What is Speculation? How Does it Relate to the Cryptocurrency Market

Bring up the topic of market speculation to just about any casual investor, and you’re likely to get dirty looks. Speculation has become a buzzword associated with irresponsible behavior by banks and other big financial institutions. To the layperson, speculation is gambling by any other name, with the key difference that it’s done with investor money rather than personal money.

Speculation’s reputation isn’t wholly undeserved. After all, speculation has been at the heart of some of the market’s most spectacular failures. Then again, all forms of investing are a way or balancing risk and reward, and speculation is merely the “bet” that the risk in this particular instance will be well worth the risk.

We’re going to take a look at what exactly speculation is, what roles it fills in the market, and why it might be a necessary evil to keep the cryptocurrency on the bleeding technological edge.

Defining Speculation

As we briefly touched upon earlier, all investing…