Thanks Chris for this post. I want to comment on the Weiss ratings segment.
I don't see the trouble with 'insider trading'. To be blunt, I think this is a common economic fallacy.
The anticipated response goes something like: 'But how can that be fair?!!!'.
A free market is nothing if it isn't a competition to see who is better informed.
In a free market, were we to have one right now(because we don't), it would only be a problem for Weiss to buy before everyone else if Weiss had contractually agreed not to. Which would be fraud.
Otherwise, if everyone expects Weiss to buy their own stock/tokens/coins before announcing good news, they a) would factor that in to their imminent investment, and b) should also know that Weiss still needs to attract investors. So it should be expected that Weiss itself has bought to the maximum extent it sees fit.... without turning off potential investors.
In a free market any business would have to pay attention to investors. Unlike in today's interventionist markets, where subsidies(funded through wealth confiscation schemes) undermine the incentives to do so.
This insider trading economic fallacy is one of the more enduring ones and one of the most effective in propping up continued concession to government intervention in markets.
RE: Worlds First Cryptocurrency Grades 💯 By Weiss Rating Agency