace trust with transparency.
Speculation, manipulation and market crashes remain very real dangers, regardless of whether the financial system is centralized or decentralized.
Centralization of power in the hands of insiders is still a major issue in the cryptocurrency space. This is particularly an issue for emerging cryptocurrencies like memecoins. Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency named after internet memes or similar jokes. They draw their value entirely from speculation.
Well … DUH. It is a nonexistent “currency” that only has value because people can be tricked into thinking it has value.
Like USD, which the gov can print an infinite amount of whenever it wants, therefore proving it’s worthless? BTC has a limit hardcoded into its programming. Anyone can always ascribe value to anything, but scarcity is no mere illusion.
The USD cannot be printed in an infinite amount. It is printed and secured by debt. It has value, but the value is basically a loan that has to be repaid.
Sure, but as a result we’ve been seeing it balloon to epic proportions before our eyes for the past few decades. This next decade is not gonna look pretty, thanks probably mostly due to the greed known as fractional reserve lending. Brace yourself…