Let's be honest, the world of crypto is extremely jargonistic and this can be very off-putting especially for newbies. It is like learning a new language and as is the nature of jargon it is all too often creating unnecessary neologisms when a simpler phrase would suffice. An easy illustration could be the use of the phrase Smart Contracts (which is by far not the worst, but it is the one that dropped into my head when writing :D). Why not simply call them automated contracts. The name then describes the function. Smart can mean a lot of things, but automated brings a lot more definition.

We come across this all the time, even in my primary function as an English tutor and business coach for non-English natives. Conditional sentences are the worst. We have: -

• I Conditional
• II Conditional
• III Conditional
• Mixed Conditional: Type 1 (II+III)
• Mixed Conditional: Type 2 (III+II)
• 0 Conditional

Yes, all of these really do exist and yes 0 has deliberately come at the end because it has a variation to if in some cases. I have also added further definition to the two mixed conditionals just for fun. The point is that unless you are a specialist in the field (@Cryptosensi hope you are reading) it is highly unlikely that you have any idea of what I am talking about. 

This is the nature of jargon, to confuse, be snooty and to make one feel superior. In other words jargon is ammunition for prize BS!

I might actually post a review of conditional sentences because my approach is both innovative and intuitive. I even had one occasion when I was teaching a lady with a Master's in English a few years ago (and so she knew her stuff) and I did it with her just as a review / consolidation. After the session, and after more than ten years devoted to learning English, she asked me "Why, oh why, has nobody ever shown me this before?" 

Crypto_Rah get on with it already!

The header was not simply clickbait. ETFs also fit into the category of jargon. Multi-letter abbreviations are frightening and intimidating especially to the newbie. You may recall a recent post about how US English (and especially on police procedural TV programmes) makes excessive use of these forms with the overuse of shorthand like BOLO (which should  be BOTLO anyway!), APB, DB, COD, TOD. These shortened forms often take longer to say than the full form too so it isn't even about efficiency!

An ETF is an Exchange Traded Fund and in a general sense it refers to an investment fund that tracks a particular commodity. Yes, that is pretty good and pretty clear, but then in crypto land we talk about EFT inflows and outflows, and to the unknowing it sounds like something marvelous and special; something for which you require specialist knowledge to understand.

BS!

We already know what we are talking about when it comes to crypto, so all too often it doesn't need so much over-definition (i.e. the specificity of tracking a specific investment). EFT inflows and outflows simply describe the moving patterns of investment with an inflow being an increase of investment and an outflow being the withdrawal of investment. It really is that simple and by implication the interpretation is just as easy. Simply, monitoring the movement of funds can show us whether a project is attracting greater investment or not. Inflows are a strong indicator of confidence and vice-versa and so by definition the movement of investment funds can show what may or may not be a good investment. We must still exercise caution, DYOR and be wary of investment bubbles and ponzis. Let's remember there has been some offloading (outflows) of BitCoin in recent times because those who invested, for example at $90k (Michael "Never Sell your BitCoin) Saylor anybody - although he only sold 32 BitCoins), decided to sell and minimise their losses which caused an acute loss in confidence that affected the narrative surrounding BitCoin. 

And so, don't get too tied up in the jargon and focus on what it is really talking about. Keep it simple!

And that my friends it the point of today's post.

As always stay safe and well my friends.

Endnote. I do find it interesting that there is no existing tag  ETF on here, which circumstantially proves my point!