Ascending to the summit of Olympus Mons financial heights, the perpetually fluctuating, yet exploding cryptocurrencies have an unlikely climbing companion that does not require the deft vertical survival talents of Martian sherpas, nor the cosmic blessing of the Dali-Llama to conquer the daunting and rugged peaks of financial relevancy. Hijacking the treacherous route to infamy and the rarified air of the galaxies grandest apex of pecuniary valuation, the hacking consortium annually pillages and plunders the bulging coffers of Bitcoin-based exchanges, and bounties measured in hundred of millions of dollars, may not be what they seem. While the entire ecosystem faces widespread skepticism from the majority of the financial world, and retail leadership highlighted by the hesitation of Amazon to allow Bitcoin-based transactions, the ominous presence of digital pirates only adds to the confusing intrigue of how the wildly volatile monetary system has not utterly crashed and burned. And when it does, the explosion with the ferocity of the first soy-powered VW bus-drone failing to transport a clutch of hipsters from Burning Man back to the sanctuary of sanctimony, will ignite the entire night sky of Northern California briefly in taunting the cumbersome practice of overengineering the eloquent design of a soda can.
In the latest scandal of a gaping security vulnerability worthy of a Cambridge Analytica election night soiree, which potentially plagues every cyber wallet, a bevy of criminals liquidated $196 million worth of cryptocurrency in fleeting instant impossibility measured on a quantum time scale. As the axiom of “no digital currency is safe” applies to the expanse of platforms where billions is precariously stored as investors hope that the shark of computer geniuses will overlook their fortunes for bigger prey. Bitmart, a substantial player for the earnings of electronic entrepreneurs, was targeted and thoroughly ransacked by a tidal wave of thieves in which the liberal media will brand as a devious act by the same group of Russians who orchestrated the “rigging” of the 2016 Presidential elections. The progressive spawned conspiracy theory of election bots and algorithms ultimately tilting the election in favor of Trump is deliberately painted as fact by the aforementioned pack of sensationalistic members of the journalistic order, their questionable association with objectivity a misnomer in itself.
While the NSA-based foundational technology of the blockchain is virtually impervious to the insidious aptitudes of wily electronic burglars, the lottery like intrigue of the dizzying heights and crushing lulls, creates a Vegas style atmosphere which is compelling to the instant gratification tendencies of the younger generations. The unsettling high risk environment induced by the marketing genius of the Bitcoin original PR mechanism includes foisted elements of traditional securities, an urban legend at best that drives traffic and engagement in the absence of guarantees of protections that ensure the victims of fraud do not face financial jeopardy in the aftermath of each attack on crypto-exchanges. As a result of the razor thin fortifications encouraging the merry band of robbers, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), which establishes a rigorous set of minimum standards for the entire banking system, recommends that Bitcoin and related forks are tagged in the riskiest category of investments. This means that financial institutions must match e-deposits dollar for dollar in creating a feasible minimum capital requirement to offset the turbulence of annual security breaches. As mainstream cryptocurrencies derive their value from the amount of transactions processed between end users and the computer power required to generate three 64-character hashes per transfer of funds rather than a tangible commodity, the unconventional system has bearish reputation among regulators and economists.
The original stirring vision for Bitcoin was to establish an unregulated and pure currency free from the shackles of government, and where anonymity was prevalent. However, what was stridently overlooked in the maelstrom of enthusiasm of who or what would benefit from a monetary unit resonating in the shadowy catacombs of society. While the digital marketplace regularly is susceptible to meteoric corrections that may or may not be organic, the allure to the legions inhabiting the Dark web of an innovative and safe way to wash and harbor money is literally priceless. Rogue governments, the Cartel, and other dubious organizations thrive through the evolution of encrypted electronic cash. While individual success stories of achieving monumental gains and atypical results, outside of the gifted coders capable of building multi-variable functions in building a model to earns at least a fraction of penny on innumerable transactions across the entire breadth of Bitcoin inspired progeny, the average investor faces the rigors of normalized stagnation with current sordid elements of cryptocurrency adding up to a scam.
In the aftermath of the Bitmart $196 million grab and go, the value of Bitcoin drastically plummeted by 4%, before “miraculously” recovering and gaining 9% over the span of 48 hours. Even without the Merry Pranksters of hacking gurus stealing dreams, the jagged peaks and valleys of a performance graph representing a year of valuation, is enough to hopefully to deter reasonable individuals from essentially building a funeral pyre of personal wealth and cash, as the nonsensical cryptocurrency marketplace is as dangerously alluring as a winning a lottery to play running back for one play in the NFL.
With the staggering magnitude of energy required to continue successful mining operations, and the thermodynamic ramifications of satisfying the electricity requirements of server farms, security is only half the concern for an unproven and overhyped series of financial products lacking a legitimate endorsement. Until a Walmart or Amazon interfuse Bitcoin and offspring into their digital checkout infrastructure, for the legions of casual traders looking to make a viable investment, the most logically irreverent option for success is to collaborate with sublime hacking authority of the meticulous and hoping for a fate the opposite of the John McAfee billion dollar spiral down the gravity well of corruption and coercion. One must possess the mental fitness and athleticism to sprint for the mundane, yet solace offered by a financial system backed by the FTC and the FDIC.