Ethereum has been falling recently, at the time of writing down 9% in just one day. I first saw it making some significant moves lower yesterday and now dropping to the lowest I've seen it since investing.
I'm getting a grasp of the impact of the unique issues and opportunities of crypto exchanges, which seem extremely volatile and susceptible to weaknesses. Maybe it will crash, maybe it will fly back up. Here are my humble thoughts.
For example, it's crazy GDAX was so impacted by a single whale's multi-million dollar sell. I found the below article on Futurism very helpful to understand what happened:
Why the Ethereum Flash Crash Isn’t Surprising, and What It Means for Crypto
https://futurism.com/why-the-gdax-ether-flash-crash-isnt-surprising-and-what-it-means-for-crypto/
"This is only the most recent of a series of similar events across crypto exchanges, and rather than being a reflection on GDAX in particular, it’s a symptom of the underlying problems created by the stress of capital flow increasing faster than market infrastructure development."
After scouring the news and forums/threads I frequent, there isn't much information on why beyond maybe Coinbase's voluntary reimbursement of those who suffered drastic losses from margin calls / stop-loss orders.
Maybe it's a small piece of presss like: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/ethereum-struggling-scaling-despite-lack-actual-user-base/
Maybe some huge ICO I haven't heard of just punched the price in the face.
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) compounds.
As Buffet says, "Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful”. Cap the letters when it's important, yo.
My takeaway is crypto is new territory. There's no clear security blanket comfort food answer to: "Why am I losing money on something new I barely understand?"
If novice investors will throw money into something expecting 4000% returns because they caught on to ethereum "early" while seasoned investors are motioning for caution, then we should expect swings like this. Uncertainty is part of the game.
High risk, high reward. I'm hodling. Good luck my friends :)