Here Comes Coinbase
With US CPI and this week's Treasury supply having come and gone with barely a stir, markets turned their attention to earnings and crypto.
Goldman delivered a predictably robust quarter, while the market reaction to JPMorgan's solid results seemed to reflect consternation at Jamie Dimon's cautious remarks around loan demand.
Headlines on Wednesday were poised to be dominated by the digital, if you will. Bitcoin hit $64,000 ahead of Coinbase's direct listing, which got a $250 reference price f
LOL, I love the phrase “physical bitcoin”.
“physical Bitcoin” ?
it’s in the quote from GS:
“whether that’s through physical Bitcoin, derivatives or traditional investment vehicles.”
I’m pretty sure it’s been an honest mistake (or a lack of a better way to put it) but still… 🙂
I mean I hardly begrudge anyone who has anything resembling a comfortable life for passing on the risk. Realistically having looked at my options and the risks there are three scenarios for me, either I pass on crypto and traditional investing at its best will fail to ever lift me out of crushing debt and impossible retirement OR I gamble on it and either end up in column A anyway because it’s a giant scam OR it pays off with another 10x or more of growth and I manage to compensate for an economy that hands you a “heads I win, tails you lose” coin to flip on your future. Even in the best case scenario I don’t win. I do not see any possible scenario where I end up with Lambos, just one possible scenario where anything goes remotely well.
I may be a fool but anyone who actively chooses to lose permanently now instead of potentially later is maybe also a fool, perhaps all the options are foolish when playing a rigged game.
A few years ago my son and I put money we could afford to lose into a few different cryptocurrencies, seems to me there is value in blockchain technology. We watched it go up some and then down about 80% but since the low it’s up about 10X. It’s hard not to take the win and run, I have no idea how these guys that make stupid amounts are able to hold on for so long.
To answer your rhetorical question , H, I’ve always found the Wall Street firms (or at least the ones that I worked for) to suffer from extreme herd mentality, underpinned by the belief that there is regulatory safety in numbers. This means they’re not always that quick to exploit new opportunities , but once one of their members sticks their necks out, they pretty much all will.
That’s been my assumption given the historical patterns. Once they smell profits with big fat double digit or triple digit returns it’ll only be a short while before they pile in as first movers will make careers while last movers will have no choice but to chase the rainbow. If 74% of fund managers call it a bubble but also aren’t in the market… it’ll be a bubble when 74% or more are in it and calling it a great investment.
There sure seems to be a lot of ‘intermediation’ going on in crypto. Not sure if massive valuations for middlemen is a great endorsement.
I also think you hit the nail on the head here:
“Maybe I’m just old fashioned. But I’d venture that if there’s going to be “a crypto version of a Goldman” it won’t be “like” Goldman, it will just be Goldman”