What could possibly go wrong?

Following the hype in the crypto-currency (crypto) market in December 2017 the market selloff that followed was drastic and quick and a lot of players lost a great sum of fiat currency (fiat, see Point 1 below). The lessons learnt during the past couple of months went unnoticed by most due to their lack of interest in the market. Which is understandable because they are not willing to risk their hard earned fiat on a system so unfamiliar and intimidating that the majority of people involved in the marked still does not understand it.

However, for those of us involved some valuable lessons were learnt. Not just referring to the loss of fiat but the new found interest awaken to do research rather than just blindly invest in a system because of FOMO (fear of missing out). A dramatic event does not always have I big impact on you unless it happened to someone close to you and even more so when it happens to you. I will admit that I took a beating, but it was bound to happen (thankfully limited due to my conservative nature). I have a full time job and have little time to notoriously scan the web for all the bad/good news doing the rounds. I placed my trust in a few crypto "experts" who selfishly gives "brilliant" advice on new and old coins based on the claimed abilities or proposed abilities mentioned in white paper for these coins and the predicted coin price increase based on anticipated market cap growth. Some "experts" even meticulously study the price charts of various coins and make their predictions based on trends that they deduce. I have never been able to see these trends and whether it be of a lack of imagination or the principal to avoid misleading people I will never know (I tend to believe the latter is true).

One undeniable truth (I would like to be proven wrong) is that I have yet to find a crypto "expert" who predicted the fall from record highs to where we are now. Not one of these "experts" warned their followers. I must admit that in some cases they cannot be blamed because this market is as unpredictable as the weather. However, in this world we all know that knowledge is power and throughout this entire fiasco I stand by my statement (which a told most of the people close to me also involved in crypto) one cannot predict a coins price based on trends deduced from graphs. That is why I avoid crypto "experts" that give advice based on chart analysis. They play on emotion instead of looking at facts and the fact is that in a marked where the price is being manipulated it is next to impossible to base predictions on previous data.

The reason I make this statement (call it bold if you'd like) is because of a very interesting article I came across during this time of turmoil - https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/15/researchers-finds-that-one-person-likely-drove-bitcoin-from-150-to-1000/ . Where it is explained to what degree "bad actors " control the Bitcoin ecosystem. At first, I did not pay attention to it because we all know how FUD (Fear, uncertainty and doubt) is used by big players to profit. However, more articles like this one surfaced and I realized it was true.

The final nail in the coffin for me was a video by MoneyFomo named decentralized deception. This video is packet with facts about the marked and I urge crypto enthusiast to take the time and watch it. It is a 40 minute long video and an excellent breakdown of current crypto market.

I always avoid price prediction when comes to the crypto market because it is next to impossible to get it right (talk to Markus and Willy, they'll have great advice) but in studying world economics and our current financial system I cannot help but think that crypto currency is the future. It is next to impossible to stop and this is one thing we seldom consider because we take it for granted. If Satoshi Nakamoto (the real Satoshi Nakamoto) could be found, he would be in jail and if Bitcoin had an office it would have been closed down and everything would have been confiscated (words of the Dollar Vigilante).

Point 1 Fiat Currency - Although not a popular term to use (evident in reading the article that it does not come across "word friendly" or correct) it is the correct definition for "paper money" (although it is not money) or best described as federal reserve notes. For a detailed explanation of what fiat currency is watch the video by Mike Maloney, Episode 1 of Hidden Secrets of Money

Always remember that your true wealth is you time and freedom.