The rules of the market are the same everywhere: money is redistributed from small players to large ones, but sometimes the opposite happens.
And panic during such distributions is a constant companion not only in crypto but also in other markets, like gaming. In one day, the market for gaming items in CS2 lost about $1.8-2 billion.
⚙️ What happened?
Valve released an update. Previously, obtaining rare in-game items took a lot of time and money. After the update, it became possible to get them almost 'for free'.
📈 Why did some get rich while others lost?
Players who got rich were those who bought or accumulated many expensive items in advance, able to sell them profitably at the peak of demand, while others tried to obtain them. One gamer earned $4.4 million by smartly selling a collection of items before the crash.
For many collectors, this day became a 'black swan'. Those who held onto the rarest items until the last moment lost: they depreciated by 20-50%.
📝 As a result
The Valve update did not destroy the market, but simply rebooted the balance between the rarity and availability of items.
Usually after such shocks, prices normalize: expensive items partially recover, while cheap ones stabilize at a new level.
But for investors, this is a kind of reminder that even in a virtual economy, real market laws apply.