r/Bitcoin banned me for posting the article I wrote for Psychology Today on the FOMO-FUD Cycle (and IOTA) despite the fact that it had already received 200 upvotes. Here are my thoughts.
I felt compelled to make this post because the action taken by at least one moderator of r/Bitcoin demonstrates some of the problematic behavior described in my article. Here’s the gist of what happened.
I'm a neuroscientist and journalist (www.bobbyazarian.com). Yesterday Psychology Today published my article, “How Fear Is Being Used to Manipulate Cryptocurrency Markets,” which received 100k views in 24 hours thanks to the crypto-community sharing it widely (my editor informed me that this was all organic growth, as they had not shared it on social media yet).
At 2500 words in length, it is heavily researched, transparent, and vetted by the Psychology Today editorial team.
In it I discuss what I refer to as the “FOMO-FUD cycle,” which is probably a self-explanatory term to anyone reading this here. In the article, I use IOTA as a recent and prototypical example of how the cycle can artificially drive up and drive down prices so that some can profit at the expense of other investors. In it, I also try to get to the truth regarding the whole IOTA ordeal, as misinformation both hyping it up and spreading FUD had made it almost impossible for the average investor to cut through all the B.S. I feel that I can confidently say I was careful to present both sides of the story, going as far as to link the prime articles and tweets that were critical of IOTA. While writing it, I took special caution to be as objective as possible, as I knew there was little room for error when rebuking other journalists for inaccurate reporting.
Yesterday someone shared the article on this subreddit where it received over 2k upvotes. Shortly after that post, I decided to share it myself on r/Bitcoin since it contained information that would be valuable to any cryptocurrency investor, including Bitcoin holders. If you read the article you will see that it is ultimately about what the crypto community—as well as the journalists covering it—can do to help the crypto-space and blockchain movement flourish.
When I went to sleep it had well over 100 upvotes and was steadily climbing up the ranks.
When I woke up, it was missing from the "top" page on r/Bitcoin, despite having 200 upvotes, and I found this message in my inbox.
“You have been temporarily banned from participating in r/Bitcoin. This ban will last for 30 days. You can still view and subscribe to r/Bitcoin, but you won't be able to post or comment. Note from the moderators: altcoin spam”
My question is, how can you call something spam that has received thousands of upvotes from the broader crypto-community, and two hundred from your own members? The article is also clearly not only for people interested in IOTA—that coin was just chosen as an example of a problem that has affected every coin at one time or another, especially Bitcoin, as statements from people like Jamie Dimon calling it a “fraud” are is FUD-filled as it gets.
Obviously, the removal of the post and the ban were not warranted, but why did it happen? No one else had shared it on that page and I only posted it once. With over 2k post karma, there was no reason to suspect me as a spammer. I have replied to the mod team but have yet to receive a response.
What was the motivation of the moderator who decided to take this action? Was he/she trying to suppress information that they saw as helping a currency that could pose a threat to Bitcoin? Did it strike a nerve because they were one of the FOMO- or FUD-spreaders the article referred to? What excuse will they come up with?
I’m also posting this because I don’t know how often this kind of thing happens (not just on that subreddit, but others as well), and from things I’ve read here and there, it might be a real issue.
Bottom-line: There’s no need for infighting amongst the cryptocurrency community. Bitcoin’s success helps Ethereum, Litecoin, IOTA, etc., and those coins’ success in turn helps Bitcoin. The blockchain/cryptocurrency movement—which is nothing short of a revolution—is strongest when it is united instead of when sub-communities use sketchy cyber-tactics to hurt those coins/communities they see as competitors or threats.
The world is about to shine a spotlight on cryptocurrency. If we want to see mass adoption we should make sure it is looking its best.
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