The IRS/Coinbase thing has been looming for some time now. I don't think it'll have any lasting affect. Coinbase is probably the most popular exchange amongst US citizens but there are plenty of other exchanges. It's a minor bump in the road compared with China's attempted crackdown on ICOs and exchanges, which did little to slow the rise of cryptocurrencies. In fact, in the long-term, it seems that cryptocurrencies are boosted by the actions of governments' attempts to regulate or control them. Attempted regulation seems to just bring about greater awareness and acceptance.
Exchanges are a vulnerable point of attack though, for both hackers and governments because, like banks, most exchanges are presently centralised. However, decentralised exchanges are being developed. Networks such as Ethereum enable virtual applications to run, known as Dapps (Distributed/Decentralised Applications). Using Dapps and Smart Contracts, a completely decentralised exchange would be impossible to control or regulate.
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Originally Posted by MikkiJayne
Is there a way to short cryptocurrency? I'm sure someone got rich from today's shenanigans.
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Using margin trading you mean? I believe a few Exchanges do offer margin trading. People do make a lot of money by buying and selling at the right time but it's risky. You could easily lose a lot too if you mistime it. Personally I think it's better to just buy and hold (or 'HODL!' as the crypto enthusiasts say). As
Warren Buffet once said "The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.". I think that's true of cryptocurrency market places too. I do very little crypto trading but I hold about 30+ different cryptocurrencies. In the space of 2-3 years, my investments combined have increased in value about thirtyfold, and that rate seems to be increasing exponentially.