Hype Yo!
Post from Facebook from one of our on-field correspondents.
"Storytime!
Lots of hype about the markets, crypto, and inflation of the dollar recently so here goes what I've learned over the years.
The first Bitcoin I purchased in 2014 at $488. Your first thought is, "Wow Newton, you must be rich and stuff!" Well no, I sold that Bitcoin when it hit $1100 in Jan 2017 because $1100 was a ludicrous number at the time and $700 profit had my broke ass smiling from ear to ear.
A few points to be made here:
1. I bought Bitcoin out of curiosity and fascination with it, but I didn't actually know jack shit about how it worked or what it could do for our monetary system. Most people still don't and that's perfectly fine. You should learn even if you decide to never invest a cent into it.
2. I was blinded by short term profits as a lot of us are and will continue to be. We all play the game of capitalism and want to change our financial situation quickly. It's human nature.
3. All my friends who say "if I only bought X amount of Bitcoin back in 2010, I'd be rich by now!" No you wouldn't have. You would have sold it when it hit $50, $100, $500...or $1100 in my case. Or lost it all. See Mt. Gox. Seeing 20/20 is so easy in hindsight.
Over the years I learned about how Bitcoin and blockchains actually worked. The more I read, the more incredible it seemed to be but then again, a lot of it was all just a bunch of nerds in an echo chamber hyping up the coin as well. So perhaps it was all just a tulip bubble anyway. I gave a talk about blockchain technology in 2018 at my local Toastmasters club to 20-30 people. Just about everyone was captivated by the topic and very few knew how it all actually worked.
Fast forward to today, people are getting hyped about the Gamestop fiasco. Thing is, while a lot of people are in it to make a quick buck, it really shouldn't be the takeaway. Profits really are a shortsighted goal. Gamestop tells a much more macro problem, which is that we're getting majorly fucked by the rich and the government, two groups of people with severe overlap mind you. Now they're crying wolf because internet nerds blindsided them.
A lot of my friends are not seeing pay raises, got canned from their jobs during Covid, and are taking on more debt just to get by. Meanwhile the rich have gotten way richer and they don't really give a fuck about you.
What Bitcoin represents is far more important than what it can do for you in the short term. Most people are in crypto to make a quick buck (Dogecoin will make me so rich and stuff!!!) but its decentralized nature has the potential to remove some power from those above us. The US dollar hasn't been backed by gold since some 90 years ago and the government now is firing out stimulus checks like a T-shirt cannon at an NBA game. Those stimulus checks won't do jack shit for you in the long term. Your money will continue to inflate and be worthless.
Maybe Bitcoin will fail, I don't know. Nobody does. A lot of other cryptocurrencies will for sure. But one thing is certain, it's currently one hell of a hedge against the heavily manipulated US dollar and the stock market. Before you dismiss it as another internet Ponzi scheme, read about how our leaders in the world of tech and finance are starting to realize what it actually represents. Read about how it actually works and what it can do for us smaller guys. And if you plan to buy some just to cash out for quick profits, well you'll miss the plot just like I did a few years ago.
Maybe I should get a Medium account instead of posting on FB? Back to memes and vacation photos you go." -Newton Liu
