I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of this entire generation of YouTube shills. The formula for getting 100,000 subscribers in less than 6 months seems to be set in stone now:
1. You must be a permabull; all news is bullish for crypto
2. Celebrate any and all adoption regardless of consolidation of resources and reduction of financial sovereignty
3. Earnestly shill random coins at least once a week for payouts under the table
I've already written about number 3; actually in a few posts. There are so many people who embody it that I could create an entire blog about each perpetrator.
We'll focus on number 2 now, because it's the one that is getting on my nerves today.
Libertarians Begging for Communist Adoption
I can't for the life of me understand why some of the biggest YouTube digital asset news channels campaign endlessly for traditional finance (tradfi) and governments they call socialist and communist to adopt crypto. They make no distinction between projects according to the criteria that used to determine its viability during crypto's golden years of high APYs and even higher philosophy.
No, the shills will happily endorse a completely centralized product with a killswitch, claiming this is the format necessary for grandma and Cousin Cletus to get on board the crypto train. Tell me, how does crypto benefit grandma if it morphs into the same centralized system it was built to compete against? If the shills have their way, they will happily increase adoption in networks like Celsius and work against decentralization in Ethereum, then watch haplessly as Congressman Brad Sherman passes legislation to ban crypto (only the funds outside of government custody, of course) and killswitches get pulled right and left.
No Skin in the Game
Of course, this generation of shills is already playing with house money. This money may not have even been value that they earned in crypto. You see, this generation is hardly the scrappy working class that crypto gave truly new opportunities in life. No, these folks controlling the narrative these days are lawyers and accountants who have already cashed their initial investments out and are now working with profit. In short, they don't care if crypto gets completely centralized and the newest folks in lose all of their sovereignty and possibly even their funds.
What's more, looking at the backgrounds of some of their videos, these shills never needed crypto in the first place. I'll not name names in this post, but I don't see how you can be a rebellious crypto enthusiast doing videos in front of the indoor pool you got before you ever bought a bit of bitcoin. People with no skin in the game are just playing games. If they see more profit, great. If not, so what. Forget the larger narrative of democratizing finance, reducing economic inequality and connecting the unbanked world to the developed world. These people are profit, not philosophy. They don't care.
The War for the Soul of Crypto
I see the potential for two markets in crypto — one for these weekend libertarian shills and one for people who want real global change. Those who want immediate profits will opt into the former. Those who want to be a part of the latter must invoke discipline. I myself will never invest in projects like XRP, Celsius or Energi because their entire premise is based on empowering traditional structures of inequality and oppression. I don't care how much money they make for their investors. I'm philosophically opposed to their mission, and I will never add to their liquidity, volume or marketing reach.
How far are you willing to take your investment in crypto? If you have been lucky enough to make money, are you wise enough to see that centralizing the market cuts future investors off from profits and economic freedom? It will be interesting to watch how profitable investors use the financial leverage that crypto gives them. Human nature doesn't change regardless of the tools its given. We may not be ready for Satoshi's true vision. It remains to be seen.