[Photo: Gordon Gekko, June 2005 Fortune Magazine cover photo]
The Wallstreet series of movies have always been my favorite money making Hollywood blockbuster flicks. The main character, Gordon Gekko, is played by Michael Douglas. He is a ruthless trader who puts aside the financial well being of the employees of companies he wants to take advantage of in the stock exchange. The fictional character indulges in insider trading, ends up in jail and still manages to put money before family. He loves money for he claims it never sleeps.
One scene in the original 1987 movie, has left an indelible mark in my mind. In it, Gordon Gekko says:
The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind…
It is with such a premise that I’d like to introduce 4 coins that the fictional character probably shorted over the past few months. But let me first define what ‘shorting’ means.
In traditional investing and when someone is short selling, an investor borrows shares and sells them immediately with the hope that the stock price will decline with time. If this happens, he buys the cheaper stocks at a lower price, accumulates more and pays back his debt of borrowed shares. He ends up with what you might call ‘free’ stocks gained by playing the market.
Tron (TRX)
An investor like Gordon Gekko would read the buzz that surrounded Tron (TRX) when it peaked at $0.30. He probably would even be in on the hype that would cause the token to reach such levels on January 5th. There were screeenshots of sales that were rumored to belonging to Justin Sun during this time period. One screenshot showed two such transactions of 1 Million TRX tokens each, sold within two days. That was Gordon Gekko ladies and gentlemen. 2 Million tokens at $0.30 netted him a cool $600,000.
Gordon probably waited till Tron (TRX) plummeted to $0.05. At this price, he bought back 12 Million Tron tokens, returned the borrowed 2 Million with maybe 50% interest, and kept a cool 9 Million TRX tokens or maybe only bought back what was needed to repay the debt and kept the rest as profit. The man is a genius!
Verge (XVG)
The man who glorifies greed probably did the same thing on New Years eve, 2018. As the rest of us waited for the Wraith protocol to be released, Gordon was probably busy getting insider information with respect to the release. He probably pulled some strings to have the release delayed to the 8th January when a working version of Wraith was finally done.
Once again he borrowed and sold 2 Million XVG coins at the peak of $0.29 on December 23rd, netting him a cool $580,000. He then waited or even manipulated the coin to the low of $0.037 on February 6th and bought back some XVG. This purchase earned him 15.675 Million XVG coins. He paid back the 2 Million with probably 50% interest, and kept 12.675 Million XVG coins to be sold later down the line.
Ripple (XRP)
Yes. Gordon was in on Ripple also when it peaked at $3.79. He borrowed 2 Million XRP and sold them immediately, netting $7.58 Million. He then re-bought them at the low of $0.637 on February 6th, purchasing 11.899 Million XRP coins. He paid back the 2 Million with the 50% interest and was left with 8.899 Million XRP coins. The man is laughing with a cigar in his mouth right now!
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is the most obvious coin that Gordon Gekko was targeting when the Bitcoin Futures were being offered on Wallstreet. He probably knew when they were being offered and planned to short, lets say 20,000 BTC, at the peak value of $20,000. This sale earned him a cool $400 Million. He then waited as things went to the dogs and probably held a big party in Ibiza as the market tanked like a rock in water. I can picture him shirtless and dancing to techno music as he bought back the Bitcoin at the lowest point this year of $6,048 and buying back 66,137 BTC. He paid back the 20,000 BTC with 50% interest and kept 36,137 BTC. Or maybe he just bought back what was needed and pocketed close to $218 Million.
In summary, Gordon Gekko glorifies greed. He has made me wonder if ethics and morals are forced upon us as we were kids and if it was the right approach of raising us. The sad reality is that good guys finish last even in the Crypto world. Once you get attached to a coin, you risk being burnt when the prices do sommersaults down the line.
You have to be smart! You have to be hungry! You have to be one step ahead! You have to be greedy to make profits and own a Lambo!
Greed for lack of a better word, is good!
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