strongly recommend giving this one a read to the end
The crypto boom of 2021 was a direct result of a bunch of Americans being cooped up, too online, and also, critically, having a bunch of extra cash thanks to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and a series of temporary relief checks
People (esp pro crypto ones) keep saying this, and I dont believe this is true. Dont even think the timelines match up. (There is another story about crypto boom and inflation which also doesnt match the timelines).
none of this was new to me as a long time crypto gawker, but it was still tied together in a nice package which drew some particularly apt connections. I can’t help but believe that the bitcoin thesis is fundamentally flawed. Being superimposed on the structure of financial capitalism itself, it seems to me that bitcoin and cryptocurrency are leveraged bets in the stability of the system. we haven’t seen how crypto will function during a serious recession yet. I’m not a professional prognosticator by any means, but i have a hard time believing that it will go well for them, and a very easy time believing that it will go worse for them than the rest of the economy, broadly speaking. I hope that people in texas and other crypto-humping locales that host bitcoin “mines” take the opportunity to do something extremely Cool when that does happen.
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This is one of the best articles I’ve read all year, and I never want to read it again. Holy shit.
Gave me a sickening sense of incoming doom.
What a horror show! With sick fascination, I read all the way through to the end.
There’s no tidbits to quote because it’s all tidbits, trays of eyeballs, olives and paper-thin prosciutto skewered on cocktail sticks.
PS: HODL always reminds me of Hodor, or Hold The Door, as it is horrifyingly explained in one episode.
The quote that sticks in my head is
You are not expected to believe any of this stuff, but rather to believe in the predatory utility of saying it.
If I had to pick a particular tidbit, I’d go with the indifference/disrespect Bone Thugs-n-Harmony got in their surprise set there - in any other context, that shit would have had people going fucking wild.
As Patrick himself notes, its a perfect visual metaphor for the bitcoin bros’ relation to art and culture, or more accurately the utter black hole of vapidity and soullessness that defines the community’s tastes.
The point was ostentation: not to enjoy the music, but to be seen in possession of it.
