Bitcoin/cryptocurrency thread

[coprolite]

On 15/11/2022 at 10:38, Detournement said:

'Effective Altruism' is the belief system of SBF and his friends. It's promoted to  young people at elite schools and universities by Bill Gates and basically amounts to the idea that the most intelligent people in society making decisions about how to allocate resources is the best outcome for everyone. I can't remember exactly when but there was an episode of TrueAnon podcast where a guest said that Epstein was very interested in creating a science based ideology and that his dealings with Gates, Stephen Pinker and people at MIT were centred on that. Epstein himself was 'discovered' at a school for gifted children by ex CIA officer William Barr who's son Bill was Trump's Attorney General. 

The co-ed frat house that SBF lived in clearly uses cult brainwashing methods to indoctrinate young adults into Effective Altruism. There is no way these freaks managed to go from a start up to links to drug cartels, financing political networks and money laundering for Ukraine within 3 years. 

Basically ripped off Plato there. 

Incidentally, do you have a board in your house with loads of red string between pins on it? 

[topcat(The most tip top)]

1 hour ago, coprolite said:

Basically ripped off Plato there. 

The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.

Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, p. 39 [Free Press, 1979]; 

 

[coprolite]

2 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.

Alfred North Whitehead, Process and Reality, p. 39 [Free Press, 1979]; 

 

I’m a big fan of proper citation in posts.

[Detournement]

1 hour ago, coprolite said:

Basically ripped off Plato there. 

Incidentally, do you have a board in your house with loads of red string between pins on it? 

Plato is a pro slavery philosopher so that fits. 

No strings and pins. I'm just cursed with a very good memory. 

[topcat(The most tip top)]

13 minutes ago, Detournement said:

Plato is a pro slavery philosopher so that fits. 

No strings and pins. I'm just cursed with a very good memory. 

Although seemingly a memory that can only find space for one fact about Plato

[Detournement]

22 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

Although seemingly a memory that can only find space for one fact about Plato

It's the relevant fact here. We are witnessing the constant renewal of the aristocratic class. 

 

[Granny Danger]

When I see how off-topic this thread has become it makes me suspicious that all is not well in crypto land.

[invergowrie arab]

Effective altruism is how many of the public services in Scotland are now funded.

Mainly through third sector organisations contracted by LAs or Government themselves. 

I'm 50/50 on whether or not politicians are bought and sold on this methodology or whether the scale of the investment is too much to turn down.

Those same organisations getting the contracts also advise Government on policy and where the money should be spent.

We often congratulate ourselves on not having an establishment in Scotland and I think that's broadly fair if you look at  elected reps.

The actual policymakers and recipients of the funding are all church of Scotland and/or private school educated who have captured a few of our "self made men"

Having worked with them I have to hand it to them. Their powers of manipulation are outstanding.

Maybe this is for the conspiracy theory thread.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

19 minutes ago, invergowrie arab said:

Effective altruism is how many of the public services in Scotland are now funded.

Mainly through third sector organisations contracted by LAs or Government themselves. 

I'm 50/50 on whether or not politicians are bought and sold on this methodology or whether the scale of the investment is too much to turn down.

Those same organisations getting the contracts also advise Government on policy and where the money should be spent.

We often congratulate ourselves on not having an establishment in Scotland and I think that's broadly fair if you look at  elected reps.

The actual policymakers and recipients of the funding are all church of Scotland and/or private school educated who have captured a few of our "self made men"

Having worked with them I have to hand it to them. Their powers of manipulation are outstanding.

Maybe this is for the conspiracy theory thread.

Or in other words

[Detournement]

2 hours ago, invergowrie arab said:

Effective altruism is how many of the public services in Scotland are now funded.

Mainly through third sector organisations contracted by LAs or Government themselves. 

I'm 50/50 on whether or not politicians are bought and sold on this methodology or whether the scale of the investment is too much to turn down.

Those same organisations getting the contracts also advise Government on policy and where the money should be spent.

We often congratulate ourselves on not having an establishment in Scotland and I think that's broadly fair if you look at  elected reps.

The actual policymakers and recipients of the funding are all church of Scotland and/or private school educated who have captured a few of our "self made men"

Having worked with them I have to hand it to them. Their powers of manipulation are outstanding.

Maybe this is for the conspiracy theory thread.

It always amazes me how many people can live a middle class lifestyle off the back of a Third Sector organisation that barely has a footprint.

You want to do dance therapy for depressed teens? That will require 7 non executive directors. 

 

 

[welshbairn]

On 13/11/2022 at 16:48, welshbairn said:

 

 

 

Larry David's getting sued..

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/16/us-lawsuit-launched-against-ftx-founder-and-celebrity-backers

[ICTChris]

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy
 

Sam Bankman-Fried wants to raise $8bn to pay off creditors. Form a queue investors!

It’s an amazing article really. He essentially admits the effective altruism stuff was for show.

Edited November 16, 2022 by ICTChris

[Detournement]

12 hours ago, ICTChris said:

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy
 

Sam Bankman-Fried wants to raise $8bn to pay off creditors. Form a queue investors!

It’s an amazing article really. He essentially admits the effective altruism stuff was for show.

Vox having to do a disclaimer that they were on his payroll as well is funny. The guy was throwing cash everywhere and it probably on takes low five figures to buy off that kind of website as they will always be the optimistic puppy waiting for another treat. 

I don't see anything about Effective Atruism in that article? Just an adult who reads as if he is on a comedown blubbing about 'good' and 'bad' like a 15 year old. 

[DiegoDiego]

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23462333/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-cryptocurrency-effective-altruism-crypto-bahamas-philanthropy
 
Sam Bankman-Fried wants to raise $8bn to pay off creditors. Form a queue investors!
It’s an amazing article really. He essentially admits the effective altruism stuff was for show.

I'm not sure if was all for show. He was blogging about utilitarianism back when he was in college.

It seems like the main cause of the Alameda/FTX collapse was incompetence and poor accounting. The same things which brought down Enron, Bear Stearns, et cetera. There's also some evidence that he was using medication linked to aggressive gambling and excessive spending. There doesn't really seem much, if anything, crypto specific about the story.

I did read a nice analogy.

Crypto in theory : Marx.
Crypto in practice : Mao, Stalin, Hoxha...

[vikingTON]

The sort of shite analogy that would be popular among the idiots who were buying jpegs just last year.

There doesn't need to be anything crypto-specific about a speculative bubble laced with Ponzi schemes collapsing. That's the cyclical and completely destructive nature of speculative finance capitalism. 

[Shandon Par]

On GTA San Andreas you can visit the Altruistic cult outwith missions, start a rammy and kill them all. 

[Sergeant Wilson]

2 minutes ago, Shandon Par said:

On GTA San Andreas you can visit the Altruistic cult outwith missions, start a rammy and kill them all. 

^^^

 

[DiegoDiego]

The sort of shite analogy that would be popular among the idiots who were buying jpegs just last year.

The analogy is a way of saying "some things look great on paper, but rarely work well in practice when executed by humans".

There doesn't need to be anything crypto-specific about a speculative bubble laced with Ponzi schemes collapsing. That's the cyclical and completely destructive nature of speculative finance capitalism. 

No, but there have been lots of crypto specific scams and frauds. So it's worth pointing out that this isn't one.

[vikingTON]

30 minutes ago, DiegoDiego said:

 

The analogy is a way of saying "some things look great on paper, but rarely work well in practice when executed by humans".

Which doesn't work because 'crypto' never looked great on paper, unless you were a money launderer or sanctions evader. 

Comparing crypto bros buying jpegs to the implementation of revolutionary socialism across one third of the world in the 20th century in the pantheon of ideas is objectively ridiculous. 

Quote

No, but there have been lots of crypto specific scams and frauds. So it's worth pointing out that this isn't one.

They weren't crypto specific at all - they were just common or garden speculative frauds, simply applied to a new setting and an even more gullible target audience than usual. 

[welshbairn]

From the guy appointed as administrator of FTX or whatever the American term is.