Crypto portfolio update

Exposure: 16.4%

Net return: 540.4%

Comments: Sentiment in crypto continues to languish as the total market cap has barely moved in over 8 weeks.

If we look at individual coins/tokens however, the trend is clear: altcoins are selling off while bitcoin is performing comparatively well... though even bitcoin is struggling to maintain its price.

As mentioned in prior newsletters, the immediate outlook for crypto is poor and - outside of major unexpected events - the trajectory of the asset class is likely 'down' for the foreseeable future.

With this in mind, here are some ideas to consider (NFA and all that):

• Conservative/HODL: Wait for prices to dip and DCA into BTC, ETH
• Aggressive: Short altcoins
• Spread trade: Long BTC + Short altcoins

My preferred choice is the spread trade as the upside volatility of altcoins is dampened. Do note however that the choice of altcoins AND the timing of the trade matters -- if you pick the wrong altcoins or enter/exit at the wrong time, there's a high chance of loss.

(If you'd like to know which tokens I'm buying/shorting and when, join my private group.)

Alternatively, just go the conservative route and wait for prices to dip before DCA-ing into BTC and hodling. This is the option most people should go with.

Current allocation:

 Stars Arena

Many of the CT influencers who missed being early on Friend.tech began shilling Stars Arena a couple weeks ago.

Many of their followers jumped on board for the same reason (to be early on "the next Friend.tech") and Stars Arena quickly became the second most popular SocialFi app.

This phenomenon was so predictable that I warned about it earlier last month:

Readers should therefore not be surprised that an exploit was discovered on Oct 5 when an attacker began draining funds from the app.

It should be noted that since Stars Arena ran on Avalanche, its growing popularity brought attention back to the blockchain and single-handedly pumped the price of AVAX up 25%.

So when Stars Arena was exploited, many Avalanche supporters defended it. Even Avalanche's founder - Emin Gun Sirer - endorsed the app and brushed off the event as "FUD".

Now one might think that since the founder of Avalanche spoke positively of Stars Arena, it must be a high quality project... right?

Well, think again.

Just two days later, a second exploit was discovered, and this time the consequences were much more severe.

In less than a day, most of the TVL in Stars Arena got drained by the hacker.

Practically everyone who joined and bought tickets lost everything.

Update: The latest news is that the hacker returned 90% of the funds (yet to be confirmed), but this does not detract from the point.

To reiterate:

Unless you're a smart contract developer that can properly audit the code behind new projects, you're probably better off avoiding them altogether.

Admin update

• If you missed the previous newsletter, you can read it here.
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🚚 Car camping

I enjoy vehicle camping and haven't done it as much as I'd like. The next best thing is watching videos like these that simulate the experience. 

It's a great way to relax before bed.

 Quote of the week

How to do the right thing:

• Step 1 - Do the wrong thing
• Step 2 - Try to get a good nights sleep

- George Mack

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend.

Cheers,
Slowmad

P.S. If you have any questions or feedback, let me know at: chris[at]digitalslowmad[dot]com

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