From the Desk Of A Trader #10
From the Desk Of A Trader #10
"Like a soldier in the trench, a trader needs to think defense before offense. Try to think the unthinkable."
Cheat Sheet -
Support and resistance levels and our daily, weekly and monthly bias on BTC, ETH, OIL, ES, and NQ as well as our favorite altcoins.
Crypto News
Amber Group Secures $300 Million Series C Investment Round Led by Fenbushi Capital US (The Block)
Hidden Road's UK entity receives digital asset firm registration (The Block)
Winter-weary crypto startups find refuge in Jamie Burke's web3 nursery (The Block)
FTX’s Bankman-Fried Gave Ex-Jane Street Traders Who Formed Modulo Capital $400M (CoinDesk)
First Mover Asia: Most Cryptos Stay Flat Like a Windless Lake, but a Popsicle Makes Waves. (CoinDesk)
SEC Calls FTT Exchange Token a Security (CoinDesk)
Stablecoin settlements can surpass all major card networks in 2023: Data (CoinTelegraph)
Not Just Democrats: FTX Exec Gave Tens of Millions to GOP Causes (Blockworks)
BlockFi Exec To Lead Google Cloud’s Web3 Efforts Across Asia-Pacific (Blockworks)
Retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey Introduces Stablecoin TRUST Act (Decrypt)
Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang Plead Guilty, Cooperating in FTX Investigation (Decrypt)
Over 90% of FTX's Blockfolio Acquisition Was Made Using FTT Tokens: Report (Decrypt)
From The Desk Of A Trader
When I am asked to explain what it is to run a trading desk, I always use two analogies.
It is like playing chess, from a trench.
Like a chess player, a trader constantly needs to think many steps ahead.
An important part of that is knowing and anticipating your opponent.
In cash commodity markets you know often who is on the other side, and in futures markets the COT report gives good insights.
You need to think about different scenarios, from every move you and your opponents make, logical but also deceiving moves.
Like a soldier in the trench, a trader needs to think defense before offense. Try to think the unthinkable.
You need to be patient and build trust among your comrades, to endure adverse market moves together.
Genuine comradery, knowing you have shared values and interests is critical to deal with the emotional ups and downs of trading.
The ups can be dangerous as they may lead to complacency and not holding your guard. There is always someone willing to take your money and there are many bad actors on the battlefield.
For morale it is best you listen to your team, to be honest, candid, act with integrity, not cut corners and come to action together as a team, and when things go wrong, the desk head takes the heat from superiors.
Now with those analogies and 2022 in mind, think about the messages from crypto thought leaders, just from last week;
Bitcoin is
"engineered to increase forever"
"exponentially growing behind a wall of encrypted #energy"
"freedom #technology"
"ethical #money"
"for the people"
"eternal light"
"unstoppable, irreversible force set in motion by human consciousness"
"the way to overcome central bank currency counterfeiting cartels"
"a game that everyone eventually needs to play"
"embraced by people in Africa without internet"
"trusting the people and setting them free"
The FTX debacle
"changes nothing regarding the long term potential of crypto"
"has nothing to do with crypto"
"has nothing to do with Bitcoin"
These narratives are designed to convince millions of hopeful and uninformed followers of only one inevitable scenario, without room for doubt and counter arguments, which are rejected by canceling or a simple mention of "FUD".
The crypto space has become a cult like movement.
It is facilitated by social media and exchanges who under a thin layer of marketing buzzwords about easy #investing and trading without complexity (which does not exist) lure young people basis FOMO and peer pressure into gambling.
These narratives also risk creating division in society and funding conspiracy theories about democratically established government and economic institutions.
To understand more about the importance of those institutions, I strongly recommend one of the best books I have ever read "Sapiens" by Yuval Harari.
All I have learned in 25 years #trading commodity #markets, the #economy, #integrity and #leadership is non-existent in the crypto space.
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