Anatomy of a Crypto Meltdown

5 pointsposted 21 hours ago
by CharlesW

2 Comments

jqpabc123

17 hours ago

Some have accused centralized exchanges of minimizing their own losses

The crypto market is owned by the exchanges. Even P2P trades rely on them for pricing. Try buying bitcoin for a price that differs significantly from what the exchanges say it is worth,

But the exchanges can also create equity (stable coins) and trade alongside and even against their own customers. So they are not just simple market makers. They are the central bankers of crypto --- and without any checks or balances, they are beholden to nothing and no one but themselves.

Such a market is not really "free" is it?. If collusion and manipulation can happen, it will happen. And the lack of regulation and accountability virtually insures it.

x______________

19 hours ago

  >The lack of circuit breakers, massive leverage, technical fragilities, and overwhelming complexity of interwoven crypto assets all combined for a devastating crash. Regulators are unlikely to take any significant action. Exchanges will continue offering extreme leverage while platforms remain without circuit breakers. The industry keeps pushing for greater integration with traditional finance, demanding even fewer restrictions on the high-risk products they market to unsophisticated investors. As crypto grows more interconnected with mainstream finance, future crashes will reach far more widely.
The conclusion summarizes the article well, leading one to wonder why you could trust crypto as a legitimate investment vehicle when it's as solid as a tower of lawn chairs waiting for a gust of wind to happen.