Cryptocurrency’s transparency is a mirage: New research shows a small group of insiders influence its value - eviltoast
Crypto-believers often blame greedy financiers as the cause of the Great Recession, but crypto is not immune to these same risks.

TLDR: meme coin rug pulls, among other issues around centralization

Crypto-believers often blame greedy financiers as the cause of the Great Recession in 2008. But we argue that crypto is not immune to these same risks.

Public blockchains operate on a distributed peer-to-peer network. This network provides each user a complete record of transactions that is updated in real time. Users can send digital cash between themselves without relying on a centralized authority.

Since each user has a full record of transactions, the system promises full transparency. But our research demonstrates that public blockchains, and the cryptocurrencies that run on them, do not actually replace trust with transparency.

Speculation, manipulation and market crashes remain very real dangers, regardless of whether the financial system is centralized or decentralized.

Centralization of power in the hands of insiders is still a major issue in the cryptocurrency space. This is particularly an issue for emerging cryptocurrencies like memecoins. Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency named after internet memes or similar jokes. They draw their value entirely from speculation.

  • Jimius@lemmy.mlEnglish
    7·
    6 hours ago

    Just remember that Satoshi’s wallet has almost a million bitcoin in it. Which is worth somewhere around 80 billion USD at the moment.

  • Wilco@lemm.eeEnglish
    103·
    9 hours ago

    Well … DUH. It is a nonexistent “currency” that only has value because people can be tricked into thinking it has value.

  • Lucky_777@lemmy.worldEnglish
    324·
    12 hours ago

    Even bitcoin, there are a select few who hold most of the coins. You want a coin like Digibyte. Community owned. Finite amount. Fast speeds.

    In crypto, there aren’t too many real options. Do your research.