BC CRYPTO
Saved by @CodyyyGardner

Does #Bitcoin have a long-term future?
(long thread, 1/24)

I thought I might as well air some worries, which might be common but unarticulated among crypto newbies like me.

These worries center around BTC's medium-term vulnerability to propaganda attacks & psyop hacks...

 2. I accept that bitcoin is technically brilliant, politically visionary, globally empowering, maybe the future of money, etc etc. Hopefully we'll use something like BTC when we colonize the galaxy, long term.

And BTC might still be a good investment short term.

However...
3. Insofar as crypto threatens US dollar hegemony as a global reserve currency, the higher BTC's market capitalization gets, & the more of a legit threat it becomes, the more incentive US and US-affiliated gov'ts have to try to crush it.

What will they do?
4. Govt's could try to crush bitcoin in ways that 'play nice' using legal means -- regulating it, taxing it, imposing capital controls, etc. If that doesn't work, they could escalate by banning banks, pensions, corporations, and individuals from trading it or holding it.

Or...
5. Govt's could play dirty. They could crush bitcoin with propaganda attacks & psyops rather than regulation. Propaganda is often much cheaper, faster, & often more effective than legal regulation/coercion. It seems like any number of psyops could easily destroy demand for BTC...
6. Bear in mind that we're talking about a US gov't that was willing to debase its currency for 50 years, destroy the working class industrial base, & immiserate the middle class through inflating house prices, healthcare costs, college costs, etc....
7. We're talking about a gov't that's been happy for over a century to promote costly, deadly wars through false flag operations, lies, propaganda, & guilt by association, usually with the full-throated support of mainstream news media...
8. A gov't that was willing to spy on its own citizens by any means necessary, and that continues to do so...

And a deep state that cooperated with partisan news media to denounce any political leader who challenged their interests....
9. A gov't whose behavior was so obnoxious for so long that it sparked libertarian-minded crypto enthusiasts to develop & promote bitcoin in the first place precisely in order to fight their power...
10. And, we're talking about a gov't whose senior leaders are tightly networked with Wall Street, Big Tech, social media, mainstream media, and academia. The entire Leviathan, supported by the entire 'Cathedral' of indoctrination.
11. Forget the idealized constitutional republic. What will the _actual_ US gov't & its allies do if its money-printing power is genuinely threatened by bitcoin?

Will it play nice, when the stakes are trillions of dollars -- its entire revenue stream & 'monetary policy' power?
12. History suggests not. I can imagine many ways an anti-bitcoin psyop/propaganda attack could work. I won't share the most devastating ones I can imagine, because there's still a (slim) chance the gov't hasn't already gamed them out in detail....
13. The general psyop recipe is to make bitcoin morally tainted through guilt by association with activities that citizens consider morally repugnant -- mass shootings, sex trafficking, brutal porn, animal abuse, racism, antisemitism, collusion with enemy powers, whatever....
14. The moral taint could quickly turn bitcoin from something cool & mysterious & high-status into something that seems like dark magic, associated with terrorism & treason.

Once BTC is morally tainted by the psyop, peer pressure does the rest....
15. No bank wants to handle BTC. No journalist wants to argue for it. No social media company allows discussion of it. Pensions divest from it.

Nobody wants to date bitcoiners. Nobody wants them as friends/neighbors. BTC sparks mass social ostracism....
16. And, because the US propaganda system reaches almost everywhere, the effect is global. BTC is tainted in the UK, EU, Japan, etc. Global demand drops.

All without _any_ country needing to officially regulate or ban crypto.
17. A propaganda attack doesn't have to scare away everyone. It just has to reduce demand so the price crashes long enough to scare away most big investors.

A few million bitcoiners will lose a lot of net worth, but 90% of people won't care. Their pensions will still _look_ ok
18. The crypto community has been pretty savvy about protecting against cyberattacks. BTC is technically anti-fragile.

But what has crypto done to protect against propaganda & psyop attacks?

Is BTC anti-fragile in terms of public opinion?...
19. I hope crypto finds ways to become more resilient against the 'denial of demand' attacks that gov'ts are most likely to try, including guilt-by-association propaganda attacks.

Maybe some crypto folks who have already written about these risks & how to fight them?....
20. But -- again, speaking as a crypto newbie -- it seems like many bitcoiners are doing a better job boosting short-term demand & BTC prices than protecting long-term demand against propaganda attacks.

So, what else could be done?...
21. I don't know, tbh. I'm just a psych professor cautiously enthusiastic about crypto.

Maybe crypto needs to grow up & understand how actual power works in the 21st century-- by capturing the institutions that shape public opinion, & then engineering opinion in one's favor...
22. Specifically, bitcoin might be able to protect itself better against psyops & 'denial of demand' attacks if it cultivates more allies in the mainstream institutions that actually shape public opinion (not just tech/finance press) ...
23. Crypto might need to recruit not just more investors, but more lobbyists, marketers, celebrity advocates, pop stars, pro athletes, movie producers, TV show runners, Nobel laureates, news anchors, YouTubers, ex-presidents, media executives, etc.
24.
Conclusion:
if bitcoin can't protect its long-term public support against serious, well-financed, dirty-tricks psyops by hostile, desperate governments with decades of propaganda experience, BTC might win the technical battle, but lose the psychological war.
(end thread)

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Think crypto is confusing?

You're right.

Let's make it easier.

Here's Crypto Terminology 101: 🧵

Altcoin:

Any coin that's not #Bitcoin

Ether (#ETH) is the second most popular coin overall and the most well-known Altcoin.

Ether is the native cryptocurrency on the Ethereum blockchain.

There are thousands of other altcoins, but for now, this is the one to know.

Bitcoin: (#BTC)

The first decentralized digital currency.

Launched in 2009 by an unknown person or organization known only as "Satoshi Nakamoto."

It is the most famous, and most valuable cryptocurrency.

Blockchain:

The core tech behind Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies.

An open, distributed, general ledger where transactions are organized into blocks which are then connected using cryptography.

Coin:

A store of digital value that lives on a blockchain.

Some blockchains, such as Bitcoin, use the same name for both the network and the coin.

Stable coins are another type of cryptocurrency which are backed by fiat currency (e.g the US dollar) or commodities such as Gold.
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Some thoughts on this super inaccurate piece.

tl;dr: this is not a defence of Tether/ iFinex, who I would like nothing more than to see disappear into irrelevance. However, most of the conclusions here show zero understanding of crypto market

1. First up: it’s completely inexcusable that Tether refuse to have a 3rd party audit. I can’t find a single good faith reason for this.

Bitfinex GC recently did a superb job of sidestepping that question on WBD:

2. For better or worse, USDT (tether) started as a way for people to move fiat between exchanges (a major problem) in the absence of the ability to onboard banking partners, none of whom wanted to touch crypto. USDT is now the dominant stablecoin by mkt cap & liquidity.

3. As a result of the difficulty of having a fiat on/off rail, many exchanges, like Binance, chose to be ‘crypto only’, using stablecoins in lieu of fiat. This is why the majority of inflows into BTC (article says 70%) is via USDT

4. Unbanked exchanges are in aggregate larger than banked ones. This is true, but it’s not because of a giant conspiracy to steal your BTC. Being unbanked = real regulatory arbitrages (lower cost + ability to innovate fast), and lower barriers to entry means there’s more of them.
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Here's my 2021 Crypto Strategy:

Note: Not a financial advice. It is just my opinion after doing my own research (#DYOR). I'm a complete newbie btw.

1. Dollar-Cost-Averaging (DCA) for these 6 coins (HODL)
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Polka Dot (DOT)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Binance (BNB)
- Litecoin (LTC)

I choose these 6 bcs they are all TOP 10 Coins, they have the biggest market cap which means less risky than other coins.


DCA means I'm going to topup for all of these coins everytime ada duit lebih/dapat gaji.

But I will only buy when price dip / during correction

How to know when price dipped?

I use TradingView (free version) - guna RMI and Stoch indicator, if it touches the lower line it means it have been oversold - under 4h timeframe (because I'm a long term investor). This is to avoid buying at the top.

For example:

This is Bitcoin on TradingView. Under 4h Timeframe, indicator RMI & Stoch. I'll buy when RMI and Stoch touches the lower line. Boleh nampak lepas buy at dip, the price terus naik.
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Trolly McTrollface
Trolly McTrollface
@Tr0llyTr0llFace
On the importance of leverage for the crypto ecosystem.
A long time ago, BNP Paribas bought a retail forex exchange, because they thought they'd get an insight into forex trading flows and positions. What they quickly discovered, is that the website was a muppet slaughterhouse.


People would get stopped out ALL THE TIME because they used too much leverage. Over 90% of them lost money in a consistent way. Those are worse than even casino odds.
That's why around 2005, you had so many forex trading websites popping up. They would offer up to 500x leverage.

The higher the leverage, the better (for the website).
This became such a huge trend that regulators stepped in, and introduced maximum leverage rules. Something like x30 for forex, if I remember correctly. All of a sudden, all the ads and Premier League sponsorships vanished.

Forex gambling is still around, but not nearly as profitable, because it takes time for people to lose their money with a pitiful x30 leverage. Currencies usually don't move by 3% in a day. It can take weeks for an amateur trader to lose it all. Plus the adrenaline rush is gone.

Enter crypto.
It's hard to explain how one-sided leveraged crypto trading is. Traders don't stand a chance. With currencies, you could expect to extract SOME money from real world flows. In crypto, there are no real world flows. It's just traders against traders against insiders.
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Binance
Binance
@binance
🔸FUD
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🔸SAFU
🔸ROI
🔸ATH
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🔸DYOR
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Ever seen one of these abbreviations and wondered what it
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दधीचि ऋषि को मनाही थी कि वह अश्विनी कुमारों को किसी भी अवस्था में ब्रह्मविद्या का उपदेश नहीं दें। ये आदेश देवराज इन्द्र का था।वह नहीं चाहते थे कि उनके सिंहासन को प्रत्यक्ष या परोक्ष रुप से कोई भी खतरा हो।मगर जब अश्विनी कुमारों ने सहृदय प्रार्थना की तो महर्षि सहर्ष मान गए।


और उन्होनें ब्रह्मविद्या का ज्ञान अश्विनि कुमारों को दे दिया। गुप्तचरों के माध्यम से जब खबर इन्द्रदेव तक पहुंची तो वे क्रोध में खड़ग ले कर गए और महर्षि दधीचि का सर धड़ से अलग कर दिया।मगर अश्विनी कुमार भी कहां चुप बैठने वाले थे।उन्होने तुरंत एक अश्व का सिर महर्षि के धड़ पे...


...प्रत्यारोपित कर उन्हें जीवित रख लिया।उस दिन के पश्चात महर्षि दधीचि अश्वशिरा भी कहलाए जाने लगे।अब आगे सुनिये की किस प्रकार महर्षि दधीचि का सर काटने वाले इन्द्र कैसे अपनी रक्षा हेतु उनके आगे गिड़गिड़ाए ।

एक बार देवराज इन्द्र अपनी सभा में बैठे थे, तो उन्हे खुद पर अभिमान हो आया।


वे सोचने लगे कि हम तीनों लोकों के स्वामी हैं। ब्राह्मण हमें यज्ञ में आहुति देते हैं और हमारी उपासना करते हैं। फिर हम सामान्य ब्राह्मण बृहस्पति से क्यों डरते हैं ?उनके आने पर क्यों खड़े हो जाते हैं?वे तो हमारी जीविका से पलते हैं। देवर्षि बृहस्पति देवताओं के गुरु थे।

अभिमान के कारण ऋषि बृहस्पति के पधारने पर न तो इन्द्र ही खड़े हुए और न ही अन्य देवों को खड़े होने दिया।देवगुरु बृहस्पति इन्द्र का ये कठोर दुर्व्यवहार देख कर चुप चाप वहां से लौट गए।कुछ देर पश्चात जब देवराज का मद उतरा तो उन्हे अपनी गलती का एहसास हुआ।
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