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Comment by bdcravens | Hacker News Reader

Meta: I spend a lot of time in crypto(currency) subreddits, and of course approach those conversations differently than I do when I see the same topics pop up on HN. That said, I see a lot of the Reddit-style comments and terminology ("altcoins", "shitcoins", derisive names, etc) show up where when there's a crypto discussion. Does this happen in other subjects and I'm just unaware of those topic's subcultures? Or am I correct that the level of discourse for crypto is that much lower?

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I wouldn't necessarily call the discussion "lower" but you can see similar colorful language in forums dedicated to trading equities/options.

I imagine so. I think my question (maybe I missed the mark) was is that does as much as that leak into HN (where I consider the level of discourse far higher than the Internet as a whole) as much for other topics?

Oh, I guess I misunderstood. Not sure about that but that is an interesting question.

afaik some explain this with resentment for not having seen the signs of a good investment before time, considering all the wits that should float around here.

As someone who's been part of the crypto community since 2011, the level of discourse in most of cryptoland is rock bottom. I attribute it to the decentralized nature of the technology, which encourages lots of people to attempt manipulate prices through trolling.

I would concur (I've been around it a similar amount of time, building my first GPU rigs around that time). I would say it was once a bit better, but maybe that's just rose-tinted nostalgia. ("the good ole days")

Yeah, in the early days it was better... I would argue that the average IQ in the community around 2011-2013 was unusually high: The reason some of the people who bought currency in that time period made a fortune is because they foresaw the future and had a prescience that other people lacked (others just got lucky)

Additionally, the barrier to entry was much higher then (obviously not talking about the price)

its quite comparable to the web...as it got more widespread the density of likeminded people adjusted to the true average...this does not mean there are no more good places to talk and develop cc, just they are clouded by all the noise above board.

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