Re: Ethereum could afford a 51% attack on Bitcoin, and profit greatly from it
I'm almost sure that these effects would make the attack a huge loss for the attackers. Well, as long as they don't short Ethereum too (and other blockchains ...) while they perform the attack 
(this may actually a real vulnerability for a coordinated attack against crypto as a whole ... but supposedly there are not enough coins to short)
(this may actually a real vulnerability for a coordinated attack against crypto as a whole ... but supposedly there are not enough coins to short)Doesn't matter if there'd be enough coins to short though; in the end shorts are just IOUs and as we all know that there's no limit to those, at least if we talk about shorting on centralized exchanges. It would still be a risky play though, given that squeezing shorts can be just as profitable.
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Either way, as interesting as I find this whole discussion to be, there are probably cheaper and more effective ways to sway the market in one way or another.
Imagine what you could do with even the low end of $6 billion. That's 17 times the budget of Avengers: Endgame, except it's a whole cinematic universe about crypto (tacky, I know, please don't do this). 8 stadiums like the crypto.com arena, except the crypto-community builds and owns it, instead of merely sponsoring it. Provide UBI for a small town of 1,500 people (named after the cryptocurrency of your choice), each receiving a yearly income of 50k over a lifespan of 80 years.
Or, you know, just buy a handful of politicians.
I believe either of these would probably more effective than attempting a 51% attack on Bitcoin.
I'm sure that you are right to some extent, but then again, by that logic, the Ethereum investors, as well as Bitcoin investors, should then all pursue these ventures and make their fortunes double in no time.
If we assume the hypothesis that Ethereum would fully conquer Bitcoin's share of the cryptocurrency market if Bitcoin is reduced to almost nothing, then we are talking about a growth of the investors assets of ~200% over just a matter of a few years (or perhaps less, in theory).
If they knew other investment ventures that could come even close to competing with that, they would certainly invest all their money in those, rather than being crypto investors.