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S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

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Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#31

Someone please explain this to me: How is any cryptocurrency even considered an investment vehicle? I would classify myself as Boglehead and I believe in the fundamentals of investing in stocks because in all it's technicality (and given the buy-and-hold strategy), you are investing in a business by owning a part of it which naturally means that you will and do get the returns on it, both in terms of profits (dividen…

>How is any cryptocurrency even considered an investment vehicle

You're right that crypto currencies are not like equities. It's an investment vehicle in a similar way that gold is considered an investment vehicle.

>why would cryptocurrency ever be considered as a good investment vehicle

That's another question. I don't think it's a good investment vehicle.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#32
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Initially, the index might be more for performance benchmarking for crypto funds than it would be for passive investing?

So crypto funds can follow hedge funds in demonstrating how well they’re underperforming the market

And just like hedge funds, this will give them better access to capital...

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#33

Someone please explain this to me: How is any cryptocurrency even considered an investment vehicle? I would classify myself as Boglehead and I believe in the fundamentals of investing in stocks because in all it's technicality (and given the buy-and-hold strategy), you are investing in a business by owning a part of it which naturally means that you will and do get the returns on it, both in terms of profits (dividen…

I'll try to use my elevator pitch:

With cryptocurrency, you're right they're not an "investment" in the traditional sense. Right now more of a long-term gamble.

In my opinion the value is in the network and the ability to move money instantly (or at very least faster than traditional methods), securely, to anywhere in the world for a fraction of a cent. That ability alone is valuable and hasn't existed until now.

There are other arguments along the lines of deflationary vs. inflationary, anonymous vs. private, irreversibility of transactions (no charge-backs) that are good or bad depending on your views, but in general crypto represents a brand-new "investment" (or gamble if you like) for this generation.

The different cryptocurrencies that various teams are building follow different philosophies, but I think the space in general is pretty interesting.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#34

Someone please explain this to me: How is any cryptocurrency even considered an investment vehicle? I would classify myself as Boglehead and I believe in the fundamentals of investing in stocks because in all it's technicality (and given the buy-and-hold strategy), you are investing in a business by owning a part of it which naturally means that you will and do get the returns on it, both in terms of profits (dividen…

A cryptocurrency cannot be put into any traditional bracket of commodity, currency, stock etc. It's a new breed in itself. It has features of a currency, a commodity, a stock and much more.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#35
I built a way to enable users to index the cryptocurrency market via exchange APIs and have been operating it for about 3 years now.

We've done about 100M in transactions. Some of the indices we built were a top 20 by market cap (10% cap), top 30 by squared root market cap.

If you guys want to check it out: https://www.hodlbot.io

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#36
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do they need a justification? English is under no obligation to imitate Latin plurals, and it adds no functional benefit. Edit: interestingly, the title of the article uses the English, while the body uses the Latin (although in one case that’s because it’s from a name). Edit2: Relatedly, I had a "shower thought" that even the most pedantic Latinophiles say "albums" instead of "alba". Although I also know a Latin…

I agree, it’s time we stop pushing words like “cacti” and just accept the inevitable English-ication of words and say “cactuses”. This is a tangent to the article, but along these lines people love correcting “octopuses” as “octopi”, but “octopus” isn’t a Latin word, it’s Greek, so the “-i” ending isn’t correct.

"Virus" is also a word that frequently gets pluralized incorrectly, if you're thinking of it as a Latin word used in an English context. The only plural form that makes sense in English is "viruses," mostly because the Latin form actually has no plural. [0]

That doesn't stop people from writing "virii," however. Both "octopi [1]" and "virii" are examples of linguistic hypercorrection [2], in which a speaker misapplies a known linguistic rule that seems to fit, but does not. Neither of these examples are attested in the source language the word derives from; people literally use them just to sound smart, most of the time.

Other examples are using "whom" in places where the correct word would be "who," not using a preposition to end a sentence or clause with [3], and to not split infinitives [4].

---

[0]: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/virus#Etymology

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercorrection

[2]: I kinda like "octopodes" myself, but that may just be me.

[3]: Winston Churchill is frequently quoted saying something like "this is the kind of nonsense up with which I will not put." This is most likely apocryphal. See https://quoteinvestigator.com/2012/07/04/churchill-prepositi...

[4]: My favorite origin theory for this one is basically "you couldn't do it in Latin, so don't do it in English." Early grammarians frequently took inspiration from Latin, because its grammar was already well-codified, mostly due to it being a dead-ish language. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_infinitive#The_argument_...

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#37

Someone please explain this to me: How is any cryptocurrency even considered an investment vehicle? I would classify myself as Boglehead and I believe in the fundamentals of investing in stocks because in all it's technicality (and given the buy-and-hold strategy), you are investing in a business by owning a part of it which naturally means that you will and do get the returns on it, both in terms of profits (dividen…

I'll try to use my elevator pitch: With cryptocurrency, you're right they're not an "investment" in the traditional sense. Right now more of a long-term gamble. In my opinion the value is in the network and the ability to move money instantly (or at very least faster than traditional methods), securely, to anywhere in the world for a fraction of a cent. That ability alone is valuable and hasn't existed until now. The…

Okey, calling it a "long-term gamble" only sounds fair to me.

Talking about value, isn't blockchain / crypto analogous to a medium that enables moving money quickly? If yes, internet would be similar in some sense (we have instant local money transfers these days) but we don't have anything that tracks internet as an investment.

Coming back to it, I can rationalize myself investing in a money transfer business that is build on blockchain (think Transferwise that uses a mix of technology and banking agreements) and generates some revenue for me. But if that middleman can be removed, I cannot suddenly start considering that piece of technology, an investment.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#38

Someone please explain this to me: How is any cryptocurrency even considered an investment vehicle? I would classify myself as Boglehead and I believe in the fundamentals of investing in stocks because in all it's technicality (and given the buy-and-hold strategy), you are investing in a business by owning a part of it which naturally means that you will and do get the returns on it, both in terms of profits (dividen…

I think part of the confusion is the word “currency”, which implies it’s something like USD.

Ethereum’s ETH token, for example, is an asset that will appreciate if demand of the Ethereum network increases for real-world business applications (not just financial payments). That makes it much more like investing in a limited resource (ex: oil) that will go up in value.

It’s still speculating, but most stock investments are close enough to speculation that you can’t really tell the difference.

Re: S&P Dow Jones Indices to launch cryptocurrency indexes in 2021

#40
post #23

No brainer considering to buy ETH on the stock market via grayscale you're paying a 104% premium. The demand (e.g. within registered & margin accounts) is there. https://ycharts.com/companies/ETHE/discount_or_premium_to_na... Aside: Seems covid is accelerating understanding & adoption of crypto. I remember when I couldn't perform a wire transfer for a full week back in March '20 - at one of the most reputable banks g…

When you say stock market, do you actually mean stock market or a crypto exchange? I'm not under the impression that there is any way to buy ETH via any stock market.

Google found this: https://grayscale.co/ethereum-trust/

Offers a bit more explanation than the parent link.

> Grayscale Ethereum Trust is solely and passively invested in Ethereum, enabling investors to gain exposure to ETH in the form of a security while avoiding the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping ETH directly.

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