When Algorithms Amplify Greed: Did You Really Buy Crypto Because You Fear Losing Control?

The Tariff Was Never the Point

I sat across from my Chicago lakefront apartment last June, scrolling through Fox News as Trump declared he had no intention to extend the 90-day tariff pause. On surface, it sounded like policy. Beneath? It was performative dread—a ritual of control dressed in economic jargon.

The numbers weren’t arbitrary: 25%, 35%, 50%. They were psychological thresholds. Each percentage was a lever pulled not by Congress, but by anxiety—designed to make nations feel measured, judged, and vulnerable.

The Algorithm That Watches You

At CoinMetrics, we call this ‘emotional arbitrage.’ When governments encode fear into tariffs, markets don’t react to trade—they react to identity. Are you friendly? Or are you expendable? The real transaction isn’t currency exchange—it’s behavioral surveillance.

We built models where every digit is a mirror reflecting back your deepest insecurity: Will you buy what makes you feel safe—or will you buy because they told you to?

What Are We Really Buying?

I used to think crypto was about decentralization. Now I know it’s about surrendering autonomy to algorithmic hunger.

The blockchain doesn’t liberate us—it reflects us.

The market’s noise isn’t risk. It’s your inner voice screaming for proof that someone else still holds the keys.

You didn’t buy Bitcoin for wealth. You bought it because silence felt louder than truth.