As the adage goes, You dont have to run faster than the bear to get away. You just have to run faster than the guy next to you. In the world of economics, this is called the greater fool theory, which posits that it doesnt matter if an asset is risky, has a massively inflated price, or is worthless. All that matters is that someone else is willing to buy it from you for more than you bought it. Think: Beanie Babies.

The greater fool theory is usually applied to a market bubble. This is where a product or asset sees a huge increase in value usually with a speed and in a manner that looks unsustainable. Market bubbles are caused by overly optimistic (or hopelessly nave) investors who sign up to unlikely projections about the future. Its about fools buying foolish products at foolish prices. But, where there are fools, theres business to be done. Here are just two examples of how the greater fool theory works in the real world.

Art. In 2021, a Mark Rothko piece, No.7, sold for $82.5 million. Im not denying Rothko is good at his job, and Im not saying modern art is talentless or bad (au contraire), but thats a lot of money for oil on canvas. Some people buy art because they love it, and some do it to launder money but a whole lot of people make a whole lot of money trading in art. The idea is that, however inflated or eye-wateringly expensive you or I might think a work of art is, all that matters is that someone else will buy it for more. The trick to art dealing is not so much finding good art, but finding fools willing to see it as good art (and buy it as such).

Real estate. Cheap credit, loose lending laws, and subprime mortgages set up the financial crash of 2007-08. But one of the pins that burst the bubble was when the market ran out of fools. In the years before the crash, there was a widespread belief that real estate values always increased, so bankers and speculators were selling their (dodgy) loans to other banks for a profit, who often sold them on again. When the assets started going bad, a few banks the last fools standing went bust, and the rest is history.

In a conversation with TechCrunch, Bill Gates said that NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and digital currencies were, 100 percent based on greater fool theory. Or, as Warren Buffett said in 2020, Cryptocurrencies basically have no value. You cant do anything with it except sell it to somebody else.

The point Gates, Buffett, and various economists make is that crypto offers no real-world value. Thus, cryptocurrency is simply a bubble in which people try to out-fool each other. Its nothing more than a money-making scheme to buy and sell higher. When people get wise to this fact, crypto is going to collapse. But, how fair an analysis is this of cryptocurrency?

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While it is true that there are few real life applications for cryptocurrency, it is far too early to say for certain if Bitcoin or other digital currencies are practically useless. Today, people use crypto to move money across borders and to settle large transactions. At least a few major retailers will accept Bitcoin as they would a fiat currency. Matt Hougan, writing for Forbes, compares Bitcoin with oil in the 1850s. Back then, oil was used only for lamps and machine lubrication. Of course, with combustion engines and technological advancements, oil became one of the most valuable commodities in the world. Perhaps something similar will happen with crypto.

And when you think about it, the greater fool theory is how many markets work. Prices and value are not always determined by practical factors like utility. They are set by supply and demand. If people think a Rothko is worth $80 million, then thats how much its worth. If people are willing to pay a price, then that price determines value (at least in economic terms). Of course, the problem is that humans are notoriously fickle. What today we think is valuable, tomorrow we think worthless. Therefore, crypto is no more a bubble than any other often-inflated market, like art or jewelry.

The question about digital currency is still very much unanswered. While Gates and Buffet might be right to suggest its not as normal an investment as those found in other markets, its also not fair to say that its entirely unique. Regardless, the greater fool theory is a useful way to look at things. Whatever you do in life, just try not to be the biggest fool in the room.

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Cryptocurrency and the "greater fool" theory of economics - Big Think

U.S sanctions against Russia have played a role in the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the European country, causing oil companies like the giant Gazpromneft to look for new ways to exploit natural resources this time for cryptocurrency mining.

On June 16, Gazpromneft, a subsidiary of Russian oil and natural gas giant Gazprom, announced a 2-year collaboration agreement with BitRiver, a Swiss Bitcoin mining company, to supply them with energy resources to sustain their cryptocurrency mining operations.

According to information shared by the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the two companies will work together to harness surplus electricity from the carbon dioxide (CO2) released during Gazproms oil extraction operations in Russia. This is often a problem for many companies because they must burn it in the atmosphere, but what Gazpromneft is doing could be a better solution.

Igor Runets, founder and CEO of BitRiver, said that the company intends to eventually build a mining infrastructure in Russia with support from Gazpromneft. The infrastructure would reach up to 2 Gigawatts of electrical power much larger than the facilities built in Texas by U.S. mining company Riot Blockchain.

Over the next two years, BitRiver intends to implement projects to create its own data centers for power-intensive computing with power scaling up to 2 [gigawatts], including [petroleum gas], which will additionally provide high and stable power consumption.

This would be one of BitRivers most ambitious projects. BitRiver is the first cryptocurrency mining company to be sanctioned by the United States under the pack of sanctions against Russia. However, a month later, the company issued a statement arguing that the U.S. accusations were unfounded and false, saying that the business continued to operate as usual.

For a couple of years now, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining have become a topic of interest for conservationists due to their high energy consumption. However, efforts like this one could end up helping oil companies reduce CO2 emissions.

This is not the first time Gazpromneft has entered the crypto mining market. In late 2020, the company opened a venue for cryptocurrency mining on one of its oil drilling sites in Siberia, Russia; however, at that time, they did not intend to operate the mining farms but to supply electricity to the miners.

On the other hand, according to a CNBC report, the U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil has been working for more than a year on a confidential project to take advantage of Bitcoin mining to get rid of CO2 while simultaneously generating profits for the company.

So maybe initiatives like this could start changing the global view, portraying crypto mining as part of the solution instead of being part of the proble,

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Russia: Oil Company Gazpromneft To Launch a Cryptocurrency Mining Operation With BitRiver - CryptoPotato

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Investing in cryptocurrency is complicated and risky.

Some have made a lot of money buying in at the right time. Many more have lost nearly everything, most recently when the crypto market came crashing down in May losing nearly $2 trillion in value.

Through all the ups and downs, crypto has boomed in popularity over the past year, drawing waves of new investors who face a steep learning curve with potentially high stakes. Still, there are ways you can empower yourself to make the best possible decisions if youre interested in investing in crypto.

Thats why we created the NextAdvisor Investability Score, which uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative factors to give crypto investors a comprehensive view of a coins performance.

As a highly speculative, volatile investment, cryptocurrency prices fluctuate by the minute sometimes drastically driven by speculation, hype, and even the whims of social media. The recent crypto market crash is a prime example. Thats why the NextAdvisor Investability Score is also dynamic, changing daily as the performance of individual coins and the overall crypto market ebb and flow.

Bitcoin plummeted to its lowest price in more than a year in May, and other cryptocurrencies saw even worse sell-offs amid a broader stock market rout. The collapse of popular stablecoin TerraUSD and sister token Luna highlights why its important to proceed with caution when investing in cryptocurrencies. After TerraUSD de-pegged from its 1-to-1 exchange rate with the U.S. dollar, its sister token Luna quickly plummeted in value as well and many investors lost a lot of money. It highlights the uncertainty inherent in a market that is still in its infancy but also increasingly mainstream by many measures.

Whether its investing in crypto or any other big financial move, like buying a home or paying off debt, we want to help you make smarter decisions when it comes to your money. While we may present partner offers on our website, our Investability Score was created independently by our writers and editors, without any influence from partners or business interests.

Bitcoin has the highest score of all cryptocurrencies, with ethereum close behind. As the first and most established cryptocurrency, bitcoin has become the de facto standard for cryptocurrency investments. It has the longest track record and has shown itself to be a better fit for holding and increasing in value than other newer coins, which remain much more speculative and unpredictable.

Ethereum is the largest and most valuable altcoin by far, and along with bitcoin is one of the two cryptocurrencies many experts say represent the best starting point for new investors. Our score considers bitcoin and ethereum to represent a ceiling of sorts, so all other cryptocurrencies are in effect weighed against bitcoin and ethereum.

Heres how our score shakes out for 10 cryptocurrencies that are consistently among the top by market cap, excluding stablecoins, for reference:

Here is a deeper dive into what goes into NextAdvisors Investability Score:

There are thousands of different cryptocurrencies. We score the ones we believe can be most beneficial for readers and which we see most interest in. While our goal is to ultimately score and cover as many available cryptocurrencies as we can, we prioritize which coins or tokens we review based on consumer interest and notability.

Thats why we started by scoring the top cryptos by market capitalization. From there, we may also score coins based on public interest and other factors that could increase the likelihood of investors considering certain coins for their portfolios. We exclude stablecoins from our scoring model because theyre typically pegged to fiat currency, like the U.S. dollar, and as such arent typically considered investments.

We determine prospective investor interest in different coins based largely on our knowledge of the crypto market, but there are a few factors that help base our decisions on data and quantitative factors: the top cryptos by market cap; which cryptos consumers are searching for most often online; age, liquidity; value growth; experts recommendations; and use case, or the real-world problem it is trying to solve.

Notability also factors into our decision to review a cryptocurrency: When a cryptos market cap increases substantially, or when an industry-changing crypto project comes along, for instance. These wont always lead to full evaluations and ratings on NextAdvisor, but we use our knowledge of the overall industry and aforementioned measures of interest to determine when it makes sense to include notable cryptocurrencies in our evaluations.

Weve interviewed more than 100 experts over the past year to help us explain cryptocurrency to new investors. Weve talked with them about the risks, the upsides, and how to evaluate the investment potential of any cryptocurrency.

We asked a number of trusted cryptocurrency experts specifically about the NextAdvisor Investability Score, and how to make sure it accurately represents the crypto market. They shared what they look at when evaluating cryptocurrencies as potential investments, and what other investors should know. Here are some of these experts whose insights have been particularly helpful in our effort to create an Investability Score that provides an accurate reflection of different cryptocurrencies and the market as a whole:

Chris Chen is a financial advisor and CEO of Insight Financial Strategists, a Boston-based financial planning firm. Chen provides financial planning, retirement planning, investment management, and divorce planning services to help clients organize, grow and protect their assets. With the rise in interest in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, Chen realized the importance of understanding this emerging asset class for the benefit of his clients. Chen regularly comments on the crypto markets and provides expert advice on crypto investing.

Wendy O is a crypto expert and educator who has amassed a large following of crypto enthusiasts across several social media platforms. O regularly provides expert commentary on the crypto markets, reviews crypto services, speaks at live crypto events, consults businesses on crypto, and more.

Kiana Danial is a personal finance expert and the founder of Invest Diva, a company that teaches women how to invest. She is the author of Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies, and regularly talks about investing in crypto as a way to diversify your overall investment portfolio.

To create our Investability Score, we developed a framework to evaluate cryptocurrencies using a weighted average score between 0 and 100 based on a total of nine quantitative and qualitative factors. Quantitative factors are grouped in a performance bucket and qualitative factors are grouped in a trustworthiness bucket. Performance makes up 55% of the total score, while trustworthiness makes up 45%.

We do this because the quantitative factors that make up performance, such as market cap and liquidity, tell only part of the story for crypto investments. Smart investors should also take a coins trustworthiness, like use case or project backing, into account when considering crypto investments. The coins with the highest scores deliver on both performance and trustworthiness.

For performance, we also use a relevant peer group the top 85 cryptos by market cap as a basis for comparing cryptos, so our score is constantly and dynamically consistent with the fast-moving broader crypto market. The goal is to give you a comprehensive view of a coins performance. Higher weights are given to the criteria we determine to be most important.

Heres a further breakdown of all the factors we use to determine our Investability Score for different cryptos:

Market capitalization is the total value of a cryptocurrency, and experts say its a key factor when evaluating a cryptos investment potential. In general, the higher the value of the market cap the safer the investment. Coins that have larger market caps will have higher scores, because those coins have larger-scale buy-in and are less susceptible to short term-fluctuations.

Liquidity is a crucial component of market interest in a given coin. The more liquid a market is, the better. It reduces investment risk; and, importantly, helps define your exit strategy more liquidity makes it easier to sell or trade your investments when you are ready. To calculate liquidity, we compare each coins trading volume to its market cap. That ratio is a better representation of a coins relative demand, as opposed to trading volume alone, because some cryptocurrency exchanges have been accused of faking their volume numbers to raise the visibility of their businesses and bring in more customers.

Age is relevant when analyzing a coins past performance as it gives a view into its track record and tells you how long it has been trading in the market. For example, bitcoin is not only the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, but has also been around the longest. Just like decades of growth in the stock market gives everyday investors more confidence in future performance, cryptocurrencies with longer track records of growth give crypto investors more confidence than a coin thats only been around for a year.

Its important to have a clear picture about the growth potential of a crypto asset as it can have a big impact on your investments. Thats why we examine the value growth of cryptocurrencies over the past year. We base value growth on coins performance in the past year, since the crypto market is so dynamic and fast moving. Coins that have shown positive returns over the past year effectively receive higher scores, and vice versa.

We evaluate each coins volatility by looking at the standard deviation of its daily prices since the start of 2022. Standard deviation, which is the measure of the amount of variation across a set of values, is the typical statistic used to measure volatility. We take volatility into consideration because its an important metric to measure risk. Less volatile coins are generally considered safer investments.

A critical component of assessing a coin or tokens long-term value is the projects white paper and road map, which details its use case and details of its development. We thoroughly examine the white paper and road map of coins we rate to better understand the overall vision and timeline of the project, and what kind of problem it is trying to solve. Coins receive higher scores if their white papers explain things like: why the project was created; how it works; the projects real-world utility; how the initial coins were distributed; and technical analysis to back up its claims. Coins that have road maps and have shown a consistent history of meeting important milestones while growing and evolving will receive higher scores.

To measure transparency, we evaluate several different factors for every crypto we score:

To determine a coins credibility, we consider three important factors:

You cant buy crypto from your bank or investing firm, which is why our score incorporates availability across popular crypto exchanges. A cryptocurrency thats readily available to buy across multiple crypto exchanges is likely more credible and established, and therefore easier to invest in.

The best crypto exchanges for most investors combine security, ease of use, and insurance in the event of scams or other issues. To reflect a given coins availability, we look at whether it is available across the following popular mainstream crypto exchanges: Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, eToro, FTX, Crypto.com, and Binance.US. Cryptocurrencies that arent as accessible across these top crypto exchanges receive lower scores.

Most financial advisors and other money experts still view cryptocurrencies with a healthy dose of skepticism. Because crypto is beyond the scope and reach of any central government or authority, some consider it more like gambling or buying a lottery ticket than investing.

Weve talked to dozens of experts about how to invest in crypto as smartly and safely as possible, and a few ground rules have emerged, whether youre investing in bitcoin or a new token that was created yesterday. They are true of all cryptocurrency investments, and especially for riskier and newer altcoins:

Once you have some money invested in crypto, the best thing you can do is ignore the hype around new record highs or lows. Like with traditional, long-term investing, the best thing you can do is set it and forget it until you are ready to sell.

The information contained herein is provided as is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as investment advice or for trading purposes. Information contained herein is not and should not be construed as an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell securities or any assets. The information has been authored from sources we believe to be reliable; however, no guarantee is made or implied with respect to its accuracy, timeliness, or completeness. Presenters may own the assets they discuss. You should not treat any opinion expressed by presenters as a specific inducement to make a particular investment or follow a particular strategy, but only as an expression of their opinions. The information and content are subject to change without notice. We are not under any obligation to update or correct any information provided herein. Past performance is not indicative of future results. We do not provide any individualized investment advice. Accordingly, this material does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation, or needs and is not intended as recommendations appropriate for any persons individualized circumstances. You must make an independent decision regarding any investment suggestions covered by the material. Before acting on any investment suggestions from the material, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment advisor. You should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investment discussed.

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Cryptocurrency Investability Score | NextAdvisor with TIME - NextAdvisor

The current cryptocurrency market remains in an exceeding state of chaos. The liquidations are over $200 million on a daily scale once more as Bitcoin headed towards the $20k mark. Ethereum, the second-largest coin, suffered an identical fate. However, its like investors are shopping for the dip. And no, its not Bitcoin or altcoins-instead, investors leveraged this chance to shop for NFTs. Given the market crash, several NFT comes have suffered a major decline in price.

In popular collections adore, the revered Bored Ape gild (BAYC) werent spared either, and their floor costs have lost an important price in America dollars. BAYC born by -49% at press time. Different comes suffered as well-at press time, CloneX was at -57%, Meebits at -54%, and Azuki at -49%. However, per NFTGO, within the past week, over 85% of the pricey NFT transactions came from BAYC. Thus, indicating that investors tried to shop for BAYC in an exceeding bear market.

Well, the steep decline in floor value additionally helped investors to buy it cheaper. Per knowledge from NFT price floor, the ground price of Bored Apes has dropped below $100,000 for the primary time in nearly a year. At the time of writing, the BAYC was valued at $85,500, representing a 65% drop from the incomparable high.

The last time Associate in Nursing Ape was listed around this price vary was in Jan 2022. To feature further, the amount of NFT trades has exaggerated over the last twenty-four hours as crypto-markets plummeted.

per CryptoSlam, the NFT market saw a 40% increase in trading volume within the last 24 hours, compared to the previous 24-hour window. Different projects, adore MAYC, and Moonbirds went down the line.

However, the increase in volume saw investors capitalizing on the opportunity. For instance, Twitter user CryptoDonAlt remained upbeat on his BAYC losses, choosing, instead, to concentrate on the positive. Moreover, per DappRadar statistics, the NFT market hit $25 billion in trade volume in 2021. Its ascertained that it is on course to surpass that figure this year. Per the Nansen 2022 quarterly report, the NFT market outperformed the broader cryptocurrency market year-to-date, as proven by the NFT-500 Indexs value appreciation of 49.9% to date in 2022.

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Aren't NFT enthusiasts buying the dip? - The Coin Republic

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BlockFills, a fast-growing global digital asset trading and financial technology company, today announced its partnership with TPAC Capital, LLC (TPAC) to offer institutions with cryptocurrency structured product solutions. TPAC is the cryptocurrency joint venture of Pack Creek Capital, LLC and Finance Michigan, Inc., both of whom are commodities industry leaders.

BlockFills will be one of the few global digital asset electronic trading firms to offer institutions with tailored cryptocurrency structured product options. In addition, institutions like banks, hedge funds and others in the financial services sector will have the opportunity to offer structured product solutions for their clients through this partnership.

Customized structured product solutions help institutions manage cryptocurrency exposure and develop solutions that assist with risk-return objectives, return enhancement, cost reduction, crypto pricing volatility and cash flow management.

"Institutions have sought increasingly customizable strategies to help maximize their cryptocurrency investments while hedging against or capitalizing on market volatility, said Nick Hammer, co-founder and CEO of BlockFills. This structured product solution is our answer for these institutions. Combining TPACs 40-plus years of experience tailoring such solutions for volatile commodities with our best-in-class electronic trading technology solutions like Vision and Phoenix, institutions now have more customization and control over their cryptocurrency investment strategies."

This integration with BlockFills will help shape the future of institutional digital asset and crypto trading, said Michael Ortiz, Founder of TPAC. Now, with our customizable structured product solutions available, BlockFills clients can structure the right cryptocurrency investment solution that works for them, combining nonlinear and linear options on a case-by-case basis that will benefit their business and investment strategies.

Based out of Chicago and founded in 2018, BlockFills is one of the fastest growing crypto liquidity and technology providers globally. Their digital asset technology is already serving over 800 institutional clients across 50 countries.

To reach BlockFills regarding business opportunities, please email trade@blockfills.com, or for more information, please visit http://www.blockfills.com.

To learn more about TPAC, email info@tpaccapital.com, or visit http://www.tpaccapital.com.

About Structured Products

Structured products are a combination of options (puts and calls) combined into a pre-packaged trade. These trades are not offered on legacy or decentralized finance (DeFi) exchanges at this time and are considered over-the-counter (OTC) in legacy markets. The pre-packaged trade is negotiated between BlockFills and the prospective institutional client.

The primary benefit of structured product solutions is customization. Specifically, these solutions give institutions the ability to define risk parameters by customizing size, timeframe, desired payout and duration of the trade. Structured products also offer an alternative liquidity source.

About BlockFills

BlockFills is a disruptive financial technology firm dedicated to the provision of end-to-end solutions for global crypto currency market participants. The Company has successfully built and deployed a cutting-edge multi-asset technology platform that solves major liquidity fragmentation problems in the marketplace. The platform provides price discovery, price aggregation, electronic order matching, smart order routing and trade reconciliation solutions for institutions in the digital spot, derivatives, and lending markets. In addition, BlockFills provides software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that simplify all aspects of the trade lifecycle for institutions in the sector.

About TPAC

TPAC Capital, LLC is a newly formed provisional swaps dealer by Pack Creek Capital and Finance Michigan, Inc. The traders at TPAC are leaders in structured products with extensive careers running some of the largest OTC desks in the commodities markets. TPAC focuses on bringing innovative structures and exotic options to the emerging markets of cryptocurrency starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum. As a dealer, TPAC offers competitive pricing, trades that suit the clients risk profile, and educational materials in order for all clients to trade structured products with a strong knowledge base. Please reach out to hear more about the library of cryptocurrency structured products that are ready to offer.

RISK DISCLOSURE AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.

All investing is subject to risk, including the possible loss of all of the money invested. As with any investment strategy, there is no guarantee that investment objectives will be met and investors may lose money. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss in a declining market. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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BlockFills Partners with TPAC Capital to Launch Cryptocurrency Structured Product Capabilities for Institutions - Business Wire