Wow, who would have thought that cryptocurrencies were overwhelmingly a scam, a Ponzi scheme, and a ridiculously overhyped bubble just waiting to burst? Matt Damon was shilling cryptocurrencies! Elon Musk has been encouraging people to invest in crypto for so long! Celebrities were being paid for promoted posts about crypto! Bros said it would be all good and you would be a p-ssy if you didn’t buy crypto. Who would have thought it was all just a giant shell game? So, cryptocurrencies are crashing as we speak:
Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have crashed further overnight, dropping to levels not seen since the crypto market began surging in late 2020 and wiping away almost $1 trillion worth of value in a month as a serious “ripple” warning comes into effect.
The bitcoin price has dropped to around $27,000 per bitcoin, down 12% on the last 24 hours, and dragging down the wider crypto market with other top ten coins ethereum, BNB -20.3%, XRP -27.5%, solana, cardano, and avalanche recording even steeper loses. Ethereum has crashed 22% since this time yesterday, with BNB, XRP, solana, cardano and avalanche all lossing between 25% and 33%.
The sell-off comes after the $18 billion algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST) lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, wiping out the price of its support coin luna which has now lost almost 99% of its value—and risks dragging the bitcoin and crypto market even lower.
It’s not just the crypto markets suffering – remember all of those celebrities “buying” gorilla NFTs for hundreds of thousands of dollars? Yeah, the bottom has dropped out of the NFT market too. People are trying to resell their NFTs which, again, they bought for tens of thousands, and people are finding out that the resale value is like $80, if that.
If you bought Bitcoin when this Matt Damon commercial came out ("fortune favors the brave") you would have already lost more than half your money https://t.co/x96KCTu5K1
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) May 10, 2022
Hey remember going to the movies and Matt Damon said if you didn't buy crypto you were a pussy pic.twitter.com/sXNk0BAZqj
— The Call is Coming from Inside the Nash (@Nash076) May 10, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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- Matt Damon,Image: 620480312, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Norbert Scanella / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Matt Damon and Camille Cottin attends “Stillwater” photocall during the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival on July 09, 2021 in Cannes, France.,Image: 620615256, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
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- Matt Damon poses at the photocall of ‘Stillwater’ during the 74th Annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, on 09 July 2021.,Image: 620709994, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: picture alliance /, Model Release: no, Credit line: Boesl / DPA Picture Alliance / Avalon
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- New York, NY – Matt Damon, Alexia Barroso, and others at the Focus Features Premiere of Stillwater at the Ross Theatre at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. Pictured: Matt Damon BACKGRID USA 26 JULY 2021 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Had a good laugh at the “Matt Damon, Stupid” tags. 😂
Yeah, cryptocurrency never made any sense to me. It always sounded like make believe, play money to me. I’m far from a money expert but it didn’t seem grounded in reality.
It’s imaginary currency. A “bit” is just computer data. And I’ve had computers die too many times to trust a “currency” that exists only in cyberspace. That’s called the Matrix.
You do understand that the US dollar is not backed by gold anymore right? Its just something we all agree is worth something. Its fiat money. The federal reserve can pump out money as they see fit which in turn contributes to inflation. Not cheering crypto but to argue that because it only exists in “cyberspace” or is “play money” means you probably don’t have a good grasp on how the dollar actually functions.
No. The US dollar is backed by the “full faith and credit” of the US government. Difficulties aside, the US is a real place with real citizens and a real GDP etc. Bitcoin et al are tulip bulbs; random crap that became the subject of a fad. Not the same thing at all.
Enough with the “fiat currency“ nonsense. The gold standard isn’t coming back, but the United States isn’t dissolving into thin air either.
@ELX +1
@EXL tulip bulbs indeed
@Amanda You sound like you lost your shirt investing in Bitcoin. And BTW, I have actual bills that have the gold certificate printed on them. I know fully how US currency works. It’s tangible, it’s traded off other currencies, and it’s backed by the government. It could collapse, but at least I’d be able to see it happen. /sarcasm
Lol why is anybody being rude to Amanda? She didn’t say anything that inflammatory
If you follow Ben McKenzie on Twitter, he has always tweeted very smart talk about Crypto. He used to play Ryan Atwood on the O.C. But he has a degree in economics and is writing a lot about this. Some poor suckers followed the wrong celebrity. Damon is such a dbag.
Yes, he’s been pretty outspoken about the whole thing. He was even featured in the NYtimes where the reporter was kind of a dick. Anyway, he was right and Matt Damon was wrong.
Hey y’all, remember a time when everyone assumed Affleck would do something this stupid and Damon wouldn’t?
Yeah, me too. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Hey Trina,
Yes, I’ve been following Ben McKenzie and loves how he breaks down how crypto is basically a ponzi. I think he has a book coming out soon about all of this nonsense.
ME!
If I’m not mistaken, Celebitchy had an article about Ben McKenzie, unexpected financial advice guy, a few months ago.
I’m having flashbacks to grad school for International Development – things only have value if someone else can/will buy them. Went to an African Hedge Fund presentation where they outlined the steps needed to cultivate buyers otherwise they couldn’t show a profit. In the US and Europe we take it for granted that we can usually cash out of investments bc there will be a buyer on the other end.
Ben McKenzie also said this today. Let it be true!
“Oh. And Elon’s not buying Twitter. He never was.”
I find this hilarious, since one of the candidates running for the leader of the Conservative Party here in Canada (the federal party) is running a platform on Crypto and wants to replace the Bank of Canada with Bitcoin (insert eyeroll here).
I tried to guess which candidate but then realized I’d have to look it up, because other than the Anti-abortion lady, any of those ding-a-lings could be it. *eye roll so hard I fall over*
Ah, yes, the Conswervative Party of Canada…where the conservative part is just a word hide for various types of crazy! And shhh, don’t talk about any of the critical issues Canadians face: don’t talk about “the native” problems, don’t talk about POC at all, and for goodness sake, don’t answer any question surrounding a woman’s right to decide about certain parts of her body, let alone her entire person! The current interim CP leader is a Trump-loving, Freedom Convoy hugging, a conspiracy-loving gem–but look at the whack jobs waiting to replace her! What was once a legitimate political party has become a fringe group that can’t keep its platform straight except the “straight” part. No rainbows, please!
@TheFarmersWife
Are you SURE you’re in Canada??? Because it sounds like you’re in my home state of Texas where bat shit crazy rules…
I am sorry you guys are dealing with this too! Ugh 😩
And in Texas North, we have a Ted Cruz fanboy for a Premier. I lean left, but I’d be thrilled if we could have Progressive Conservatives again, and not Trump wanna-bes.
I’m in Canada and I hate that I know who you’re talking about. I hope he doesn’t win the leadership. He’s exactly what we don’ne need.
I know exactly who you’re talking about and every time I see his face, I just want to punch him. He’s such an twerp.
Fellow Canadian here, I was so annoyed when he came out with that. He is trying to lure the crypto bros while undermining trust in institutions(You can’t trust them, TRUST MEEEEEEEE). Honestly, a dangerous strategy long-term for our country.
As for advocating for the country to get involved with crypto, how is that working our for El Salvador? (a mess even before the last week)
This is hilarious. I can’t wait until my husband’s friend visits again. Last time I got an unsolicited lecture when he was trying to convince us to invest and I told him it sounded like a scam.
Cryptocurrency is a terrible waste of resources, especially energy. So I very much hope they crash and burn and never recover!
The only thing I know about crypto is that it uses a tremendous amount of energy resources. AND FOR WHAT??
We’re sucking out of crappy paper straws, and yet there are huge buildings burning the same energy as the entire country of Argentina FOR NO REASON.
Hooooo boy wait till you hear about data centers.
Gee, I hope Matt Damon and his carbon footprint will be ok. If life were fair, his fees for shilling a super high-risk investment in his BS commercial would have been paid entirely in crypto 🙄
@ Kat, + 1000%!!!!
They would have eliminated any chance of trying to cut emissions to fight the ongoing climate changes we are trying to achieve in storing this scam with their massive mega computers. I am so happy to read this!!!
It’s so terrible for the environment so I hope this discourages people everywhere from investing in cryptocurrency. I just feel sorry for people who are paid in crypto. There was a segment on 60 Minutes a few weeks ago about a town in Central America that was trying to do all their transactions and pay their employees in crypto.
Crypto and NFTs: the Beanie Babies of our time.
BINGO! 🤣
LOL. My mom showed my daughters some of my grandma’s investment beanie babies, and now my favorite one is riding on the dash of my car. It might have a $12 value, but it reminds me of grandmother 😂
Exactly what I thought to myself!
NFT is next. Just stick to the stock market.
I mean, the stock market is tanking too at the moment, but at least it’s real and for long-term investors like myself, it should be OK. But yeah, bitcoin and NFTs always smelled like horsesh*t.
Stocks are really designed for long-term investment. That’s why your 401(k) is tied to stocks. The issue is not people wanting to make money, its people wanting to make large, quick money. That is what crypto has been promising people – get rich quick. And it never, ever works (save for a very lucky few who get in super early at the top of the chain).
Fortune favors the practical. Of course that’s not sexy and dudes dig getting a rousing speech from Jason Bourne and Elon Musk.
The markets in general are all way down due to inflation, war, and political uncertainty. People usually withdraw from investments in general in times like these. Crypto is not magically immune to those forces. All investments, even index funds, will have lows and highs due to external events. This is not a sign of crypto’s failure. This is why we have terms like a bear market and bull market. It is normal. Yes crypto is more volatile than an index fund like VOO or VTI (for example) but it’s still acting as could be expected given the state of the world right now. News like the Supreme Court draft banning abortion (for example) is going to impact the market. Janet Yellen pointed out how the economy is going to be hit. Crypto will be hit along with the rest of the markets.
I see actual value in crypto, and I expect it to recover eventually as the general markets and world situation hopefully do as well.
Crypto is a MLM and that’s it. And also NFTs are a waste of energy.
I agree that it will recover. This is in fact a good time to buy.
Yes! That’s what I’m doing every paycheck, mostly in index funds but I always get some BTC too. Everything’s on sale, perfect time to buy!
On the other hand, buying crypto now may be “catching a falling knife” in financial terms. I’d be very hesitant about investing more in crypto at this point. It may come back for a time since the big investors in it need it to do so, but long term? I wouldn’t bet on it, myself.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Crypto is the MLM for Dudebros. Same with NFTs.
Totally agree @Emma.
It depends. I remember the dot.com crash – it wiped out portfolios in my company, including one pension portfolio. You can go broke waiting to be right. The thing is to manage risk and consider worst case scenarios.
Emma
Yes. It will recover.
This. Every market on earth is tanking, it’s not just the crypto markets. Call me a fool, but I too see value in crypto as much as any traditional investment. What goes down always come back up, eventually. We survived 2000 and 2008. We’ll survive this bubble burst as well, and the markets will look a lot different after the economy recovers in a few years, with crypto being used more widely as people shift their trust from traditional currencies that are manipulated the same whether you believe it or not.
What comes down DOESN’T always come back up, though. The 17th Century tulip market never “came back” from its crash from speculative highs.
Maida, that’s why I diversify. Index funds for example.
@Tara, Umm…no. Financial markets and instruments don’t work that way and your suggestion is dangerous. Cryptocurrency is NOT the same as the USD. If – by some infinitesimal chance – it ever happens, it will not be in our lifetime. What goes down does not always come back up. If you think that way, invest in Sears, RadioShack, Blockbuster, Circuit City, etc.
Yes, there is inherent risk in any financial investment. Please do your due diligence before investing any money that you cannot afford to lose entirely.
@AI – Sure – we can add WorldCom and MCI, Lucent, Nortel, etc. Their problem wasn’t general market conditions. It was factors specific to the industry and changes in government regulation. Investors were right about the industry and its longer-term future, but they lost a boatload on timing and stock picks. As for crypto, it will be interesting to see how the technology develops and which companies fall out and which can continue, but unless the US government decides to start accepting something other than USD in payment for taxes, crypto will not supplant it.
@Al – “ Sears, RadioShack, Blockbuster, Circuit City, etc.” thank you, captain hindsight.
My comment isn’t dangerous. I’m not a financial advisor, and I don’t have a platform to doop the masses into making decisions they’re too lazy to research before putting their money on the table. I’m commenting in a forum on a celebrity gossip blog, just like you. I believe crypto has value down the line. And I also believe our entire global financial system is set up to only benefit a certain few, if the typical investor doesn’t have the patience or capital to weather a bear market. The USD is as manipulated as any crypto or any other global currency. And if you believe otherwise, good luck.
The thing is, a selling point of crypto was that it was resistant to traditional market forces & was supposed to be somewhat “inflation proof.” That hasn’t turned out to be the case. It’s gotten even more bizarre lately when you have celebrities being paid to sell us…money?
If people want to invest in it, fine, but I’ve always viewed it as a commodity like gold but with more expensive TV commercials. And unlike gold, if you lose access to your crypto wallet for whatever reason, poof! There goes your investment.
Exactly. Now saying crypto is just like money isn’t a good selling point. Some of them are worth a penny right now. And they removed Luna from the markets.
Thank you for being a voice of reason! Those screaming “ponzi scheme” are just showing their lack of understanding.
@Grungies- Totally, it makes no sense. One person said it and everyone repeats it lol.
Yeah, I’m reading a lot of self-righteous comments about how “WE WERE RIGHT!!!” meanwhile, they don’t notice that their purchasing power is TANKING before their very eyes. We are in for some very dark times, so I hope everyone has a rainy few years fund tucked away.
+1 @Emma. Plus the value of blockchain as it relates to cryptocurrency.
The stock market is also crashing so it’s not really fair to act like it’s only Bitcoin. We’re about to hit a huge recession. All forms of money are crashing.
My portfolio is so sad right now (all full of traditional investment options).
Agreed. Recession is on the horizon.
It is. Within the next year we will be starting a recession.
I want to laugh and point, but as a person with a lot of money in stocks who has watched the stock market tanking over the past week, it’s kind of hard.
Saaaaaaaaame, I can hardly bear to look right now. My financial advisor is hosting weekly “don’t panic” webinars at this point.
Regarding tanking stocks…I have always tracked my portfolio value both in “real” terms but also as an “adjusted” number based on long-term average stock returns/inflation. Basically here’s where my investments “ought” to be on average. For the past ~10 years the real number has generally tracked above the average number. Around the time Trump got elected, the gap began to get noticeably wider, and in April 2020 it started to really widen. I’ve basically always regarded the difference as “fake” money and made my financial plans based on the average. Seeing a big gap makes me kinda nervous—I actually cashed out some investments earlier this year b/c I am hoping to buy a house this year and it seemed like there was no way it could last. Anyway, the past few months have narrowed the real vs average gap a lot but the real is still way above average. If you only started investing in the past couple of years this probably looks terrible, but if you have been practicing buy and hold for 10+ years this current drop still has a ways to go before it gets truly bad.
I also saw my portfolio plunge in 2007-2008 and it was scary AF (I had only been putting money in for a couple of years at that point), but kept sticking in whatever I could to my IRA and a brokerage account, and it’s definitely paid off (even if the market has another 20-30% to go).
@Cate, I inherited my portfolio just over 10 years ago, and my advisor has always been clear about real and adjusted, and I don’t plan on using most of this money for decades, so I’ll be fine, hopefully (I have a good job, and house and car are paid off).
Once snake oil seller Goop got involved I knew it was going to crash and burn. Matt Damon involve me was only icing on the cake.
Same, I had almost six figures in my company’s stock as it’s part of my compensation and don’t even want to look, I know it’s the long game though so not panicking.
This was supposed to be a reply to chicken lol
Crypto will go back up. Right now MANY people are accepting crypto and NFTs for payments. They want it and they want people to feel it’s worthless. If you have crypto hold onto it.
this. it’s here to stay.
The people who are going to lose their money are the ones with all their Bitcoin in an app like coinbase. If they go under because the value crashes and can’t pay people out, those people will lose all their coin. Smart people have their own Bitcoin wallets, and don’t need a third party to store their coin….so eventually when the cost goes back up, like the stock market, their coin is safe and worth whatever the value grows to again…and they aren’t letting some company use their money to make themselves money…that’s the thing about Bitcoin…banks and other institutions haven’t found a way to profit off of it like they have with all our money in their banks….
Yeah. Its like all the people who laughed and bought more horses and buggies, when the automobile was introduced. Ok, so you avoid the booms and busts of the emerging automotive industry, but you also miss the boat. That’s fine– most people are late adopters, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Don’t congratulates yourselves too much. This fall was triggered by the Terra/Luna stablecoin situation which a * hedge fund * called Citadel decided to short. Citadel borrowed ~$1billion worth of bitcoin to accomplish the short, so they killed a Ponzi scheme (Terra) using another cryptocurrency (Bitcoin), that the market generally believes is worth something. A 12% dip in BTC price is less than the Dow has fallen in the last few months. All I’m saying is don’t start crowing yet, wall street didn’t fold when Bernie Madoff went to jail.
Don’t invest in something you don’t understand even a little. And never invest more than 20% of your investment money in something that has no guarantees. Sounds boring but people get greedy or fall for scams and lose their retirement money all the time so it bears repeating. This obviously only applies to the average earner, I’m guessing if you have millions, you can afford to lose more.
A very smart person who has published articles on this topic couldn’t explain it to me so I could fully grasp it. And I don’t think I’m that dumb. But I dare most people – looking at you Matt Damon – to convice me they know what’s happening with crypto.
Fortune favors the gullible. As in they’re the fortunate and think we’re the gullible. Sure money markets are crashing all over the place but the crypto and esp. NFTs seemed more Ponzi-ish. Now that they are crashing those without the means will sell in a panic where the very rich can buy at a cheap price and wait it out.
Shame on Matt Damon for shilling this. If he really thought the little guy could get rich than he’s really stupid. More like he knew he’d need more investors to make him even more rich and was also paid handsomely for his endorsement. So basic bro, so greedy and so gross.
There is no way in living hell the rich and famous wants ‘everyone’ to become rich.
Unless you know them and they tell you person to person and it’s obviously a secret, it’s sponsored and a lie.
The Elite don’t want the common man to become rich, that would hurt their own businesses and status.
Someone have to be poor, oppressed and subdued for someone else to be super wealthy.
Does this mean the Crypto.com Arena will go back to being The Staples Center? 🤣
Just kidding, but it seemed a poorly thought out purchase!
I’m also laughing at the term “stablecoin”. It’s like how the Clean Air Act made air pollution worse. Ya not stable!
That was my first thought too! Though I don’t know anyone who calls it crypto arena, it’ll always be staples
Staples Center was the best name. I liked to think that it was named for the Staples Singers and that they performed there all the time.
EPA Clean Air Act did reduced air pollution. EPA had the support of both parties until Trump MAGA cult decided to reverse the trend to embrace dirty air, dirty water and DIRTY MONEY.
“Clean Air Act programs have lowered levels of six common pollutants — particles, ozone, lead, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide — as well as numerous toxic pollutants.
Between 1970 and 2020, the combined emissions of the six common pollutants (PM2.5 and PM10, SO2, NOx, VOCs, CO and Pb) dropped by 78 percent. This progress occurred while U.S. economic indicators remain strong.
The emissions reductions have led to dramatic improvements in the quality of the air that we breathe. Between 1990 and 2020, national concentrations of air pollutants improved 73 percent for carbon monoxide, 86 percent for lead (from 2010), 61 percent for annual nitrogen dioxide, 25 percent for ozone, 26 percent for 24-hour coarse particle concentrations, 41 percent for annual fine particles (from 2000), and 91 percent for sulfur dioxide. (For more trends information, see EPA’s Air Trends site.)”
https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/progress-cleaning-air-and-improving-peoples-health
This is actually kind of funny, but not, because so many people actually believed the BS. Crypto and NFTs are not good investments, and despite the media and celebrities trying to push them HARD, reality was like “lol nope.” They really are MLM for bros. Earlier this year, I had to give my (retired!) mom a lecture not to mess with crypto. She’d been hearing about it, wanted to know if she should switch some of her investments, but she didn’t even stop speaking before I was telling her no. I had to explain to her that she should only invest in crypto if she was prepared to lose every penny, which she didn’t like at all. But how many people her age have a child willing to tell them things like that? A lot of people believe the hype and are really screwing up their financial future.
I just want to know how many millions Matt Damon received for making that commercial. Celebrities are such wh*res, they really will put their names on ANYTHING.
Unless those millions where payed in Crypto currency I don’t see why we should believe him?
Crypto is basically 1. a scam and 2. a way people money launder and bypass sanctions etc.
My husband and I have a running joke that when he slips and makes a stupid mansplain comment, I always reply “Thanks Matt” . Hubby then knows to shut it because Matt Damon is the king of stupid mansplaining.
This is funny and useful, I’ll steal it!
Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger were warning about this just a few weeks ago at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting and the crypto-fan boys were hopping up and down talking about how they’re old fossils. Who’s laughing now?
LOL that is amazing
Ok. I confess I am entirely ignorant of crypto anything so the article posted (NOT Kaiser’s commentary) sounds like so much gobbledygook to me. Is it real money? Monopoly money? Go Fish money?
I just REALLLLLLLLLY don’t understand it at all (and yes I have read up on it, but it still goes over my head)
All I care about is that Matt Damon did not convince Cillian murphy to invest in his stupid crypto madness. They are filming a new movie. Cillian will have to become Tommy Shelby and I will be joining Tommy in this fight. No one mess with Cillian on my watch! What happened to Matt? I never cared for Ben but I always liked Matt.
Haha, this is golden!
I would trust Cillian Murphy with my life. He’s so down to earth and sane it’s unbelievable.
Good to know he didn’t fall for the scam.
“What would Cillian Murphy do?”
I know Cillan mentioned he admires the way Matt conducts his life. I hope he stays calm and reasonable, but you never know when men are closed the 50 yrs they can go nuts. Even the sane ones can become weird.
“Wow, who would have thought that cryptocurrencies were overwhelmingly a scam, a Ponzi scheme, and a ridiculously overhyped bubble just waiting to burst?”
—Ben Mckenzie warned us lol
This has been my first glimpse into Finance Celebitchy (do we do that here?🤔) and reading the comments has been great! Thank you, all.
I’ve enjoyed reading these comments, too! i might actually be learning things!
I don’t understand crypto currency, how you get it , what you do with it, so I wouldn’t buy it. If you can’t understand it, don’t invest in it.- My investment theory
This is true wisdom. If you don’t understand it, don’t bet on it. It’s that simple
1) crypto in general is an *extremely* volatile asset.
2) some currencies ARE scams and Ponzi schemes.
3) the above points don’t make all crypto useless, suspicious or bound to fail.
Crypto surges and crashes continually. This current crash is particularly ‘crashy’ but everyone rubbing their hands in glee about being ‘right’ about crypto simply doesn’t understand a) how many times this has happened and b) that it has no bearing on its value in terms of usefulness.
If you don’t understand it and don’t want to, then by all means don’t invest.
Busy Philipps has been very anti-crypto and did a great podcast episode where she lamented celeb NFT promotion and interviewed a journalist who explained wtf NFTs are anyway (a sham): https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/busy-philipps-is-doing-her-best/id1527623861?i=1000550587766.
I want NO parts and I am sooo glad that my husband is not w/the crap. I’ll keep my stocks/bonds and Roth IRAs.
I’ve never wanted in on this-never AND I am not surprised with what’s happening. My brother-law is like a crazed maniac if you say anything negative or don’t agree w/the whole thing. Something tells me he has put his all into it. pitiful.
I could care less about “how rich I could become yrs down the line”…it may come back up but only long enough for the RICH to make their money back and then its going to tanktank.
If you want to understand what went down with Luna/Terra this week, check out Money Stuff by Matt Levine. He’s a former investment banker and securities lawyer who writes a daily column for Bloomberg and he often writes about crypto.