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Ask HN: Request moratorium of the word *invest* in the context of cryptocurrency

2 points by throwaway803453 ↗ HN
Given HN's influence on the broader tech media can we, as a group, please cease using the word invest when it comes to cryptocurrencies ? It is misleading to the general public and to ourselves. Words such as buy, speculate, or gamble are honest descriptions and will help mitigate the anti-tech backlash when late buyers suffer major losses.

Whenever someone asks me about investing in bitcoin I politely correct them and ask they do the same when discussing it with others. Thoughts ?

4 comments

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sodality2
You're committing money in order to gain a financial return. Investments don't mean good decisions inherently. I think speculation and gambling are indeed more accurate descriptors, due to crypto volatility. But it means it's a more volatile investment, not that it's not an investment.
emteycz
Invest

1. put (money) into financial schemes, shares, property, or a commercial venture with the expectation of achieving a profit.

I think that's accurate. You're right to warn them about the risks, I always recommend to put in only what can be fully lost.

serf
>Whenever someone asks me about investing in bitcoin I politely correct them and ask they do the same when discussing it with others.

you're correcting people who aren't wrong, regardless of bitcoin's future trajectory.

An investment doesn't have to be a good decision in order to qualify as an investment; using weasel words to work around 'tech-backlash' is just a sneaky way to pass the buck.

'tech' didn't make these investors make bad decisions.

I mean.. the phrase 'invest' is used routinely in professional gambling circuits like pro-poker. If they can get away with using 'invest', I see no problem with bitcoin speculators getting away with it.

pestatije
"anti-tech backlash".

That happened in 2000 with the dot-com crash, I can remember perfectly.

Instead of crypto, or better said, in addition to crypto, we should warn about blindly investing in hyped-up assets.