[TeaBrain]

>Pyramid schemes are illegal, but Multi-Level-Marketing schemes are legal.

In this case, this wouldn't even fit the mold for a multilevel marketing scheme, or even affiliate marketing. There are real cash flows detached from a buy-in both of those schemes.

>people earn utility tokens they can spend once into the economy, than shares where they have the right to demand rent extraction

Again, there's cash flows underlying shares of a company. There's not in the case of a digital asset that people refer to as a coin or token.

[EGreg]

Not sure I understand what you're trying to say. There are "real cash flows" in every case, just what you consider as the unit of account is different.

As far as shares, no. It's completely different. Shares are equity securities, that entitle people to dividends or they want the shares to go up in price. Regardless, it sets up a never-ending demand for enshittification and rent extraction that you see across Big Tech. Utility tokens are fundamentally different and don't have those perverse incentives, and remove the shareholder class. It's like comparing shares in Disney Corp, to Disney Dollars.

[TeaBrain]

MLM schemes and affiliate marketing businesses will have, or be related to, underlying businesses of selling products which generate revenue, and they'll have some level of expenses related to producing these products. These are components of an operating cash flow. Businesses, whether private or public, are expected to either have healthy cash flows, or would be expected to grow their cash flows in the future in the case of a startup, to support the share price. Also, shares don't necessarily "entitle people to dividends" as shares often have no dividends. In the case of cryptocurrencies, there is no underlying physical product, nor underlying debt, nor a cash flow generating business.

[EGreg]

You are correct about businesses, but very confused about Web3.

I am saying that Web3 should be used by existing celebrities to monetize their existing fame and social capital, sell unsold seats, etc.

I am saying that existing organizations, communities, including entire cities, can benefit from having a decentralized system powered by smart contracts, rather than a random FinTech that posts a surety bond, powering their commerce at scale.

Yes, shares don't necessarily entitle people to dividends, but the point is that the shareholders want to extract rents from the ecosystem, forever. And this is a problem, that doesn't exist when you have utility tokens and cut out the parasitic shareholder class completely.