Volume 3: Taking Roots 2016 Chapter 745: Odd Changes, Even Remains the Same
Since the financial crisis in 2008, the world economy has suffered a huge blow. Different sectors have different views on the crisis, and for a time, there were tens of millions of voices in the world's mainstream public opinion.
There are always people who are pessimistic about things, but there is often a rare opportunity in a crisis, just like the famous saying of the stock god that has been passed down in the capital market to this day.
"When others are fearful, I am greedy; when others are greedy, I am fearful!"
If wealth is regarded as a kind of quality, then according to the law of conservation of mass, the so-called wealth will not disappear out of thin air, but will simply exist in another form.
Or in other words, it just transferred from your hands to someone else's hands.
Under such circumstances, there tends to be a phenomenon where the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker, which is commonly known as the Matthew effect, and ultimately leads to wealth being controlled by a very small number of people.
In the current mainstream economic system in the world, this phenomenon is undoubtedly inevitable, and so is the financial crisis that has swept the world.
A man with the pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto" stood up and called for breaking the conventional routine. He proposed the concept of blockchain with "decentralization" as the core, and derived a new monetary system - Bitcoin.
The name also comes from the title of an article published on the Internet: "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System."
Throughout the history of mankind, there has never been a shortage of protesters who raised their arms and shouted, "Are kings, princes, generals, and ministers born with different races?" Satoshi Nakamoto undoubtedly had the lofty ambition of wanting to be a hero.
Of course, the objective laws of history also tell us that the reason why people are human beings and not gods is because people always change, and not everyone can always remember their original intentions.
It is not easy to be a hero, on the contrary, it is easier to be a tyrant.
After all, not everyone likes to be in the spotlight, and Satoshi Nakamoto is obviously one of them, although he created the concept of decentralized blockchain and created Bitcoin, the ancestor of virtual currency.
However, his identity remains a mystery to this day. Although calling himself "Satoshi Nakamoto" makes most people think that he is an islander, this is just a guess.
After opening this "Pandora's Box", Satoshi Nakamoto seemed to have completed his mission. He gradually hid himself behind the scenes and watched the outside world's development of blockchain technology.
As the initiator, it is still unknown how many bitcoins he holds.
At the beginning, the birth of Bitcoin did not cause any waves in the world. Most people scoffed at the so-called decentralization gimmick and blockchain concept.
After all, the essence of currency value is nothing more than being backed by a country’s credit. If there is no “centralization”, what is the difference between currency and a pile of waste paper?
By the same token, apart from all the fancy gimmicks, what is the difference between the so-called Bitcoin and a string of codes?
Why should the market believe that this string of code has value?
Therefore, when Bitcoin was first created, it was not even worth 1 cent and was only circulated in a small range. It was mostly used for entertainment by a group of technology enthusiasts who were interested in blockchain technology.
Just like the virtual currency circulating in a game, only players recognize its value, and to others it is just a bunch of meaningless data.
But players’ recognition is also recognition, and we can also give value to the data. But how to give value?
That’s easy. Just follow the principle of equivalent exchange.
It is a subtle irony that the value of this decentralized currency must ultimately be measured using traditional currency.
According to rumors, in the early days of Bitcoin, some people were willing to spend huge sums of money in related forums just to exchange for a pizza.
As we all know, the liquidity of currency will affect its value to a certain extent. As players continue to trade, many players gradually get used to viewing it as a kind of currency.
After all, as long as the game coins can be stably exchanged for currency, then the game coins are equal to currency. However, there may be only one .
That's scarcity!
As a digital currency based on blockchain technology, the number of Bitcoins in its financial system is naturally not infinite. The "answer" to this algorithm is 21 million.
When a commodity is scarce enough, its “scarcity attribute” is undoubtedly its greatest value.
Just as the value of a work of art often depends on the key factor of whether the artist is still alive, only by ensuring that its scarcity is an established fact can its value be guaranteed not to be easily shaken.
Only in this way can it be profitable, and the subsequent story will be very simple.
As the saying goes, capital never sleeps. Driven by interests, speculators will not give up any opportunity to make profits. They start to enter the market to grab chips and start to drive up prices.
Speculators do not care about concepts such as "decentralization" and "blockchain technology". To them, these are just product packaging.
Just like the value of a work of art, as long as you exaggerate it to the sky, promote it to the sky and earth, and make it unique, it will be enough to fool someone into paying for it.
From point to surface, as long as this "uniqueness" can be recognized by more and more people and form a consensus, then it will be the window period for cashing out.
From ancient times to the present, there are countless commodities with such "uniqueness", from tulips to Clivia, from Tibetan mastiffs to trendy shoes, and even subprime bonds and stocks.
It is just a product of different levels of consensus. In this game of "holding a bomb in hand", there will always be an unlucky person who takes the last baton.
But no one would think that he is the unlucky one.
Since the birth of Bitcoin in 2009, its value has risen from US$0.1. After four years of ups and downs, it once reached a high of US$955.85.
At that time, the number of bitcoins in existence was approximately 10.5 million. Even with a rough valuation, its market value once exceeded 10 billion US dollars.
You should know that in the virtual currency market that advocates decentralization, not only is there no supervision, but trading is also conducted 24 hours a day around the world, and there are no restrictions such as price limits.
Prices are completely driven by market sentiment and are affected by various news and unpredictable factors. Once the consensus collapses, its value may even evaporate overnight.
Unrestricted freedom will eventually lead to the trampling of the weak by the strong. The so-called decentralization without supervision may just be a utopian fantasy.
At least, this is vividly reflected in the ever-changing virtual currency market.
When the price rose to an "unprecedented" level of US$900, the first wave of speculators who entered the market to hoard chips apparently believed that the window for cashing out had arrived.
An invisible sickle swept across the virtual currency market. Many speculators chose to sell at high levels in a dispersed manner, push up prices and then sell again. It was a set of skilled harvesting techniques that made people grit their teeth.
And as a professional speculator who harvests leeks, he has never lacked patience. In the tug-of-war that lasted for a year and a half, he made a lot of money.
As the main funds fled with profits, the virtual currency market also ushered in a mess after the first carnival. The value of Bitcoin once fell to US$222.93 before it began to bottom out and rebound.
After all, in any market, there is always a shortage of heroes standing guard at high positions, and there is also a shortage of speculators buying at the bottom. When the two reach a certain balance, they will naturally re-build consensus and stabilize the market.
However, to this day, the value of Bitcoin has not returned to its peak, but has just recovered more than half of its vitality and returned to the 6-digit range.
A duck knows first when the water in the river warms up in spring. Once the market picks up, it will naturally attract some speculators to enter the market to buy shares.
Look, at this juncture, hasn’t the speculator Zhou Dongsheng arrived?
When Lu Sifang knocked on Zhou Dongsheng's door, he heard two men chatting and laughing inside, and Lu Sifang couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart.
Could it be that as soon as he arrived in this "free" land, the boss has already started to let go of himself and embrace freedom?
"Enter!"
But when Lu Sifang pushed the door open, he realized that he had overthought. Zhou Dongsheng and Principal Wang were just chatting.
Lu Sifang breathed a sigh of relief with the report in hand, then smiled and reported to Zhou Dongsheng: "Chairman, I have almost finished what you asked me to do. I..."
Looking at Principal Wang standing aside, Lu Sifang seemed to be hesitant to speak.
Zhou Dongsheng waved his hand generously, "Just say whatever you want to say. Principal Wang is not an outsider. What other purpose do you have for me coming to America?"
Zhou Dongsheng pursed his lips, as if to say, "Yes, the answer is in Lu Sifang's hands."
Principal Wang initially wanted to avoid suspicion and was about to get up, but when he heard Zhou Dongsheng say this, his heart couldn't help but warm up, and he felt relieved to hear this.
Then a trace of curiosity emerged in his heart. As expected, Zhou Dongsheng had other purposes. This was in line with his character of "nothing will happen without profit".
Since the boss said so, Lu Sifang naturally did not say anything more. After all, strictly speaking, Principal Wang was also one of the directors of Dongsheng Group.
"Regarding the establishment of Dongsheng Investment's overseas investment department, we have already formed a trading team focusing on the virtual currency market in accordance with the chairman's instructions, which will be directly led by me..."
“Under the chairman’s instruction, we have initially completed our Bitcoin positions, buying up stocks at low prices without disturbing the market. We have already purchased more than 10,000 Bitcoins through different accounts…”
"The cost of opening a position is currently maintained at around US$636, which is more than US$6.4 million..."
Lu Sifang looked at the report in his hand and read it out in an orderly manner. After finishing the report, he looked at Zhou Dongsheng, waiting for the next instruction.
Zhou Dongsheng nodded gently, then turned to look at Principal Wang beside him and said in a teasing tone: "Do you remember the virtual currency I mentioned to you before? Do you know it now?"
"Fuck, you just mentioned it casually at first and I didn't take it seriously. I didn't expect you to be serious about it. You're investing 6 million US dollars now, and you don't even blink an eye?"
Principal Wang said in amazement, and then couldn't help but mention it again.
"Do you really think this thing is reliable? Decentralization and the concept of blockchain are not recognized by the mainstream today, and they are also considered to be unconventional in the investment field..."
“I don’t know if it’s reliable or not. In my opinion, these concepts are just a form of packaging. What’s the point of decentralization? The majority of the coins are still in the hands of the dealers. For example, Satoshi Nakamoto has millions of them…”
“Is this considered embezzlement?”
"As long as there are dealers, there will be a center. Putting aside the phenomenon and talking about the essence, isn't this still a trading market? It's just that the commodities have changed..."
"Since this is a trading market, then we should follow the rules of the trading market. At least there are not so many restrictions in this market. As for me, I am just trying my hand at it."
"Spend a little money to stock up on chips and wait for the price to rise, wait and see, if you lose, you won't feel bad, but if you make money, it will be a huge profit..."
"After all, I have a lot of spare money now, so I might as well just leave it there and treat it as a risky investment."
Zhou Dongsheng was in a very good mood and spoke cheerfully. His words were calm and casual, but somehow they revealed a convincing flavor.
It's not because of Zhou Dongsheng's words, but because of his past record of victory. Under the influence of preconceived ideas, people will naturally be convinced subconsciously.
The stock god Buffett is far away, but Zhou Dongsheng is the "investment genius" who is right in front of us.
When thinking about this, it is proven without a doubt that Principal Wang is moved.
"It just so happens that I have one million US dollars in my overseas account recently. I will enter the market later. If I can see your 'myth shattered' with this one million US dollars, it will be worth it..."
In a flash, Principal Wang made his own decision. As for the so-called "US$1 million" of spare money, it was most likely just a "trust limit."
Although he made a lot of money following Zhou Dongsheng, Principal Wang is certainly not a fool without his own opinion when it comes to this kind of investment "outside his cognitive scope" and he will not blindly follow others and go all in.
However, in the future, Principal Wang may regret his rationality , but it does not affect the "correctness" of this decision at the moment.
Zhou Dongsheng naturally didn't care about this. After all, with such a huge market, it was impossible for him to dominate the market even if he lost everything.
It may even trigger a chain reaction in the market because the entry action is too large.
If the stock market still has some traces to follow, then the virtual currency market is like the "dark forest", following the principle of making a fortune in silence.
Sneak into the village quietly, don't shoot!
Whoever fires the first shot will most likely trigger a second round of major investors fleeing the market. Zhou Dongsheng just wants to take advantage of the situation to make a little money, and he doesn't want to be a sucker.
However, just 10,000 chips is still just a drop in the bucket compared to the huge market of 21 million chips, and is not enough to have much impact on the market.
Therefore, Zhou Dongsheng pondered for a moment, then turned to Lu Sifang and said, "Continue to accumulate funds and build positions according to the current progress, and keep a low profile as much as possible. If necessary, further diversify the accounts, and don't stop until the funds on the books are exhausted!"
Zhou Dongsheng's light words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Lu Sifang's heart hard, and for a moment he even felt dry in the mouth.
Principal Wang, who was standing by, didn't notice this. After hearing Zhou Dongsheng's words, he became more determined to follow up. He wanted to see if Zhou Dongsheng's "invincible myth" would continue...
As for Lu Sifang's reaction, it was not for any other reason. Under the instruction of Chairman Zhou Dongsheng, the overseas investment department of Dongsheng Investment had exactly 100 million US dollars on its books!
6.4 million US dollars is just the first shot in the battle.
