In the previous article, I had listed in detail the books by Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger that I read in 2024. Some readers later asked repeatedly, so I will list them again here.
The main ones I have read are: the transcript of Mr. Buffett's speeches at the shareholders' meeting, Mr. Buffett's letters to shareholders, 'The Munger Way', and 'The Tao of Charlie Munger'.
My main approach to these books is to understand the investment philosophy of the two gentlemen. The most enlightening for me in these books are Mr. Buffett's speeches at the shareholders' meetings.
These speeches basically answer all the questions that investors have in understanding the investment process of the two gentlemen. The books are very good, but the only problem is that they are too thick, and I suspect very few people can read them patiently.
But if one can carefully read through these speeches, I think one can not only understand the investment method of the two gentlemen in general, but also basically understand a series of their actions in the investment market (such as the large-scale sale of Apple stock recently, and the large-scale purchase of XX company's stock during this period), so as not to be led to various speculations and guesses by a large number of self-media.
However, I think these books also have limitations (I'm not saying the two gentlemen have limitations, but the scope of the books is limited). They are still "looking at the mountain from the mountain", reflecting the two gentlemen's judgment methods on the micro-field, especially on specific companies and projects.
I always hope to stand at a higher level and use methods that go beyond investment itself to understand the track, assets, development and trends of our investment.
Another book I read this year gave me a bit of this feeling - it made me more firmly believe in the future of the crypto track, and more firmly believe that the crypto ecosystem is the future of people like me.
It is 'The Great Game: The Rise of Wall Street's Financial Empire' (published by CITIC Press).
This book describes the development process of Wall Street from scratch to becoming the financial center of the United States and the world.
In the early days, Wall Street was a completely unregulated, chaotic market. The market was full of untrustworthy and shady forces. People came to Wall Street not to buy good companies, but to make money, cash out and defraud.
In the early days, even the U.S. Treasury Secretary was in cahoots with Wall Street speculators, and even the Supreme Court justices were bribed by speculators to change their rulings overnight.
At that time, Wall Street was a thorn in the eye and a pain in the flesh of several U.S. presidents.
But it was this kind of market, although chaotic, but its freedom attracted financial capital from all over the world, and these capital, in the course of every technological revolution and industrial boom experienced by the United States, have been the source of funds that constantly pushed the prosperous development of American industry and economy.
In the early days, every industrial revolution experienced by the United States without exception became the subject of speculation on Wall Street. The countless speculative elements on the street would depict the narrative space as magnificent, and would hype the financial bubbles as luxurious and dazzling. Out of 100 companies that were packaged and listed, maybe only 2 were really doing business, 3 were barely doing business, 25 were not up to par, and 70 were just shell companies.
Each of these bubbles would change the fate of countless "poor" people, and the brutal recession after the bubble burst would make countless "big shots" lose everything, even causing shocks and crises throughout society.
Whenever such shocks and crises spread throughout society, the American people would use their power to force the U.S. government to take measures to regulate the illegal acts in the middle.
But on the other hand, the vested interests of Wall Street are unwilling to be bluntly constrained, and they will always use their money and power to maneuver and negotiate with the U.S. government, struggling to the death.
The compromise resulting from the tug-of-war between these two forces means that on the one hand, the illegal acts that provoke public outrage are regulated, but on the other hand, the freedom of financial innovation is also allowed to remain on Wall Street, sowing the seeds for the next round of innovation.
Apparently, Wall Street is the source of one disaster after another, being cursed and spat upon by the whole society time and again, but after each disaster, it can rise from the ashes and become the home of "dreamers" again, and once again lead the technological revolution and industrial revolution of the United States in the financial sector.
This kind of market with a mixture of good and evil, and free vitality, has a quality that no other financial market in the world can match, which ultimately makes it the financial center of the world.
The crypto ecosystem is simply a virtual version of Wall Street.
The sordidness of the crypto ecosystem today is exactly like the dirtiness of Wall Street in the past, the chaos of the crypto ecosystem today is exactly like the disorder of Wall Street in the early days, and the ubiquitous lies in the crypto ecosystem today are exactly like the ubiquitous fraud in Wall Street in the early days.
Like Wall Street, the crypto ecosystem does not lack "wealth creation myths" with each revolutionary outbreak, and each bubble attracts "poor" dreamers.
More fairly than Wall Street, the crypto ecosystem does not believe in origin, does not believe in background, has no prejudice, no threshold, no discrimination, no censorship, it always keeps the door open to adventurers, always gives participants equal freedom and equal rights.
Wall Street has contributed an endless stream of funds to every industrial revolution and technological revolution in the United States, and the crypto ecosystem has also contributed an endless stream of funds to every revolution and technology that has erupted in the ecosystem, from the earliest Ethereum to DeFi, NFT, and AI agents today.
But compared to Wall Street, the crypto ecosystem also has unparalleled superiority: all its gameplay is open, all transactions are transparent, contracts are the law, cannot be violated or interfered with.
Wall Street has played an incalculable role in making America what it is today, and I believe the crypto ecosystem will also make an incalculable contribution to the future position of the virtual world.
More than 200 years ago, the riffraff, ruffians and heretics who fled persecution, hunger and in search of hope went to the new continent, and ended up creating a new country.
More than 200 years later, the ordinary people, the Mr. and Mrs. Smiths, who cautiously entered the crypto world to change their life circumstances and realize their wealth dreams, will definitely create an even greater and better new world.
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This Saturday (January 4, 2025), we will have our first online exchange on this new Twitter account, and you can post your questions in the link below.
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