I can't wait until this crypto fad dies and we can get back to gaming.
It's simply Tulip Mania. Crypto has no intrinsic worth other than the electricity you burned up doing math. Most forms of actual, real currency are backed by some other commodity. Gold, Silver, Oil, etc. Some are backed by other currencies such as when a foreign country uses the US Dollar as the basis of it's own currency. Crypto is inherently worthless. The only value it has is what you can convince the next sucker to buy it for with actual, real money.
100% true .
I'm not in crypto, but you kinda make the counterargument in your post. What drives the value of gold, silver, and oil? Rarity and right now crypto is the rarest of resources. That is where the value comes in and it will likely become more valuable as it becomes more mainstream. Plus it has safeguards to keep it rare... I felt the same way as you for many years, have 2 decades in banking and didn't think a non fiat without some sort of backing (military, natural resource, etc.) Could survive. Well hindsight sure as hell should have fired up my extra hardware back in the day and mined away.
No currency has intrinsic value - so Crypto is no different. "actual, real currency" are not backed by gold or diamonds or anything. Crypto can be used to buy actual real world goods and services - therefore it has value - that all may change tomorrow - but we might get attacked by Giant Possums from Space.
There is so much wrong with your argument, first of all no currency is backed by anything,
What makes the Value of a currency is the Production you give in to the world in return of that currency.
This production can vary from your working hours in your Job , to goods you produce and sell . "sell" here is an exchange simply , you give your good and get back a currency in return that has the value of what you exchanged.
Crypto Mining is theft. you give nothing to the world . it is 100% like some one who bought a banknote printing machine and started printing US$ and buying stuffs with it in the market. which is illegal . now put the PC in place of the banknote printers , and electricity for pc in place of electricity for printing machine you will end up at the same criminal act.
It puzzles me how governments are not outlawing crypto mining at the same level of printing fake money.
and it puzzles me more how people are accepting it while they would never accept a fake printed out banknote . it is the same.
There is a production cycle in the world economy . you should not take something for nothing. that is , the Banknote concept is just a written paper that proves you gave some "good" to some one and it "replaces" your sold goods or hours of work (production).
if that cycle is cut and you start taking goods or "production" from others in return of zero production from you , in short time the economy would collapse , and poor increase and lack of production as well , you are replacing production with NULL .
People should remember how currency started to understand this . in the past , people exchanged goods , gave apples and took oranges , then they invented currency (Gold and silver) to ease logistics nothing else ... imagine carrying a car worth of apples with you to buy a car. keep in mind that Gold and silver are goods too , they chose them as currency because they were expensive and little size/worth and easier to carry. that is , it was still "goods exchange" but with a third "goods" . crypto currency is not "goods" at all.
Then came banknotes to ease moving heavy gold as well , then they stolen our gold by removing the amount of gold per banknote from currency ... but crypto mining is worse than that .. at least banknotes still have value even if the gold was stolen by the bankers and the value is lower than what you got when you took the banknote.
you dont solve a problem with a bigger problem.
Cryupto mining PC = Banknote printer = Crime