[Isamu]

> I hadn’t realized how negative the prevailing sentiment is on Hacker News.

I think cryptocurrency is polarizing. While the technology is interesting, the current landscape of related businesses is discouraging.

> One argument seems to be that cryptocurrency is purely speculative

With stock you get part ownership. Buying gold relies on the inherent demand for and usefulness of gold as a metal.

Cryptocurrency is like exchanging your country’s paper money for other paper money that is hard to counterfeit but is not backed by any country. It might be okay if your country’s money is crap.