The total value of all the Cryptocurrency in the world hit $4 trillion last night for the first time ever.
This cycle has been different, at least so far, in a few ways.
First of all, I’m not getting any calls or texts from high school and college buddies, yet, about which Cryptos they should be buying.
Historically, in prior cycles, they don’t ask “if” they should buy Crypto, but specifically which ones.
That’s usually near the tops.
You’re also not seeing many people on Twitter posting crypto prices, as if we didn’t all have the quotes on our computers and phones as well.
In past cycles, the self-proclaimed “Diamond Hands” (or “Laser Eyes,” depending on the era) would blast out every new high as if they had some secret terminal the rest of us mere mortals couldn’t access.
I can keep going about the sentiment. But another major point about this cycle that I think is going unnoticed is how much simpler it is to trade and participate in the upside than it was in the past.
I’ve been trading Crypto for more than 12 years now. I’ve seen a lot. I can assure you, with every cycle it was harder and more complicated to transact, with new tokens, new blockchains, new derivative assets, and new types of wallets.
I remember having to make six to eight different moves just to purchase one token.
That’s no longer the case.
Tradfi (that’s short for “traditional finance”) investors now have ETFs, options on those ETFs and Crypto-related stocks such as Coinbase (COIN) and Strategy (MSTR) as well as a slew of Crypto mining companies and new IPOs regularly being offered.
That wasn’t the case just a couple of years ago.
And even on-chain you can trade almost anything now on apps such as Spot Trading, a company I’m also an investor in.
Four Trillion Dollars
The value of all the Cryptocurrencies in the world hit $4 trillion last night for the first time ever.
Here’s the long-term chart showing that appreciation over time:
That sounds like a lot of money doesn’t it? $4 trillion?
It’s not.
That’s one stock in the S&P 500.
All these tokens can go to zero tomorrow, and it won’t matter. There aren’t any global macro implications for what is still a small asset class.
The total value of the stock market is about $124 trillion, more than 30 times the value of Crypto.
I don’t mean to characterize that as “bearish.”
In fact, as someone who’s as long Crypto as I am, it looks bullish to me.
I mean, how much smaller can this asset get?
Journalists Still Hate It
One thing we love around here is when everybody’s wrong. We even named this newsletter after that concept.
If all the journalists are telling you Crypto is a “good buy,” it’s probably a “goodbye.”
If they think prices are going up and they’re saying nice things, history shows prices will likely do the opposite.
That’s why I was thrilled to see them trying to scare the hell out of you this weekend in Barron’s:
I personally liked the time bomb aspect. Time bombs are scary, especially on Saturday…
I think they’re wrong – as they usually are on important trends.
And I don’t mean to pick on Barron’s. I’ve been a subscriber to Barron’s for my entire career.
I have friends who work there.
I also have friends who are journalists.
It’s all good.
But they’re wrong.
And I tell them to their faces. And then we go grab beers.
It’s like a ritual at this point. They get it. I get it. And we all get to play this game together.
Them with their ink, me with my money.
I like my way better.
I hope you do too!
I’ll see you at Crypto $5 trillion.
Stay sharp,
JC Parets, CMT
Founder, TrendLabs