Ask HN: What prevents an infinite supply of crypto?

3 points by sasaf5 ↗ HN
New cryptocurrencies are created everyday, and by design there's nothing that can stop them being traded among each other. Doesn't that create an infinite supply of crypto?

4 comments

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Yes, but there is a limited supply of demand, so to say. Though someone can create as many currencies as they like, they need people to be interested and this is not so easy. So, there will be a long tail of crapcoins and a few that will take 99% of the market.
Yes, anyone with moderate technical skill can create their own crypto.

The real economic keys to the crypto marketplace are concentrated in the "exchanges".

Exchanges are market makers who set prices for crypto but in some cases they are also engaged in minting new crypto --- an inherent conflict of interest and incredible opportunity for manipulation that undermines the integrity of the entire crypto marketplace in my opinion.

How do exchanges set prices for crypto? Isn't it set at the price of the last sale?
Isn't it set at the price of the last sale?

Who made or enforces that rule?

They can do whatever they want --- even collude with one another at will. They are completely unregulated opaque black boxes.