Token prices and influencers/celebrities.
Crypto-influencers: do we need them?
The truth is – yes, we – investors – may need someone who gives us all the recent updates and keeps us informed in the rapidly changing crypto world. Too many projects, failures, scams, and drops are happening daily. Do you have time to follow dozens and dozens of sources every two-three hours? I don’t think so (I mean, if you combine routine, social contacts, and work tasks with constant crypto-news monitoring, I’m incredibly proud of you, you are a super-human and deserve all the money in the world). But if you are a person who prioritizes the work-life balance, you are probably keen to delegate crypto research to the professionals – read – influencers.
But as we know, the dose makes the poison, so if you only use influencer’s channels for informational purposes and Do Your Own Research before you even think of investing, then you’re okay with your mentally healthy strategy.
Let’s consider another situation: suppose you may get inspired to invest your pension savings into the FTX crypto after a very persuasive Tom Brady advertisement or found Kim Kardashian’s stories about the never-heard-before-token bulletproof point to invest. In that case, you need to reinvent your values.
And it may seem like we are cruel and unfair to our readers because they are not children and can decide for themselves, which is true. Still, I’ll give you a couple of facts so you decide for yourself if the power of an influencer’s opinion can be too overwhelming or not:
- Кim Kardashian’s story was seen (roughly) by every 5th adult American citizen;
- 45% of crypto investors would purchase the coins if a celebrity or an influencer recommended it;
- Crypto owners, in general, are more likely to search for investing tips on social media rather than on specialized sources;
After this famous Ethereum Max story, trust in cryptocurrency dropped by approximately 5 points. It means that if you were one of those who bought tokens after Kardashian’s promotion, you purchased a dummy. And if you were keeping tokens before then, you were stabbed in the back by the poorly done marketing strategy.
Now the thread to be fooled by the influencer doesn’t seem to be that ridiculous.
Celebrities and influencers have always been involved in all forms of promotions. Still, there is a difference between promising to smell like a rose in a perfume advertisement or getting your fans into a risky financial project ( let’s not forget that crypto is one of the riskiest fields for investment). The New York Times article states, «There is something unseemly, to put it mildly, about the famous and fabulously wealthy urging crypto on their fans. Entertainers and athletes have ample money to risk in speculative bubbles; their millions of admirers don’t have that luxury and may be left holding the bag when a bubble bursts.»
Snoop Dogg and Eminem film a video promoting Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Reese Witherspoon promise to support female NFT artists – our favorites invite us to join the world of crypto but forget to mention that for every dollar you lose, they still get a six-figure salary. Like Logan Paul «forgot» to mention his involvement in the Dink Doing coins, that he was a co-founder of the company and has his financial interest in «sharing his honest thoughts» on social media.
So what can you do to protect yourself? There’s no universal advice except that Lifetime opportunity doesn’t have a lifetime opportunity disclaimer. And yes, no matter how much you like Jason Bourne movies, Do Your Own F***ing Research.
