This.
https://decrypt.co/64108/coinbase-blowout-q1-profit-days-ahead-of-april-14-direct-listing
But, also, all of the other articles and posts that came out Tuesday regarding Coinbase's massive earnings.
I think there is no question at this point, the real crypto boom is starting to unfold. There is anticipation, frenzy, and the expectation that every single thing in crypto has nothing but an upside. Soon, Coinbase will be listed as a public company, and that is bound to paint a stunning Q2 for the company. Once again, though, I only care as it relates to the market on whole.
People often have a love-hate relationship with the companies that, on the one hand they blame for stigmas that are attached to crypto, and on the other hand welcome in tens of millions of people to an otherwise obscure landscape. Coinbase is one of those companies. They are one of the few, large-scale crypto on-ramps in the U.S., which is sad because they are far from a good representation of what freedom and anonymity mean to the true cryptonian. The fees are higher than they need to be, both for single purchases and for trading. Like so many tier-level exchanges, they favor the wealthy, reward the highest volume, but make the barrier to entry high enough that it essentially punishes those who are desperately trying to climb to that level. They dox their customers, and have been called out for selling data. Hard to see that as being the heart of crypto.
The biggest irony, though, is when a crypto business goes public with a listing for sto...stonks. It's hilarious. I LOVE IRONY!
It will be yuge, people will notice, the news will be annoyed into having to talk crypto yet again, and people will get to make their argument that we're all betting 'real' money on imaginary magical internet money. Embrace the lunacy... it's 2021!
So, lemme ask "what does this mean for April and for the rest of the year in crypto?"
My preface: if the governments don't blow it up first, since it is their role to ruin everything good and free, then this is going to be the next in a long line of crypto announcements that add fuel to the fire for big coins and alt coins alike. In the end, I believe there is a strong meritocracy that underlies the importance of the top coins. Yes, Bitcoin is the biggest only, solely because it is the first to make this all work successfully, and being first means it also didn't die first. It has essentially kept going despite all the muck. Ether has its biggest criticism regarding gas fees, and is self-aware. The leadership have a roadmap that is designed to address all of their issues, and despite it all, trust is obviously larger than worry over fees, because a +$2K ETH has been part of the pressure against Bitcoin being able to break through the $60K to rise upwards. Yes, it has peaked $60K twice, but has sold hard at each point and it has spent over 1 month now battling that same range. It runs the risk of getting trampled by the landscape of alt hysteria and the strongest at the top.
We see the SEC news regarding Ripple encouraging a GameStop-type Doge revolt in XRP maxi's, and I'm happy to see the revolution live on. It is amazing what this says not just about finance, but about people trying to speak with their values through money... or not-money money. It is good for the people to show their strength and voice their voice. It matters in a time like this.
Therefore, back to the irony of Coinbase. Love them. Hate them (Gordon always finds himself back to topics that include that narrative!). They make a huge footprint in the sand of the crypto beach, and that mark is a telling sign that banks, bankers, investors, whales and institutions are now seeing what we all have been seeing for some time. They realize that this is their one opportunity to get in early. Perhaps all of that regulatory muckettymuck is a little less important than rescuing their future bottom-lines and missing the one chance they have left to quadruple their billions of dollars.
There is zero question in my mind that 2021-2024 is going to be a period of financial unrest regarding CBDC's and the challenge of digital fiat over digital freedom in finance. This is a time to desperately embrace the opportunity to gain an edge on bloated top-level greed. I challenge all little warriors to invest smart, grab some profits and re-invest them into small dips. don't take radical risks especially if you are new to this, but DO consider any accelerators you can use to grow your HODL and take advantage of the rush. When these economic models play out, we're going to see much more, not less, of the corporate and financial field monsters roar at their early arrival to crypto, and at some point it will cause division among our communities, as to what kind of press is good press.
We love irony, but we also don't really like hypocrisy. Crypto rewards the good and the bad alike, and we have to realize that much of that mass adoption was in our court for the past decade, and we didn't do a whole heckuva lot with that. To be fair, you have a field of geeks and computer geniuses that are not exactly economic geniuses or marketing pro's (except perhaps Sun who imagines himself a true great at the latter, but pales in comparison to the true leaders as such), so they must embrace their strengths and realize that the pro's are going to largely take the reigns from here. Will Coinbase represent us well? Probably not, but there is still a partial pride in knowing that they are partly placing our hats in the ring in ways we aren't able to do for ourselves. We can look to others like Musk, the Winkledangers and a few others to speak to the validity of crypto, and whether we completely agree to every ethic or argument, we can know this is going to be a great time for them to shine in their industry. Let's just make sure we are all along for the ride!
And on that lofty note of wisdom, the very loving of freedom... Gordon Freeman, for now... out.
