A Case for Selling Some Crypto Now (Nov 2017)
As I look at the events of this past weekend with the Bitcoin Cash fiasco (see my other blog post https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@kalienx777/bitcoin-cash-bad-actors-can-t-trust-it ) and the incoming end of year, I think it might be time to sell some crypto assets and reduce some exposure. A few items that could cause a negative impact on prices are:
Bitcoin cash appears to me to be a "boiler room" operation combined with a "oligopolistic cartel." The backers of Bitcoin Cash (BCH)use their famous spokespeople talk hype up bitcoin cash as "the real bitcoin", while simultaneously shifting majority mining power away from bitcoin (BTC), causing slowdowns and panic. As people sell their BTC for BCH, the price of BCH skyrockets, only to have the "oligopolistic cartel" finally dump their BCH positions at inflated prices for USD and other fiat. This appears to be really happening and could seriously hurt the trust currently being built into crypto, not to mention everyones hard earned money.
Shortly after the end of the year, we may see some major selling in order to cover capital gains taxes. When an asset gains in value, people often time their sells for after year end, so they avoid having to pay tax for the current year and defer paying for one additional year.
With the upcoming futures trading of BTC on CME, this is generally seen as a big positive for BTC as it increases liquidity and accessibility for more money to come in. What is not mentioned, however, is that futures also allow speculators to "short" or bet against, BTC prices. With all the big banks so negative against crypto, this could be the very tool they need to send BTC prices plummeting.
Looking into the long term, I do see crypto like BTC, ETH, and LTC going much higher. In the short term though, due to the above factors we may seem some rough waters immediately ahead. It might be a good idea to sell a portion of one's crypto asset portfolio for USD or other fiat here, always leaving a core position for the long term or in case none of the above mentioned points come to pass.
Cheers!
