Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater Associates LP, in an interview with CoinDesk, has revealed that he owns Bitcoin.
Bitcoin over Government Bonds
The billionaire hedge fund leader—who has previously expressed his concerns about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, further added that he would rather own Bitcoin than government bonds.
Although Bitcoin prices continue to swing, recently capitulating to as low as $29k, the digital asset has emerged as a preferred store of value and a medium of exchange.
Its valuation reflects investor confidence, a fact that has made the world’s largest cryptocurrency win hearts, drawing the attention of some of the wealthiest people on the globe.
During the interview, Ray opined that the greatest threat to Bitcoin would be its success. Over the last 12 years, BTC’s valuation has dramatically risen.
In the 2010s, the digital asset’s performance trounced competitors, rising by over one million percent, peaking at $20k in 2017.
It has since broken those highs, surging to $64k in early 2021 to command a market cap of over $1.1 trillion.
Bitcoin’s Threat is its Success
If there is a shift in interest and investors begin dumping government bonds for Bitcoin, the odds of governments stepping in and banning the cryptocurrency would be high.
This is because Bitcoin would be an existential threat, disrupting the world’s financial order and derailing the implementation of various monetary policies.
He said:
“One of the great things, I think, as a worry is a government having the capacity to control … Bitcoin, or the digital currencies. They know where they are, and they know what’s going on.”
“The more we create savings in [Bitcoin], the more you might say, ‘I’d rather have bitcoin than the bond.’ Personally, I’d rather have Bitcoin than a bond. And then the more that happens, then it goes into Bitcoin, and it doesn’t go into credit, then [governments] lose control of that.”
Ray Dalio: Bitcoin is one Hell of an Invention
It is not the first time Ray Dalio is chiming in, commenting on Bitcoin.
In January 2021, he said Bitcoin is one hell of an invention.
Also that it is rapidly gaining traction, increasing in popularity as a medium of exchange and a store of value is an “amazing accomplishment.”
Ray Dalio’s comments, nonetheless, comes when a leaked Goldman Sachs report appeared to lean on Ethereum outperforming Bitcoin.
Bitcoin rises to nearly $40,000, as Elon Musk and Michael Saylor announce the formation of the … [+]Bitcoin Mining Council.
Getty Images
A little less than two weeks after Tesla TSLA CEO Elon Musk kickstarted the plunge of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by announcing that the electric car manufacturer would stop accepting bitcoin as form of payment for its electric vehicles, citing environmental concerns, the mischievous billionaire tweeted that he met with executives of North American bitcoin mining companies. The meeting resulted in a newly-formed Bitcoin Mining Council, focused on promoting the adoption of sustainable cryptocurrency mining initiatives.
“Spoke with North American Bitcoin miners. They committed to publish current & planned renewable usage and to ask miners WW to do so. Potentially promising,” wrote Musk in a tweet published Monday at 3:42 pm E.T. On the announcement, the price of bitcoin jumped from $37,940 to $39,405.
Simultaneously, and in what appeared to be in coordinated fashion, Michael Saylor, CEO of the largest corporate hodler of bitcoin (Tesla is #2), the business analytics firm MicroStrategy MSTR , disclosed he had hosted a meeting between Elon Musk and executives from major bitcoin miners in North America, including Argo Blockchain, Blockcap, Core Scientific, Galaxy Digital, HIVE Blockchain, Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Blockchain and Hut 8 Mining. According to the statement, “the miners have agreed to form the Bitcoin Mining Council to promote energy usage transparency and accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide.” This includes standardization of energy reporting requirements, setting of industry-wide Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) goals, and further education and growth of the marketplace.
“The newly-formed Bitcoin Mining Council is the next logical step in fostering a sectoral shift to renewable energy,” said Peter Wall, chief executive of Argo Blockchain, in a written statement to Forbes. Wall writes he “looks forward to joining Michael Saylor and other leading North American miners in working to future-proof an industry that must collectively improve sustainable mining practices and take ESG concerns seriously.” Marathon Digital Holdings and Hut 8 Mining also confirmed their participation and the group’s ambitions via tweets. Other companies forming the Council have not been immediately available for comment.
The news comes on the heels of a growing spotlight on cryptocurrency mining operations around the world. Aside from a more acute focus on the environmental impact of bitcoin mining, the industry is also facing an intensifying crackdown on bitcoin mining and trading activities by Chinese authorities. These factors have the potential to dramatically disrupt the distribution and operations of the bitcoin mining landscape, where as of April 2020, China accounted for more than 75% of the total processing power on the network, according to research published by a peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications. China’s crypto mining hegemony is largely attributed to cheaper electricity prices and large undeveloped lands for pool construction.
MORE FOR YOU
Though the initiative represents a novel effort by some of the most well-known cryptocurrency mining operators in North America, its further goals and prospects remain undisclosed.
Crypto analyst Justin Bennet is attempting to decipher when Bitcoin and the crypto markets at large will rally out of their recent drastic correction.
In a new strategy session, Bennet says that the entirety of the crypto market will continue to search for signals from Bitcoin after the recent crash.
“Everything is following that right now. If Bitcoin drops more, everything drops. If Bitcoin rallies, everything rallies. They’ve always been correlated, but right now, as fear is mounting, they are really correlated.”
The analyst is keeping a close watch on the $42,000 – $43,000 range for Bitcoin as the next key level to break for a new leg up. If BTC can break through the range, $47,000 would likely be the next level to claim.
Bennet concedes that though a lower push below $30,000 is still possible, perhaps to $28,000 or $25,000, he doesn’t believe the bull market is over. According to the analyst, Bitcoin’s current behavior is reminiscent of 2013, right before it caught fire for a 2,000% rally.
“I don’t believe the bull market is over. If anything, what’s happening now is similar to 2013. During the 2013 bull run, Bitcoin dropped 81% before rallying over 2,000% by the end of the bull market. While I don’t think we see a 2,000% run at the end of this correction, a significant rally through August/September still seems likely, in my opinion.”
Other top analysts have also suggested that the current correction in the crypto markets doesn’t necessarily signal the end of the bull run and that a massive rally is still on the horizon. Closely followed analyst PlanB, known for being the first to apply the stock-to-flow model (S2F) on Bitcoin, has doubled down on the model’s price prediction of $288,000 for this cycle, despite the ongoing market correction.
“I think we’re somewhere halfway [in the current bull cycle]. I’m very data driven so I don’t make that up, but I read in the data… I look to my stock-to-flow models, the stock-to-flow model (S2F) and the stock-to-flow X model (S2FX), and both models actually show we’re certainly not at the end of the cycle. We still have some room to go until $100,000 on average or $288,000 on average if you follow the stock-to-flow X (S2FX) model.”
[embedded content]
l
Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get crypto email alerts delivered directly to your inbox
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Telegram
Surf The Daily Hodl Mix
ADVERTISEMENT
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any loses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.
Once again, Elon Musk has tweeted and pushed Bitcoin’s price beyond an important resistance area, for now. At the time of writing, BTC trades at $39,022 with a 15.5% profit in the daily chart.
BTC with bullish momentum in the daily chart. Source: BTCUSD Tradingview
The cryptocurrency had a bloody weekend, and it took down the entire market with it. Top projects on the ranking by market cap saw 40% to 60% corrections. Now, they seemed to be bouncing back with BTC’s price.
Most experts agreed that the crash was imminent, but Tesla’s CEO influence was no doubt a catalyzer that sent the market on a downtrend. Musk made two crucial statements at a critical moment when BTC’s price was fighting to keep support at $47,000 and $43,000.
5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!
He first said that Bitcoin mining has a negative impact on the environment. Later, he threatened with dumping Tesla’s $1.5 billion in BTC. The crypto community went against the entrepreneur. Now, as the price struggled, Musk revealed the following:
Spoke with North American Bitcoin miners. They committed to publish current & planned renewable usage & to ask miners WW to do so. Potentially promising.
Michael Saylor, CEO of software company MicroStrategy, claimed that he was the bridge between the BTC mining sector and Musk. According to the executive, the miners have decided to form the Bitcoin Mining Council, Saylor added:
Yesterday I was pleased to host a meeting between Elon Musk and the leading Bitcoin miners in North America. The miners have agreed to form the Bitcoin Mining Council to promote energy usage transparency & accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide.
The organization will have support from mining pools Argo, Blockcap, Hut8, Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot; Core Scientific, an infrastructure and software solution based on blockchain technology; investment firm Galaxy Digital, and HIVE Blockchain technologies.
Predict the price of BTC & AAB and win up to 5,000 USDT!
The Bitcoin Mining Council will: “standardize energy reporting, pursue industry ESG goals, & educate+grow the marketplace”, according to MicroStrategy CEO.
Bitcoin Community Divided On Mining Initiative
The reaction from the crypto community was mixed. While some celebrated the initiative, others completely rejected it and claimed that “private” meetings are not in the spirit of Bitcoin. Marty Bent, the host of the podcast Tales From The Crypt, said the following on the initiative:
They don’t care about clean energy; they care about control. #Bitcoin has one of, if not the highest mix of renewable energy use in any major industry.
Before Elon Musk’s announcement, the market sentiment was still mostly bearish. After, over $8 million in short positions liquidations were recorded across all exchange platforms, as reported by analyst William Clemente.
Boom, just shy of $8M in short liquidations in 10 mins pic.twitter.com/e0dbA71BiI
— William Clemente III (@WClementeIII) May 24, 2021
The market has now reset and awaits confirmation of a more persistent bearish or bullish trend. The price action, at least in the lower time frames, seems to be more inclined to favor the optimists. Clemente said: “Bears in disbelief”.
There’s been lots of talks about the U.S. dollar losing its status as the world’s reserve currency. While most people still wonder when this is going to happen, I’m here to bring you the shocking truth: It’s already happening right in front of us. But most people fail to realize this because they don’t understand the signs. So, let me break it down for you so you know exactly how this is unfolding and, most importantly, how to protect yourself.
Since the 1700s, we’ve seen 750 different currencies in the world and only 20% of those remain. All have been devalued. This means they buy less today than they did originally, and the U.S. dollar is no exception.
Money Morning Staff Research
Why Do Currencies Die?
According to Ray Dalio, founder of the world’s largest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, currencies die when a country racks up too much debt. The country ends up with four different options:
Austerity (spending less)
Debt defaults and restructurings (e.g., bankruptcy)
Wealth redistribution (e.g. raise taxes)
Printing money and devaluing it
Of all these options, governments always choose to print money because that’s the “easy” route. They don’t have to cut down on spending, piss off creditors or hurt the rich. But that’s how things start to go south for a currency. Let me clarify this for you with historical examples.
How The U.S. Dollar Became The World’s Reserve Currency
In 1914, when WWI broke out, many European countries abandoned the gold standard so that they could pay for military expenses with paper money instead of gold. The United States became the lender of choice for several countries and, as a result, the USD unofficially replaced the British pound as the world’s new leading currency by 1919.
During WWII, the United States found itself in a privileged position to profit from the war. Before joining the conflict, we sold ammo, weapons and other supplies to the Allies in exchange for gold. As a result, we ended up amassing two-thirds of all the world’s gold.
When countries came together at the Bretton Woods Agreement, they realized it was time to have a worldwide currency system that was linked to gold. Since the United States owned most of the world’s reserves, and the U.S. dollar was also backed by it, USD officially claimed its world’s reserve currency position.
While most people think that the transition from British pound to U.S. dollar happened when the agreement was signed, it was actually a 30-year transition that started way back in 1914 when countries started to borrow dollars from the United States.
So when people ask me when the next transition is going to happen, I say, “We’re in the middle of it.” The world is already de-dollarizing and the signs are clear; you just need to know which ones to look at.
The Downfall Of The Dollar
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), USD dominance is already declining. In 2017, the dollar composed 64% of the world’s reserves. Today, it’s down to about 59%.
IMF
Another obvious sign is in the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which is down 10% this year alone.
Trading Economics
Of course, the pandemic plays a role in all this and the mainstream media is taking notice.
USA Today
Bloomberg
But here’s the big problem: The metrics above only tell you part of the story because you’re comparing USD with a basket of other currencies. In other words, you’re only looking at fiat currencies.
Instead, we should be looking at what money is used for: purchasing goods and services. That means we need to look at the dollar’s purchasing power. Here’s what I mean: If you compare gold to the dollar over time, you can see it cost $20 to buy an ounce of gold in the early 1900s. It jumped to $35/oz in 1933, then it went haywire after 1971.
Today, an ounce of gold costs over $1,800. Does this sound like the USD is holding its purchasing power? I don’t think so.
Macrotrends
What about real estate? How has the USD held its purchasing power when compared to real estate? You might think home prices are going up, hitting all-time highs. But is real estate really going up or is the dollar simply losing its value?
The index below highlights the loss of USD’s purchasing power compared to real estate. The truth is home prices aren’t just going up; it just takes more dollars to buy them.
FRED
We can also take a look at oil. It’s been going up similarly to gold, so is it increasing in value or is it just another sign of the dollar losing its purchasing power?
Macrotrends
Of course, I couldn’t leave out one of the hottest assets today — bitcoin. This is the price of BTC compared to USD. Do you see any resemblance with the other assets I just showed you?
CoinMarketCap
Is History Doomed To Repeat Itself?
Now, let’s bring it all together and compare our current situation with a historic example. Before we proceed, let me warn you: This will give you a “zoomed out” perspective and most likely flip your mindset entirely.
This is the case of the Weimar Republic (Germany) in the early 1900s.
In 1922, Germany defaulted on debt to repay WWI reparations. In order to recoup their funds, France and Belgium invaded the Ruhr Valley — the German industrial epicenter.
As a response to the invasion, the German government ordered all workers to stay at home and not work — this is called “passive resistance.” Here’s where the Weimar Republic’s death spiral starts.
The country was already crippled by debt, but they still had to find a way to come up with cash to pay its workers. So what did they do? They started to print money (the fourth option we talked about earlier).
Now, take a look at what happened to their Consumer Price Index (CPI). The CPI measures the average change in prices that consumers pay for goods and services (aka inflation).
Business Insider
How did this affect the population? A good example is a loaf of bread, which cost $0.13 in 1914. That same loaf of bread cost $0.19 two years later in 1916. By 1919, the price had doubled to $0.26, then $1.20 in 1920 and $3.50 in 1922.
Once they started to print money in 1922, that same loaf of bread went from $3.50 to $100,000,000,000 ($100 billion!) by December 1923. That’s when the German mark collapsed.
During that period, you literally needed wheelbarrows to move your cash around. Eventually, the currency was worth less than wood, so they burned cash to heat their homes.
History Daily
Alpha History
It’s important to note that, at the beginning, the loaf of bread went up very slowly. At that time, most people didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. Like the boiling frog fable.
The Parallels Between The U.S. And The Weimar Republic
We can’t go back in time and change the past. But we can look at historical examples and compare them to our current reality, so we don’t repeat the same mistakes.
The first parallel between the United States and the Weimar Republic is money printing. Take a look at the United States’ M1 and M2, which are measurements of the amount of dollars in circulation: M2 is also a key economic indicator used to forecast inflation.
FRED
FRED
It goes without saying, the resemblance between these indicators and the German CPI is astonishing.
The third parallel we can draw from the Weimar Republic is our crippling debt. Defaulting on debt was the first “domino piece” that led to other events unfolding. In 2021, the United States grew to a record budget deficit of $1.7 trillion in the first half of the fiscal year. It means we’re spending more than we’re bringing in — exponentially more than in previous years.
The Wall Street Journal
It’s All A Matter Of Perspective
The reason I bring you all these data is so you can zoom out and see things from a better perspective. In the book, “When Money Dies” by Adam Fergusson, he says most Germans couldn’t see what was really happening. A lot of them literally thought they were getting rich because they thought their assets were going up in value.
But now you know that was not the case, it was actually the German mark losing purchasing power. So they started banking their cash, selling their assets and trading them for currency. At the end of the day, they ended up with a literal pile of worthless paper.
Now, if you were in the Weimar Republic at that time, what would you have done?
Macrotrends
The chart above shows the price of gold from 1915 to 1935. If you’d bought gold around 1920 and held on to it until 1935 that would’ve been the trade of the decade for you. But here’s the biggest takeaway: It’s easy to see the upward trend from this perspective, but it wasn’t a clear, straight line for people living at that time. It was a very volatile period.
So let me ask you: What are you doing with your money now? Some people are cashing out, trading their assets like real estate, gold, bitcoin or even stocks for dollars because they’re at all-time highs. The same way the Germans did.
If we continue to increase debt and print money, the USD will continue to lose its value and its position as the world’s reserve currency. The loaf of bread is going up and you don’t want to end up with a pile of worthless cash.
My advice to you is to find inflation hedges, assets that are going up with the rate of inflation. Most importantly, start now before it’s too late. Don’t wait for the “next Bretton Woods Agreement,” the transition is already happening — and it’s happening right in front of you.
This is a guest post by Mark Moss. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
Goldman Sachs has published a report about Bitcoin’s potential.
The report includes comments from several Goldman Sachs members, including Head of Digital Assets Matthew McDermott.
Goldman Sachs launched a cryptocurrency trading desk for institutional investors earlier this month.
Share this article
Financial giant Goldman Sachs has acknowledged Bitcoin as a new asset class in comments made alongside a recent research report.
McDermott Says Bitcoin Is Investable Asset
The report includes comments from Goldman Sachs members, including GS Global Head of Digital Assets Matthew McDermott.
McDermott states that “Bitcoin is now considered an investable asset.” He added that Bitcoin “has its own idiosyncratic risk” due to its novelty and due to the fact that its price activity doesn’t behave as expected when it is compared to other assets.
McDermott continued by noting that Bitcoin “has tended to be more aligned with risk-on assets.” He also says that “clients and [others] are largely treating [Bitcoin] as a new asset class.”
Elsewhere, GS commodity analyst Mikhail Sprogis and GS Head of Commodies Research Jeff Currie argued that cryptocurrencies can act as a store of value “only if they have other real world uses.” They added that value is determined by each network’s size and growth along with the information those networks verify.
Other Experts Comment on BTC
GS Senior Multi-Asset Strategist Christian Mueller-Glissman suggested that if Bitcoin’s risk/reward ratio continues, it could become an asset that adds value to investor portfolios.
Finally, GS co-head of Globax FX, Rates, and EM Strategy Zach Pandl argued that potential Bitcoin adoption will come from its “strong brand” alongside security, privacy, and other features.
The report also features features additional comments from several industry leaders including Michael Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, and Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments.
Goldman Sachs Moves Into Crypto
Goldman Sachs’ report comes alongside its plans to move into the cryptocurrency business. On May 7, the company revealed that it had executed its first crypto trade through its long-awaited trading desk.
The company previously planned to introduce cryptocurrency products and services in 2018, but those efforts were stalled.
Goldman Sachs joins several other financial giants in offering cryptocurrency services. Other notable banks with crypto offerings include JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and BNY Mellon.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing this author held less than $75 of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins.
Share this article
The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
See full terms and conditions.
Goldman Sachs Pulls Short Dollar Trade: Report
The short dollar trade has run its course, says Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs Closes Short Dollar Call Goldman Sachs is pulling out of its short dollar trade, Bloomberg reported today. …
Goldman Sachs Plans Suite of Bitcoin Products for Q2
Mary Rich, Goldman Sachs’ head of digital assets for the bank’s private wealth management division, told CNBC this morning that the bank plans to launch a “full-spectrum” of investments in…
What Are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)?
Tokenization is well-suited for commodities like fiat currencies, gold, and physical land. A fungible asset’s representation on blockchain makes commodities tradable 24/7 via borderless and frictionless transactions. Fungible goods are…
Bitcoin’s Market Cap Could Surpass $1 Trillion, Says Fidelity Report
Fidelity published a report last week focused on Bitcoin’s role as an alternative investment and how investing in BTC can help institutions diversify and eliminate risks related to traditional asset…
In a new tweet, Elon Musk said he spoke with “North American Bitcoin miners” about the question of sustainability in crypto.
The price of Bitcoin immediately went up $2,000.
Elon Musk fired off another ambiguous tweet about Bitcoin today, sending the price up about $2,000.
“Spoke with North American Bitcoin miners,” Musk wrote at 3:42 pm Eastern. “They committed to publish current & planned renewable usage & to ask miners WW to do so. Potentially promising.”
As with all of Musk’s tweets, it had an immediate and significant effect on the crypto markets—by 3:57pm, the price of Bitcoin had shot from around $38,000 to over $40,000.
Spoke with North American Bitcoin miners. They committed to publish current & planned renewable usage & to ask miners WW to do so. Potentially promising.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2021
Michael Saylor—the CEO of the software company MicroStrategy and a devout Bitcoin advocate—said he led a meeting yesterday with Musk and Bitcoin mining companies, such as Argo and Hut 8. He also said these miners “have agreed to form the Bitcoin Mining Council to promote energy usage transparency & accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide,” though it’s yet unclear what that means exactly.
Peter Wall, the CEO of Argo, confirmed that Argo has joined the newly formed “Bitcoin Mining Council.”
Great to be part of yesterday’s ground-breaking meeting led by @michaelsaylor with special guest @elonmusk, along with fellow miners. As a founding member of the Bitcoin Mining Council, Argo will push hard for sustainable mining and more transparency.
This is the way!#ARB https://t.co/503flx3X8v
— Peter Wall (@PeterGWall) May 24, 2021
Tesla put $1.5 billion in Bitcoin on its balance sheet back in February and said it would start accepting BTC as payment for its cars. Earlier this month, Musk announced Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin due to environmental concerns.
Whether Saylor’s “Bitcoin Mining Council” can do anything about Bitcoin’s climate impact remains to be seen. But it’s evidently already having on impact on Musk—and the Bitcoin market as a result.
The Bank of Korea (BOK), South Korea’s Central bank is looking to research the usefulness of launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC) through a mock test, although the apex bank is not keen on issuing a sovereign digital currency.
BOK Testing Potential Use of Digital Won
According to Yonhap News on Monday (April 24, 2021), the BOK revealed plans to trial the functionality of a CBDC. The South Korean central bank will specifically check if a digital currency can be used to purchase goods and services, and also be used for settlement and remittances.
Also, the BOK stated that it is looking for an operator that would conduct the mock test. According to the apex bank, it would choose the operator through a bidding process.
South Korea has been conducting extensive research on a potential digital won. Back in April 2020, the BOK began a pilot program to look into the technicalities of issuing a CBDC. The pilot program which is supposed to last for 22 months, started in February 2020 and ends in December 2021.
The BOK later set up a committee to research any regulatory obstacles for a potential digital won. As reported by BTCManager back in February 2021, the central bank published a book regarding CBDCs.
While the South Korea bank is carrying out experimental exploration of CBDC protocols, the BOK reiterated that it does not have plans to create an actual digital won. However, in March, the BOK governor said that the demand for bitcoin will reduce when countries launch sovereign CBDCs. Meanwhile, the planned mock test is expected to start in August 2021 and end in June 2022.
CBDC Continue to See Increased Interest
More central banks continue to join the CBDC race, with some more progressive than others. China has been carrying out multiple digital yuan tests in different parts of the country. Most of these digital yuan tests have come in form of airdrops.
China’s central bank is also planning to trial its CBDC with international visitors and athletes at the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Other central banks from countries like Norway, England, and Japan are carrying out CBDC research and experiments, with Canada also making plans to launch its digital currency. Earlier in May, Isreal’s apex bank published a working paper for a potential CBDC project.
Rule IV: Notice That Bitcoin Lurks Where Monetary Responsibility Has Been Abdicated
A reimagination of “Beyond Order” by Jordan Peterson through the lens of Bitcoin.
Preface
This writing mirrors the exact chronological structure of Beyond Order; offering perspective through a Bitcoin lens. This is part four of a 12-part series, and reading the book adds a second dimension. All quotes credited to Jordan Peterson. All reflections inspired by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Make Yourself Invaluable
“What is left undone is often risky, difficult, and necessary. But that also means — does it not? — that it is worthwhile and significant.”
Bitcoin is risky for nocoiners who have not done their research,difficult for newcomers trying to learn and necessary for those who understand. Polarizing controversy is by definition significant, and Bitcoin is polarizing. The deep divide over the existence of Bitcoin validates its legitimacy as something worthy of exploration.
“It appears that the meaning that most effectively sustains life is to be found in the adoption of responsibility.”
Owning bitcoin is the act of adopting full ownership and accountability. Bitcoin rewards patience, teaches responsibility and nourishes curiosity. Einstein described compound interest as the eighth wonder of the world,and bitcoin to date compounds at 200% annually. This single asset offers normal people a path to retirement – just what saving the dollar had once represented. An asset you could bank on. Today’s dollar is a short-term holding bin that must be invested in order to reach retirement.
Responsibility And Meaning
“You must risk something that matters.”
Talk is cheap. The only way to have skin in the game is to actually own Bitcoin. Everything else is academic. To quote Nassim Taleb, “Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.”
“[Peter] Pan says, ‘To die will be an awfully big adventure.’ But the psychologically insightful unseen narrator objects: ‘To live would be an awfully big adventure…’”
Peter Pan’s Lost Boys celebrate never growing up. After all, who wants to grow up in an increasingly dysfunctional world? Younger generations believe older generations kicked a grenade down the road straight into their laps. Spending a lifetime buried by the debt our elders created seems like an awful adventure. Nocoiners clearly see problems (and claim there are no good solutions) yet so many are quick to call Bitcoin a scam. It would be an awful end to the adventure to drown because you ignored the liferaft. Bitcoiners tend to choose to live life as an awfully big adventure.
Rescue Your Father: Osiris And Horus
“Osiris… a young, vibrant god [who] produced one of the first great and enduring civilizations. But he aged, as all things do, and became willfully blind.”
Gold has been used as base money for thousands of years and still succeeds in its purpose. In contrast, since 1450, we’ve had six world reserve currencies with an average shelf life of 90 years. Lyn Alden explains why the U.S. dollar never had a chance at maintaining parity with gold: It has an unsustainable design forcing it to continuously expand in order to satisfy ever-increasing global exports and oil consumption demands. We all age — but willful blindness is optional.
“We are well advised to take on challenges at precisely the rate that engages and compels alertness, and forces the development of courage, skill, and talent, and to avoid foolhardy confrontation with that which lies beyond current comprehension.”
Do not go all-in on a whim,but buy an amount of Bitcoin that matches your current level of understanding. Minimize your fear of a Bitcoin price dip by dollar-cost-averaging (DCA) to maintain your sanity and avoid getting REKT. Swan Bitcoin and River Financial offer Bitcoin-only DCA tools with educational resources to help you move from custodial to self-custody. Increase your daily purchases as your knowledge increases and, when you feel confident, make the leap into a flavor of custody that offers you the right balance between security and convenience. Grow your Bitcoin stack in proportion to your understanding. Start with a small investment, take the plunge, and “get off zero”.
And Who Might That Be?
“Because the future is coming, as certainly, for all intents and purposes, as the sun rises in the morning. And you are best advised to be ready for it.”
Bitcoin is coming. It’s a parallel universe. An immutable chain of time and trust tethered to our physical world through entropy. What is the price of time? What is the value of trust? Priceless. The bond amongst Bitcoin, time, and trust is as predictable as the sun rising in the morning. My best advice: be ready for it.
“We discovered the future, some long time ago — and now the future is where we each live, in potential. We treat that as reality.”
Imagine life before the discovery of the future. We take it for granted and our descendants will pose a similar statement: Imagine life before the discovery of digital scarcity. That future will be our reality. Fiat currencies pose a very different reality: Imagine financial ruin by robbing yourself tomorrow to pay for today.
“If you treat the person you are committed to in a manner that does not work when it is repeated across time, then you are playing a denigrating game, and you are both going to suffer terribly for it.”
Our relationship to fiat money is a repeated story of disintegration across time. The comprehensive suffering across large swaths of society must be attributed, at least in part, to the fact that money touches everything and our money has become toxic. Money is the common thread across all governments, industries, and households. When we serve money instead of money serving us, we all suffer terribly for it.
Happiness And Responsibility
“… like pleasure, attainment is unreliable… people experience positive emotion in relationship to the pursuit of a valuable goal… That is what produces the most reliable positive emotion.”
We tell the story of our lives as actors in a story, not numbers on a conveyor belt. In order to formulate the story of ourselves that we are proud to tell, we must pursue goals we deem valuable. Tech is obsessed with placing numbers before narratives. This means humans are being forced through algorithmic pinholes which results in empty, unspontaneous and predetermined stories that we are often too embarrassed to tell in their entirety.However, we are human beings who cannot help but tell our story. So in order to salvage our dignity among our peers, we use social media to showcase highly curated splices of our life while suppressing the ugly parts. Studies show chasing “likes” on social media produces negative emotions.
Technology is a black hole we are all being sucked into. We all see that our lives are increasingly dictated by computers. Computers have become the permanent middlemen connecting humans broadly by separating us intimately. Computers draw the metaphorical dividing line: Either you tell computers what to do or they tell you what to do. Fair or not, living above or below the computer line largely determines your fate. But not all computer programs are designed for evil. As Muneeb put it, “Google has a famous motto ‘Don’t be evil.’ But maybe it should be ‘Can’t be evil.’”
You may not be a Bitcoin tech savant like Adam Back but that does not preclude you from living a life immersed in a truthful and transparent narrative that you can be proud to share. Bitcoin is the oldest social network known to mankind: Money. It is designed to only tell the truth, andthat is a story we can all be proud to associate with in its entirety. That is pursuing a valuable goal that produces the most reliable positive emotion.
“There is no escaping the future… the right attitude is to turn around voluntarily and confront it. That works.”
Inertia leaves us drifting through life on autopilot. Breaking that inertia and turning around voluntarily to go toe-to-toe with discomfort is the inspirational story of David Goggins. You may not like it but his results don’t lie and what he does simply works. “Can’t Hurt Me” speaks to something timeless yet forgotten. We are waking up to the reality that the right attitude is to choose to be the hero of our own story.
Freedom exists in many forms. Financial freedom is embedded in the American Dream. Today the math stacks up against you. Simply saving money no longer suffices. To attain financial freedom you must learn to invest your savings. Bitcoin is in a goldilocks period: It is designed to store your money in the long run but is currently in an adolescent growth stage giving it tremendous asymmetrical upside. If you can ride out $50,000 bitcoin during these teenage years, then imagine its future value at maturity.
Pick Up The Extra Weight
“If you attend to your conscience, you will begin to determine that some of the things you are doing are wrong…”
One by one, fiat maximalists awaken to the realization that the green grass on which they’re sitting in the sun itself sits at the center of a prison yard. And they aren’t the ones wearing badges.
“You are all aimed in one direction. You are no longer a house divided against itself. You are standing solidly on a firm foundation. You are no longer so easy to dissuade or discourage. Your resolution trumps your nihilism and despair.”
Bitcoin Maximalism.
“You think, ‘The world is not set right. It is deeply troubling to me.’ That very disenchantment, however, can serve as the indicator of destiny. It speaks of abdicated responsibility — of things left undone, of things that still need to be done.”
“The Matrix” introduced us to the red pill: “Remember, all the red pill offers is the truth — nothing more.” Trust your intuition. Governments believe they can control all variables and it’s best to blue pill their citizens. If you sense that our world is deeply troubled, let that serve as an indicator that something must change. Believe in yourself and set the world right by taking the orange pill.
Notice that Bitcoin lurks where monetary responsibility has been abdicated.
This is a guest post by Nelson Chen. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC, Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
After one of its most brutal weekends, Bitcoin and most altcoins show signs of recovery in lower time frames. While most are still down by 30% and 40% in the 7-day and 30-day chart, the general sentiment in the market appears to be more bullish as investors see their charts flip from red to green.
Ethereum was probably one of the fastest altcoins to return from under a critical support zone at $1,700. The second cryptocurrency by market cap trades at $2,541 with a 2.6% profit in the daily chart and a 35.6% profit in the monthly chart.
ETH with bullish momentum in the daily chart. Source: ETHUSD Tradingview
Ethereum will undergo an update to its fee model with hard fork “London”. EIP-1559 will be implemented and ETH will become a deflationary asset. This has strengthened the theory amongst some users that ETH could become a more effective store of value than Bitcoin.
5 BTC + 300 Free Spins for new players & 15 BTC + 35.000 Free Spins every month, only at mBitcasino. Play Now!
In the weeks before the crash, Ethereum was the only altcoin absorbing institutional interest from BTC-based investment products. In mid-May, while Bitcoin investment products saw outflows estimated at $98 million, Ethereum’s saw a $27 million worth of inflows.
For the first time, the second cryptocurrency by market cap saw more interest from institutions on this metric. CoinShares report stated the following: “that investors have been diversifying out of Bitcoin and into altcoin investment products”. As seen in the chart below, negative price performance in the crypto market has impacted the asset flows in the past week.
Source: CoinShares
Altcoins With Great Potential After Bitcoin’s Crash
Besides Ethereum, Polygon (MATIC) has been the fastest to bounce with a 110% profit in the daily chart and an 81.4% rise against its Bitcoin pair. The project has received more attention from investors since its rebranding and climbed to the top 4 projects by Total Value Locked (TVL), according to data provided by DeFi Pulse.
Predict the price of BTC & AAB and win up to 5,000 USDT!
Polygon’s TVL on the rise on a 30 day period. Source: DeFi Pulse
As reported by newsBTC, Polygon was running hot since March 2021, when this blockchain outperformed Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Avalanche, NEAT, and other Ethereum L1 Bridges. With over 100 projects building on top of its solution, Polygon (MATIC) has great potential for further appreciation.
Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and Binance Coin (BNB) saw great resilience during the crash and seem poised for more profits in the coming months. BNB and the Binance Smart Chain ecosystem has proven that users are eager to participate in low-cost DeFi ecosystems with fast transactions.
Solana and projects, such as Terra (LUNA) and COPE, are meeting this demand. Cardano will launch its smart contract platform, Plutus, and its capacity to attract more users, developers, and projects will be key for its immediate future.
Dog them meme coins have been a “thing” during this stage of the bull run. Dogecoin (DOGE) was amongst the least affected during the crash, according to research firm Messari. The Elon Musk Effect favors this particular coin and will most likely continue to be a major factor in the crypto market and its recovery.
Early in the week, performance by market cap fluctuated around 0, by mid-week shifting into a bloodbath🩸
All top assets finished in double-digit losses, with two the least affected:
