[dgellow]

Somehow crypto currencies have this strange effect on people who should know better: they see some random claim that sounds impossible and directly invest ridiculous amount of money they would _never_ spend that easily in a different context. I don't get what makes people trust such things but there is something deep at play here, somehow the FOMO makes people take crazy level of risks.

[ReginaDeiPirati]

Feel like it’s mostly driven by FOMO and social pressure right now. I have a friend who told me that his accountant adviced him to invest in crypto (bitcoin) “because a person that his following with his job recently purchased a Ferrari after a Bitcoin investment”.

[1123581321]

Oh dear. Reminds me of a friend who, with a straight face, suggested I take the advice of “wealthy millennials on YouTube.”

[dgellow]

What did you answer?

[1123581321]

The Nick Young meme is probably closest to what happened: https://s3.amazonaws.com/hiphopdx-production/2016/06/nick-yo...

This person simply does not understand that anything “works” in a bull market. The next recession or cryptocurrency market pullback will be their first since they started speculating, and after that, I think their advice will be better.

[dgellow]

It’s sad but true: seeing your “investment” based on youtuber lose 90% of its value in a crash is the only true way to learn how the world works.

[jpalomaki]

I think when you make crazy promises for return on investment something clicks on people’s brains. Thinking goes from ”how much I earn if I invest” to ”how much I loose if I don’t invest”.

In my theory this is why these only work with ridiculous promises. Loosing 10% profit does not feel bad, different thing when you might loose that 100% profit.

[rchaud]

I think part of the appeal of crypto's crazy returns comes from the loss of faith people have that the economic system as it is will provide stability like it did for their parents' generation.

Millions of kids in college are wondering how their school is getting away charging regular tuition when classes are via Zoom. Older kids are wondering how a house their parents bought for $100k is worth 15x now when salaries haven't increased by anywhere near that.

Putting money into an index fund that offers 5% (ballpark) seems ridiculous when you consider what things cost today. Why not take a punt on something that could appreciate 10x in a week? It does sound too good to be true, but in an economic system distorted by endless quantitative easing and effectively interest rates for savers, maybe this is the new normal.