You’re An Embarrassment, Barefoot

Mr Pape,

You are costing your followers HUGE gains by sticking your head in the sand with crypto. Okay, so let’s put to one side the 1000%+ gains that have been made on various coins, and focus on income. Who doesn’t want a 17% return from staking coins? Crypto and DeFi (Decentralised Finance) are the future. The Barefoot Investor is the past. Wake up. You’re embarrassing yourself.

Chris

Hi Chris,

First, an apology to my dear old mother, who always asks: “Why do you print the questions of people who attack you?”

(Because it keeps me amused, Mum.)

Chris, you have me all wrong: I’m wide awake, and watching finance being both disrupted and digitised.

The only difference is that I haven’t made it part of my belief system, as so many other people seem to have.

That’s how I can simultaneously admire and cheer on the next development of the internet (dubbed ‘web3’), while also calling out a lot of dumb, greedy stuff that’s going on. And there is a LOT of dumb stuff happening right now. Case in point, a crypto token that shares the name of the new COVID-19 variant ‘Omicron’ skyrocketed 1100% last weekend.

Why?

Because it has the same name. Seriously. It starts and ends right there. Then Monday came the hangover, and the coin nosedived 75% overnight. Yet at the time of writing, it’s still worth around $440 million. That’s some serious coin!

Finally, let me answer your question: “Who doesn’t want a 17% return staking coins?”

Me!

Let me explain why: for all the amazing technological progress that’s occurring right now, none of it changes the basic tenet of risk and reward. In a world of zero percent interest rates, any investment that offers a 17% yield is a red flag that you’re taking on an increased risk that you’ll lose your money.

I pray for you Chris.

Scott.