Day 295
A big stupid circle
Wash trading is a strategy in which the buyer and the seller are effectively on both sides of the deal, and a person will essentially sell themselves an asset to create the illusion that a particular asset is far more attractive than it actually is.
Imagine you're a pop star signed to a major label who has produced a new song. You really, really want to get it out to a top hits playlist because people who listen to music often use them as a guide to what they should listen to next.
So to do this, your label identifies hardcore fans, lures them to your concerts and fills up Internet with crap that reminds people of you. If your songs are any good, you rise on the charts. And then fans want to hear and see more.
The same is true for self-help books sold on Amazon. The practice can even apply to pilgrimages by visiting dignitaries to Bucha outside of Kyiv, which is what I thought when I listened to Serhiy Leshchenko explain laboriously to Mark Feygin wh…
