Making money in crypto is essentially that same as making money in any other field of content creation, and that is the keyword here. Content. Be it creating the ASICs, writing the software, creating a video game, writing a novel or comic book, licensing a TV show or movie right, making music... As the popular phrase goes, "Content is King."
It is the individual buyers of these "products," be they branded as "money makers," or just forms of entertainment or fun that end up losing out. If you are just knowingly buying entertainment or fun, then all is well if the price if affordable for you. But if you are one of those being marketed to as the way to make "passive, easy income," woo to you, and beware to those you enjoin upon your quest. The problem is not in your intelligence or their prospectus, but the concept in and of itself. By these units, not just the ASICs but dApps like CryptoKitties or Hyper Dragons, and currencies like NEO or EOS, by buying in a holding they can do little but eventually depreciate. In fact, they begin to depreciate the second they are bought as no product can continue to go up forever, unless we are talking about Coca-Cola.
I hope I make myself clear with the truth and bit of sarcasm but I am trying to make a real and valid point. Be wary the next time someone talks to you about buying your passive income instead of creating it yourself or in collaboration with others. The profit is in the creation and ingenuity.