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Great job!

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Great stuff again Rick. I've just shared Wiser via my email to 30 close contacts so I do hope you'll see a few new readers over the next few days!

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Unique and interesting Rick - well done!

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Hi Rick,

Re today's crypto corner, many things are beyond my level of understanding but,

Coinbase - You have a company that is essentially an exchange/clearing house/depository with one asset, crypto, all be it in many different guises.

Comparable "understandable" companies could include ICE, LSE Group, Deutsche Borse Group etc. The largest of these ICE had $8.2 billion of revenues and a market cap of $65.3 billion. I can see the benchmark but not the rest of what supports Coinbase’s valuation.

A few things and you heard them here:

When a company lists but raises no money for the company, it only raises money for the selling shareholders. They are cashing out because they believe its valuation has peaked, a very bad sign.

The market cap of the comparable companies is based on the portfolio of assets, businesses, markets etc which is much more resilient than being “the place for crypto." Again, not raising money to fund the company’s expansion means even they think they it is a one trick pony.

For any of these companies, particularly ICE to add crypto to their platforms would be dead simple and they could easily add derivatives on crypto. Some already have or are thinking of it..

Coinbase was probably hoping one of them would buy it but I’m guessing most would have had a look and asked “What do I get for $68 billon? Answer? SFA.”

That leads the selling shareholders to an obvious exit strategy. Link the value of Coinbase to skyrocketing crypto values. How does that work? How does Coinbase make more money when crypto values skyrocket? What happens when and if they crash again?

I might feel different if I had 3,339 BTC in my wallet.

Pat Cromagnon

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