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Mark HelfmanSEC Retreats From Ripple But Gensler’s Right About Crypto
Yesterday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped two more charges against Ripple for selling its XRP crypto the wrong way. The score stands at Ripple 3, SEC 0. Ripple isn’t the first crypto business to defeat the regulators. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler seems to lose, like, half of the crypto cases that go to trial. That’s an abysmal record for a US government agency, but I can’t object to Gary’s interpretation of US securities law. Legally speaking, he’s right. Under US law, s...
Mark HelfmanTwo Truths and a Lie About Altcoins
You’re hearing a lot about altcoins from bitmojis, analysts, and commentators. None of them are experts, but they’ve picked up some insights along the way. Since the market’s going up, they seem legit. Read on for two truths you might not realize and one lie you might believe.Truth #1—altcoins are $200 billion worth of crapAltcoins are a $400 billion asset class. At least $200 billion worth of that market cap consists of altcoins that suck, do nothing, and will bleed value forever. Some of th...
Mark HelfmanLike a Cockroach, Bitcoin Will Survive a Nuclear War
Since its creation, people have searched for a “use case” for Bitcoin. It seems the world has no use for money that you can send to anybody, anywhere, anytime, in any amount, without restriction, without revealing your sensitive personal information, without putting your property in another person’s control, with certainty that your transaction will go through and confirmation that every payment you receive is authentic and valid. Nor do they care about having a way to conduct finance that wo...
Mark HelfmanSEC Retreats From Ripple But Gensler’s Right About Crypto
Yesterday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped two more charges against Ripple for selling its XRP crypto the wrong way. The score stands at Ripple 3, SEC 0. Ripple isn’t the first crypto business to defeat the regulators. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler seems to lose, like, half of the crypto cases that go to trial. That’s an abysmal record for a US government agency, but I can’t object to Gary’s interpretation of US securities law. Legally speaking, he’s right. Under US law, s...
Mark HelfmanTwo Truths and a Lie About Altcoins
You’re hearing a lot about altcoins from bitmojis, analysts, and commentators. None of them are experts, but they’ve picked up some insights along the way. Since the market’s going up, they seem legit. Read on for two truths you might not realize and one lie you might believe.Truth #1—altcoins are $200 billion worth of crapAltcoins are a $400 billion asset class. At least $200 billion worth of that market cap consists of altcoins that suck, do nothing, and will bleed value forever. Some of th...
Mark HelfmanLike a Cockroach, Bitcoin Will Survive a Nuclear War
Since its creation, people have searched for a “use case” for Bitcoin. It seems the world has no use for money that you can send to anybody, anywhere, anytime, in any amount, without restriction, without revealing your sensitive personal information, without putting your property in another person’s control, with certainty that your transaction will go through and confirmation that every payment you receive is authentic and valid. Nor do they care about having a way to conduct finance that wo...
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I got another email from a guy who says he knows the five altcoins that will EXPLODE in 2023.
Sounds tempting, but short-duration government bonds and cash deposits are giving you the best deal you’ve gotten in a generation (at least the last 15 years). Are you sure you want to fool around with five random financial experiments in a market plagued by scams, frauds, and failures?
Before you answer that question, consider your alternatives.
Equities remain overvalued against all historical benchmarks and dividends will probably take another year to catch up with interest rates.
Commodities remain volatile, risky, and manipulated by powerful interests. Almost nobody can afford real estate anymore and those who can know they’ll get a better deal by waiting for rich people to sell those AirBNB rentals and beach houses they bought during COVID but can no longer service and maintain.
Oh, and what happens if Credit Suisse fails or Italy suffers a sovereign debt crisis?
Maybe passive income doesn’t sound so bad right now.
Boring? Slow?
Yes, and you can say the same thing about altcoins. That’s why they’re still part of my portfolio strategy.
https://cryptoiseasy.substack.com/p/my-portfolio-strategy#details
Some altcoins are down 99% from their highest prices. Overall, the entire altcoin market has fallen 78% since its peak.
Outside of that guy trying to earn a living from telling me about altcoins, you’re not hearing much excitement or enthusiasm about them (or crypto in general).
Yet, like bonds and cash deposits, altcoins now give you less downside and more upside than they have in years.
At least, good projects do. Assuming 95% of today’s 30,000 altcoins will fail, that leaves only about 1,500 legit projects to choose from.
Many of the people who urged you to throw money into altcoins at the peak of the market now tell you to sit on cash until the “macro” improves or the bull market starts.
Is that the best strategy?
You miss out on staking rewards. You lose whatever crypto you’d make running a node or participating in the network. You risk spending more money later for the tokens of a project that will have doubled or tripled from today’s prices by the time everybody agrees that the bull market has started.
All to avoid a hypothetical, temporary drop in value that may never come and may not last very long if it does.
I have no objection to keeping “dry powder,” as the traders say. I don’t trade so I don’t need dry powder, I’m content allocating to cash, bonds, and bitcoin while we wait for the world’s central banks to figure out how poor they need to make us before they’re satisfied with their actions.
For projects that are still small, underexposed, growing, doing something novel, gaining traction, and building their networks, you have an amazing opportunity.
You won’t find many in the top 100, though I sorted through some good options in my list of altcoins that will survive through the bull market.
https://cryptoiseasy.substack.com/p/top-100-altcoinswhich-will-survive
I talk about these and other altcoins in my Crypto is Easy newsletter and sometimes publish hidden gems in my altcoin reports.
https://cryptoiseasy.substack.com/p/altcoin-reports
I’ve bought an altcoin every two weeks since June 2022. When I buy, I share a little bit about the project and why I’m buying into it.
That should wrap up in March, maybe April. Once I’m done, I’ll stop buying altcoins until we get another great opportunity.
From today until then, I’ll be publishing articles about altcoins roughly once each week, with each article on a different topic or theme right here (not in Crypto is Easy).
Even if you’d rather wait to buy altcoins until after prices go up or you have more money, you can keep these articles in your back pocket while you wait. Consider them “food for thought” as you think about how you’ll approach crypto in 2023 and beyond.
Subscribe now so you’ll get each article as I post.
Mark Helfman publishes the Crypto is Easy newsletter. He is also the author of three books and a top bitcoin writer on Medium and Hacker Noon. Learn more about him in his bio.
I got another email from a guy who says he knows the five altcoins that will EXPLODE in 2023.
Sounds tempting, but short-duration government bonds and cash deposits are giving you the best deal you’ve gotten in a generation (at least the last 15 years). Are you sure you want to fool around with five random financial experiments in a market plagued by scams, frauds, and failures?
Before you answer that question, consider your alternatives.
Equities remain overvalued against all historical benchmarks and dividends will probably take another year to catch up with interest rates.
Commodities remain volatile, risky, and manipulated by powerful interests. Almost nobody can afford real estate anymore and those who can know they’ll get a better deal by waiting for rich people to sell those AirBNB rentals and beach houses they bought during COVID but can no longer service and maintain.
Oh, and what happens if Credit Suisse fails or Italy suffers a sovereign debt crisis?
Maybe passive income doesn’t sound so bad right now.
Boring? Slow?
Yes, and you can say the same thing about altcoins. That’s why they’re still part of my portfolio strategy.
https://cryptoiseasy.substack.com/p/my-portfolio-strategy#details
Some altcoins are down 99% from their highest prices. Overall, the entire altcoin market has fallen 78% since its peak.
Outside of that guy trying to earn a living from telling me about altcoins, you’re not hearing much excitement or enthusiasm about them (or crypto in general).
Yet, like bonds and cash deposits, altcoins now give you less downside and more upside than they have in years.
At least, good projects do. Assuming 95% of today’s 30,000 altcoins will fail, that leaves only about 1,500 legit projects to choose from.
Many of the people who urged you to throw money into altcoins at the peak of the market now tell you to sit on cash until the “macro” improves or the bull market starts.
Is that the best strategy?
You miss out on staking rewards. You lose whatever crypto you’d make running a node or participating in the network. You risk spending more money later for the tokens of a project that will have doubled or tripled from today’s prices by the time everybody agrees that the bull market has started.
All to avoid a hypothetical, temporary drop in value that may never come and may not last very long if it does.
I have no objection to keeping “dry powder,” as the traders say. I don’t trade so I don’t need dry powder, I’m content allocating to cash, bonds, and bitcoin while we wait for the world’s central banks to figure out how poor they need to make us before they’re satisfied with their actions.
For projects that are still small, underexposed, growing, doing something novel, gaining traction, and building their networks, you have an amazing opportunity.
You won’t find many in the top 100, though I sorted through some good options in my list of altcoins that will survive through the bull market.
https://cryptoiseasy.substack.com/p/top-100-altcoinswhich-will-survive
I talk about these and other altcoins in my Crypto is Easy newsletter and sometimes publish hidden gems in my altcoin reports.
https://cryptoiseasy.substack.com/p/altcoin-reports
I’ve bought an altcoin every two weeks since June 2022. When I buy, I share a little bit about the project and why I’m buying into it.
That should wrap up in March, maybe April. Once I’m done, I’ll stop buying altcoins until we get another great opportunity.
From today until then, I’ll be publishing articles about altcoins roughly once each week, with each article on a different topic or theme right here (not in Crypto is Easy).
Even if you’d rather wait to buy altcoins until after prices go up or you have more money, you can keep these articles in your back pocket while you wait. Consider them “food for thought” as you think about how you’ll approach crypto in 2023 and beyond.
Subscribe now so you’ll get each article as I post.
Mark Helfman publishes the Crypto is Easy newsletter. He is also the author of three books and a top bitcoin writer on Medium and Hacker Noon. Learn more about him in his bio.
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