One of the allures of cryptocurrency is that it's decentralized. Essentially, it's bank-free, the people own it entirely. This frees crypto from things like government control, apparently, and also theoretically allows people to become wealthy who might not already be. Again, theoretically.
The idea of a digital, universal currencies is one that's been pursued with increasing fervour in recent years. Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Etherium, and many more are all in this sphere. They which have different costs, financial and environmental. It's all, apparently, about freeing the world from the current financial system, even though many of the investors are those who already have lots of money. However, it's digital nature also seems to lead it to unparalleled instability.
Elon Musk tanked a cryptocurrency with a single word
Elon Musk is quickly becoming synonymous with the world of crypto. Not content to simply over $200 billion to his name, at least in terms of his worth, he's also keen on keeping afloat of various cryptocurrencies too. This means that a lot of "cryptobros" are aware of his singular power to boost or ruin a currency. In the most recent instance, an enthusiast decided to ask how much Shiba Inu Coin he was holding.
Musk responded with a single word: none. This doesn't seem like it should be worth talking about really, aside from those who enjoy watching crypto-enthusiasts taking the L. However, the effects of this single tweet are far more sinister than you might think. With one word, the coin's value lost around 30% in mere minutes. While prices are steadily going back up, mostly due to pettiness, that effect can not be understated.
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Maybe cryptocurrency isn't actually stable?
We've seen rises and falls like this in cryptocurrencies before. The likes of Bitcoin and DogeCoin can be sent "to the moon" depending on who is interested in it. However, this once again shows that these currencies can be tanked just as shockingly as the stock market.
While people spend their time betting on stocks and shares and doing apparently legal trades, like those we saw with GameStop earlier in the year, there is less rhyme or reason to cryptocurrency. It's not like Musk hasn't had this effect on stocks before either, given his ability to wipe off $14 billion by tweeting a few times last year, but it is further proof that this money stuff is all kind of absurd.
Sure, real money is also something that regularly gets manipulated, but if one man and one word can wipe off so much value from your cryptocurrency, then maybe your decentralised way of storing your wealth isn't actually as clever as you think? Either way, we can't imagine there will be too many other currencies asking Musk for his opinion any time soon.
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