Cryptocurrency, part 3: Time to "cash out"
Part 3 of 3: Licking your wounds and getting out
Approximately 18 months ago, I purchased some Shibacoin as an “investment”.
Today, I am less convinced in the value of this “investment”. The crypto ecosystem has an aura of “abandon ship” these days. Ever since somebody told them how Ordinals work, Bitcoin has been even more of a garbage fire than the rest of the space.
Crypto is doomed. There is nothing left to do now but cash out.
Gemini: Thanks for ringing the bell
News from our Bitcoin correspondent Alan Lee:
It was when I got an email from Gemini that they were listing “Pepecoin” that I saw the game was up. Last year, the winning entrant in the meme competition was “happy dog”. This year, the winning entrant is “angry frog”1.
Bitcoin Bobbles
Somebody pointed out that you can store small amounts of data on the blockchain. I realized this years ago, and noted that a valuable application would be storing checksums in a reliably-timestamped way. But, rather than use that space to write valuable checksums, people would rather do some NFT game called “ordinals”.
What are ordinals?
Bitcoin is not going to find the will to adapt; it will instead slowly wither and die. I am abandoning my previous $7000-$10000 valuation of Bitcoin. There is no longer any price at which I would purchase Bitcoin.
Which means liquidating my Gemini account. Let’s check the damage.
Bitcoin: It is at US$27572. I own 0.01664 Bitcoin, purchased at an average price of US$59170. Out of that $1000, I get $451.11 back. A -55% return.
Ethereum: The ETH gets me around $410 back from my thousand. A -59% return. Although, I did actually spend ETH once (on the ticket to VeeCon).
The cash I left as cash had the best return. A 0% return.
And the Sushicoin? Apparently at some other part of the dark web.
Coinbase: Another Pillar of Salt
I find my eleven million SHIB to be worth $95.23. And that only in selling it to some other man who2 wants to set his own money on fire.
Coinbase knows they are a casino; the UI label is not “ACH transfer” but “cash out”. Apparently I bought in early enough here to have turned a profit.
Robin Hood: A wicker man
Do you own Bitcoin at Robin Hood?
No. I own what they think is Bitcoin. This distinction may potentially become interesting in the future.
“R is among the most menacing of sounds. That's why they call it "murder," not "mukduk." ” - Dwight Schrute, The Office
I will keep any further counter-party concerns to myself, and just take the money.