Category Archives: Bitcoin
Erik Voorhees: Bitcoin will replace the Feds ‘pre-mined’ dollar – Decrypt
The Feds ability to print money out of thin air makes the US dollar equivalent to a pre-mined cryptocurrency, said Shapeshift CEO Erik Voorhees, speaking at Consensus 2020 on May 11.
Referring to the Feds decision to print money in response to the coronavirus shutdown, Voorhees agreed that money printing was the equivalent of a pre-mine in crypto terms. Voorhees said: Its a pre-mine that isnt stated up front in the whitepaper. Its a pre-mine thats ongoing, and no one is clear on how long it will occur, or how big it will be, adding, Its just theft.
Voorhees stated his case for the use of what he terms real money like Bitcoin, and said it could withstand global disasters like the current coronavirus lockdown. Voorhees said:
In a world where people are using real money, it would be one in which viruses could not change the long term relationships of economic actors. In a world where people are using real moneymarket-based moneythe marketplace would be less influenced by governments who are quick to jump into complex systems which they dont understand, and cannot affect as efficiently as they believe, he said.
When it was put to Voorhees that the cryptocurrency space might also contain economic actors who dont fully understand those complex systems, he replied:
Well with Bitcoin it removes the ability of humans to change the monetary policy. And thats good, in the same way we dont have the ability to affect mathematics, we dont have the ability to affect gravity or the changing of the seasons or how the planets orbit the sun, he said.
Removing the ability for humans to exercise arbitrary power seemed to be a theme of Voorhees talk. The CEO said that while vaccines for the coronavirus may be found, no vaccine will stop government intervention into peoples lives.
The virus will go away. What wont go away is the intervention; the habit of intervention. That doesnt recede, that doesnt go away when the vaccine is found, Voorhees said, adding, Im not so concerned about the effects of the virus, but of the effects of government intrusion into peoples lives.
Voorhees said the habit of running to the government for help usually causes more problems than it solves. And he thinks their hold over the apparently pre-mined money supply has to be loosened.
Something as crucial as money that kind of thing should not be within the purview of any small group of people to unilaterally change, he said.
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Erik Voorhees: Bitcoin will replace the Feds 'pre-mined' dollar - Decrypt
Review Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet – Cointelegraph
Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet is filmmaker Torsten Hoffmanns follow up to his award-winning 2015 documentary Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It.
His first film looked at the history (and failings) of money and the financial system, and how Bitcoin was poised to revolutionize and solve many of its problems. Now, Cryptopia brings us up to date with the current state of play in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain.
The documentary is split into three acts.
First we get an introduction to the fundamentals of Bitcoin, recapping the problems with traditional finance from the earlier film and highlighting Bitcoins initial stated purpose as peer-to-peer digital cash.
Hoffmann talks about the benefits of Bitcoin with a veritable whos who of industry figures, from Wences Casares, to Andreas M Antonopoulos and Laura Shin. We also see how and why big banks and governments have kicked back against the top-ranked cryptocurrency.
We then move on to Bitcoins explosive growth in value since the first film, and repositioning from digital cash to digital gold.
Hoffmann revisits Roger Ver, who had previously espoused Bitcoin as a fast and cheap method of moving money around the world, to investigate the block-size debate and eventual fork of Bitcoin Cash.
He also speaks to Blockstreams Samson Mow, for his take on the split, along with Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin.
The film then moves on to tackle the move from one blockchain to hundreds of blockchains. Hoffmann explains the concept of smart contracts and the Ethereum network, speaking to Vitalik Buterin, Vinny Lingham, and Tone Vays for their opinions, both positive and negative.
Hoffmann takes a look at the initial coin offering, or ICO, phenomenon, bringing blockchains and currencies for every conceivable purpose, along with a wave of scams and fraudsters into the space.
We see how big business and finance is co-opting blockchain technology, sometimes through the use of private centralized networks. We see the tokenization of traditional securities and totally new forms of assets.
Through looking at the examples of the development of the motor car and the early internet, Hoffmann highlights similarities with todays blockchain industry.
He notes the rise of internet censorship in certain jurisdictions, and discusses the potential of blockchain to overcome this. We also consider the hegemony of tech giants and their control of our information and identities, looking at the possibilities of decentralization to overcome this.
To round up, the film considers the possibilities of Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, although notes the controversy created following the DAO hack and subsequent rollback of the Ethereum blockchain.
Hoffmann finally talks to Craig Wright (who behaves exactly as expected), touching on the Bitcoin Cash/Bitcoin SV split, and finally coming full circle to Satoshis disappearance and how this has worked for Bitcoin.
The film has been professionally researched, shot, and put together. It assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, and follows a well structured story, making it accessible to all.
Hoffmanns style and delivery works well. He is authoritative yet friendly and open, being unafraid to challenge or poke fun at characters like Craig Wright, while always being even-handed and letting people speak.
Sure, for those who are already invested in the industry and technology, there is little new to learn here, but for the uninitiated it is an excellent primer into a world that they may have heard about, but not really understand.
For me personally, both this film and Hoffmanns previous documentary made me incredibly proud to be part of this movement that is literally changing the world.
My only criticism (and it is a minor one) is the song which plays out over the credits. Penned by Hoffmann himself and Malaysian singer, Prema Yin, it is a powerful, soulful number, rousing the spirits until you listen more closely and realise that it is about cryptocurrency.
To be fair, it is probably the least cringe-inducing cryptocurrency-related song that Ive ever happened across, with intelligent lyrics and a proper decent tune. However this is a bit like being the least cancerous case of sunburn; the end consequence still consists of a pair of bright red cheeks.
Sorry, and maybe this is just me, but the worlds of cryptocurrency and music (both of which I love individually) should never cross paths.
However, I have no hesitation in recommending this film, which is available to stream now at cryptopiafilm.com for a price of just under 9 Australian dollars ($5.88)... and you can always make a cup of tea when it gets to the credits.
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Review Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet - Cointelegraph
Bitcoin could hit above $100000 by August 2021 – Nairametrics
Following last weeks lifting of the COVID-19 lockdown in Abuja, Lagos, and Ogun states, one of the first things most Nigerians did was to rush down to the banks. As Nairametrics had reported, it was quite dramatic, as long queues formed in front of different banks in Lagos and Abuja.
In line with safety guidelines, the bank customers were prevented from entering the banking halls all at once. Instead, the banks ensured that only a limited number of people were allowed inside at the same time. As a result, the crowd outside the banks kept increasing. This was the case throughout much of last week.
The reason those bank customers risked being infected by the Coronavirus as they violated social distancing whilst standing in those queues, is as sad as it is disturbing. During the month-long lockdown, many of them experienced various types of failed online banking transactions. This is why they stormed the banks in large numbers as soon as they could move freely again.
According to Mr. Mbanefo, a relationship manager in a bank (name withheld), working from home during the lockdown made it impossible to adequately assist customers who were having challenges. This is because many bank workers did not have access to some of the vital tools they would normally need to attend to such customers. He explained:
One of the challenges of working from home as a banker is that there are lots of software that we use that cannot be accessible from home because of security reasons; not because they cannot be made available to us at home. For example, you cannot check peoples account balance from your house. So, even though the software to do that can be made available for us at home, it cant.
Also, having access to files that are saved in your work computer is key when you are working. But when you work from home as a banker, you cannot access such files. You also cannot use USB and other devices to copy them to your laptop. So, thats another challenge.
Note that all these are rules that can be relaxed if the society needs them to be. Its just that banks are very paranoid about security because we are handling money.
The same reason was echoed by most bankers who spoke to Nairametrics but refused to be named due to fear of losing their jobs.
Speaking to Nairametrics, a US-based Nigerian HR professional, Ikechukwu Ossi, explained that last weeks bank rush was indicative of the adverse effects of banks lack of technological preparedness. According to him, the Nigerian banking industry is comprised mainly of face-to-face financial services providers who treat online/technology services as novel products designed for the elite or educated class of the society.
He also faulted the fact that Nigerian banks typically work 9-5, even as the skills required of most bankers are basic and focused mainly on banking.
READ MORE: Nigerian banks face gloomy future over low oil prices, coronavirus
In his extensive emailed response to Nairametrics inquiries, Ossi argued that the Nigerian financial sector needs to urgently begin to adapt to the realities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, the post COVID19 banking in Nigeria will be drastically different in the following ways:
To illustrate my points, here are a few questions that Bank CEOs and CBN governor need to answer for themselves and maybe to shareholders Why would a financial services institution in 2020 require a customer to visit a bank branch to complete an account opening or a loan application form? Why do we need this many employees (with all the inefficiencies) to handle a single banking transaction? Why have we not automated a majority of the banking transaction to improve efficiencies? Why do we need so many highly skilled banking employees and why do they need to work so many hours per week? Inpost COVID19, why do we need a 50-storey headquarter building?
READ ALSO: What banks might do to avoid getting crushed by Oil & Gas Loans
Without a doubt, nobody could have envisaged with much certainty that the Coronavirus pandemic would have this much impact on the Nigerian economy and specifically, the banking industry. But one thing is clear now, and that is the fact that the future. And like Ossi noted in his concluding remarks, we do not need a crystal ball to tell us some of the inevitabilities, including those listed below:
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Bitcoin could hit above $100000 by August 2021 - Nairametrics
Bitcoin price action causes an increase in spread on low-tier exchanges – AMBCrypto
Bitcoins price suffered from immense selling pressure in the market on 10 May, causing the value of the coin to drop to $8,109. However, the tug of war between the buyers and sellers continued the following day. At press time, the BTC price has managed to reach $8,847.81 as the block reward halving was just 50 blocks away.
Due to the turbulent spot market, there was a disparity noted on derivatives platforms of certain exchanges. Low tier exchanges like Bybit noted a surge not only in volume but also Open Interest [OI]. According to data provided by Skew, Bybits volume and OI reported an ATH.
The volume recorded on 10 May was $4.2 billion, whereas the OI was at its peak of $313 million on 8 May.
This surge in the price took place while BTC was on a fall, fueling trades resulting in increased activity. Bybit noted a reduced spread in $1 million, however, other smaller exchanges like bitFlyer noted a surge in its spread across $5 million B/O spread. According to Skew, the spread on bitFlyer and Deribit had increased post 12 March. But Deribit managed to create liquidity and its current spread stood at 1.50%, whereas bitFlyer remained illiquid and after recent price action, its spread stood at 3.08%.
However, Deribit and bitFlyer reported a great spike in the previously reducing $10 million B/O spread on 10 May.
The spike took the spread higher to 16.87% on bitFlyer, while Deribit noted a rise to 9.98%. This reflected the reduced liquidity on the exchanges as other top-tier exchanges like Binance and BitMEX reflected a spread of under 1%. whereas the spread for FTX exchange remained at 1.27%.
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Bitcoin price action causes an increase in spread on low-tier exchanges - AMBCrypto
Cryptocurrency market jumps by over $13 billion driven by bitcoin as major technical event approaches – CNBC
Mehmet Ali Ozcan | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
A rally in bitcoin led the cryptocurrency market higher ahead of a major technical event for the digital coin and as industry participants report an increased interest from institutional investors.
Bitcoin crossed $10,000 on Friday morning Singapore time, the first time it has hit that price since February, according to data from CoinDesk. The cryptocurrency had pared some of those gains and was trading around $9,900.75 as of 1:39 p.m. Singapore time, still representing a more than 6.4% rise from the day before.
The entire market capitalization or value of the cryptocurrency market had jumped by more than $13 billion from the day before, as of around 1:39 p.m. Singapore time. That move had been largely driven by bitcoin which makes up most of that figure. The value of the entire market stood at $268.07 billion.
Industry participants said that a number of factors from supportive central bank monetary policy to increased interest from institutional investors has factored into the bitcoin rally.
Bitcoin suffered two bouts of intense selling in March sending it to a low of around $3,867, a price not seen since March 2019. Since then, the price has rallied over 150%.
Meanwhile, stock markets, which also saw sharp drops in March, have recovered. The Dow Jones Industrial Averageis up 28.4% since its March low.
"Overall markets have been bullish since the March lows and this is across asset classes, including crypto," Vijay Ayyar, head of business development at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, told CNBC. "Money printing by the Fed and other central banks globally have given a lot of confidence to investors that the economy will be supported no matter what."
The U.S. Federal Reserve has announced a number of unprecedented measures to help cushion the economic blow from the coronavirus outbreak. Other central banks around the world, including the European Central Bank (ECB), have unveiled their own stimulus packages. Central bank policies are seen as supportive of risk assets like stocks.
Part of the rise in bitcoin's price since the March low has been anticipation of a technical event known as "halving."
Bitcoin is not issued by a centralized authority like fiat currencies are. That is why it is often called a "decentralized" cryptocurrency. Instead it is governed by code and is underpinned by a technology known asblockchain.
In the world of bitcoin, so-called miners with specialized high-powered computers compete with each other to solve complex math problems to validate bitcoin transactions. Whoever "wins" this race gets rewarded in newly minted bitcoin. This "mining" activity happens in blocks, which is essentially a group of transactions joined into one.
Currently, these miners receive 12.5 bitcoin per block mined.The rewards are halved every few years to keep a lid on inflation. On May 12, the reward per miner will be cut in half again, to 6.25 new bitcoin.
The effect is that the supply of bitcoin coming onto the market is reduced. Previous halving events, which happen every four years, havepreceded big price increases in bitcoin.
"For the past few weeks, we have seen additional players enter the BTC market as prices have trended upward in anticipation of the halving event as bulls saw this as an opportunity to buy BTC ahead of a price pop and what many expect will be significant price appreciation," Matthew Dibb, co-founder of Stack, a bitcoin index fund provider, told CNBC. BTC refers to bitcoin's currency code like USD for the U.S. dollar.
"This has undoubtedly continued into this week and may even carry over the weekend as the halving draws closer."
Dibb said there are other factors at play as well, including more institutional money flowing into bitcoin.
Paul Tudor Jones, a high-profile Wall Street hedge fund manager,revealed in a message that one of his funds holds a low single-digit percentage infutures on the cryptocurrency, Bloomberg Newsreported.
"The news that renowned investor, Paul Tudor Jones, has backed bitcoinpublicly praising the asset for its properties as a store of value has almost certainly helped catalyse BTC's sudden movement into the US$10,000 zone," Dibb said.
"With monetary easing policies and 'unlimited' economic stimuli being recently unveiled across the world, fiat currencies seem set to weaken substantially. This has, in turn, led to bitcoin's narrative as a 'store of value' to gain added traction amongst investors who are seeking to hedge against volatility in traditional markets."
Bitcoin has often been compared to gold as a so-called safe haven asset during turbulent times for other risky assets like stock markets. However, recently, bitcoin has fallen and risen when stock markets have.
Bitcoin has always been known as a very volatile asset subject to huge price swings. In 2017, bitcoin saw somewhat of a frenzy that sent its price from under $1,000 at the start of the year to a record high of over $19,700 in December that year.
However, in 2018 the price of bitcoin came crashing down to just over $3,000 by mid-December.
Dibb believes that the recent rally is different from what was seen in 2017.
"This market is not moving purely on the back of retail speculationand it is primarily Bitcoin which is experiencing gains, not the altcoin market," Dibb said referring to smaller digital coins. "It is only now that we are really beginning to see institutional and accredited investors operating within the Bitcoin space, bringing a level of market maturity and financial understanding which was all but absent from the cryptocurrency sector as late as 2017 and 2018."
However, the risk of a substantial drop remains.
"We have gone from 3K to 10K in 2 months, too fast, too soon. There will be a pullback, and that will determine what kind of crash it is," Luno's Ayyar said.
"We could pull back to 8K, hold, and them move higher to 15K. Or we could go right back down to 3K as well. At this pointthough, one has to be bullish, unless, we see a violent move down. I think the current run up though is part of a larger move up, so don't think we'll see 3K again anytime soon. But if we do run up to 15-20K, then likelihood of a big move down and larger correction is higher."
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Cryptocurrency market jumps by over $13 billion driven by bitcoin as major technical event approaches - CNBC
Bitcoin 101: What is Bitcoin? – CoinDesk
Last updated: 20th January 2018
Before owning any bitcoin, you need somewhere to store them. That place is called a wallet. Rather than actually holding your bitcoin, it holds the private key that allows you to access your bitcoin address (which is also your public key). If the wallet software is well designed, it will look as if your bitcoins are actually there, which makes using bitcoin more convenient and intuitive.
Actually, a wallet usually holds several private keys, and many bitcoin investors have several wallets.
Wallets can either live on your computer and/or mobile device, on a physical storage gadget, or even on a piece of paper. Here well briefly look at the different types.
Electronic wallets
Electronic wallets can be downloaded software, or hosted in the cloud. The former is simply a formatted file that lives on your computer or device, that facilitates transactions. Hosted (cloud-based) wallets tend to have a more user-friendly interface, but you will be trusting a third party with your private keys.
Software wallet
Installing a wallet directly on your computer gives you the security that you control your keys. Most have relatively easy configuration, and are free. The disadvantage is that they do require more maintenance in the form of backups. If your computer gets stolen or corrupted and your private keys are not also stored elsewhere, you lose your bitcoin.
They also require greater security precautions. If your computer is hacked and the thief gets a hold of your wallet or your private keys, he also gets hold of your bitcoin.
The original software wallet is the Bitcoin Core protocol, the program that runs the bitcoin network. You can download this here(it doesnt mean that you have to become a fully operational node), but youd also have to download the ledger of all transactions since the dawn of bitcoin time (2009). As you can guess, this takes up a lot of memory at time of writing, over 145GB.
Most wallets in use today are light wallets, or SPV (Simplified Payment Verification) wallets, which do not download the entire ledger but sync to the real thing. Electrum is a well-known SPV desktop bitcoin wallet that also offers cold storage (a totally offline option for additional security). Exodus can track multiple assets with a sophisticated user interface. Some (such as Jaxx) can hold a wide range of digital assets, and some (such as Copay) offer the possibility of shared accounts.
Online wallet
Online (or cloud-based) wallets offer increased convenience you can generally access your bitcoin from any device if you have the right passwords. All are easy to set up, come with desktop and mobile apps which make it easy to spend and receive bitcoin, and most are free.
The disadvantage is the lower security. With your private keys stored in the cloud, you have to trust the hosts security measures, and that it wont disappear with your money, or close down and deny you access.
Some leading online wallets are attached to exchanges (such as Coinbase and Blockchain). Some offer additional security features such as offline storage (Coinbase and Xapo).
Mobile wallets
Mobile wallets are available as apps for your smartphone, especially useful if you want to pay for something in bitcoin in a shop, or if you want to buy, sell or send while on the move. All of the online wallets and most of the desktop ones mentioned above have mobile versions, while others such as Abra, Airbitz and Bread were created with mobile in mind.
Hardware wallets
Hardware wallets are small devices that occasionally connect to the web to enact bitcoin transactions. They are extremely secure, as they are generally offline and therefore not hackable. They can be stolen or lost, however, along with the bitcoins that belong to the stored private keys. Some large investors keep their hardware wallets in secure locations such as bank vaults. Trezor, Keepkey and Ledger and Case are notable examples.
Paper wallets
Perhaps the simplest of all the wallets, these are pieces of paper on which the private and public keys of a bitcoin address are printed. Ideal for the long-term storage of bitcoin (away from fire and water, obviously), or for the giving of bitcoin as a gift, these wallets are more secure in that theyre not connected to a network. They are, however, easier to lose.
With services such as WalletGenerator, you can easily create a new address and print the wallet on your printer. Fold, seal and youre set. Send some bitcoin to that address, and then store it safely or give it away. (See our tutorial on paper wallets here.)
Are bitcoin wallets safe?
That depends on the version and format you have chosen, and how you use them.
The safest option is a hardware wallet which you keep offline, in a secure place. That way there is no risk that your account can be hacked, your keys stolen and your bitcoin whisked away. But, if you lose the wallet, your bitcoin are gone, unless you have created a clone and/or kept reliable backups of the keys.
The least secure option is an online wallet, since the keys are held by a third party. It also happens to be the easiest to set up and use, presenting you with an all-too-familiar choice: convenience vs safety.
Many serious bitcoin investors use a hybrid approach: they hold a core, long-term amount of bitcoin offline, while having a spending balance for liquidity in a mobile account. Your choice will depend on your bitcoin strategy, and your willingness to get technical.
Whatever option you go for, please be careful. Back up everything, and only tell your nearest and dearest where your backups are stored.
For more information on how to buy bitcoin, see here. And for some examples of what you can spend it on, see here.
(Note: specific businesses mentioned here are not the only options available, and should not be taken as a recommendation.)
Authored by Noelle Acheson. Wallet image via Shutterstock.
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Bitcoin 101: What is Bitcoin? - CoinDesk
One of Bitcoin’s Earliest Miners Is Dedicating $66M in Crypto to a Fund of Funds – CoinDesk
Bixin, one of the earliest bitcoin miner operators and wallet startups, is dedicating 6,600 bitcoin, worth $66 million, to a new fund of funds.
The company announced the fund of funds with its proprietary capital on Friday, and said it aims to invest in global quantitative trading funds whose strategies are based on arbitrage, bitcoin futures contracts and trend analysis.
By providing additional liquidity and market-making activities to these trading desks amid bitcoin's scheduled halving event, Bixin seeks to increase its holdings in bitcoin as part of its "unwavering commitment to bitcoin," the firm said in the announcement.
"We are strong believers in bitcoin and it's not what we want to see that the bitcoin ecosystem in China and elsewhere are in a silo," said Liu Fei, who joined Bixin from the Huobi exchange in late 2018 and now oversees Bixin's mining business and the fund of funds. "We hope the fund of funds can contribute to a better global liquidity structure for the bitcoin ecosystem."
Founded in 2014 by Wu Gang, who started mining bitcoin since as early as 2009, Bixin has become one of the most known bitcoin wallet and mining pool operators in China.
It scaled up the investment in bitcoin self-mining in the late 2018 and early 2019 bearish market and is currently operating bitcoin mining facilities of about 300 megawatt-hour, roughly 3,000 petahashes per second (PH/s) of computing power that accounts for 2.5% of the Bitcoin network's total.
Bixin established an investment and financial service arm around 2018 with its own capital and has invested in leading crypto startups in China including MicroBT, a serious contenders against mining giant Bitmain's dominance in bitcoin miner hardware business.
The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
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One of Bitcoin's Earliest Miners Is Dedicating $66M in Crypto to a Fund of Funds - CoinDesk
Dollar Vigilante Founder Talks Covid-19 and Economic Crisis: ‘The Modern Financial System Is at the End of It’s Rope’ | Interview – Bitcoin News
Jeff Berwick is an entrepreneur with a lot to say these days and hes released a number of videos discussing the coronavirus pandemic and the government-induced lockdowns. Berwick is the founder of The Dollar Vigilante, an anarcho-capitalist media outlet focusing on gold, silver, mining stocks, cryptocurrencies, and offshore banking. News.Bitcoin.com chatted with Berwick this week in order to get his perspective on the current events tied to the Covid-19 outbreak, the stay-at-home orders, the financial turbulence, and what he envisions will happen next. Berwick chats about precious metals like gold, his thoughts on a few digital assets, and the concept of self-ownership. He believes that humans are faced with a choice Either continue down the nasty road of manipulation and fraud or break the invisible chains of subordination and authority figures.
Bitcoin.com (BC): Can you tell our readers your thoughts on the Covid-19 pandemic, the government lockdowns, and the media surrounding this event?
Jeff Berwick (JB): To put it bluntly, there is no pandemic. Even if you take the numbers given out by the WHO and CDC, which are absolutely not to be trusted, this supposed pandemic has fewer hospitalizations and less deaths than even the 2017-2018 flu seen. Ive been researching and following the activities of what you could call the elite or globalists for nearly two decades and this has been long planned for as a type of false flag event in order to bring in a dozen or more globalist agendas.
BC: Your recent videos have been raising awareness about certain elements of the pandemic that are not natural. Would you say that the central banks and politicians are in the midst of a financial reset?
When I started The Dollar Vigilante in 2010, I said that by the end of this decade the financial and monetary system would be in collapse. I even began predicting last summer when I saw the first signs of it hitting that it would happen in days, weeks, or months. The modern monetary and financial system has reached the end of their rope. The entire world, whether it be governments, businesses, or individuals are beyond the point of no return in terms of indebtedness. I believe the pandemic, which I call a plandemic was all a part of collapsing the system and blaming it on anything but the real culprits, governments, and central banks. In many ways, the 2020 crisis is no different from 9/11 which was a pre-orchestrated and planned false flag event to crash the system and bring in a massive reduction in civil liberties that continue on to this day.
BC: Do you think that the lockdown or stay-at-home measures are deliberate in order to halt the economy and the supply chain?
Yes. The Rockefeller Institute, in 2010, after David Rockefeller had met with Bill Gates and George Soros in something they called the Good Club. They put out a document called Lockstep which outlines using a virus pandemic scenario to bring in worldwide totalitarian control, break down the supply chains and essentially bankrupt most of the world and have them all go on Universal Basic Income (UBI) and become not much more than destitute slaves much like in places like Cuba and Venezuela.
BC: If you were to give a timeline in months or years, how long do you think the USD will last as the globally dominant fiat currency?
Its really just a race to the bottom now for all fiat currencies. Nearly every government in the world is beyond bankrupt and nearly every central bank in the world is counterfeiting up trillions of new fiat currency units at unprecedented rates which all but ensures a total collapse in them all. This too is part of the plan as they intend to destroy nearly every governments finances and hyperinflate all the currencies in order to bring in a one-world, digital currency which will track, and tax, every single thing that people do with it. As for the timeframe, it depends on a lot of factors.
But we are talking just a few years likely. I see hyperinflation coming to nearly all fiat currencies in the next few years. Hopefully a lot more people begin using cryptocurrencies now. If so, many can avoid the total destruction coming.
BC: Equities, commodities, oil, and many other investments have pretty much crapped the bed or are on life support. However, Bitcoin has done surprisingly well since Black Thursday March 12. In fact, it has performed better than any asset or equity since then. Where do you see bitcoin (BTC) going from here price wise or as far as a safe haven asset like gold?
As I said earlier, I was expecting this crisis and had told all our Dollar Vigilante subscribers (you can subscribe here) to expect a crisis of never before seen proportions at any moment now. I also told them to lighten up on our favorites, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals, as I said they would go down in the initial stages of the crisis. I stated in a number of speeches and videos over the last year that I expected bitcoin could hit a bottom near $4,000 during that crisis. And, that is almost exactly where it hit. We then pounded the tables to buy. As you pointed out, it has done incredibly well since and has proven itself as a type of safe-haven asset now. As for where it goes from here? Itll be volatile but with every central bank printing fiat currency like Zimbabwe now, precious metals and the best cryptocurrencies will skyrocket over the coming months and years in nominal terms and will do very well compared to almost anything else in real terms.
BC: BTC specifically has issues with fees, do you see other bitcoin branches or alternative cryptocurrencies doing well during a global economic depression?
I have been one of Bitcoin Core (BTCs) biggest critics of the way in which it was so slow to adapt to increased usage, particularly back in 2017 when transaction times would sometimes take days and transaction fees would sometimes be over $100. But, things have improved a lot since then. I have some doubts and issues with Segwit and the Lightning Network but I am waiting to see how that plays out. Ive said since the original Bitcoin Cash fork to hold on to all your BCH and BSV as well. There are still lots of potential pitfalls with the BTC version of bitcoin but it is by far the most widely used so I am still very bullish on it. I like a lot of the innovation and development I am seeing in BCH and BSV so continue to hold on at least a 1:1 basis with BTC and may even increase that slightly soon.
As for my favorite with the biggest potential reward, it is monero (XMR). As an anarcho-capitalist, I was drawn initially to bitcoin in 2011 as I thought it was quite a private currency. As time went on and as BTC moved even further away from a privacy focus I was thrilled to find out about Monero a few years ago. And, having a crypto team at The Dollar Vigilante and The Crypto Vigilante, they have shown just how incredible of an innovation Monero is for a truly 100% private, untrackable, untraceable currency. And, being at such a low valuation compared to bitcoin right now, I think it has the most potential to have exponential gains.
That said, governments and central banks will try everything they can to stop its usage. But, the great thing is, there isnt much they can do. And, screw them anyway, they are criminal organizations that need to find their way to the trash heap of history as a very, very, very bad, evil, deadly and stupid idea.
BC: Bank of America and many other estimates predict gold prices per ounce to jump to over $3K per ounce in 2020. Would you agree that gold will see a price increase like this due to the macroeconomic turmoil?
That sounds pretty close to what we expect for this year. Over the next 2-3 years, though, we expect much higher than $5,000. If we go right into hyperinflation, pick any number you want. It wont mean anything at that point though.
But, I dont see it rising based on macroeconomic turmoil, I see it rising as people flee hyperinflating fiat currencies for something of real value like the precious metals and some cryptocurrencies.
BC: Right now businesses are being told not to open and remain on lockdown. Many people think that their freedoms are being taken away as well. What would you tell business owners to do and average citizens who want to protect their freedoms? What should they do?
Governments should not exist. They are an illegitimate criminal organization. Every individual should make their own decisions on their own risks and rewards and act on those. Adhering to anything government tries to force on people using violence is always a horrible idea. As for losing your freedom. What freedom? The human race as a whole has never been so enslaved, tracked, and extorted. Your average person now has to ask the government for permission to do just about anything. Drive, fish, cut hair, travel. And, anyone who produces anything has more than half of it stolen by the government.
If people want any chance to have even a sliver of freedom they should immediately walk away from anything related to the government. Dont vote. Dont pay extortion fees. Dont ask for permission to do anything. Nobody owns you but you. If people ever realize that then we will have a world of peace and prosperity like weve never known it. If they dont, we are headed to something even worse than George Orwell imagined. And, he imagined a boot stamping on a human face forever. It will be worse than that if people dont wake up.
What do you think about our discussion with Jeff Berwick? Let us know in the comments below.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, The Dollar Vigilante
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
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Dollar Vigilante Founder Talks Covid-19 and Economic Crisis: 'The Modern Financial System Is at the End of It's Rope' | Interview - Bitcoin News
Here Are the Options: Bitcoin Derivatives Give BTC Halving Insight – Cointelegraph
With the halving just six days away, the crypto community is collectively holding on to their proverbial hats and counting down the days until the historic event takes place. Looking back, its quite amazing to see what has been achieved in the past four years since the last halving and how much the industry has matured.
Regulation has taken giant leaps, venues have become more sophisticated and transparent, and institutions have begun to dip their toes in the once murky waters of crypto. Along with a reduced supply, all the conditions are perfectly aligned for a post-halving bull run, and that is exactly what many crypto enthusiasts are expecting.
One noticeable proponent of such a result for the halving is PlanB, the anonymous analyst behind the famous stock-to-flow model. Recently tweeting about the event, PlanB expects the Bitcoin price to rise tenfold in the next two years, thus proving that his model can indeed predict the long-term direction of BTCs price.
With the price of Bitcoin rallying ahead of the halving and the crypto community being generally optimistic about the upcoming event, others are taking a more sober stance on the price action following the halving, given all the hype surrounding the specific date being an event where people buy the rumor and sell the news.
As the price rises in the days leading to the halving, its possible that traders will take profits immediately after the event. So what to make of all this? Supply and demand is just one of the things to take into account, and it is, of course, the pillar on which long-term valuation stands, but short-term price volatility does not adhere to that logic, as fear, greed and other man-made factors come into play.
Derivatives data can be extremely insightful, as more complex instruments such as options contracts produce datasets that simply do not exist in the spot markets. As such, here is a closer look at the Bitcoin options data to shed some light on the situation.
Being a highly complex market, Bitcoin options market participants are often considered the most knowledgeable players, and the data sets produced by this complex market can shed a light on where these experienced traders think the price is headed post-halving.
For example, the implied volatility metric can tell a lot about the expected price of Bitcoin within the options market. When there is a higher premium for a certain strike price on an options contract, it means there is greater demand for these contracts. Data from the largest options market, Deribit, shows that options market players think the downside risk is higher than the potential upside.
However, this can also mean that traders are protecting their long positions on spot markets, including miners, who are inherently long on Bitcoin. Matt DSouza, CEO of Blockware mining, told Cointelegraph:
If Bitcoin is further adopted in, mining will likely be more commoditized and institutionalized which will reduce volatility in the price of Bitcoin. Present commodities like gold, oil or soybeans have large, institutional suppliers (Bitcoin miners are the present suppliers). In mature commodities like oil and gold these suppliers hedge their supplier which reduces volatility. This is just starting with Bitcoin. CME futures and options, Bakkt etc. so Bitcoin will mature and volatility will get reduced especially as more institutional players control the supply.
Looking at the historical data can give an even better insight of how the sentiment is changing with time. The chart below shows that puts are more expensive than calls, which can mean the market thinks the security has a greater chance of falling than it does of rising. However, the trend is starting to favor calls (the upside), so its important to keep an eye on how this trend progresses.
According to James Li, analyst at CryptoCompare, the current data favors a cautious outlook on Bitcoin, but that is changing rapidly. He told Cointelegraph:
With the recent rally, near terms expiries saw implied volatility picked up, whilst longer term expiries dropped. The 15th May contracts which expire right after the halving suggest prices can go both ways, with 25-delta only skewed very slightly to the put side, which means the demand is somewhat stronger on the downside. Longer term expiries, however, remain skewed on the put side but if we see persistent rallies, the sentiment can flip to the other side.
Another metric to keep an eye on in the Bitcoin options market is the put-call ratio, which has been increasing, rising from 0.62 to 0.70 in the last week. While a rising put-call ratio can be looked at as a bearish sign at first glance, it may also point to a risk-averse market. Bitcoin trader and popular YouTuber Tone Vays told Cointelegraph:
I think the majority of the people are wrong. A rising put/call ratio should be bullish for BTC price as most of those puts will expire worthless. Puts are also a good hedging (aka insurance) instrument so people that are hodling Bitcoin might be scared that mining will be in trouble and they are buying puts to protect their positions.
In fact, many advanced traders shared the same perspective as Vays, especially if the ratio goes too far in either direction. DSouza, who is also a hedge fund manager at Blockchain Opportunity Fund, shared a similar outlook on options, telling Cointelegraph:
A rising put to call means many investors are buying downside protection. I love it as a contrarian indicator. So when put/call gets extreme or greater than usual, I actually get bullish because I take a contrarian position. I like to do the opposite of the herd. This is most importantly, take the other side for the most part when the ratios go too far in either direction.
Although the options market and other metrics can give insight into what traders and other market players expect the BTC price to do, its interpretations should always be taken with a grain of salt. However, as Bitcoin continues to solidify its position as a new asset class, its classical volatility and unpredictability will continue to fade away.
Related: Institutional Investment Builds in Q1 2020, Sentiment Toward Crypto Funds Changing
In the meantime, its also important to take the elephant in the room into consideration that is, the COVID-19 pandemic and the massive wave of unemployment that has come with it. With this in mind, its possible that many will be hoping to cash out after the halving in search of safe haven assets.
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Here Are the Options: Bitcoin Derivatives Give BTC Halving Insight - Cointelegraph
Bitcoin ATM Locations Surge to Over 7700 Worldwide Amid Global Crisis – Bitcoin News
The number of bitcoin ATM locations has been growing rapidly amid nationwide lockdowns and the coronavirus crisis. With hundreds of new machines added each month, there are now more than 7,700 bitcoin ATMs spread all over the world. A new bitcoin ATM operator also installed its first bitcoin machines in April.
Many bitcoin automatic teller machines (ATMs) were installed across the globe in the month of April despite nationwide lockdowns, rising numbers of covid-19 cases, and global economic crisis. According to the bitcoin ATM tracking website Coinatmradar.com, there are now 7,729 cryptocurrency ATMs in 72 countries. Moreover, there are also 148,849 services allowing people to buy (and sell) cryptocurrencies, such as newspaper and mall kiosks.
The country with the most bitcoin ATMs is the U.S., which has 5,749 machines nationwide. Among American cities with the most bitcoin machines are Los Angeles (558), Chicago (292), Atlanta (283), Miami (263), Houston (250), Detroit (246), Dallas (195), Philadelphia (131), Boston (126), and Las Vegas (126).
After the U.S., Canada comes second with 771 bitcoin ATM locations, followed by the U.K. with 296 locations, Austria with 145 locations, Spain with 84 locations, Switzerland with 83 locations, and the Czech Republic with 69 locations. In Canada, the cities with the most bitcoin ATMs are Toronto (249), Montreal (110), and Vancouver (87). Germany, which started regulating bitcoin ATM businesses early this year, now has 34 machines, according to Coinatmradar. One machine is in Berlin, one in Munich, and three in Frankfurt. In March, German financial regulator BaFin shut down unauthorized bitcoin ATMs in the country.
At the beginning of April, there were 7,384 cryptocurrency ATMs, the tracking website details. During the month, 435 machines were added and 69 were closed down, leaving a net increase of 366 ATMs, or a 5% increase from the previous month. Most of the new bitcoin ATMs 351 machines were installed in the U.S., followed by Canada with 12 more machines. Austria, Australia, and Vietnam got two more ATMs each. Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia got one more machine each. Meanwhile, one machine was removed from Germany, Mexico, and Malta while the U.K. lost three machines. A number of countries in Asia also have bitcoin ATMs, according to the tracking website. For example, Hong Kong has 57 bitcoin ATM locations, Taiwan has 10 machines, Singapore has eight bitcoin ATMs, Vietnam has six, the Philippines has four, and Thailand has two.
The number of bitcoin ATMs has grown 21% since the beginning of the year. According to Coinatmradar, there were 6,377 machines at the beginning of January. The month saw an increase of 328 bitcoin ATMs. February started with 6,665 machines and 339 others were added during the month. March began with 7,010 machines and 376 were added during the month as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) declared a global recession. In addition, several indicators have shown that the U.S. entered into a recession in mid-March.
There are currently 560 bitcoin ATM operators and 42 producers. Out of all 7,729 bitcoin ATMs, Genesis Coin tops the producer chart with its machines installed in 2,570 locations, followed by General Bytes with 2,283 locations, Bitaccess with 692 locations, Lamassu with 482 locations, and Coinsource with 400 locations. With the rising popularity of bitcoin ATMs, more businesses also want to host them on their premises.
During April, most of the cryptocurrency ATMs installed were Genesis Coin machines (155 ATMs). The next most-installed machines were Bitaccess with 91 new ATMs, followed by General Bytes with 72 ATMs. Meanwhile, six Chainbytes machines were removed in April.
As for operators, Coin Cloud installed 89 bitcoin ATMs, Coinflip added 54 machines, Bitcoin Depot 39 machines, National Bitcoin ATM 27 machines, Bitcoin of America 26 machines, Rockitcoin 25 machines, and Bitstop 19 machines. Meanwhile, U.S.-based operator CMJ installed its first six machines during April.
If you are trying to find the bitcoin ATM nearest to you, the Coinatmradar website provides a map showing where all bitcoin ATMs are in the world. It also gives you the option to view only one-way (buy only) machines or two-way (buy and sell) as well as select to view only the machines supporting specific coins, such as BTC, BCH, ETH, DASH, LTC, ZEC, XMR, and DOGE. In addition, all bitcoin ATM locations are listed by city and country so you can look up all the bitcoin machines near you.
What do you think about the recent surge in bitcoin ATM locations worldwide? Let us know in the comments section below.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Coinatmradar
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.
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Bitcoin ATM Locations Surge to Over 7700 Worldwide Amid Global Crisis - Bitcoin News