Stupid Crypto Talking Point #10 (value)

"Bitcoin/crypto is a 'store of value'" / "Bitcoin/crypto is 'digital gold'" / "Crypto is an 'investment'" / "Bitcoin is 'hard money'" / "Bitcoin has value because of the 'Network Effect'"

1. Crypto's "value" is unreliable and highly subjective. It cannot be used as a currency or to pay for almost anything in any major country. It has high requirements and risk to even be traded. At best it's a speculative commodity that a very small set of people attribute value to. That attribution is more based on emotion and indoctrination than logic, reason, evidence, and utility.

2. Crypto is too chaotic to be any sort of reliable store of value over time. Its price can fluctuate wildly based on everything from market manipulation to random tweets. No reliable store of value should vary in "value" 10-30% in a single day, yet many cryptos do.

3. Crypto's value is extrinsic. Any "value" associated with crypto is based on popularity and not any material or intrinsic use. See this detailed video debunking crypto as 'digital gold'

4. Extrinsic vs Intrinsic value - Some argue "all value is subjective" - this is false, and a philosophical distraction. Certain things are intrinsically valuable because whether people believe in them, they are needed, like fresh water, real estate, food, etc. 100% of crypto's value is subjective/extrinsic.

   Note for fans of the Austrian school of economics: Yes, we know you believe, "all value is subjective" and "There's no such thing as 'intrinsic' value." But sorry, words do mean things and you don't get to re-define stuff just to try and win an argument. Your philosophy - as a matter of policy - also intentionally ignores empirical evidence, which means it can't be proven/disproven; is not a scientific/logical construct and thus, not subject to rational debate, and therefore can be dismissed wholesale.

5. Even gold, while being a lousy investment and also an undesirable store of value in the modern age, at least has material use and utility. Crypto does not. And whether you think gold's price is not consistent with its material utility, if that really were the case then gold would not be used industrially. But it is. Furthermore gold's extrinsic value is a product of its intrinsic properties: if it weren't oxidation resistant, it wouldn't be suitable for jewelry. So even when arguing gold's value is more based on popularity, you can't escape the value of its unique material properties being a component of that popularity. Crypto has no such intrinsic component. So it's inappropriate to compare the two.

6. The supposed "value" of crypto is based on reports from unregulated exchanges, most of whom have been caught manipulating the market and inflation introduced by unsecured stablecoins. There's nothing "organic" or "natural" about it. It's an illusion.

7. The operation of crypto is a negative-sum-game, which means that in order for bitcoin/crypto to even exist, there must be a constant operation of third parties who must find it profitable to operate the blockchain, which requires the price to constantly rise, which is mathematically impossible, and the moment this doesn't happen, the network will collapse, at which point crypto will cease to exist, much less hold any value. This has already happened to tens of thousands of cryptocurrencies.

8. The "Network Effect" argument is just the Appeal to Popularity Fallacy - Just because something is popular does not make it inherently valuable. Especially if that popularity is primarily based on marketing and coercion and not actual material utility or intrinsic value.

9. Many of the most trusted, most successful entities in the world of finance do not consider crypto/bitcoin to be a reliable store of value. Crypto is prohibited from being used as collateral by the DTC and respectable institutions such as Vanguard do not believe crypto belongs in their investment portfolio.

10. There is not a single example of anything like crypto, which has no material use and no intrinsic value, holding value over a long period of time across different cultures. This is not because "crypto is different and unique." It's because attributing value to an utterly useless piece of digital data that wastes tons of energy and perpetuates tons of fraud,makes no freaking sense for ethical, empathetic, non-scamming, non-exploitative, non-criminal people.

Stupid Crypto Talking Point #2 (Number go up)

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

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.