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.
Of course leveraged trading is very fun and addictive. So the flows are substantial. Regulated exchanges don't offer leverage, because it's a pain in the ass legally - just look at Coinbase dropping it recently. Because cryptos aren't currencies, you have to deal with all this
crap about ownership and being able to deliver the goods that's just not worth it. Plus the CFTC thinks cryptos are commodities, while the SEC thinks they're securities, and you have to deal with regulations for both.
That's why offshore, unregulated exchanges sprung up so fast.
Those exchanges are a huge threat to the crypto industry, because they're serving US citizens, which is illegal, and regulated exchanges knowingly serve as on-ramp platforms and enable US citizens to fund their gambling accounts there. It all hangs on a very thin thread.
But those unregulated exchanges are also an absolute bonanza, because they create huge demand for crypto as for on-ramp purposes, and - crucial point - this crypto is then lost by gamblers back to the crypto industry. This creates a one-way flow of real cash into the system.
This cash can then be used to pay for mining, for infrastructure, PR, you name it. People buying Bitcoins and holding isn't nearly as interesting a business as people buying Bitcoins and losing them by getting rekt on Binance. A HODLer is a risk because he can sell his Bitcoins.
A rekt gambler will simply buy more.
Unregulated offshore exchanges are feeding the rest of the crypto industry. They're also feeding regulated exchanges. Regulators are looking into it. The difference with forex, is that laws already exist that should prevent what's happening.
Regulated exchanges just pretend like they don't know. But they do. When the hammer drops, it will be Armageddon.

More from Crypto

2020 was a game changer for Ethereum.

The vast majority of its success was fueled by #DeFi.

Here's what happened in 5 Tweets 🔽

1) Governance Tokens 🪙

Projects gave complete ownership of billion dollar protocols to their users, often using retroactive airdrops.

Early adopters earned tokens for past usage, and token-based voting now dictates all technical


2) Liquidity Mining ⛏️

Power users were the first to earn on-going distribution by providing liquidity.

$COMP sparked the wave, with $BAL coining the term a few weeks


3) Yield Faming 🌾

Projects coupled liquidity mining and governance tokens to boost 'yields' by combining lending rates with an incentive layer.

APYs peaked as high as 1M% during 'DeFi summer', leading to a 'food coin' craze like $YAM and


4) Fair Launches ✅

Who needs investment when you can launch using yield farming?

@iearnfinance debuted $YFI with no formal funding, seeding a community treasury for self-sustainability.

The notion of a core team and community became one and the
A primer on how to use @coingecko for your crypto data/research/trading needs.

Share it with a friend who needs it!

1/ Getting started with crypto and want to check prices/projects? https://t.co/LFnk4vukxj has info on just about every crypto you'll need :)


2/ Search over 6000+ cryptocurrencies available on the market. You can see what's trending in the space as well.

Researching by categories? Filter (left side) -> Select categories -> DeFi, DOT ecosystem, Exchange-based tokens, NFTs - anything!


3/ Lets say you're looking at #Bitcoin
https://t.co/g205lj03pG

At a glance you get:
- Price
- Mkt Capitalization (valuation)
- Circulating/Total supply
- 24h trading volume
- Links to websites, social media, block explorers
- Calculator

Next - check valuation?


4/ Market cap is used to rank coins, and we'll show you how its calculated - Hover over Circulating Supply (?) for breakdown.

Note: used @chainlink as example here - https://t.co/Jc46fe79Ag

While MC is important also consider product fit, narrative, team, community etc.


5/ If you're trading on AMMs like @Uniswap or @SushiSwap, you can copy the contract address directly to your clipboard.

Using @metamask_io? Add the token directly so it shows as one of the "Assets" that you own in the wallet.

See: https://t.co/94XihMf5oz

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ARE WE FAMILIAR WITH THE MEANING & POWER OF MANTRAS WE CHANT?

Whenever we chant a Mantra in Sanskrit, it starts with 'Om' and mostly ends with 'Swaha' or 'Namaha'. This specific alignment of words has a specific meaning to it which is explained in Dharma Shastra.


Mantra is a Sanskrit word meaning sacred syllable or sacred word. But Mantras r not just words put together,they r also vibrations.The whole Universe is a cosmic energy in different states of vibration &this energy in different states of vibration forms the objects of Universe.

According to Scriptures,Om is considered to be ekaakshar Brahman,which means Om is the ruler of 3 properties of creator,preserver&destroyer which make the
https://t.co/lyhkWeCdtv is also seen as a symbol of Lord Ganesha, as when starting the prayer,it's him who is worshipped 1st.


'Om' is the sound of the Universe. It's the first original vibration of the nothingness through which manifested the whole Cosmos. It represents the birth, death and rebirth process. Chanting 'Om' brings us into harmonic resonance with the Universe. It is a scientific fact.

Therefore, Mantras are described as vibrational words that are recited, spoken or sung and are invoked towards attaining some very specific results. They make very specific sounds at a frequency that conveys a directive into our subconcious.