Maps have been mostly in the green this week with a huge 10% spike in Bitcoin on Tuesday.
Over the course of 48 hours, the leading crypto
gained $1000.
It was good news across the board as 98/100
of the top cryptos posted gains.
Also this week, Goldfinger aka Peter Schiff
thinks Bitcoin is doomed, billionaire Marc
Lasry thinks it’ll hit $40k in 5 years,
and former Chief strategist of the White House
Steve Bannon is in talks to release his own
crypto for the populist movement.
Here is your weekly hodler’s digest..
Congress talked crypto this week
In a hearing titled: “The Future of Money:
Digital Currency,”
They discussed the use of cryptocurrency and
blockchain, arguing whether central banks
should introduce a digital currency.
Ultimately banks need to decide if they were
in or out of crypto.
At one point, a central bank digital currency
was described as one of the worst financial
ideas of recent times, but one that was still
conceivable.
The Federal Reserve adopting a central bank
digital currency would result in it become
the overwhelming credit allocator of the U.S.
economic and financial system.
If fiat money becomes digitized, its nature
will not be changed, and will still be centralized.
The main thing that would get in the way of
mass adoption was tracking profits and losses
for capital gains taxes.
One congressman pushed for an outright ban,
but another argued the case for sensible regulation,
pointing out that just because it can be used
for illegal activity does not mean it should
be criminalised.
After all, criminals use computers, planes,
and cars to commit crime, and those are all
still legal.
Talk of a centralized cryptocurrency is worrying,
so let’s hope the more pragmatic voices
win out in regards to crypto and regulation.
This week on the Joe Rogan experience, Peter
Schiff went after Bitcoin, and he went for
the jugular!
As a Libertarian he said it was tailor made
for him, he hates government and there is
plenty wrong with fiat.
However, he thinks Bitcoin is a tailor made
bubble and the smart people are selling, but
some true believers are willing to go down
with the ship.
He regrets not getting into earlier, as it
was below $10 when he first heard about it.
Contrary to popular belief ,it is his understanding
of how Bitcoin works, not his ignorance, that
informs his views.
He went on to compare it unfavorably to gold:
He also committed sacrilege by giving Satoshi
the wrong name:
Schiff also believes governments will use
Bitcoin’s failure as a way to criticize
the free market and expand the government.
Peter Schiff did correctly predict the 2008
financial crash, so let us know in the comments
if his warning worries you, or if this just
Shiff spreading FUD and schilling for his
gold company?
Elon Musk was forced by Tesla investors to
apologize to a diver this week for insulting
him on Twitter.
Hopefully he has learnt a valuable lesson
in the time out corner.
But not all billionaires are petulant children,
take Marc Lasry for example.
This week he said Bitcoin could reach $40k,
with investors making five or 10 times their
money in a 3-5 year time frame.
He believes this will happen as the cryptocurrency
is more widely accepted and becomes easier
to trade.
Lasry runs a distressed debt investment firm
which manages nearly $10 billion in assets.
He regrets not buying Bitcoin earlier but
did clarify that all the crypto he hodls was
bought using his own personal funds.
Don’t worry Marc, although you are late
to the party, you are more than welcome and
after Bitcoin spiked 10% on tuesday, the sky’s
the limit...we hope.
The swiss army knife has many utilities, a
corkscrew, a compass, even a pen.
Maybe one day they’ll add a cold storage
key.
But for now SIX Group, the parent company
of Switzerland’s main stock exchange, have
settled for adding crypto trading to its budding
digital platform, set to launch by mid-2019.
The platform will be a “fully-regulated”
platform for trading digital assets.
The service is set to offer a range of services,
including initial coin offering (ICO) consulting.
SIX Group spokesman Stephan Meier claimed
that there is a “real need” for the establishment
of “transparency and accountability in the
crypto-world.”
Meier also noted that the company “wants
to build a bridge between the traditional
financial services and digital communities.”
Meier did clarify, however, that nothing is
100% and that they are open to crypto, but
no plans are set in stone.
Earlier this week, Switzerland was named the
second “most favorable” country for ICOs,
outperformed only by the U.S.
Former White house chief strategist Steve
Bannon confirmed his plans to get into crypto,
possibly issuing a token for the worldwide
populist movement.
Bannon also mentioned he owned some Bitcoin,
but didn’t say how much.
“We are working on some tokens now, utility
tokens, potentially for the populist movement
on a worldwide basis.
But they have to be quality.”
Bannon also criticised the ICO market:
“Too many investors I think have been blown
out by things that are not thought through.”
The collaborative effort on issuing his own
tokens would likely be through talks with
investors and hedge fund managers, as Cointelegraph
previously reported.
Bannon intends to then distribute them via
his own private investment firm.
Bannon’s particular brand of populism is
spreading throughout Europe and America.
Governments in Italy and Hungary have recently
elected far right parties that ran on anti-immigrant,
anti-globalist platforms; and don’t forget
#MAGA.
Never has the term ‘White paper’ seemed
more appropriate.
Novogratz is a true believer, but he’s still
a realist.
He explained this week that there are obstacles
preventing widespread blockchain and crypto
adoption
The increasing “cost of technical talent”
The doubts of conventional investors
“Think about how institutional investors
operate.
It’s hard to tell your boss ‘I have money
in places you have never heard of.’
You need a trusted, name custodian — a Japanese
bank or HSBC or ICE or Goldman Sachs — to
allow institutional investors to feel comfortable.”
He urges the public to get into blockchain
and crypto, reassuring people that it’s
not necessary for users to understand the
tech in detail.
Novogratz predicted that Bitcoin would hit
$10k by the end of 2017, technically he was
right.
It did hit 10k, but then skyrocketed to $20k
in December.
His latest prediction is more general but
just as bold, he now believes mass adoption
of crypto and blockchain can be expected in
5-6 years!
Well, Mike, we certainly prefer your crystal
ball to Peter Schiff’s’!
Schiff did predict the 2008 financial crisis,
is he right about Bitcoin?
Let us know in the comments
And as always like, subscribe, and hodl.
