Billionaire Draper Pitches Sri Lanka on Bitcoin, Gets Rejected (bloomberg.com) 46
A billionaire cryptocurrency evangelist may have gotten a tougher reception than he expected when proposing widespread adoption of Bitcoin to a bankrupt country. From a report: Silicon Valley investor Tim Draper was in Sri Lanka to shoot an episode of his "Meet the Drapers" TV show with local entrepreneurs, and met President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday to proselytize the adoption of cryptocurrency. He journeyed to the central bank the next day with the same pitch -- but embattled Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe, who's still working to calm financial mayhem, was having none of it. "I come to the Central Bank with decentralized currency," proclaimed Draper, dressed in a Bitcoin tie for the meeting that took place in a teak-paneled room overlooking the sea. "We don't accept," Weerasinghe said, taking another sip of fizzy ginger beer.
During the meeting, Draper several times referred to what he described as Sri Lanka's reputation for corruption and argued cryptocurrency was one solution. Colombo could avert graft by keeping perfect records after adopting Bitcoin, he argued. "Have you seen Sri Lanka in the news? It's known as the corruption capital," Draper said. "A country known for corruption will be able to keep perfect records with the adoption of Bitcoin." Sri Lanka's topmost monetary official countered: "Adoption of 100% Bitcoin won't be a Sri Lanka reality ever." [...] He kept trying with Weerasinghe. "Does the administration have the guts to do it?" he asked. "What's the advantage of having your own currency?" Weerasinghe said other technologies could efficiently distribute financial services to foster inclusion and disburse electronic welfare payments, and noted that a country without its own currency couldn't have monetary-policy independence. "We don't want to make the crisis worse by introducing Bitcoin," he said.
During the meeting, Draper several times referred to what he described as Sri Lanka's reputation for corruption and argued cryptocurrency was one solution. Colombo could avert graft by keeping perfect records after adopting Bitcoin, he argued. "Have you seen Sri Lanka in the news? It's known as the corruption capital," Draper said. "A country known for corruption will be able to keep perfect records with the adoption of Bitcoin." Sri Lanka's topmost monetary official countered: "Adoption of 100% Bitcoin won't be a Sri Lanka reality ever." [...] He kept trying with Weerasinghe. "Does the administration have the guts to do it?" he asked. "What's the advantage of having your own currency?" Weerasinghe said other technologies could efficiently distribute financial services to foster inclusion and disburse electronic welfare payments, and noted that a country without its own currency couldn't have monetary-policy independence. "We don't want to make the crisis worse by introducing Bitcoin," he said.
Thanks, but no thanks (Score:5, Funny)
We are already bankrupt. We don't need cryptocurrency anymore.
Re:Thanks, but no thanks (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, I heard that using Bitcoin for legal tender is going GREAT for El Salvador, considering that the currency has dropped in value by more than half since they adopted it.
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Draper: How can I help you, young man?
Weerasinghe: I got a hundred dollar check from tax collections, and our president said I need to put it in crypto so it can grow over the years.
Draper: Well that's fantastic, a really smart decision, young man. We can put that check on the blockchain, then we'll reinvest the earnings into solano accounts with compounding interest aaand it's gone.
[they look at each other for a long time]
Weerasinghe: Uh, what?
Draper: It's gone. It's all gone.
Weerasinghe: What's all gone?
D
Wow (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
The bad news: That NFT has a carbon footprint of a transatlantic return trip. Not of 1 passenger, but a fully booked 747 worth
And no bullcrap about miners using renewables; there's an opportunity cost. If that renewable power could have been used at that time to do something useful, and that useful work is now being done on fossil power, then that is your carbon footprint.
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Corruptocoin! Invest now!
(Investors accept all risk and responsibility for declines in value, deposits insured up to the maximum of $100, minimum $1 million to start. May cause itchiness, ringing in the ears, and dry elbow syndrome. Please consult medical professionals if crying lasts for more than four hours. Cash only.)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)
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They just had a famine because the idiots in government outlawed fertilizer and pesticides. I think they were trying to force everyone to be "organic" or some mid-witted idea like that. Yeah, they know they're corrupt, they've still got the hole in their foot.
Sounds like the African countries and GMO food debacle.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/afr... [bbc.co.uk]
Re:Wow (Score:4, Interesting)
It's ESG/WEC capture.
That's the stupidest country a BTCMaxi could try to persuade. But that says everything.
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I think they were trying to force everyone to be "organic" or some mid-witted idea like that.
Well yes. But that's not the whole story. The whole story is they proposed originally proposed a gradual shift (which is perfectly sensible and not at all mid-witted [sic]), and then changed their mind leaving famers high and dry without any preparation suddenly facing crops they could not maintain with fertilizers they could no longer acquire.
Organic farming isn't a bad thing. Shifting 100% of industrial farming to organic farming at the drop of a dime is a bad thing.
As is any policy enacted quickly withou
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They were trying to go organic instantly. No phase in period. And it was mostly just one guy, too much power focused in one person. This does not invalidate organic faming, but is more of a lesson in how not to govern.
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Not even a monetary system, crypto coins are just gambling tokens and fail the basic tests of money.
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If it's so great for record-keeping, where are the missing billions? Lying asshole crypto bro is lying asshole. Same as everyone else pushing crypto.
And if it's so great, why did all those exchanges collapse?
The blockchain "tech" sucks in terms of efficiency compared to any regular database, so even that's not a benefit, except to the usual suspects (snake oil salesmen, con artists, etc).
At least now we don't see graphics hardware prices on their previous spiral. And with the Arc 770, I can get bette
Are those any good? (Score:2)
Haven't played with ARC 770, those actually good or just a bunch of Version 1 problems since they are so new?
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Haven't played with ARC 770, those actually good or just a bunch of Version 1 problems since they are so new?
They're darned good. For the price, they're unbelievable. Everyone on the MSFS forum [flightsimulator.com] is saying the same thing. It's simple math - 2 Arc 770LEs beats out a single NVidia 4090 in every respect. Combined RAM of 32 gb (2 x 16) vs the NVidia's 24, combined bus width of 512 bits (2 x 256 bits) vs 384 for NVidia, and while the stock clock is 6% lower, you can overclock them by 25%.
So the calculation is easy - 2 x Arc &&0 LE for less than half the price of the 4090, it's literally a no-brainer. I'm waiti
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Very nice, I might have to get one (or two!)
Thanks!
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If it's so great for record-keeping, where are the missing billions? Lying asshole crypto bro is lying asshole. Same as everyone else pushing crypto.
And if it's so great, why did all those exchanges collapse?
The entire premise of crypto is to get people to exchange their actual money for hot air.
And after enough real money is pumped into the scam, it collapses. The scammers cashing out are what causes the collapse.
Exactly as the grift is designed to do. The scammers made their billions, and the marks are left wondering how this perfect investment vehicle failed. What is impressive is how many just fall for it again, and again.
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That sums it up nicely.
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Unfortunately, he also has a tendency to believe some serious Silicon Valley BS. He was an early investor in Theranos and still supports Holmes to this day despite her conviction. He was
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Tim Draper is not some "Crypto-Bro". He's the founder of Draper, Fischer, Jurveston (DFJ), one of the more successful venture funds with big wins like .....
Imagine how much better the world would be if we didn't have billionaires constantly telling us how to run our countries?
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Tim Draper is not some "Crypto-Bro". He's the founder of Draper, Fischer, Jurveston (DFJ), one of the more successful venture funds with big wins like Skype, Hotmail (pre-Microsoft; Hotmail was an acquisition), and Baidu. They were also early and successful investors in Cylance, Ring, SpaceX, Tesla, Twitter, and Unity.
Unfortunately, he also has a tendency to believe some serious Silicon Valley BS. He was an early investor in Theranos and still supports Holmes to this day despite her conviction. He was in early on the crypto side of things and is a staunch believer in the cryptocurrency religion despite how often it's shown to be smoke and mirrors.
Nevertheless he is personally a billionaire and a top-tier VC despite believing his own sales pitch. This is not me supporting him in any way, just clearing the air. Unlike a Winklevoss or a SBF or any of those true crypto-bros, Draper brings credibility so if he's supporting something scammy like crypto people are more likely to believe him. That makes him a bit more dangerous than the average crypto-bro.
Credibility? Sorry, but if you deal with crypto in any form, you have zero credibility. It was conceived as a grifgt, operates as a grift, and will always be a grift.
And if someone comes into my house with tales of me being corrupt, and offering me a grift - they have the option of leaving immediately, or being escorted out, and perhaps arrested. I don't care if he is a billionaire.
He's a crypto bro.
Are you man enough? (Score:3)
When someone says something like "Does the administration have the guts to do it?", that's simply a veiled attack on your person. It has nothing to do with how good or bad a choice is, in my opinion it's a form of Ad Hominem attack.
I witnessed the same thing personally once when I was in Florida and chose to attend a sales pitch for a timeshare (only for the yucks, and because they were giving away free stuff). The salesman assigned to me tried to find a button to push that would get me to sign a contract. Among the things he tried on me was the "aren't you man enough to make a decision" after I called friend to verify some information. He also literally offered to hook me up with 2 prostitutes for evening if I signed. Even though the salesman kept saying that he didn't receive a commission, when it it became obvious I wasn't going to sign, he got pissed off and simply walked away from me.
So in my opinion, anyone challenging me on who I am automatically raises a red flag that signals that they are shady as fuck. This pitch in Sri Lanka is just the same, but on a larger scale.
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This pitch in Sri Lanka is just the same, but on a larger scale.
There FTFY.
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Obviously. This guy is not only dishonest and greedy, he also is a shameless manipulator. Probably the source of his money. Good to know the person on the other side saw this clearly.
Even failing ecenomy reject you (Score:2)
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The reality of cryptocurrency, Sri lanka rejects you for being too much of a scam.
That's pretty bad. Kind of like when even the Devil won't hang out with you because of your crappy reputation. Pretty much everyone who isn't dependent on recouping their losses by finding other suckers knows cryptocurrency is craptocurrency.
"Corruption Capital" (Score:4, Interesting)
"Have you seen Sri Lanka in the news? It's known as the corruption capital," Draper said.
A quick search of the news only shows one article calling Sri Lanka the "corruption capital." And that is Draper in this story.
Insult the people you want to sell to. Great strategy.
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Additional data: according to the Corruption Perceptions Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org] , Sri Lanka is ranked 101 (same rank as Albania, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Panama, Peru, Serbia, Thailand, Turkey), which is still far from the bottom of the list (71 countries below that rank).
I also asked Google translate for "capital of corruption" and "corruption capital" in Tamil (11% population of Sri Lanka is Tamil, and Google translate offers this language; google translate does not have Sinhala). The search
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I question his wisdom in trying to stop corruption then.
The purpose of currency (Score:1)
"Bitcoin" is not the first attempt, nor is it the last as we've seen many duplications and modifications to date as enabled by the free open source license of the original code. Past attempts at currencies utilizing static cryptographic ledgers failed due to loss of trust in the central authority. The innovation of "BC" was merely to duplicate existing methods utilizing at the time "current, leading-edge" elliptic curves and hashes and decentralize the network using ideas based upon peer-to-peer Gnutella an
Crapcoins as _solution_ to corruption? (Score:2)
Does this cretin think everybody except himself is terminally stupid? Crapcoins obviously make corruption easier and tracing the money harder. Hence the very opposite of his claim is true. What a crook.
Why Bitcoin? (Score:2)
At this point, all it has in its favor is name recognition. It offers no other benefit.
As usual... (Score:1)
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You first.
I'll be in right after you. Pfffffff no I won't.
Re: As usual... (Score:2)
Caned (Score:2)
Shill'n (Score:2)
Shill'n to make a Kill'n
Buy More Tulips!
Comedic Gold (Score:2)
They should have fined him $1 billion for stupidity.
Wrong approach (Score:2)
If he really thought they were corrupt, shouldn't he have offered a bribe instead? I mean, that would be better than flinging an accusation. How do these morons become billionaires? It really must be a lottery.