Andrew Tate took a hard shot at cryptocurrency. Actually, it was against people in cryptocurrency.
It seems his cannon fire was reserved for "Crypto Twitter". He had some rather harsh things to say about those people. The question is whether he was wrong.
Here is a sampling of what he said:
“I just like to f*ck with crypto Twitter because crypto Twitter is the biggest degenerate losers on the planet. They’re losers. Crypto is the only scenario I can think of where you can make a whole bunch of money while benefitting society zero.”
While he uses strong terminology, is his message incorrect?
The problem with Tate's view is two-fold:
This is a major problem for a guy who supposedly is telling people how to make money online and build businesses on that medium. It would seem that he fails to understand what some are working on building.
That said, he is not alone in this. Most have their impressions from the people who are out there screaming the loudest. Social media is usually a cesspool of people spreading nonsense about whatever topic. It is not reflective of the whole, as politicians inevitably find out. Even within the realm of social media, the loud ones tend to drown out those who have knowledge and sensibility about the topic.
When it comes to a large portion of the people in cryptocurrency, Tate is right.
What is Crypto Twitter when you think about it? It is a bunch of people shilling their token hoping others buy it so price goes up. These are "green candle people" who are crushed when a bear market hits. By this, I do not mean financially although that takes place. Instead, I am talking about emotionally.
For years it baffled me that people expect prices to go up yet never come down. I clearly stated this is insanity because it is not how markets work. They operate in two directions.
Hence, we have a large number of people who appear never to have been in markets before. They do not have the emotional make up to deal with the reality of price moves. There is a reason why most people do not trade leveraged electricity futures contracts. The volatility will kill you.
Of course, this is not everyone involved in cryptocurrency. There are a lot of individuals who are adept at markets, trading, and what it takes. You can see these people because they own up to their losses and shrug it off.
This is the nature of markets and if one is going to be involved, there will be losses.
For the most part, I would say Crypto Twitter is not where you find the builders. Sure, some projects are out there promoting but they, quite frankly, have better things to do.
Here is where I think Tate, based upon his comments, goes off the rails.
Crypto Twitter, on average, does not talk about building. They are green candle people looking to pump their bags. The entire focus is upon markets, price movements, and how they can get rich.
Actually, for some, the focus is about getting their money back.
There is a Spaces on NFTs that, after listening to a couple episodes, it becomes clear the entire focus is how to get the price of the NFTs they are holding to go back up after being down 95%. These people are stuck holding the bag and have a weekly show dedicated to trying to figure out how to generate value for what they are holding.
At least with stocks, when a company declares bankruptcy, it stops trading. With crypto, these assets are in one's wallet forever.
Tate is right that most are looking for the quick hit and expect to be paid millions of dollars for doing nothing. Such is the nature of speculation. On this matter though, it is hardly exclusive to crypto. There are many realms where we see the same behavior.
It is also not reflective of those who are actually focusing upon building. This group of developers, entrepreneurs and, even, community members have a different viewpoint. They understand this is a long-term process akin to a start up. Their goal might be to make a spectacular return but not in three days.
The difference comes from the idea that wealth comes from the value a platform (or network) is able to generate. It is a point that Tate is overlooking. Honestly, it is hard to blame the guy since most make the same mistake. Of course, without services, it is hard to see.
This is what builders are looking to capitalize upon. They are the ones not concentrating on green candles, tweeting about every price move, or trying to pump their bags. In fact, it is likely you will not even find those people on Twitter (X).
My observation is that most conclude that cryptocurrency is the story for blockchain.
Since the two are intertwined, the tendency is simply to block (pun intended) them together. It is almost as if they are inter-changeable.
Here is where I think the email analogy comes in.
Nobody would claim that email is the Internet. In fact, we cannot even state that this is the primary form of communication. It is a part of a much larger digital system. Yet, there was a time, where this is the only thing millions of people used the Internet for.
We also do not judge the merits of email based upon spam. It is a pain in the hind end? Of course. But it also revolutionized the way we communicated.
The same is true for social media. In fact, it was this mechanism that allowed for even greater reach with messaging. Instead of a handful of people reading a message, thousands (or even millions) could.
Cryptocurrency is going to follow a similar path as will blockchain. The latter is easy to see since it deals with data and the removal of friction. With cryptocurrency, it gets a bit more difficult to see because of all the nonsense. Whether it is memes, AI, metaverse, or whatever token, there will be a craze which will give crypto a black eye and reflect only a small portion of the spectrum
That said, are going to be coins or tokens tied to projects that generate enormous value. Even then, many will focus upon the market components giving little thought to the rest. There will be, however, some basis for what is taking place beyond the pump and dump schemes.
We would not say the Internet is worthless. Of course, 30 years ago, many thought it was a passing phase. This is what people are doing with cryptocurrency.
It is easy to do if one is listening to Crypto Twitter or the mainstream financial media. If we simply look at where their focus is, it becomes evident how they see things.
Most of crypto cheered when the Bitcoin ETFs based upon spot pricing were approved. This shows how out of touch these people are since it opened the door to further hijacking of Bitcoin. Even Gary Gensler said it only centralizes things.
So while Tates wording was harsh, it sentiment is not wrong. The green candle people simply offer no value other than to try to pump their bags so they can cash out to someone else.
Tokenomincs are a double edge sword and the masses are not adept at handling it.
