#brokerage account meaning

[roseband]

....his parents retired w/o a full retirement plan

........and have been going on vacations on credit cards while eating cup noodles to keep up appearances

................cause they thought they could shame us into giving them a 2k a month allowance

.........................cause it's "not fair" my mom retired at 53 w/ cancer, and they should retire at 53 too (she pulled her pension w/ a 20k/year penalty cause her immune system is too bad to be in a classroom)

....and they think we're paying for her retirement cause how can a "single mother" have that much money (which uh, we do sometimes help her with physical things cause mastectomy affected her right arm strength, but she's by far financially independent and i have to pressure her to /not/ give me money)

errrrrr i hope the crash is delayed by two years so his siblings are both adults, but i think this crash out is gonna be hilarious 😂 i feel mean????

like i thought it was his mom lying once they retired uh no....they just decided to stop working without a real plan uh, that's not being retired that's being a bum?

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The CFPB is genuinely making America better, and they're going HARD

On June 20, I'm keynoting the LOCUS AWARDS in OAKLAND.

Let's take a sec here and notice something genuinely great happening in the US government: the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's stunning, unbroken streak of major, muscular victories over the forces of corporate corruption, with the backing of the Supreme Court (yes, that Supreme Court), and which is only speeding up!

A little background. The CFPB was created in 2010. It was Elizabeth Warren's brainchild, an institution that was supposed to regulate finance from the perspective of the American public, not the American finance sector. Rather than fighting to "stabilize" the financial sector (the mission that led to Obama taking his advisor Timothy Geithner's advice to permit the foreclosure crisis to continue in order to "foam the runways" for the banks), the Bureau would fight to defend us from bankers.

The CFPB got off to a rocky start, with challenges to the unique system of long-term leadership appointments meant to depoliticize the office, as well as the sudden resignation of its inaugural boss, who broke his promise to see his term through in order to launch an unsuccessful bid for political office.

But after the 2020 election, the Bureau came into its own, when Biden poached Rohit Chopra from the FTC and put him in charge. Chopra went on a tear, taking on landlords who violated the covid eviction moratorium:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/20/euthanize-rentier-enablers/#cfpb

Then banning payday lenders' scummiest tactics:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/01/29/planned-obsolescence/#academic-fraud

Then striking at one of fintech's most predatory grifts, the "earned wage access" hustle:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/05/01/usury/#tech-exceptionalism

Then closing the loophole that let credit reporting bureaus (like Equifax, who doxed every single American in a spectacular 2019 breach) avoid regulation by creating data brokerage divisions and claiming they weren't part of the regulated activity of credit reporting:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does

Chopra went on to promise to ban data-brokers altogether:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/13/goulash/#material-misstatement

Then he banned comparison shopping sites where you go to find the best bank accounts and credit cards from accepting bribes and putting more expensive options at the top of the list. Instead, he's requiring banks to send the CFPB regular, accurate lists of all their charges, and standing up a federal operated comparison shopping site that gives only accurate and honest rankings. Finally, he's made an interoperability rule requiring banks to let you transfer to another institution with one click, just like you change phone carriers. That means you can search an honest site to find the best deal on your banking, and then, with a single click, transfer your accounts, your account history, your payees, and all your other banking data to that new bank:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/let-my-dollars-go/#personal-financial-data-rights

Somewhere in there, big business got scared. They cooked up a legal theory declaring the CFPB's funding mechanism to be unconstitutional and got the case fast-tracked to the Supreme Court, in a bid to put Chopra and the CFPB permanently out of business. Instead, the Supremes – these Supremes! – upheld the CFPB's funding mechanism in a 7-2 ruling:

https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/05/supreme-court-lets-cfpb-funding-stand/

That ruling was a starter pistol for Chopra and the Bureau. Maybe it seemed like they were taking big swings before, but it turns out all that was just a warmup. Last week on The American Prospect, Robert Kuttner rounded up all the stuff the Bureau is kicking off:

https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2024-06-07-window-on-corporate-deceptions/

First: regulating Buy Now, Pay Later companies (think: Klarna) as credit-card companies, with all the requirements for disclosure and interest rate caps dictated by the Truth In Lending Act:

https://www.skadden.com/insights/publications/2024/06/cfpb-applies-credit-card-rules

Next: creating a registry of habitual corporate criminals. This rogues gallery will make it harder for other agencies – like the DOJ – and state Attorneys General to offer bullshit "delayed prosecution agreements" to companies that compulsively rip us off:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-creates-registry-to-detect-corporate-repeat-offenders/

Then there's the rule against "fine print deception" – which is when the fine print in a contract lies to you about your rights, like when a mortgage lender forces you waive a right you can't actually waive, or car lenders that make you waive your bankruptcy rights, which, again, you can't waive:

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-warns-against-deception-in-contract-fine-print/

As Kuttner writes, the common thread running through all these orders is that they ban deceptive practices – they make it illegal for companies to steal from us by lying to us. Especially in these dying days of class action suits – rapidly becoming obsolete thanks to "mandatory arbitration waivers" that make you sign away your right to join a class action – agencies like the CFPB are our only hope of punishing companies that lie to us to steal from us.

There's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world right now, and much of it – including an active genocide – is coming from the Biden White House.

But there are people in the Biden Administration who care about the American people and who are effective and committed fighters who have our back. What's more, they're winning. That doesn't make all the bad news go away, but sometimes it feels good to take a moment and take the W.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/10/getting-things-done/#deliverism

[p0orbaby]

A Drop in the Ocean

summary: you buy barça for alexia

warnings: none

a/n: requested on the back of a similar one i wrote

word count: 1.5k

-

You don’t even think about it anymore, the money. The commas and zeros stopped meaning anything the moment they started adding up faster than you could count. You don’t remember exactly when it happened, just that it did. One day you were checking the balances on your brokerage account religiously, watching the stock tickers on your phone at breakfast, and then at some point—probably after that second meeting in Geneva or maybe the fourth trip to Dubai—you stopped caring altogether. The accounts became endless, infinite, numbers that only existed on a screen and held no weight in the real world. You could buy anything, do anything. You do.

You’ve bought Barcelona FC. For Alexia.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult purchase, and that’s what bothers you, how easy it was. You’d made a few calls, orchestrated a few backroom meetings with men in navy-blue suits who wear Patek Philippe watches but don’t know how to spell "integrity," and within weeks, it was done. The club—one of the most storied institutions in world football—was now, for all intents and purposes, yours. They were failing in every department that mattered, so it wasn’t hard to make them see reason. The board was crumbling under its own corruption and incompetence anyway, the men in charge having long ago stopped caring about anything other than their own salaries. They saw the numbers you offered and couldn’t sign the dotted lines fast enough.

You’re sitting in the back of your Bentley Bentayga—the V8 model because the W12 felt too much, like gilding the lily—watching the city of Barcelona pass by in blurred streaks of sunlight and shadows. You don’t drive yourself anymore; it’s not that you’ve forgotten how, but why would you bother when you can pay someone to do it for you? You’re sipping on an iced Americano from a local coffee roaster that isn’t La Colombe but isn’t Starbucks either—because Starbucks is for tourists and people who don’t care what real coffee tastes like—and tapping your thumb against the cool glass, counting down the minutes until you get home. Home isn’t the place you grew up, or even the first penthouse you bought in Barcelona—God, you’ve already sold that one off—but the sprawling villa in the hills that overlooks the city like a predator watching its prey.

You’d bought the house because Alexia liked it. You had taken her to see it on a whim, even though you knew you’d buy it regardless of her opinion. But she’d loved it, her eyes lighting up in that way they do when she’s genuinely moved by something, not when she’s just being polite or trying to please you. It’s rare, that reaction, and you’ve noticed it only happens when she’s either on the pitch or somewhere quiet, somewhere she can breathe. It makes you feel something, a tightness in your chest, almost a panic, like the world’s collapsing in on itself, but in a good way. If there even is a good way for that to happen.

Your phone buzzes, vibrating against the buttery-soft leather of your seat. You glance at it and see it’s a text from her.

Training's over. Home soon?

You smile, the kind of smile that makes the people around you uneasy, because they never know if it’s genuine or not. It is, but it’s small, fleeting, like everything in your life that isn't Alexia.

On my way. You send the reply quickly, almost too quickly, like you’re not supposed to care that much. But you do. You always do.

You met Alexia when you were young—stupid young—back when you still believed that success was something you had to fight for. She was everything you weren’t: grounded, focused, humble. Even now, with all the accolades and the Ballon d'Ors and the fanfare, she still feels *real* in a way you don’t anymore. She still eats cereal for breakfast sometimes, not some overpriced organic granola shipped in from the Swiss Alps. She’ll sit on the sofa in her sweatpants and watch trashy reality TV with you, her feet in your lap, like the world outside doesn’t exist. Like she’s not the face of women’s football, the woman everyone wants to be. You want to be her too, sometimes.

But then you remember: she’s yours. And you’re the one with the power, the one pulling the strings now. You’re the one who’s going to fix everything for her.

You think about the RFEF, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and how utterly revolting they are, how they’ve mishandled everything about the women’s game. It makes you angry, but not in the way normal people get angry, not in that quick, fleeting way. Your anger is cold, calculated, the kind of anger that doesn’t make itself known until it’s too late. You’d called in favours—favours you didn’t even know you had—and now you’re restructuring the whole thing from the inside out. The old guard, the men who’ve spent years belittling and undermining women’s football, will be gone soon, and they don’t even see it coming. You’ll replace them with people who actually care, people who understand what’s at stake.

Alexia doesn’t know yet. She doesn’t need to. She already carries enough weight on her shoulders; you see it in the way she moves, the subtle slump in her posture after a long day. She’s been fighting this fight for years, but you can take it from here. You’ll make sure she never has to fight again.

When you finally pull up to the villa, the sky is turning that particular shade of burnt orange that only seems to exist in Spain. The driver opens your door, and you step out, the sound of your Louboutins clicking against the cobblestone driveway. You’re wearing something understated but expensive—a cream-coloured silk blouse from The Row, tailored trousers that cost more than most people’s monthly rent, and a watch that could fund a small country’s healthcare system for a year. You’ve always preferred quiet luxury, the kind of wealth that doesn’t scream but whispers, softly, in the background. Alexia likes that about you. At least, you think she does.

You walk through the front door—minimalist, custom-made, imported from Italy—and the scent of jasmine fills your lungs. Alexia’s perfume. She’s here.

You find her in the living room, sprawled out on the sofa, her legs up on the coffee table, still in her training kit. Her hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail, strands falling loose around her face. She’s scrolling through her phone, probably reading up on whatever the media is saying about the latest match, and she looks up when you walk in. There’s that smile again, the one that makes everything else disappear for a moment, just a moment, but long enough to matter.

“Hey,” she says, her voice soft, like it’s only meant for you.

You cross the room and sit next to her, pulling her legs into your lap, your fingers automatically tracing circles on her shins. You don’t say anything for a while, because neither of you needs to. The silence between you is comfortable, familiar, the kind of silence that only comes when two people have been through everything together and still come out on the other side.

“I bought the club,” you say, casually, like you’re talking about picking up milk from the store.

Alexia looks at you, her eyes widening for a second before she catches herself. She’s good at that, at pretending nothing surprises her, but you know her well enough to see through it.

“You did what?” she asks, her tone somewhere between disbelief and amusement.

“I bought Barcelona,” you repeat, leaning back against the cushions. “They were fucking it all up, especially with the women’s team. I’m fixing it. For you”

She doesn’t respond immediately, and you can see the gears turning in her head, trying to process what you’ve just said. It’s not that she doesn’t believe you; she does. It’s just…a lot.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she says finally, but there’s no conviction in her voice. She knows as well as you do that you don’t *have* to do anything. You want to.

“I did,” you reply, your voice firm. “Because they don’t care about you. Not like I do”

She looks at you for a long moment, and you can see the conflict in her eyes, the push and pull of wanting to argue but knowing there’s no point. You’ve already made up your mind. You always have.

“Thank you,” she says eventually, and the sincerity in her voice catches you off guard. You’re used to people thanking you, sure, but it’s always perfunctory, transactional. This is different. This is real.

You lean in and kiss her, slow and soft, and for a moment, everything is perfect. You don’t think about the money or the power or the corruption you’ve spent years navigating. You don’t think about the board meetings or the backroom deals or the restructuring of the RFEF. You just think about her, and how she’s the only thing that makes any of it worth it.

When you pull back, she’s smiling, and it’s that smile again—the one that makes your chest tighten and your heart race in a way that nothing else does. Not even the money.

“Let’s go fix everything,” you say, and for the first time in a long time, you feel like maybe, just maybe, you already have.

[bitchesgetriches]

Hi BGR,

I want to get involved in investing but don't know if I should do a IRA(probably roth bc I'm only 20 and a student/working part time) or if I should just go for a normal brokerage account. Ideally, the money will go towards retirement in the very end, but I'm worried if I'll ever need the emergency funds for something and not be able to access them if they're in an IRA. Thoughts?

Why not both?

Personally, I'd start with a Roth IRA. It's tax-advantaged, which means your money has the potential to go a lot farther. Thought you're right that a non-retirement brokerage account is easier to access in the event of an emergency. So here's your order of operations, precious:

Establish an emergency fund. Here's how.

Open a Roth IRA. Here's how.

Open a brokerage fund and start splitting your investments between it and the IRA. Here's how.

Good luck, precious child!

Did we just help you out? Join us on our Patreon!

[moonlit-tulip]

Today, I discovered that the marginal US federal tax rate on long-term capital gains for single filers is 0% given yearly income $47,025 or below. (For 2024; the cutoff-threshold moves with inflation each year.)

This is information which I feel like should be getting a lot more press than it in fact gets, in retirement-planning contexts! And especially in early-retirement-planning contexts. It means that, if one is living reasonably frugally off of one's investments—not even that frugally, necessarily, one can potentially withdraw Actually Kind Of Large amounts of money from one's investments each year while staying under that threshold—one's yearly federal tax-bill will be $0 even when those investments are in ordinary non-tax-protected brokerage accounts, and all the popularly-talked-about dance around accounts with tax-protected growth will thus end up nearly irrelevant.

(Not quite completely irrelevant, because local state/city/etc. taxes mostly don't follow federal taxes in this regard. But those tend to be a lot smaller than federal taxes, and accordingly weigh a lot less on the tradeoff-scales against the downsides of e.g. Roth IRAs not being safe to withdraw from until age 59.5 and suchlike.)

I wish I'd known this years ago, back when I was first starting full-time work and starting to put money away in investment accounts. It'd have let me skip over some in-retrospect-blatant missteps. So I figure I should post about it now, to maybe-if-I'm-lucky save some non-me people from those missteps.

[drdemonprince]

can you provide any additional info about where to invest beyond IRAs, 401(k)s, and HYSAs? i have $ socked away in all of those, but would like to “invest” more than just saving in my HYSA. individual brokerage account in index funds? CDs?

Right now it's a bit of a tricky time, because interest rates have been very high as an anti-inflationary measure, and so Money Markets and CDs pay really well -- but it's probably going to take a bit of a downswing soon since inflation is slowing finally. Personally, I recommend Money Markets over CDs, because you can take your cash out of a money market at any time. Vanguard's are pretty great -- as are their index funds. Most of their index funds have a minimum investment of somewhere between $1500 - 5000; pick one with a low expense ratio (meaning lower fees).

[cbsghostsmetasandtrevor]

Season 3 x 5

I'm hoping this one's good but last episode left big shoes to fill...

With that, live reaction below.

Starting off right when they take the body away. Thor is excited about telling the story of watching his body decay.

Jay OMG.

HETTY you're not helping.

Oh, Pete's such a good guy. Laughing at the Donut Holes. LMAO.

LMAO - Trevor "Epic" to his body being found.

YOU DON'T NEED to borrow the money from Isaac. It's YOUR money.

TREVOR! telling on Jay.

Founding Farter???

WHY TREVOR?? You're not helping? (Although I do like Isaac listening to him). 'cause he's right - bad business people.

Trevor didn't go to Warton. He went to Penn.

LOL - no they aren't. I might be able to like this episode.

NANCY! Love the ghost dating.

Carol asking Pete if he's dating someone? OMG.

Hetty/Sass wanting to know what's in her purse. They are hilarious.

DONT LIE AGAIN. (Didn't you learn the last time?). I do like Carol assuming that it's okay to move on and being happy for him.

PETE getting mad about this. "I SERVED MY TIME."

THOR! OMG.

LMAO - Jay is right. BUT OMG Isaac walking in on that.

Nose candy? OMG THIS SASS/HETTY SL. I LOVE IT.

Also you can only touch things when the same person touching it - how does that work for HMONEY????

AWWWW Alberta! DAMN ALBERTA. He was so thinking that.

OH FUCK TREVOR. You put in it a brokerage account.

ALSO why does it take him so long some times and not long other times?? Wouldn't the computer time out??

ALSO "WE KNOW TREVOR."

OMG $200,000 - I love it. WAIT FUCK. OMG Trevor made them ALOT OF MONEY.

NO NO NO. Isaac, it's HER MONEY.

Or Trevor's Money since he did the work.

Trevor's impressed.

OMG Pete - THIS IS WHY YOU DON'T LIE.

OOOOOH PETEEEE.

I'm DYING. This is terrible.

Ohhhhhh, Carol is like "I don't know from experience." Yes, you do.

A cat magnet???

I do like this solution. I mean, like Isaac should realize that THEY OWE HIM NOTHING.

URINATING ON THE FLOOR????

"Isaac's House of Horse Pie?"

YES JAY STAND UP FOR THINGS!

OKay, NOT A REAL PERSON?? That's a bit far.

He did deserve to be stepped through. BUT PLEASE DON'T CAVE.

He took a bath in tomato sauce?

I don't think that's fair to Jay AT ALL.

Unclogging videos?

"In my experience... logistics." Oh, god.

Alberta calling him hot stuff.

I do like that Pete's finally standing up for himself to Carol. I love Pete! He's finally doing it. That he's told her that he knows about the affair (which she should've realized) and that it was all faked with Alberta/Nancy. It also explains why he doesn't say anything about his feelings for Alberta PRIOR to that first episode with Carol even if it was obvious.

OMG Hetty/Sass and Candy. - DAMN. Might be my favorite side plot.

Sass - they choose Higginstoot????

Awww Isaac's Table. For Isaac and his friends.

Love Hetty calling it a terrible business decision.

Isaac- LMAO.

Awwww that was sweet. I do like the ghosts being about to be surrounded by people and smells again - They were missing some friends though. Alberta? Pete? Nigel (his fiancé?)

HOLY SHIT - this is an Alberta fantasy yes? or or is that his power??? I'm Curious WTF.

YOU CAN'T END LIKE THAT!

I'm screaming.

OVERALL Good Episode after all.

Come Talk to Me People!

[thepowerisyouth]

MONEY / FINANCE STRESS CONTENT WARNING, this next line is unfortunately quite stressful about money so this was an important warning for me to add:

This is also less for the random strangers on the internet who have no reason to trust my advice but more for the 10-15 people I know personally who trust my money advice based on prior experience and Ive sent them my blog link in the last month or two

US stock market is about to tank. On a global perspective its stupidly overpriced because markets like China are hitting 5 year lows (as in we've increased our stock market over 2x since "COVID lows", but their market is even lower than it was then.

Timing is hard but it is entirely possible yesterday was the peak of the market. Might also not tank for 6 months.

Market psychology is fucking weird tho so please absolutely dont 'short' anything, which is basically the same as 'buying puts'. Michael Burry nearly bankrupted all his friends, family, and random investors by insisting on 'shorting' things based on knowledge of impending crisis.

Just sell everything. I mean literally everything. Bond etfs might go up but youd have to have eyes glued to the charts to sell in time. Gold wont do, neither will bitcoin. Their negative correlation to stocks isnt really a thing anymore.

Get every etf, stock, whatever into cash in the brokerage account, then move it out of the banks/brokerage firms and into something physically in front of you because we are, in fact, in another 'historical period of bank runs' its just not quite at the peak yet.

Not trying to increase anxiety beyond nessecary-- its just that any, single bank can immediately freeze your money-- leaving it up to the Federal Government to pay you back-- and it might possibly be the case that youd have to rely on whats called a "bank bail in" to see your savings again.

Not a fun situation to be in, even if it wont happen to most people its just safe practice to do this during a "historical period of bank runs"

----------------

This blog is basically my diary of my thoughts (suprise suprise). But Im an open book, privileged (but poor) little white boy with complex societal/generational abuse and very little home problems so lets fucking go theres a whole mormon cargo van to unpack

Definitely recommend tags Im terrible at them.

---

To those reading this, if you have ever met me in real-life or on the internet than you have taught me varying degrees of information which can be randomly retrieved by my brain at any time depending on current CPU performance. Thoughts of my loving husband have occupied my headspace probably 95% of my time since 14 so he has absolutely taught me at least 100x more than anyone else in the world.

When I say "I", oftentimes Im thinking about "me and my husband", or even sometimes "me and my friends/family", or even sometimes "me and society"--- but I am not always 100% aware of the current headspace environment and/or beliefs of the minds of those around me without feedback

---

There are currently over 8 billion individual varieties of the global human language spoken within the mind. Lets start translating them all. Misunderstood words become mean labels.

I fucking hate mean labels

"Math wiz" = racism and/or classism and/or gender shit. Fuck that shit

When a person is niched off into one part of an 8 billion population human society, it becomes impossible to not "live in a bubble". Bubbles change in size constantly even if not visibly observed. Bubbles can be different sizes depending on your current day-to-day thoughts of your own society. Bubbles must pop. Enlightenment implies life only gets better the more times ya pop and lock it

My path away from purely mathematics, logic, and scientific theory began when I met my husband, and for the first time in my life it became important to me not to be an asshole to everyone around me

Ive been told (only after I started dating my traumatized husband tho and helped him heal a lot) that I'm a natural communicator-- and all my life I found myself listening and learning to everything and everyone around me trying to understand both their and my own motivations-- then I like to garble them up and spit 'em out. My memory recall ability is wonky tho and fluctuates highly with nutrient intake-- I'll get into that later

I wish I could have a million years to read every blog on tumblr. I really do. Connecting & communating is extremely important for understanding one another but it takes time

I had an extremely unique childhood (who hasnt lol), enough so to isolate myself quite a lot through sheer dumb luck. My mom is also everyone's favorite school teacher so of course I was learning a lot from a young age. Luckily I glued myself to the first person who wanted to glue themselves to me equally & we grew exponentially closer to eternity

If its still not clear: my husband and I are bored and love chatting with people, but like most internet loving freaks my mouth don't work sometimes well but my fingies do. My ears got fluff a lot but I got eyes for LEDs like a hawk. Wish they werent LED tho

I also have a naturally short sleep cycle (i.e. extra time for this), and I really wont be offended or weirded out by someone reading through and liking 20+ or whatever of my posts at once randomly. Stories are supposed to be read in chunks, and I think of this blog as a story & also workspace for my thoughts that Id love to see which chapters everyone has read through. Also I love (and only respond positively to) positive feedback, yet also suggestions for ways to improve my "theorums". As in, good faith discussions are totally welcome on any post.

For my 50 year old parents reading my blog so lovingly in their limited evening time-- you can sort by tags to see what topics your familiar with, if you play around with the search function while on my page. Mom. Show dad how to do it

In the very, very bottom of my blog I dont even think I managed to tag shit properly-- but its the roughdraft workings of the philosophy, as well as my own logical framework for answering lifes questions. Its 2 months ago so I might not even be writing according to my own works down there anymore idk I change fast sometimes

Last thing for now here is that I was always criticized by teachers for not showing my work, and for not reviewing my tests before turning in, and I pushed back hard because nearly every time I went over and corrected a mistake-- I saw I most often got it right the first fucking time on a pure hunch. I act on impulse when I'm not meditating mostly for efficiency purposes because I believe I'm correct, but remain open to emotionally positive feedback so I can help remove all doubt.

-------

This might turn into my 'life story' post, as its already going there. Heres what I have so far in the way of my knowledge of my family before I was brought into existence, and my "earliest memories":

Family context:

I dont know jack shit. Nobody talks about it at all.

Here's my own observations Ive made using the framework and perceptive filters I was given--

My whole family is white Texans.

Ancestory is slaveowners of course, further back is a very likely direct parent-child descendent line from the most famous inbred british royalty of the 13th century i.e. King John, whose brother was the arab genociding Richard.

I would call my immediate family as upper poverty class. Its more like poverty with extra privileges cause mental health stigma was the only thing holding them back not other shit too.

As children we had a lot of very privileged opportunities because my parents made a lot of sacrifices to try and bring us back up the class ladder. Lets look into that generational trauma issue

My dads parents (born in the early 40s, dont know the year exactly. I think '43 or '44) were more upper middle class, pretty high income. Owned an insurance business that was very successful by the early 2000s at least. My grandpa is described to me as a "monster" and "violently abusive". I have a single memory of him screaming at me as a young child and I was cowering under a desk, so I really believe it. No other stories at all to provide context.

-- I gotta split this section off I realized I wrote the next thing about post-me context Ill need to move this part lower down later--

My grandpa got early onset dementia, my dad didnt notice in time, and my grandpa bankrupted his successful company and lost several million of dollars to "scammers and sexy ladies."

My dad found out around 2015-16 or so. He told me a little bit after telling me my grandparents were getting divorced. My dad managed to scrape together about $200,000 which is being sued for by the IRS actively.

(He split that money in two, and entrusted me tell him how to invest half in safe value stocks that I handpicked as well as a calculated risk allocation to bonds which we sold for 30% profit the second the market crashed. He gave the other half to a brokerage advisor. I never met the advisor but saw the results. Dont get me started on how the other dude did with that money-- we started this endeavor in January 2020.)

Personally I also dont believe that its possible to spend an entire fortune on scammers and strippers, so Id love to see his books and figure out what the hell went wrong with that asshole. I have a hunch I know something more than anyone else ("Enron", guys, we're talking about an insurance company in HOUSTON, in the 2000s) but I will never be sure without the books.

----

Back to other family--

I do not know a single thing about my grandma on my dads side. She raised me quite a lot, but yeah I literally have only heard her life described to me as "she was a housewife"

On my moms side, my Mimi (also born 1940s but slightly younger so I think 1946 or 1947) came from a divorced, upper middle class family. In 1964-65, She and her step mom both got knocked up the same year so she watched her divorced dad remarry to said step mom when she was 18-19 and getting a shotgun marriage herself, so you can imagine what that was like. The "biological" of the two moms was a very good mom and very queer from what I hear. She died when I was a baby, from lung cancer. Thats all I know. My mimi raised me quite a lot, nearly equally as much as my mom did

My mom's dad, my Papa, came from a rural farming family in East Texas. Dont know much else of anything, but he and his siblings were named "Billy, Bobby, and Betty". As in, they are what everyone likes to call "hicks"

--

Moving onto my direct parents now. I know a little more about them of course, but since we're getting closer in age to the present-- I think itll be easier to describe my understanding as common stereotypes. If its unclear what I mean definitely feel free to ask, but I'll probably say "I dont really know"

Not much else is relevant other than knowing that my moms family was the mormon one, but that as soon as my dad was love-bombed by the church he joined to. Mormons were also different in the 90s I'm told.

My dad struggled with being one of the "crazy schizos" of the 90s. As in, very traumatized, upset, and gaslit by the government and his parents. Must have done a damn good job dealing with it by the time he was in his late 20s and I popped out cause he was never a "bad dad" to me at all. Definitely yelled and was more angry at times, but less than any other friends parents Ive ever met, and from what I remember he came into my room at night and apologized to me literally every single time within like 5-10 minutes. I know pretty much nothing about him pre-me. He was a tradesman my whole life and specialized in remodeling kitchens & bathrooms (the 'dirty work of construction'). All his initial clientele were the rich people my grandma lived near and was friends with.

My mom would have been extremely queer-presenting and posting on tumblr if born in the year 2000, but was born in early 70s, and was a raegan teen in high-school in Texas during the satanic panic-- she presents completely cis, straight, but has body dysmorphia issues. Thats about you need to know about those issues I'm sure my tumblr folks can assume the rest and be perfectly correct. Cause thats about all I know too and I'm assuming the rest about my own mother

--- Earliest memories

I think a lot of people face doubt about their own earliest memories, maybe hearing the way I connect the images of these events in my head to my emotions I felt will help others do the same.

----

Two disclosers about me & my current healthcare discoveries before moving on

1) My only "major" childhood trauma is loneliness. I have a partner now (started dating early high school, nearing 10 years together now) who was just as lonely and we are glued to each others side constantly, and have made our life work great that way. So don't feel too bad reading this, I'm only able to write it down because Ive healed that trauma and can dig this stuff up with no issues to validate the emotions I felt even as a child

1) I believe I have a genetic trait that is only just getting discovered. There are something like 6 discovered mutations that hold this similar trait so far, and its just basically chronic insomia.

It being a genetic trait tracks with how my mom describes me as never settling into a normal sleep pattern at 6 months old, having absurd amounts of nightmares and death anxiety keeping me up at night as a child, and I still dont sleep at any given time. I average 2 hours less sleep than my husband, who averages 7-8 now that he isnt actively being abused at home.

Going to get sequenced but even if negative I'd probably just be a 7th mutation, as they only found the other 6 genes via case study.

The scientists whove discovered it call it "Familial Natural Short Sleeper", if you desire to look it up. They describe the trait like its the best possible thing in the world. Well... terminally chronic insomia is not the best thing in THIS world thats for sure.

---------

My "earliest memories"

These arent ranked by time accurately of course. Took enough effort digging through my brain to turn them up, not like Ive got a 2003 calendar stuffed in here as well.

I did do my best to sort by first memory but it also might be sorted by the order at which I recovered the memories as being one of my "earliest" when I was a child and asked such things

1. Pure emptiness. I can only describe it as dissociation. I can remember nothing about the environment around me, except feeling suddenly sucked out of it, seeing only darkness, feeling almost a ringing in my ears and the deepest dread possible. This same feeling followed me in life for a little while, but started to take more visual shape when I was an adolescent, until at some point I would see myself sitting in a chair alone in a room that is infinitely sized but that slowly gets darker the further out you go. I cant remember what exact "real-world" event caused this feeling to ever happen each time it did. I just can remember having it happen occasionally when I was awake and doing things. Definitely dissociation. (If you are willing to believe me further I think its just probably "lights out" and being scared of that)

1. Riding a mattress down the stairs. I kind of remember two images, one is the tunnel vision of going high speed down the stairs and the other would be from looking back up at the stairs when I was done going down. Totally fun, probably my first rollar coaster ride. I might remember my siblings laughing too but it wouldnt be because I can remember the actual laughing-- but I can remember feeling the joy of being in a group of people laughing. At the time, my parents were selling the house so thats why I also remember it being a completely empty carpeted room that we were riding down into

2. My brother smashing his head repeatedly into the refrigerator for 'fun' and someone saying "wow he has a hard head" or something along those lines. I was learning english I cant remember exactly what they said but that was definitely the meaning I took from their words. I think this memory is strong, because I was truly very curious as to why my brother was just running at full speed, head down, and headbutting a hard surface. The words someone said after that must have been one of my first 'answers'

3. Watching my siblings play in rare Houston snow. Not much remembering there actually. Probably just thought it was mezmorizing to watch as I just really remember a picture and feeling peace

4. Will add more later.

[ignis-cain]

Merrill Lynch Law of Attraction Experiment

Calling All Law of Attraction Followers Are you a believer in the Law of Attraction? If so, then you've come to the right place. It's time to start spreading the word on a greater scale. Most people believe in the saying "If I can't see it I don't believe it." Since this is the case, there are this website many people who think that the LOA isn't real. We know that's not the truth, but how can we help the non-believers see the happiness that the LOA can actually bring into their lives. How about by doing LOA experiments that manifest things that help the masses, instead of just ourselves. Let’s form a group that really wants to help the world get better by using the LOA to manifest great things.

Merrill Lynch Disaster If you're an investor and read the business section I'm sure you've heard that Merrill Lynch got into trouble when large investments in sub-prime mortgages went bad. The brokerage firm lost more than $2 billion in the third quarter. The stock has plummeted from a high of 98 all the way to the 40s and lots of people have lost their shirt.

This has caused great stress to the investment world. I know the devastation first hand because I have a family member who is now on the verge of loosing it all if this stock goes any lower.

Merrill Lynch Law of Attraction Experiment Every LOA expert that I've heard has stated that the best way to test the Law of Attraction is to do an experiment related to something that you don't feel too attached to, meaning, if the LOA manifestation didn't work you wouldn't be upset. I'd like to challenge all LOA followers to join in an experiment to see if we can collectively raise the Merrill Lynch stock up to 68. This would help save thousands of people's bank accounts from going empty and would prove to everyone you know that the LOA does work. Let’s use the LOA for the greater good today and watch it work. Won't it be fun to have proof in the MER stock numbers! How to Manifest MER at 68If you're up for the challenge, here's how I suggest manifesting the Merrill Lynch stock hike. Go to Yahoo.com and click on Finance.

Type in the Ticker Symbol, MER. Look at the first line that says Last Trade and envision the number 68 in that column. Hold that vision in your mind, see it as if it's real, and feel the happiness that all of the investors will feel if the stock reaches that number. This will be an exciting experiment to prove the power of LOA. Once we've accomplished this, there's nothing we can't do for this world. If you have any nationwide or worldwide problems that you'd like to see The LOA Experiment Group tackle, please submit that information so I can put it out there for all to manifest.The Law of Attraction is truly amazing, and if we work collectively to manifest good for others imagine how wonderful our world will be.

[elpi-zw]

Merrill Lynch Law of Attraction Experiment

Calling all Law of Attraction Believers. Let’s join together and use the power of LOA to find out more here manifest wonderful things to improve the World.

Calling All Law of Attraction Followers Are you a believer in the Law of Attraction? If so, then you've come to the right place. It's time to start spreading the word on a greater scale. Most people believe in the saying "If I can't see it I don't believe it." Since this is the case, there are many people who think that the LOA isn't real. We know that's not the truth, but how can we help the non-believers see the happiness that the LOA can actually bring into their lives. How about by doing LOA experiments that manifest things that help the masses, instead of just ourselves.  Let’s form a group that really wants to help the world get better by using the LOA to manifest great things. Merrill Lynch Disaster If you're an investor and read the business section I'm sure you've heard that Merrill Lynch got into trouble when large investments in sub-prime mortgages went bad. 

The brokerage firm lost more than $2 billion in the third quarter. The stock has plummeted from a high of 98 all the way to the 40s and lots of people have lost their shirt. This has caused great stress to the investment world. I know the devastation first hand because I have a family member who is now on the verge of loosing it all if this stock goes any lower. Merrill Lynch Law of Attraction Experiment Every LOA expert that I've heard has stated that the best way to test the Law of Attraction is to do an experiment related to something that you don't feel too attached to, meaning, if the LOA manifestation didn't work you wouldn't be upset. I'd like to challenge all LOA followers to join in an experiment to see if we can collectively raise the Merrill Lynch stock up to 68.

This would help save thousands of people's bank accounts from going empty and would prove to everyone you know that the LOA does work. Let’s use the LOA for the greater good today and watch it work. Won't it be fun to have proof in the MER stock numbers! How to Manifest MER at 68If you're up for the challenge, here's how I suggest manifesting the Merrill Lynch stock hike. Go to Yahoo.com and click on Finance.

Type in the Ticker Symbol, MER. Look at the first line that says Last Trade and envision the number 68 in that column. Hold that vision in your mind, see it as if it's real, and feel the happiness that all of the investors will feel if the stock reaches that number. This will be an exciting experiment to prove the power of LOA. Once we've accomplished this, there's nothing we can't do for this world. If you have any nationwide or worldwide problems that you'd like to see The LOA Experiment Group tackle, please submit that information so I can put it out there for all to manifest. The Law of Attraction is truly amazing, and if we work collectively to manifest good for others imagine how wonderful our world will be.

[roseband]

i mean this in all seriousness.....

every bonus and raise i get at work is cuz i taught myself adobe automation tools and javascript for adobe (even though i took cs in hs like, i could not find a class in what i wanted so i just had to self teach it)

but the only reason i self taught that was cuz i was overly obsessed with kpop

so as long as all my savings accounts are where they should be (percentage of income-wise)... so like 401k, emergency fund, down-payment fund.......(which.....are all invested and/or in high yield 4.5% monthly compounding interest accts and are making their own money)

i can just dump all my disposable income into kpop because if i wasn't unhinged about kpop, i would not have this much disposable income lol

i feel like this is 100% an original meaning of girlmath moment tbh

[gurugirl]

Sorry i’m not American and i don’t understand what you mean by brokerage🥹 do you mind explaining?

Oh! Of course! It's like an investment account where you put money and select where you want your money to sit so your money earns or loses depending on the stock market. Typically when you open up a brokerage account you can select what stocks or options you want. You can choose something very basic that does all the thinking for you - like an S&P 500 index - it basically dips into different kinds of stocks and sets your deposits to be broken up by type of stock without you having to do it. It's pretty safe, and most people are unlikely to come out of it worse off. In fact usually you'll wind up making money. The more money you have in your investment brokerage account and the more money that accumulates the more dividends you make off that money each month.

It's a bit complicated to explain here on tumblr and I'm no expert but I know that other countries have similar things. Google might have better info for you than I do but I hope this helped!

xoxo

[tarot-reader]

I asked about the developments of my concept art portfolio, and suddenly I am covered in stars. It’s a shower of light, drama and passion.

Two of Diamonds. A small check or refund. Letter containing good news in finances. A jewelry set. Pair of earrings or matching necklace. Necklace and bracelet. Small dividend from investments. A bank statement showing that you are not overdrawn on your account. Six of Diamonds. This is a raise in salary, a promotion, a bonus, may mean "a share of the profits," a job well done. Seven of Diamonds. A change in one's finances, usually for the better. A business opportunity or job offer with good or better financial prospects. The gambling card. Refers to gambling of any kind, whether good or not depends on whether it has spades near it. Stock market, Wall-Street, a brokerage firm. Ten of Diamonds. Career. Represents success, security, wealth, freedom from financial fear. This is the bank card, savings accounts, accumulation of money, financial growth. When reading on one's career this means achievement, attainment, fulfillment, progress. In itself an extremely good card. King of Diamonds. A very light man. Blue, gray, green eyes. Very blonde, light hair. Fair complexion. May be bald or balding. Very gray or graying. A professional man. Psychiatristm doctor, lawyer, in government, or engineer Two Kings represent a partnership or friendship. Cooperation in business or dealings. Shaking hands over a deal. Working hard in hand with someone successfully. Implies sharing, working together, getting along. This is something I wish for ardently. The Ten of Hearts was at the bottom of my deck, meaning wish fulfillment. Happiness. Peace of mind. Marriage. Gratification in love, state of bliss. Everything's coming up roses. Church from which derived charity. Philanthropy. Spiritual development. A school or class devoted to self-improvement. Betterment. Evolving.

[bitchesgetriches]

Patron Bitches of Bounty,

What do you know about brokerage accounts? Are they better than HYSAs?

Thank you!

Arise, o noble supplicant, and receive your answer from on high.

The difference is between investing in the stock market (brokerage accounts) and putting your money in a cautious savings account (HYSA/high yield savings account). And the answer all depends on your tolerance for risk.

The stock market comes with more risk. But that also means more reward. I have made far more money in interest by investing in my brokerage account than I have by saving in my HYSA. But the money in my HYSA is relatively safe, even if the return is lower. I have both kinds of accounts, which I recommend to everyone. Here's way more detail on our main site:

{ MASTERPOST } Everything You Need to Know about Investing for Beginners 

Did we just help you out? Join our Patreon!

[bhartisharemarketinstitute]

Know All About Stock Market Trading

For many people, the stock market is a scary and confusing place. But with a bit of knowledge at the no. 1 stock market training institute in the world, it doesn’t have to be! You can get a comprehensive explanation of all the trading concepts by reading further.

What is the Stock Market?

The stock market is where stocks and other securities are bought and sold. The stock market can be used to measure the performance of a whole economy or particular sectors.

How Does Stock Market Trading Work?

Stock market trading can be confusing and complicated for those new to it. So here, we’re going to give a brief overview of how stock market trading works.

Trading can help you get a bit of ownership in various companies. So when you buy a stock, you buy a piece of that company.

The price of stocks is constantly changing. It’s influenced by supply and demand, as well as by news and events affecting the company or the overall economy.

Stock market trading happens when buyers and sellers combine to trade stock prices they are willing to accept. There are many ways to trade stocks, but most trades happen through brokerages.

A broker is simply a middleman that connects buyers and sellers. For example, you’ll place an order with your broker when you want to buy or sell a stock. He will then match you up with someone who wants to trade the opposite way.

What are the Different Types of Stock Markets?

There are three types of stock markets: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The primary market means the place where stocks are first sold to the public. In the secondary market, stocks are bought and sold after they have already been issued. Finally, the tertiary market is where stocks are traded between institutional investors.

The Benefits of Stock Market Trading

The stock market offers many benefits for those who choose to trade stocks. For one, trading stocks can provide an excellent opportunity to make money. With the right strategy, traders can earn a significant profit from their trades. Additionally, the stock market can provide a good way to diversify one’s investment portfolio. Investing in different types of stocks can minimize their risk and maximize their potential returns.

For many people, the thrill of the market is one of the main reasons they choose to trade stocks.

How to Begin Stock Market Trading

Are you thinking about pursuing a crash course at the no. 1 stock market training institute in Pune? Gaining trade knowledge can help you invest in more companies. It can be a great way to invest your money and grow your wealth.

But where do you start?

Some things should be considered before getting started in stock market trading. First, you need to understand how the stock market works.

Once you understand the basics, you need to find a broker. A broker is someone who buys and sells stocks on your behalf. You can make use of an online broker, or work with a traditional broker at a brick-and-mortar brokerage firm.

Once you have a broker, you need to open an account with them. This is where you will deposit money to buy stocks. Your broker will guide you in choosing stocks, and they will execute trades for you.

Stock market trading can be a great way to grow your wealth. But it’s essential to educate yourself before getting started. Use resources like books, articles, and online courses to learn the basics. Then, find a broker and open an account to begin trading.

Different Jobs In Stock Market

There are so many jobs in the stock market. For example, some people work as stockbrokers, while a trading company may employ other kind of roles such as research and analysis, financial analysts, investment advisors, financial advisors, and more.

Conclusion

If you’re considering getting stock market training, choosing BSM, the no. 1 stock market trainer in Maharashtra, is an ideal option. Remember to always conduct research before getting into investing, and never invest more than you can afford to lose. With a little bit of attention and knowledge, stock market trading can be a great way to make some extra cash.

[mariacallous]

A group of activist shareholders in the world’s largest bitcoin investment trust, GBTC, is plotting a coup. The unlikely patchwork of hedge funds, asset managers, and amateur investors is trying to unseat Grayscale Investments, the steward of the trust, whose management they claim has cost them billions of dollars.

Since 2015, GBTC has been marketed as a simple way for regular people to invest in bitcoin without having to deal with an exchange, send crypto between wallets, or figure out how to store it safely. The value of GBTC shares is linked to the price of bitcoin: For every new share created, a fraction of a bitcoin is added to a pot, anchoring its value.

In a series of adverts targeting the general public, some of which aired on major US TV networks, Grayscale described bitcoin as “the future” and the ideal investment for retirees and other investors that “deserve the best.” Now, GBTC shares are owned by hundreds of thousands of amateur investors. 

At the start of 2021, the shares, which had consistently traded at a higher price (sometimes even double) than the underlying bitcoin for years, slumped to 52 percent of the value of bitcoin in mid-December, meaning that for every $1 in bitcoin that shareholders own through the trust, they can only claim back $0.52 by selling their GBTC shares on the market. In aggregate, the discount created a multibillion-dollar hole in investors’ pockets.

“Investors are in limbo,” says Christian Galíndez Beltrán, a shareholder who claims to hold around $200,000 in bitcoin via the trust. “I’m really worried about not being able to redeem the totality of my money.”

Another investor, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions from the brokerage at which he works, says he purchased roughly $30,000 in bitcoin through GBTC with the goal of hedging against inflation as he prepares for retirement. Although his financial situation has not been too badly damaged, he says the performance of the trust has “ill-affected” his marriage; his wife, who “fears the loss is permanent,” has taken to calling him a “bitcoin bozo.”

Thousands of GBTC shareholders like these have registered their support for the activist campaign, according to David Bailey, founder of BTC Inc and hedge fund UTXO Management, and leader of one strand of the movement.

“That’s what makes this a unique situation,” says Bailey. “This product is sold on brokerage platforms in individual retirement accounts. This is your mom and dad thinking they are diversifying their portfolio.”

WIRED spoke to six GBTC shareholders, all of whom told similar stories. One person said they have the entirety of their savings tied up in GBTC, while another has taken on additional work to ensure he is able to sustain himself into retirement. 

Bailey claims that more than 50 institutions, some of which hold several hundred-million-dollar stakes in GBTC, are also involved in the rebellion to unseat Grayscale, representing a total of at least 20 percent of GBTC shares. He claims to be unable to provide proof, citing investor privacy and legal considerations, but supplied WIRED with web traffic and form submission data that suggests at least 2,000 investors have joined the campaign.

Michael Sonnenshein, Grayscale CEO, says his firm is going nowhere. “We have absolutely no intention of stepping down from our role,” says Sonnenshein. “Our trust agreement explicitly states that we would have to voluntarily step down—and our work is not done.”

But the activists are unperturbed. “Our expectation is that, through the pure groundswell of people that want to get out of this thing, pressure is going to be put on,” says Steven McClurg, chief investment officer at asset management firm Valkyrie, another ringleader of the campaign to overthrow Grayscale. “There are a lot of ways to affect change.” He refused to elaborate on what he meant. McClurg describes this information as “secret sauce.”

Crossed Wires

The group spearheaded by Bailey, called RedeemGBTC, wants Grayscale to reduce its 2 percent management fee, which it describes as “predatory,” because it’s calculated against the trust’s bitcoin reserves, not the price of the severely discounted shares. The group also wants Grayscale to allow investors to exchange their shares directly for the underlying bitcoin—in a process known as redemption—as soon as possible.

The nature of the trust’s fee structure, lawyers representing Bailey’s hedge fund have claimed, creates a “perverse incentive” for Grayscale to maximize the number of shares in the trust and restrict redemptions: They argue that the greater the number of shares in the trust, the larger the pot of bitcoin, which swells the revenue generated by management fees. 

McClurg describes this arrangement as a “hostage” situation: Investors cannot exit without absorbing a large markdown on the price of bitcoin.

However, the demands mapped out by Bailey and RedeemGBTC are an unhelpful oversimplification of the situation, suggests Grayscale, which claims to be doing everything in its power to do right by its investors.

Namely, Grayscale has entered into a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its campaign to convert the trust into an exchange-traded fund, or ETF, which would let investors cash in their shares for the bitcoin in the pot. 

On June 29, 2022, the SEC announced it would not grant permission to convert the trust, citing fraud and market manipulation concerns. Grayscale has sued the SEC over the decision, which it calls “arbitrary and capricious.” The two parties are scheduled to present their respective cases to a judge on March 7 and Grayscale expects a final decision to be reached by the autumn. The firm is bullish about the prospects of an ETF of this kind coming to market: “It’s a matter of when, not if,” says Sonnenshein. 

Although Grayscale could reduce its fees in the meantime, Sonnenshein argued in a recent interview with crypto journalist Laura Shin that the funds are best directed toward the ongoing legal battle with the SEC. Once the trust has been converted into an ETF, Grayscale promises to reduce its fees immediately.

There has also been a “meaningful misunderstanding,” Sonnenshein tells WIRED, among frustrated investors, who say that Grayscale could apply to the SEC for exemption from rules that prevent them from cashing out. The only way to apply for exemption, says Sonnenshein, is to pursue conversion to an ETF.

Bailey’s lawyers have also argued that Grayscale could allow investors to cash out without dealing with the SEC at all. But it’s not that simple either, says Sonnenshein, because of a cease and desist letter issued by the SEC in 2016 that prevented the trust from issuing new shares and allowing shareholders to cash out simultaneously.

The complexity of the securities laws that apply to trusts like GBTC creates opportunity for disagreements of this kind. “It’s a spider’s web,” says Andrew Parish, a veteran crypto founder with close relationships to parties across the industry. “It’s a mess that can hardly be understood by anyone other than accountants and lawyers.”

Pretenders to the Throne

Contenders to take over from Grayscale have emerged from the ranks of the rebellion, including McClurg’s Valkyrie. Bailey also has skin in the game: Not only does his hedge fund hold $2.5 million in GBTC shares, but his companies also have a combined $113,000 stake in Valkyrie. If Valkyrie were to succeed in its bid to take on the management of GBTC, it would absorb hundreds of millions of dollars in annual management fees, and Bailey would profit indirectly.

But Bailey also says he holds a stake in DCG, Grayscale’s parent company, that’s greater in value than his Valkyrie position, so he also stands to lose if Grayscale is forced out. “This started because we were frustrated our fund had lost some money on its [GBTC] investment,” says Bailey, “But once we started to receive comments from people about how they had been affected, it became something else. [We realized that] people need immediate relief.”  

While Sonnenshein says Grayscale is always willing to hear investors out, he has reservations about the credibility of the RedeemGBTC campaign, which is run almost exclusively through Bailey’s personal Twitter account and a simple website.

“We always appreciate the opportunity to engage with any and all of our investors,” says Sonnenshein. “[But] it’s tough to take seriously a Twitter account as a standalone, as compared to the nearly 1 million investor accounts we have across the US … Anyone could go to the website and say they have one share or 10 million shares—and there’s no verifying it.”

But RedeemGBTC is not the only group Grayscale has to contend with. In December, investment firm Fir Tree filed a lawsuit against Grayscale in an effort to force the firm to hand over information that might assist in an investigation into potential mismanagement and conflicts of interest. The lawsuit asserts that Grayscale’s “shareholder-unfriendly actions” have harmed Fir Tree customers that hold GBTC shares, many of which are pension funds.

This was followed in late January by a lawsuit filed by asset management firm Osprey Funds claiming Grayscale made “false and misleading statements in its advertising and promotion” that gave investors the impression that GBTC’s conversion into an ETF was a “foregone conclusion.” Osprey also claims Grayscale’s approach to advertising has made it impossible for competitors, including itself, to accrue meaningful market share.

Like Valkyrie, Osprey has called on Grayscale to step down as sponsor and put itself forward as a replacement. In an open letter, Osprey CEO Greg King promised to cut the management fee by 75 percent, seek immediately to implement a redemption program, and collaborate with regulators instead of pursuing litigation.

The Fir Tree and Osprey lawsuits were described by Jennifer Rosenthal, vice president of communications at Grayscale, as “baseless” and “frivolous,” respectively. “We remain steadfast in our belief that the conversion of GBTC to an ETF is the best long-term product structure for investors, and are 100 percent committed to that endeavor,” she says.

As it stands, the various parties are locked in a stalemate; Grayscale says it’s not going anywhere and remains confident in the strength of its case against the SEC, while the activists are scratching their heads over how to remove the firm.

In the meantime, the situation threatens to devolve into a mud-slinging contest, says Parish, as Grayscale tries to ride out this difficult period.

It is not necessarily in Grayscale’s interest for the conversion to an ETF to take place too quickly, he says, because the recent negative press around DCG and its subsidiaries (the lending unit of one subsidiary, Genesis, filed for bankruptcy in January) would likely cause investors to run for the exit at the earliest opportunity, taking millions of dollars in management fees with them.

“The entirety of Grayscale’s strategy here is to limit redemptions and then PR, PR, PR. And to fight legal battles on whatever field they have to fight,” claims Parish.

Sonnenshein contests the idea that activating redemptions would trigger a customer exodus, arguing that the “regulated, battle-tested” ETF structure will attract an even larger audience and an even greater amount of capital into bitcoin. He also says that converting the trust into an ETF has been the plan from the outset. “This is something that investors want and deserve,” he says.

If the courts were to rule against Grayscale and the company exhausts all remaining legal avenues of appeal, Sonnenshein says it would pursue a tender offer whereby a portion of shareholders are bought out of their shares at a price established with “investor fairness” in mind.

But RedeemGBTC and Fir Tree do not share Grayscale’s conviction in the strength of its case against the SEC, which is described by the pair as “doomed” and “wasteful,” respectively, and point to the need for an urgent resolution to the situation.

“If we thought Grayscale was going to be successful [in converting GBTC to an ETF], we wouldn’t try to stop it. We just don’t think it’s going to happen—so something has to be done,” says Bailey. 

Three other shareholders say they believe it is unlikely for an ETF to be approved while Gary Gensler, sitting chairperson of the SEC, remains in charge. (Gensler’s term is due to end in 2026.) The SEC declined to comment.

“They [Grayscale] are going to dig their heels in and fight to the very end, but it’s not going to bode well for them,” says McClurg. “Financial services is a confidence game; when your clients lose faith, you’ll never get them back. In the long run, I think they’re done.”