SPOILER Alert: Due to the emotional nature of this topic, some of the descriptions and content might offend you. Read at your own risk. You have been warned. Note: We will use YouTube gurus, YouTube shillers in this article to refer to everyone who uses social media to shill (this includes facebook, reddit, twitter, steemit, telegram, medium, etc.)

Just like the market has cycles, these so-called YouTube gurus in the crypto space have cycles too. First they are anti-ICO cycle, then they are about flipping the ICO cycle, then there are the ICO are everything cycle, most recently they are in ‘HODLing is dead’ cycle.

Is there truth to their claims?

To find out whether their claims have any truth to it and whether you should heed to them, let’s look at various aspects.

YouTubers, like mainstream media, live on sensationalism and stimulation. Most ICOs are a con game now. You cannot beat big institutions in the trading game. HODLing is boring and boring is the kiss of death for stimulators. Conclusion.

YouTubers, like mainstream media, live on sensationalism and stimulation

If you think democracy is dead in the mainstream, then you have to visit some of these YouTube famous crypto groups. The ring leaders of these groups and most everyone participating in them is a shiller and an outright bully.

You try to ask a genuine question and you will get banned

You raise a valid point and you will get banned

You show concern about ‘insider trading’ arrangement and you will get banned

These group heads rely on the bullying behavior of their loyal followers because that’s what keeps the group conversations in a direction dictated by the leader. There is no room for neutral conversations to make wise decisions, rather, a sheep like mindset that proves the ring leader right.

There is no room for neutral conversations to make wise decisions, rather, a sheep like mindset that proves the ring leader right.

Even the videos, mostly promotional in the disguise of ‘neutral’ reviews, are viewed, believed and acted on by the gullible viewers.

Crypto space being so small, even a concerted action by 1000 people at any given time will prove the YouTube guru’s point. It is a bad self-fulfilling prophecy.

As more and more predictions are proved right in the short-term, the bigger the group gets and more people amass to act on the prophecies of the leader. They have a very distinct cult like feeling.

The bigger the group gets, the more difficult it becomes for the ring leader to keep the group stimulated with outlandish claims.

A 20% gain doesn’t stimulate the crypto space anymore. It has to be a 10x or 100x to peak the interest of gullible crypto sheep. Of course, not everyone falls for these click-bait tactics. There are few genuine thinkers in the herd.

A 20% gain doesn’t stimulate the crypto space anymore.

YouTubers have got a good grip on the pulse of the crypto crowd. Here is a simple lay out on how this stimulation game works:

Create hype about an upcoming video or announcement on a project that will change the world

Have a side arrangement with the project team to have your bags filled and ready

Keep creating the hype with claims like “this could be the next Ethereum”, “If you missed bitcoin multipliers, you don’t want to miss this one”, “An easy 100x this year”, “for every $100 you invest, you could make a million”, etc. etc.

If the hype garners the interest from 1000s of people then disclose on the video that to limit this opportunity from being misused, you are going to charge $XX or $XXX or even $XXXX

Some of the folks from crowd that got hard on from the earlier claims will fall for this and pay up the fees to know the ‘secret’

As these followers place their buy orders at an already hyped price, the ring leader starts dumping their huge bags on the unsuspecting

Did you see what happened there? Ring leader just made money from dumping and shilling, double whammy for the loyal followers!

When stakes are so high, these YouTube gurus will go to any lengths to keep their followers stimulated and primed for the opportune moment to screw them in their rears.

YouTube gurus will go to any lengths to keep their followers stimulated and primed for the opportune moment to screw them in their rears.

It is not their mistake though. They are in this game to make money. They are not the innovators or pioneers. They are the ambulance chasers of the crypto space.

The fault lies with the crowd and their herd like mentality. They are too lazy to research and make decisions on their own, and that is why they pay the price of their laziness.

They are the ambulance chasers of the crypto space.

Next time you get a hard on from outlandish claims, do yourself a favor and research.

Most ICOs are a con game now

ICO space is very dangerous at this time.

If you don’t fall for an outright scam, you might fall for hype, if you save yourself from scam and hype, you might fall for outlandish claims, like 10 million transactions per second or the like. If you do manage to navigate your way from scam, hype, false claims and you some how manage to find a genuine project, you will be utterly disappointed to know that it is easy to solve the blackhole puzzle than to become eligible to participate in these ICOs or that it is sold out in the pre-sale.

Worse of them all, YouTube gurus will pick the project that they were able to get in back door and start shilling it so that the sign ups skyrocket and the ICO gets sold in minutes or even seconds.

They will continue to hype the project until it hits the market and those waiting on the sidelines place their orders at 2x or 5x or even 20x the ICO price. YouTube guru cashes out and moves on to the next one. Rinse and repeat.

There were some good ICOs in this pile of shit though. One of the sign of a good ICO with long term vision is that they give opportunity to maximum number of people to participate in their ICO, because, in the long run, loyal followers are what matters to bring the technology to life, not YouTube shillers.

If you have bought into the idea of flipping ICOs to make quick buck, the stacks may be against you. This doesn’t mean that you give up. As long as you don’t follow the shills blindly, you might even land on a good ICO.

In the long run, loyal followers are what matters to bring the technology to life, not YouTube shillers.

You cannot beat big institutions in the trading game.

Those that are arguing that HODLing is dead propose either flipping ICOs or day trading. We just saw why odds in ICO space may be working against you. Now let’s look at day trading.

You can make money in day trading. This is a fact. Especially, if you have lot of time on your hands.

If you are like rest of us who got into crypto space to put in small amounts to reap big rewards then day trading may not be the way to go.

The crypto market was already played by the whales and now with the advent of big stock market players, it is going to be even more treacherous. Unless you are part of a pump and dump group, a YouTube shiller yourself, have insider information, have lot of money to hedge or have the means and resources to play the market, you will probably lose.

Big players have access to information and means to play the market that a small investor generally does not.

However, if you are good at researching, finding patterns and a knack to enter and exit, you might make lot of money in trading.

Otherwise, trading is out of the equation.

HODLing is boring and boring is kiss of death for stimulators

If ICOs and trading are out, what is left?

HODLing.

You have to be careful though. HODLing a bad project will not make you any money. It doesn’t matter if you hold a worthless dime for a year or a decade. If you hold onto a collectible then with each passing year, the value grows.

In crypto space, that translates to finding a project with:

Good team with long term vision and ability to execute

A problem that needs blockchain/crypto solution

Great partnerships that signal a sweeping change due to adoption, in the long run

A growing community of loyal followers

Limited supply even when it is set at a high threshold, although this is not the main criteria, sometimes this helps

Advantage over its competition (existing or future) for being first mover and/or impeccable partnerships and/or remarkable team and/or support from the regulators, etc.

Legal, regulatory and tax compliance with appropriate regulations

If a project checks on all of these aspects then it is possible that you have picked a winner. Although it is not a guarantee, it is a good start.

Once you have found such a project, try to get a basic understanding of the price action and determine your own entry point. You may not be right with the entry point you pick but you must be at peace with it. Put in small amount and keep putting a small portion every time you have change to spare.

It may take months or even years for your project to reach your set targets.

During this intermittent period, you simply continue to research and HODL. As you can see, this is one of the most frustrating and boring aspect.

If a YouTube shiller starts talking about HODLing, do you know how difficult it is to find a project each day or week (depending on the frequency with which they post) that meets the criteria we described above.

Their appetites are huge. They are not contented with making a thousand or even ten grand, they want millions. They want millions and now. The way to do it is to shill and dump. Rinse and repeat.

Our job as investors is to avoid falling for these click bait traps.

Conclusion

We at CryptoTapas and QRIP believe that HODLing is not dead.

What has transpired in this space is that people have been burned too many times and are cautious now. This is a great sign for the future of this space. More and more people are growing skeptical. This cautious optimism is making the shillers job harder and harder.

That is why they are targeting the followers with shock and awe. One such attempt was to proclaim that HODLing is dead.

We believe that HODLing is not dead. It will never be dead. As long as you are HODLing the right project, contented with your own set long-term targets, exhibit the patience needed to realize the reward and you are at peace with the fact that there are no guarantees, HODLing will live on.

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Do your own research before investing. Crypto space is very volatile, don’t invest more than what you can afford to lose. Opinion, not an advice.

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