On my way back from another place, I stopped by to get a haircut this morning. Curiously, a busier place than usually these days. Maybe anticipating another heatwave to come soon...
So, I had to wait for a little while, which hasn't happened to me there in recent months even if I went without any appointment.
As I was waiting, I couldn't help but notice that I was the only one not checking my phone while waiting. At some point it crossed my mind to do the same, but then I changed my mind.
I admit I was curious what were the guys next to me doing on their phones. At a glance, I saw they both had charts on their phones. "Hmm, day traders or investors?" I was thinking... I am leaning toward either the former or that they are newcomers in the investing world, crypto or in general, and they got worried about today's price evolution.
At some point, the one on my right logged into his crypto CEX wallet. He leaned forward, so the phone was pretty much in my eye sight. I recognized the wallet, I used it too. I even saw the amount he had in his account... And it only took a glance before I turned my head to not pry further. I wouldn't keep that kind of money in any CEX even if I had many millions of dollars, but whatever, it's his business. Now, imagine I was a guy with a criminal mind who just learned what I did... That's one reason why I don't use phone in public for sensitive stuff... You never know who's watching and what they are capable of doing with what they learn! And it doesn't have to be someone next to you if you use a public wi-fi, for example.
Generated with Venice AI
Anyway, crypto has become widely adopted by the looks of it, especially in the bull market. The younger generation may be more interested in it due to their continuous contact and long exposure to new tech. All guys waiting to get a haircut at the same time as I was and who were checking their phones, including the ones next to me seemed younger than me and really focused on what they were doing.
Maybe this generation understands best that the job market has no future and tries to find alternatives quickly.
Where I have my doubts is that a significant percentage of the population has what it takes to be a successful investor, trader, or whatever they decide to do.
But, two things can happen to improve their odds of success, other than failing forward:
- better tools, perhaps based on AI, which we didn't have (access to) when we started
- better education: if this is the path they choose to follow, and the alternative of a real job becomes more and more illusory, many will likely study to understand investment beyond the gambling mentality
At least I hope this will happen. Otherwise, we will see something that may become a large-scale tragedy if many will gamble away their savings and maybe loan to invest and end up with nothing (or with a loan to pay) and with no prospect of a job.
If "May you live in interesting times!" is a Chinese curse, we'll have to see what effects it has on us... The times we live are definitely interesting!