DURING THE PAST YEAR OF covid-induced market mania, cryptocurrencies have gone up so much—bitcoin is up about sixfold, while many other crypto projects are up far, far more—that even reluctant Wall Street institutions have started tiptoeing into the arena. A blazing rally that began this month has seen bitcoin shoot up 50 percent in a few weeks. But doubters remain, and their ranks just happen to include many of the same prominent investors who saw the financial crisis of 2008 coming.
Hedge-fund mogul John Paulson, who was behind “the greatest trade ever”—he made $4 billion on his short of subprime mortgages—thinks cryptocurrencies will prove to be “worthless.” Michael Burry, the quirky hedge-fund manager made famous in The Big Short movie, complains that no one is paying attention to crypto’s leverage. For months, he’s been suggesting bitcoin is on the precipice of collapse. Nassim Nicholas Taleb, whose now-canonical book The Black Swan warned about the dangers of unpredictable events just ahead of the subprime crash, argues that bitcoin is functionally a Ponzi scheme. And hedge-fund billionaire and hard-money acolyte Paul Singer, who in 2006 predicted a “wipeout” in mortgage securities, thinks cryptocurrencies are a fraud. In a January letter to investors, he wrote, “We continue to press on for the day when we can say, ‘We told you so.’”
Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin October 25 - November 7, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin October 25 - November 7, 2021 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Trapped in Time
A woman relives the same day in a stunning Danish novel.
Polyphonic City
A SOFT, SHIMMERING beauty permeates the images of Mumbai that open Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light. For all the nighttime bustle on display-the heave of people, the constant activity and chaos-Kapadia shoots with a flair for the illusory.
Lear at the Fountain of Youth
Kenneth Branagh's production is nipped, tucked, and facile.
A Belfast Lad Goes Home
After playing some iconic Americans, Anthony Boyle is a beloved IRA commander in a riveting new series about the Troubles.
The Pluck of the Irish
Artists from the Indiana-size island continue to dominate popular culture. Online, they've gained a rep as the \"good Europeans.\"
Houston's on Houston
The Corner Store is like an upscale chain for downtown scene-chasers.
A Brownstone That's Pink Inside
Artist Vivian Reiss's Murray Hill house of whimsy.
These Jeans Made Me Gay
The Citizens of Humanity Horseshoe pants complete my queer style.
Manic, STONED, Throttle, No Brakes
Less than six months after her Gagosian sölu show, the artist JAMIAN JULIANO-VILLAND lost her gallery and all her money and was preparing for an exhibition with two the biggest living American artists.
WHO EVER THOUGHT THAT BRIGHT PINK MEAT THAT LASTS FOR WEEKS WAS A GOOD IDEA?
Deli Meat Is Rotten