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There is a strange little investment "quirk" in comparing traditional and crypto, where the people who have holdings in both, tend to spend *far more* time on the crypto side, even if it is a minor percentage of their total portfolio. I asked a friend who is in this position currently as to why this might be, and he gave the answer that it is "sexier" (more hype) and more exciting than his traditional investment. 


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/tarazkp/23w2HUCc7rzGk9o7Y6BHRnq9FQhaoCVsb9bkTPksjvu1QwpWEKTHjbRZSJVt9A4hurJ3x.png)


But digging a bit deeper, I mentioned a couple factors that I think are also present in the majority of people. Firstly, the investment into crypto isn't a "black box" like how most people invest traditionally, meaning that they make the decisions to get in, move, buy, sell, hold etc by themselves. And, because of this, the experience becomes gamified, making it more interesting, more addictive and because *crypto never sleeps,* always "on demand".

That last one is a big factor that many overlook, because while the traditional markets are closed, people are always trading crypto - there are no quiet times, no weekends off. 24/7 - the skin is in the game, active and there are always decisions to be made.

But there is another factor as well that *heavily* affects people's time investment...

### *Expectation.*

There is an "unrealistic" expectation when it comes to investing into crypto, where someone can invest 50K into traditional stocks and "set and forget" about it, assuming it will manage itself and provide some kind of stead return. But the same person puts 1K into Bitcoin and expects it to buy them a luxury car 6 months down the track. People seem to get caught up in the hype of various tokens and the stories they read in the mainstream media, expecting that this kind of turn around is common, even though they do next to no research into what is behind those stories in the first place. And, rather than researching *why crypto is important,* they buy some tokens and then sit there, looking at the value of their holdings on whatever exchange they happen to be using.

It is an interesting mental position, but it is aligned with culture these days, where people are relatively short-sighted in what they think is a "long term" investment and, they are more interested in being entertained, than diving in and learning what lays beneath the surface. It is like buying a jersey, watching the team play and feeling that somehow, you are deserving of the success of *your* team. And when *they* lose, it was someone else's fault.

If markets are driven by sentiment, culture has to be considered as an influencing factor, because people make their decisions based on their beliefs, regardless of whether what they believe is accurate or not. And, because of the polarization of arguments, there is far more "in or out" than there was prior, people don't seem to take middle ground positions and I think this shines into investment strategy too. We *want to believe* that we are right, so we will act accordingly - that we are right.

>Market sentiment.

This works *up and down* of course, and because there is so much expectation of volatility in crypto, the +30% 24h swings are acceptable - it is *just the way it works.* And, all of this feeds back into that gamification loop, making it exciting, emotional, a rollercoaster ride, a thriller finish - the most heart-wrenching story ever heard.

> People *FEEL* crypto.

And in a world where relationships are falling apart and intimacy are waning in a world of increasing disconnection, isolation and the sense of grey inevitability - crypto bubbles the emotion to the surface and makes people feel like, *it is possible afterall.* 

And when you have hope - you will keep watching in anticipation.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]


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