The Hidden Risk Beneath Crypto’s UnFunnyNotMoney
There’s a danger that market neophytes are confusing trading with investing.
There’s a lesson here.
Photographer: Sean Gallup/Getty Images EuropeOne reassuring aspect of the rollercoaster ride that saw Bitcoin lose half its value in less than two months is the immunity of the real financial world to contagion from crypto tokens, which I increasingly think of as UnfunnyNotMoney. But there is a danger that speculators, particularly if they’re young and inexperienced, have a “once bitten, twice shy” reaction to losses that could harm their propensity to allocate cash to long-term savings.
The gamification of finance is a worrying trend, and it’s not just restricted to buying and HODLing digital currencies. The FOMO/YOLO crowd has also embraced equities, as we saw earlier this year with the rise and fall (and rise again) of GameStop Corp. and other Robinhood Markets Inc. favorites that caught the attention of Redditors.