Some Brief, Honest Thoughts on Cryptocurrency

I never recommend crypto, even as an alternative asset class. The reason - regulation. Remember, ethereum, bitcoin, and all other forms of crypto add value and purpose because they are decentralized , in other words, unregulated. This turns out to be impossible for any type of currency. Currency, like securities, maintain a steady, relative value on an exchange market that's regulated to protect participants - those participants are you and I. If there's no regulation, this opens up a world of pump and dump schemes, inside information, manipulation, and other activities that erode investor confidence. If there's no confidence, there's no participation, and if there's no participation, the value of anything traded is destroyed. The Blockchain is an innovative and valuable discovery, sure, however it doesn't solve for the lack of oversight. This is, for better or worse, a necessary element. Once this oversight happens, which it already has begun to, the whole purpose of crypto is out of the window. Most people think in terms of right now, short to intermediate results; one of my value-adds to society as a financial planner is to look at certain markets and find suitability for my client's goals, and this type of volatility we see lets us know any investment is a part of the long game, similar to stocks. How can I recommend any investment whose long term existence is dubious at best? Price go up, but what value does this add to society other than, now, a profit on an expense ratio for BlackRock and others who create the ETFs. Unfortunately I don't think these firms care if an investment vehicle adds value to society.