The 'Clearest Thematic Retail-Driven Bubble' Will Be...: Mad Crypto Money With Ivan

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I'm Ivan and welcome to Mad Crypto Money. Some people want to build the "future of finance," but I just want to help you make money in crypto.

From this Sunday on, you'll get weekly insights the news does not cover, but you need to know about.

So you're not just entertained by crypto but know which buttons to press.

In this week's issue:

• The "clearest retail bubble" (or is it?)
• How the sausage is made in a bull run (read: how to print gainz).
• Why you're sleeping on AI and what the F you can do about it.

The "Clearest Thematic Retail-Driven Bubble Will Be..." (Not Memecoins!)

Gaming.

That is, if you believe Andrew Kang, a well-known crypto VC:

The clearest thematic retail driven bubble to me will be gaming

Retail are attention driven investors and gaming is the perfect combination of being able to capture attention of mass audiences for long periods of time and being easy to understand

Imagine if there was a Call of…

— Andrew Kang (@Rewkang) February 16, 2024

Do I agree?

Kind of yes and kind of no.

Yes, because gaming is accessible to the masses that do not particularly care about crypto but wouldn't mind making some extra money. Which includes you, dear reader. 

Gaming is not some abstract weirdo concept that you cannot explain to your boomer parents.

Would you mind making some extra money off playing "GTA 6?" 

I bet no. Heck, at the moment you're paying extra money for that privilege.

So there's definitely an opportunity here.

But buyer beware: Kang has big gaming bags he wants to dump on you (he's a big investor in MAVIA). No wonder he's happy to shill the vertical.

The truth: Last cycle's blockchain games were MS-DOS quality and only good for speculatooors.

Yes, there are many (supposedly) high-quality games in development.

But great games require a big budget and focus on monetizing through upsells. Blockchain games want to monetize first and build later. 

Will this cycle's games be an evolution?

I think so.

Will they be the "clearest bubble?"

Meh...

I think there's a much better vertical. And you'll read about it in a minute.

But what do I know, I tweeted about being bearish on Bitcoin in summer 2023. Yikes, dumb f---g take.

'Timing The Top And Bottom Is Really F---g Hard'

I get most of my crypto knowledge (or is it disinformation?) from Crypto Twitter.

It's the place Andrew Tate says is full of "degenerate losers."

I actually agree with him.

But there are some smart people, like founder Qiao Wang, who share nuggets of wisdom. Such as how hard it is to consistently make money in crypto:

My 1st bull cycle: didn’t sell, rode all the way down

1sr bear: bought 3x above the bottom

2nd bull: sold 60% below the top

2nd bear: again bought 2x above the bottom

3rd bull: sold 30% below the top

3rd bear: bought within 8 hours of the pico bottom

Timing the top…

— qw (@QwQiao) February 19, 2024

If you read our stories about people printing millions from memecoins, such as this guy with Dogwifhat or this guy with a *checks notes* seaside resort coin, you're feeling the FOMO (fear of missing out).

But the sausage, as Wang says, is made by reducing the complexity of investing.

The fewer decisions you make, the smaller your chance of screwing it up.

That is why his advice, DCA and chill, is great for beginner and intermediate investors. Like (most probably) you, dear reader.

Buy large caps — Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum ETH/USD — and keep calm. 

If they're good enough for Larry Fink, surely they're good enough for you?

Why You're Sleeping On AI (And So Am I)

Last summer, during my most embarassing bear period, I gave AI a 6/10 for potential to drive the next bull run.

But smarter investors, such as Alex Good, a full-time trader, see a "superbubble" of crypto and AI coming.

With Nvidia singlehandedly preventing stock market armageddon, I think they're onto something.

F*ck here’s the best Nvidia meme’s we’ve seen so far

pic.twitter.com/Xd4ovCiq7s

— Nancy Pelosi Stock Tracker ♟ (@PelosiTracker_) February 22, 2024

Good had many great takes in this interview but the what stuck most with me was his advice on "how to make it" with AI and crypto: Be technical, learn about the AI space and when there are new coins that launch, learn about them before they hit the big exchanges.

His advice: The biggest coins haven't even launched yet (sorry AI coins), so you're not late yet.

Also, many people managing big positions have never even interacted with the actual products or protocols.

Crypto is very friendly of people trying out it's products, even if they don't do much. You can often even get a decent airdrop for minimal risk.

With the AI bubble in full force, this is, in my opinion, the clearest bubble we'll see.

Wrapping It Up

If you liked this new column, give me a follow on Twitter, and I'll see you back for next week's Mad Crypto Money.

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