cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/9525207
The very fact that it's "fake money for criminals" is exactly why I didn't pick up any BitCoin when it was 12p per coin.. I could have been rich af off of £10
this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2026
1318 points (98.2% liked)
Programmer Humor
31894 readers
2059 users here now
Welcome to Programmer Humor!
This is a place where you can post jokes, memes, humor, etc. related to programming!
For sharing awful code theres also Programming Horror.
Rules
- Keep content in english
- No advertisements
- Posts must be related to programming or programmer topics
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
"criminals" = people the goverment doesnt like crypto is untraceable (mostly)
I think thats why there are so many smear campaigns against it
There are plenty of issues beyond that, especially BTC and similar coins being energy inefficient, just imagine if every single transaction ran through that. It wasn't designed to be practical.
And on the less technical side, the biggest contributor to crypto being despised by most people is the massive prevalence of scammers, from companies that pretend to help you invest (while being a ponzi scheme) to rug pulls to other scammers being attracted to it for its perceived anonymity.
Afaik there's legitimate uses for the underlying technology, but cryptocurrency is just inferior to regular digital currency from a practical standpoint, and you either have to put up with government regulation (defeating the purpose of a currency aside from government) or put up with fraud that can't be stopped by our governments.
so basically, research the crypto you buy and practice basic cybersecurity?
sure, it wasnt designed for everybody, but that isnt a reason to smear it
so you have to put up with surveillance or put up with freedom?
I dont think the state should be able to trace transactions
That's very understandable, but impractical for investments and savings, the US insures some banks and the like but it doesn't insure crypto funds, if people's savings end up there based on false promises (or if their assets are managed by a third party) they can lose everything and have no recourse.
This isn't a hypothetical, it's the story of countless people who lost everything to grifters. I don't think blaming individuals makes a lot of sense when it comes to emerging technology and when, again, regular finance is generally insured by the state. The biggest reason for scammers to flock to crypto is that there's a lot less regulation, making it harder to prosecute them. And that's my original point on the choice we have right now, even if ideally we want better choices in the future. Right now you either go with a traditional institution for financial services, which includes government oversight, or you operate on your own and assume a lot of risks, whether you're even aware of that or not (and financial actors purposely deceive people on this end, as it's in their best interest to do so).
load more comments
(4 replies)
Haha, what an idiot!
Yeah, I didn't get any either. :-/
load more comments
(1 replies)
i’m going with the fake money for criminals, cuz sometimes the criminal in question is a trans person trying to get their medicine
to my great annoyance, almost all diy hrt online can only be bought using crypto. and wow does it make you hate cryptobros to have to navigate an ecosystem clearly designed for speculation to get your life-saving medicine 🫠
that sucks mam.
I hope eventually there are less dumb ways to access the stuff for you.a
load more comments
(1 replies)
Without glasses, I thought that said "illegal crab company" and I was all in.
No law can stop carcinization.
(V) OwO (V) What's this? snip snip
Citizen Sniiiiiiiiiiiips!
Before I go all in with you, I have to know- is this an illegal company where crabs are the product or where crabs are running things?
Yes
load more comments
(1 replies)
that's what I read with glasses, and I thought it was about garage crab farming
load more comments
(1 replies)
I prefer ethically sourced crab, tbh. I actually like the vat grown seafood because it is better for the environment and fresher inland.
load more comments
(1 replies)
He makes crypto sound way cooler than it is
Fake Money for Criminals.
Turns out things for criminals sometimes can be an okay thing for noncriminals.
load more comments
(4 replies)
The fake money for criminals is the best because there's a lot of people that aren't criminals that have bought in on it and among those the concensus is "I think a bunch of IT neck beards can build a better financial system better than the one that evolved over centuries".
The delusion is laughable.
I think it's very true, but cryptocurrency is not the way to go
load more comments
(5 replies)
Fake money probably, it allows me to easily buy drugs from online.
If people value it I guess it isn't so fake. Most "legit" currencies are just the goverment promising you its worth something anyway.
A government promising it's worth something carries a hell of a lot more weight than some random tech-bro promising it.
In both cases the trading value of the currency has almost nothing to do with who originated it, and almost everything to do with how the general public feels about it.
Just like crypto, most "government" currencies are worth what they're worth only because everyone agrees that they are. That's called "fiat" currency. And that's why fiat currency exchange markets exist. The US Dollar hasn't been "convertible" (redeemable for a fixed amount of precious metal) since 1971, and many other world currencies were already backed in some way by the US Dollar at that time.
The real difference is in the supply.
Government fiat currency is difficult to counterfeit, although the government (or reserve bank) can always make more whenever they want. We trust them not to print more money, increasing the money supply and devaluing the currency. However, this is exactly what has happened sometimes in the past, and no doubt will happen again in the future.
Crypto currency is virtually impossible to counterfeit, and IIRC there's a finite (but not precisely known) amount of it that can be made, no matter who you are.
Personally, I still use physical fiat currency and no crypto. I'd like to use crypto, but regulation in my country makes it very difficult to use without registering your details with a central authority. And although everyone's pushing e-money options which are similarly tracked, thankfully I still have the option of using anonymous cash.
I don't do anything bad or illegal. I just believe that government and big business don't deserve to know everything I do in my life simply because they want to.
You can use crypto without those registration if you know where to find locals who are willing to trade it for cash. It'll be just like finding a local dealer.
load more comments
(4 replies)
I miss when the tech business model was to find where buyers and sellers were interacting, insert an app in the middle and then add fees.
The first two depend on centralized services and nonfree software, which are things I don't like. The third doesn't. The fourth doesn't have to.
So by those metrics I like cryptocurrency the most. In fact I have invested a bit of my savings in Bitcoin. I have never used Uber or AirBnB meanwhile.
The illegal cab company made legal cabs cheaper and more competitive, after a decade of them charging high prices and pricing shitty service.
Same thing happened when the illegal hotel company came along.
load more comments
(5 replies)
It doesn't have to be like this though.
Here, for example, Uber is not allowed and Airbnbs are regulated
load more comments
(4 replies)