Every time I come back to write a new post, it feels as though years have gone by with the rate at which events are occurring in crypto. My last post was September 2nd… two months ago, and since then quite a lot has transpired. So I’d like to take a moment to apologize to my dedicated readers who take the time out of their day to consider my perspective on crypto, to those of you I am truly sorry. However, I can assure you no time was wasted as the DeFi documentary, another venture of mine, is coming along swimmingly. Now, enough small talk. Let’s talk crypto!
BTC ETF
On October 19th, the first Bitcoin-associated Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) hit the New York Stock Exchange, via ProShares: a financial firm. With the ticker BITO, investors will be able to buy futures contracts tied to the worlds leading cryptocurrency. Like all ETFs, this will allow individuals or institutions to invest in the asset without directly owning it. Now, although one of the core reasons for Bitcoin’s creation was to facilitate true electronic permissionless custody over a currency, I can see why an ETF is an attractive option for more traditional investors (someone who solely invests in well-known assets such as Bonds, Cash, and Stocks, etc). Take my grandfather, for example, he is a certified public accountant who has been investing in the stock market for 50+ years. For someone like him, investing in bitcoin, or any crypto in general, through a cryptocurrency exchange may seem like a painful and uncomfortable new process, so if he can invest in crypto through the same avenue he has been using for 50+ years, I’m confident he will prefer that method. I think it is fair to assume that most investors are going to look for the path of least resistance when it comes to entering this new frontier that is crypto. With that said, the first Bitcoin ETF is just that, the first. There is destined to be more. As for the implications on the price of bitcoin, we have seen new all-time highs of 66,900 since the news first broke. This is obviously a win for Bitcoin and crypto as a whole!
Tom Brady FTX Ads
In other news, I wanted to address something that has been permeating my mind: the sheer amount of not only crypto ads, but Tom Brady crypto ads. I’m an NFL fan, so maybe it’s just me but at this point, it seems like every time I turn on the TV the greatest quarterback of all time is promoting cryptocurrencies. This, to me, is just another one of the cultural milestones crypto has passed. Good for Tom and good for us!
Squid Game Crypto Scam
The cryptocurrency Squid Game that claimed to be “a play to earn” token has recently made it apparent that it is nothing more than a rug pull (a term used to describe when a token’s creators abandon the project and sell a large number of their coins for real cash). As much as I like to talk about all the great things going on in crypto, this is an unfortunate reality of the space right now. Although there were many red flags, such as token holders not being able to sell their coins, many media outlets when describing the meteoric rise did not specify whether or not the token was connected to the actual creators of the famous Netflix show or not… it wasn’t. The Wild West is how I would describe crypto right now and just as there are plenty of opportunities there is also danger lurking for shortsighted investors. The moral of this story here is to do thorough research before you buy a token and not simply buy it because you think others will follow after you. That’s how Ponzi schemes work, which is pretty much what took place here.
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