I feel kind of petty being annoyed with Elon Musk lately. I didn’t mind him at all only a week ago, but now I find myself taking pleasure in watching TSLA stock crash. I still think Elon is a brilliant guy; I really want his stock to crash hard though lol.
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So as opposed to semi/democratic states having influence over a currency, yall good with a bajillionaire making or breaking your money.
Ok then.
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Elon can affect any market with his tweets. He even harmed his own stock once when he tweeted TSLA was overvalued.
His affect on BTC/ETH value is only transitory imo.
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That wasn’t Elon himself, that was Elon on Ambien… 
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One stock is not the stock market and the stock market is not a currency.
And I’m not talking about only Elon: I’m talking about the influence of a few on a “decentralized” currency which can crash when one of them isn’t “vibing” with it anymore.
Extrapolate that to the globe like the supporters on this thread would like to see happen and imagine the consequences if a few of the biggest holders decide to sell high for the lolz.
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I agree that investing in crypto is risky.
Wasn’t it acid?
You seem a little put out by his recent behavior. Are you comfortable with the potential of a few big holders manipulating with impunity your investment?
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It’s impossible to avoid whales manipulating any market. I choose to stay invested for now.
I agree with you, and that is primarily because of lax regulations by the state, which is meant to protect its citizens from nefarious actors.
But to the extent that crypto allows fraud and manipulation, it is by no means the same. Elon is facing a law suit for his tweet, Madoff died rotting in prison, ok the AIG bankers got off, but that is an exception which proves the rule, which is that states should be doing more.
I understand that states don’t always make the best decisions. But it is a far better cry than “whales” calling the shots. And people want these types determining the worth of their means of exchange? I just do not get it.
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My goal is to find optimal investments for growing wealth so I can hopefully retire early. Right now, crypto seems like the best bet for me. I’m always open to new things though.
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I’m more a casual observer to this stuff and am not particularly convinced of crypto’s ‘benefits’, but a potential counterargument could be that adoption rates of crypto are still vastly smaller than with a fiat currency.
While states obviously manage (or manipulate, depending on your ideological hobbyhorse!) currencies, is there a degree to which the currency is automatically managed by the sheer amount of people using it?
A crypto with a much higher number of users would much better be able to deal with individuals who own large amounts, as those whales would be a much smaller overall percentage of the currency pool.
Also, manipulation works both ways - truly big players like visa are getting in on crypto, and a lot of big corps are looking at btc/crypto as a ‘digital gold’ store of value. It’s in these players’ interests to reduce the volatility of crypto, so, as they get more and more involved, it seems possible that people like Elon will be less able to make this kind of play.
It’s worth noting, too, that official currencies can be manipulated by a small group of players How Did George Soros Break the Bank of England?
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You’re probably right, of course, in that the more crypto becomes accessible to more actors, it’s likely there will be more stability. This had occurred to me.
I’m not convinced however that this potential stability will safe guard people from the whims of “whales” who, if this continues as its going, will control the lion’s share and cause devastation if they’re looking to make a few gains. Soros made a good bet against bad policy; he didn’t give a currency his blessing and revoke it a week later. Central banks (the leaders of whom are chosen by democratically elected individuals) and Visa are accountable; anonymous figures hording crypto are not.
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Yeah fair points. To expand on them, if we’re looking at a commodity that has massive appeal to ‘retail investors’ (randomers with an app), then ‘animal spirits’ or whatever it’s called are going to be a major factor.
Apparently we’re already seeing this in the stock market, where things are getting more volatile as Elon says this or whatever subreddit says that. Professionals and experienced people may focus more on fundamentals, trends, know when to hold, etc, but if the market gets more dominated by people with little experience and a proportionally higher risk (my hands get sweaty thinking of losing £10, let alone ‘proper money’), then it’ll be more prone to stampedes I guess.
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Look, I’ll be straight with you (and everybody can throw tomatoes all they want): if Ethereum weren’t so appallingly awful for the environment, I’d probably play.
Let me know when 2 or PoS or whatever is introduced.
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Yes, democratically elected individuals sponsored by the top commercial bankers (and other power brokers) who tell the former who to appoint. I’ve never heard of a central banker, or any top banker being held accountable.
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My point is that it is not in a central banker’s interest to manipulate their currency as doing so would a.) cost them their job, b.) cost their boss their job and c.) probably result in lawsuit and/or jail time. (and in any case I think most (all?) of them mean well even if I don’t agree with their ideas*).
Crypto whales don’t face those consequences.
*However, I completely agree that most (all?) central bankers and their bosses have other bosses, the small handful of whom these “leaders” are giving way more leniency to as opposed to the majority. My point is that I don’t think crypto - with its inherent anonymity and “decentralization” is the answer to that.
at least with the dollar you know it is safe as houses, once they keep on printing more and more and more. Crypto has no intrinsic value…
https://www.usdebtclock.org/