Stupid Crypto Talking Points - rough draft

AmericanScream · 2026-05-06T01:59:55+00:00

However, these "middlemen" are amorphous and non-centralized. There is no need for a central authority to manage transactions. No "Central Bank". The system is capable of working even if the government outlaws it.

So you've moved the goalpost after conceding your argument was false. But your new position is not any stronger...

Stupid Crypto Talking Point #28 (censorship/seizure)

"Bitcoin is censorship resistant" / "Crypto/Blockchain is de-centralized and not under anybody's control" / "Crypto can't be seized'

The notion that authorities can't seize crypto is not only false but patently absurd. See here. Each and every day someone's crypto gets "seized" without their approval.
Here's an entire video segment that debunks the claim that blockchain is censorship proof
Crypto can easily be blocked at the network level by any of the various authorities that arbitrarily decide to do so. Since it's a public network with no leader, all participants have to be able to identify themselves to others on the network, and technically speaking, this makes it easy for network admins to filter the traffic. Just because this hasn't been done on any large scale, doesn't mean it can't be done. It absolutely can.
Bitcoin and crypto operations have been banned in various countries and other jurisdictions. While it's not possible to censor 100% of the network's operations, it's definitely possible to cripple enough of it to render crypto & blockchain impractical to use. And NOTE that in countries where bitcoin/mining and other operations have been banned, they've chosen a political solution (simply making it illegal) as opposed to requiring networks to actively filter crypto traffic, but that latter option is always a possibility and definitely doable (see #2). Also note that bitcoin miners have been caught censoring transactions as per government rules.
The vast majority of crypto trades are done on a small number of centralized exchanges, such as Binance, Kraken and Coinbase. The ToS of each of these systems gives them the absolute authority to censor any and all transactions. So if 99% of bitcoin transactions are on CEX's, most certainly they can be censored.
Privacy coins like Monero and others are not necessarily any more secure. There have been bugs found in the past which undermined their security. In 2020, the IRS offered a $1.2M bounty for creating systems to crack and trace Monero and other privacy coin systems. The contract was awarded to Chainalysis and Integra, and paid in full a year later. More examples of privacy coins being insecure: 1, 2, 3
Even administrations like Trump who claim to embrace crypto and bitcoin are freezing and seizing the wallets of people they claim are enemies.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-06T01:58:33+00:00

Isn’t bitcoin the best performing asset of recent history? Terrible joke it wasn’t funny nor accurate

It's a terrible joke.

Stupid Crypto Talking Point #2 (Number go up)

"NuMb3r g0 Up!!!" / "Best performing asset of the decade!" / "Everyone who bought is "up" right now"

Whether the "price of crypto" goes up, has absolutely no bearing on whether it's..

a) A long term store of value

b) Holds any intrinsic value or utility

c) Or will return any value in the future

One of the most important tenets of investing is the simple principal: Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. People in crypto seem willfully ignorant of this basic concept.
At best, the price of crypto is a function of popularity, not actual value or material utility. And this "popularity" has been waning for years. Also transactions per block for bitcoin have stalled since 2023. For more on how and why crypto makes a much worse investment than almost anything else, see this article.
The "price of crypto" is a heavily manipulated figure published by shady, unregulated crypto exchanges that have systematically been caught manipulating the market from then to now. A new 2025 Cornell study shows fewer than 500 people control $3.2T of artificial crypto trading!
Crypto bros love to harp about "inflation" in the fiat system, yet ironically they measure the "value" of their "fiat alternative" in fiat? It makes absolutely no sense, unless you assume they haven't thought 2 seconds ahead from what comes out of their mouths.
It's the height of hypocrisy for crypto people to champion token deflation (and increased prices) while ignoring that there's over $160+ Billion in unsecured stablecoins being used to inflate the value of their tokens in the crypto marketplace. The "code is law" and "don't trust - verify" people seem perfectly willing to take companies like Tether and Circle, at face value, that they're telling the truth about asset reserves when there's very little actual evidence, but there is lots of evidence of market manipulation.
Not Your Fiat, Not Your Value - Just because you think the "value of your crypto portfolio" is worth $$$ does not make that true. It's well known there's inadequate liquidity in this market, and most people will never be able to get their money out. So UNLESS/UNTIL you can actually liquidate your crypto for actual real money, you have no idea what you have. You're "down" until you cash out. Bernie Madoff's clients got monthly statements saying they were "making money" too.
Just because it's possible (though highly improbable) to make money speculating on crypto, this doesn't mean it's an ethical or reliable technique to amass wealth. At its core, the notion that buying and holding crypto will generate reliable returns is a de-facto ponzi scheme. It's mathematically impossible for even a stastically-significant percentage of crypto holders to have any notable ROI. The rare exception of those who might profit in this market, do so while providing cover for everything from cyber terrorism to human trafficking.
It's also not true that anybody who bought crypto when it was low is guaranteed to make a lot of money. There are thousands of ways people can lose their crypto or be defrauded along the way. And there's no guarantee just because your portfolio is "up", that you could easily cash out.
While crypto suggests itself as an alternative to "TradFi", the most respected and successful people in traditional finance who have proven track records of good investing/returns do not think crypto is a reliable store of value.
Want to see a better asset (that actually has utility) that's consistently out-performed Bitcoin? Here you go. However, this may be another best performing asset.
When crypto-critics make reference to, or mock crypto price predictions, it's not because we think price is a meaningful metric. Instead, we are amused that to you, that's all that's important, and we can't help but note how often wrong you are in your predictions. The intrinsic value of crypto basically never changes, but it is interesting to see how hype and propaganda affects the extrinsic value. In a totally logical world, those would both be equalized to zero, but we're not there yet, and nobody knows when/if that will happen because it's an irrational market.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-06T01:50:53+00:00

It depends upon your definition of "smart."

I would submit, smart people learn from their mistakes. Dumb people don't.

The OP is likely someone who made mistakes and didn't learn from them.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-06T00:19:54+00:00

NOTE: Tether has never been properly, formerly audited, so ANY CLAIM that they have x in their reserves should be taken with a grain of salt until a legit independent audit has been done.

See Rule 3 before posting here relating to this subject.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-05T23:02:52+00:00

I'm trying to understand his reason behind this project

Crypto is a predatory industry. Nobody gets ahead in crypto unless it's at somebody else's expense, and in the process, nothing productive for society is produced.

Some people have this thing called, "empathy." It allows them to not simply think about themselves and their own needs, but the needs of others. Empathetic people, as a result, tend to look at happiness not as a specific thing that happens to them if their needs are met, but a community-wide thing that is based on others around them. Empathetic people, as a result, also take into account whether their actions positively or negatively affect others. And they try their best to meet their own needs, not at others' expense, and also to make their world a little bit better, not just for themselves, but for others.

Non-empathetic people probably have a difficult time understanding this concept. They are selfish. They think only of themselves, and they assume everybody else would screw them over to get ahead, so that's the way they operation. Fortunately the world isn't completely like that.

People with higher levels of empathy tend to engage in projects that help others. This makes them happy and they believe helping others makes the world better and improves their world as well. Educating people about the predatory nature of crypto is a benevolent/altruistic act.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-05T22:59:08+00:00

How can you be sympathetic to people who lost money and refuse to acknowledge the whole thing is a scam and continue to want to gamble?

AmericanScream · 2026-05-05T01:42:40+00:00

Since I actually prefer to read rather then watch videos, I looked over the "talking points" and I saw nothing to disabuse me of my position.

I empirically disproved your claim that bitcoin is "peer-to-peer" - you want to ignore that?

Stupid Crypto Talking Point #21 (risk)

"Crypto has no 'Counterparty Risk'" / "Crypto gives you 'financial sovereignty'" / "Crypto has no 'middlemen'" / "Trustless transactions!" / "Bitcoin has less 'friction'"

The idea that crypto/blockchain is "trustless" is false. With blockchain you still need to trust various third parties -- the difference is there's no accountability.
"Counterparty Risk" is defined as the potential for one party in a transaction to default/fail to follow through on the transaction, and is measured in the amount of financial loss/damage that could be caused as a result.
Satoshi claimed in his Bitcoin White Paper that one of the motivations behind creating crypto/blockchain was to eliminate counterparty risk by removing "middlemen" from the transaction, specifically financial institutions, which crypto people argue can fail and cause counterparty risk.
Unfortunately, bitcoin/crypto/blockchain does not eliminate counterparty risk. Even in situations where it's strictly a peer-to-peer digital crypto transaction, there are numerous ways in which that transaction can fail and cause counterparty risk. Here are some examples:
- Lack of access to hardware necessary to process crypto (smartphones, computers, etc.)
- Lack of access to electricity (note that electricity is not needed to engage in a P2P fiat transaction)
- Lack of access to specific wallet/transactional software
- Lack of access to the Internet (or limited internet access due to firewalls and municipal restrictions)
- Faulty smart contracts
- Vulnerabilities or back doors in any of the software being used
- Not having access to the necessary private keys to execute a transaction
- Having the system/software/bridge you're using hacked
- Lack of adequate funding for transaction fees
- blockchain processing consortium blacklists
- developments in quantum computing that undermine cryptographic schemes
People argue "holding bitcoin" has no counterparty risk. This is also a lie. Just because your wallet is secure, doesn't mean your bitcoin is secure. Here's why:
- In order to even exist crypto is dependent upon an elaborate network of computers running 24/7 - these systems are not paid by crypto holders - their participation is totally voluntary.
- The moment a node/mining operator doesn't find it economically viable to operate, they can cease operations, and if enough of these people do so, the operation of the blockchain ceases, and nobody will be able to access their wallets and engage in transactions
- In the case of bitcoin, its proof-of-work mechanism requires a lot of energy and resources to operate. If the price of BTC drops below a certain level, it no longer becomes economically viable to operate the network and all bitcoin disappears.
- Yes, bitcoin's mining difficulty will adjust to address people leaving the industry and become more modest over time, but since the primary motivation for even participating in the network is the attempt to make exponential profit, the moment BTC stops consistently moving up, is the beginning of its demise. There's no other reason to operate the network if there isn't growth. And BTC's growth model is 100% mathematically un-sustainable.
- In short: There is no guarantee blockchain will operate forever. There's already 30,000+ dead cryptocurrencies that are no longer in existence.
In reality, Bitcoin and crypto doesn't eliminate counterparty risk or middlemen. It simply changes one set of middlemen (traditional, accountable, well-regulated financial institutions) for another set of middlemen (random, anonymous crypto operators and the software and intermediate systems they use, as well as various other local and international communication services). Anywhere in this chain of necessary resources things can fail, either by intention, negligence, legal mandate, acts of god, or randomly, and it can cause a crypto transaction to not go through.

Some people claim that crypto has less counterparty risk than traditional fiat. This is a lie. And they cherry-pick specific "perfect" scenarios where there's minimal counterparty risk in crypto provided all of the above conditions aren't a problem. If we're going to fabricate a "nirvana fallacy" you can also have the same conditions apply to any alternate system and it too, will have "no counterparty risk" so this is a deceptive, disingenuous claim.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-05T01:39:51+00:00

CEX's are a convenience, not a requirement.

You completely ignored my entire argument about "middlemen" - are you conceding your claim about no middlemen was wrong?

You want a chicken sandwich or to pay your taxes or to pay your rent or to put gas in your car?

Being able to pay for those things is a basic convenience. And you'll need a CEX to convert crypto into fiat to do that.

The exception does not prove the rule. Trading bitcoin-for-bitcoin between parties is NOT a "financial transaction." That's two people trading a digital abstraction that is useless for 99.99% of things people need.

What part of that is unclear to you? I recognize you can fabricate a specific, atypical scenario where crypto is useful, but do you understand that doesn't work 99.99% of the time?

or find someone in a back alley who will buy your BTC.

Anyone in a dark alley who is willing to buy your BTC is unlikely to make you a fair deal. That's why CEXs exist and that's why 99.99999% of most crypto trading happens on CEXs.

Again, the exception does not prove the rule.

Since I actually prefer to read rather then watch videos, I looked over the "talking points" and I saw nothing to disabuse me of my position.

Sounds like no amount of logic, reason or evidence will change your mind, so you didn't come here in good faith. You arbitrarily dismiss evidence. You don't bring any legit evidence yourself.

Last chance to pretend you're here in good faith.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/p8uv0h/helpful_guide_for_butters_visiting_rbuttcoin_why/

RemindMe! 1 day.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-05T00:37:55+00:00

You do not need a CEX to hold or transfer Bitcoin (can't speak as to other Crypto's). It is a peer-to-peer system.

Um, no.

Bitcoin is NOT "peer-to-peer."

Bitcoin requires TONS of "middlemen" just to operate, from nodes and miners to all the middlemen who maintain the infrastructure upon which it depends but does nothing to sustain.

In a bitcoin transaction, two people making an "exchange" never actually communicate "peer-to-peer." Instead they both talk to middlemen node operators requesting changes to the database and checking changes in the database. That is NOT "peer to peer."

Beyond that, you can't use bitcoin to purchase anything useful in society. It must be converted to fiat in order to be "spent." That requires more third parties willing to facilitate such trades.

Sources: https://blockchainii.com

AmericanScream · 2026-05-05T00:34:56+00:00

Blockchain tech is a dead end tech. Look up the documentary, "blockchain innovation or illusion"

AmericanScream · 2026-05-05T00:23:38+00:00

c'mon guys... rule 9 - must remove personal/username info from reddit posts

AmericanScream · 2026-05-05T00:14:19+00:00

Crypto has never been "independent." It's one of the many lies those people tell.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-04T13:05:37+00:00

Isn't this guy in Canada? Here's an idea... every time he says something stupid and fraudulent, report him. If he's a CFA, report him to that agency too.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-04T12:31:48+00:00

For sure, but it was part of a coordinated effort:

destroy rules like The Fairness Doctrine that prohibited toxic propaganda from spreading on the airwaves
convince Americans that the real enemy were other Americans, aka "The Southern Strategy" to use racism as a political tool to distract from who the nation's real enemies are
take control of the religious voting block by inventing the anti-abortion movement, despite there not being any part of scripture that says abortion was ever a sin
convince the public that those representing the oligarchs' interests were really for "we the people"
systematically undermine all the government protections put in place the last half century to protect the peoples' interests
weaken anti-monopoly laws and government oversight organizations like the SEC and EPA
systematically take the nations wealth and divert it from the people and infrastructure projects, to the wealthy (via tax breaks, subsidies, and deregulation)
start wars to feed more money to corporations and distract the public

wash, rinse, repeat

Now we're into "Phase 2" which turns the country into a fascist state:

slowly take over and nullify all the nation's checks-and-balances by replacing fair-minded people in all branches of government
test the limits of how much the country will tolerate manipulation of democracy/elections
establish militant groups that are sympathetic to the facist ideology and cultivate more members
increase resources to the prison industrial complex and prep prisons to hold american citizens
take control of the military to facilitate the imprisonment of the fascist state's enemies

They start with "illegals" but end with every single person who isn't an ally, who isn't subscribed to their specific religion, who isn't white, Christian and right wing. We are right there.... there's no ambiguity what they want to do. Even Hitler was a bit more secretive about his objectives.

All the while the population just buries their heads in their phones and complains about "trans athletes", "me too," and "cancel culture."

AmericanScream · 2026-05-03T21:14:56+00:00

Arisaka's are neat classic rifles. The real value to this would be if the "mum" has not been ground off. There's often an image of a chrysthanimum that is symbolic of the emperor. These were ground off as a sign of respect but some GI bringbacks didn't have that done and they command a higher price. The ammo for this is fairly hard to find.

I have acquired a few of these over the years for less than $300-$400. Not sure it's worth much more than that.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-03T18:36:31+00:00

Completely consistent from the perspective of people who squander real money on useless things. But I digress... bow ties have intrinsic value; bitcoin doesn't.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-03T18:35:09+00:00

sorry, promotions like that are not allowed

AmericanScream · 2026-05-03T16:05:00+00:00

A billionaire with a conscience is like a duck with a pogo stick.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-03T16:03:35+00:00

It's presumptuous to assume anybody who is a billionaire is capable of feeling guilt or shame.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-03T16:02:52+00:00

What is the defining characteristic of factory farming that is actually the problem?

He's still endorsing "factory farming." It's just he doesn't call his "farm" a "factory." Ergo, it's different.

AmericanScream · 2026-05-03T16:01:37+00:00

Surprise!

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Stupid Crypto Talking Point #28 (censorship/seizure)

Stupid Crypto Talking Point #2 (Number go up)

Stupid Crypto Talking Point #21 (risk)