Written by: Babywhale, Techub News
Yesterday, (the Financial Times) published an 'apology letter' with a meme as its cover. Upon seeing the title, one might think it was (the Financial Times) reflecting on its previous negative reports on Crypto in light of Bitcoin officially breaking the $100,000 mark. However, if you read this ironic short article closely, you will find that rather than an apology letter, it is more of a counterattack by kind-hearted journalists against injustice.
(The Financial Times) wrote in the first paragraph of the apology letter:
Frequent visitors to (FT Alphaville) might get the impression that its authors, whether current or past, are skeptical about cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin. This is correct.
This has clearly indicated their attitude: they are skeptical about cryptocurrency, especially Bitcoin. From Bitcoin's $10 to $100,000, they have never changed, and to this day, they still believe 'this is correct.'
The content of FTAV since June 2011 may convey a viewpoint: Bitcoin is a negative-sum game, its protocol is designed very 'smartly', theoretically usable for bookkeeping, but inefficient as a traditional means of transaction, and has problems as a store of value. Our posts may also have promoted the idea that the price of Bitcoin is an indicator that can be arbitrarily speculated upon, unrelated to any utility that tokens may have because replicating the utility provided by that token is too easy, thus any intrinsic value comes from the sunk costs of infrastructure and intangible assets, such as regulatory acquiescence, interconnectivity with mainstream financial systems (once thought to be the 'antidote'), and the allure of being the first in 'souvenirs'.
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Let's put aside the correctness or incorrectness of FT's viewpoints and first look at the most interesting final paragraph:
If at any point in the past 14 years you chose not to purchase products due to our reports of rising 'paper prices', we sincerely apologize. The rise in 'paper prices' is a good thing. If you misunderstood our cynical attitude towards cryptocurrency as support for traditional finance, we sincerely apologize because we also hate that behavior.
If you have even a slight understanding of 'irony', you would know that FT's 'apology letter' is not a real apology, nor is it aimed at cryptocurrency itself; what it actually targets is the 'finance' that devours without leaving bones.
Is finance good or bad? Different people may have different answers. As part of the current rules of human society, finance is indeed an indispensable component of economic development. In a currency-centered system, lending, insurance, and everything else provide the driving force and protection for economic development.
But on the other hand, all of this has also become a tool for a small number of people to control the majority. Bankers have created countless high-value 'products' to facilitate capital flow, such as housing. They have created exchanges for stocks, futures, commodities, and precious metals, attracting countless people and pouring countless values generated by hard work into a bottomless pit of zero-sum games, drawing in 'retail investors': those who have no idea what they are facing.
Is FT's description of cryptocurrency incorrect? The fact is that every word is true: negative-sum game, inefficient trading system, lack of value storage logic, manipulated prices, and lack of practicality.
But is it only Crypto that is like this? Obviously not; the classic line in (The Wolf of Wall Street) tells us that stocks are actually pretty much the same.
It's fairy dust. It doesn't exist. It's never landed. It is no matter. It's not on the elemental chart. It's not fucking real.
Essentially, this is an almost explicit attack by (the Financial Times) on the dark side of finance. Ironically, they themselves call themselves the 'Financial' Times.
Perhaps due to work requirements or the objective environment, journalists and editors at the Financial Times need to write and publish some news or comments that they may not want to publish. However, there is no way around taking money for services. But at least, through this article, we see that there are still people among them who hold onto basic conscience.
They know that blockchain, Web3, even if it is the future, the stories of bankruptcy and family breakdown caused by the speculation of cryptocurrencies will not stop.
Why must the development of an emerging industry be bloody? Why can't we learn some lessons from past experiences? Unfortunately, human nature dictates that they can only try to make some noise, regardless of whether it is seen, whether those who see it understand, and more importantly, whether those who understand actually follow through.
Gary Gensler, the current chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, warned investors about the enormous risks of cryptocurrencies on X just before the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF, becoming a laughingstock among many Web3 industry people. But I feel that it is a desperate dirge. He may have the authority to help the market eliminate some fraud risks, but he cannot stop the footsteps of 'shadowy controllers' like BlackRock from crushing everything.
As a long-time industry practitioner, I firmly believe that blockchain will change the world, just like the stock market has brought endless wealth to brave, world-changing entrepreneurs. The emergence of blockchain and tokens will ultimately reward those who are the first to take the plunge. I believe that existence is reasonable, but I also believe that reason doesn't necessarily mean correctness.
Amazon founder Bezos once said that humans are not a species that likes the truth. The author has found that in the Crypto field, this self-deceptive phenomenon is particularly evident; no one knows what the tokens are, what they are for, but since they can be hyped, whether they are cats or dogs seems not so important.
Microstrategy's stock price peaked last during the wildest times of the 2000 internet bubble, and after 24 years, it broke through the stock price high from nearly a quarter of a century ago thanks to its hundreds of billions of dollars in Bitcoin holdings, which shows how crazy the internet bubble was back then. Now, we have proven that the actual utility of the internet indeed surpasses the hype from back then; what about blockchain?
What we need now are people who explore how Web3 can truly change the world; we do not need people boasting that blockchain can change the world. No matter how many infrastructures, DEXs, lending protocols, re-staking protocols, or Layer2s we create, it will only inflate the bubble endlessly.
Bubbles will eventually burst; everyone knows that, but everyone thinks they are not the last person to take the baton and believes they can escape before then. This stubborn confidence is precisely the purpose of the author of this apology letter daring to give a reminder against the world's expectations.
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