Every week theres usually at least one article in CoinDesk, a blurb in a newsletter and several charts in the Twittersphere about bitcoins correlation with something or other.

This week,we were told that the 60-day correlation between gold and bitcoin (BTC) had reached all-time highs. Last week,our monthly report featured a chart of BTCs correlation with the DXY dollar index. A few weeks before that, the correlation with the S&P 500 was in the headlines.

If you feel dizzy from the rapid turns in attention on which correlation metric matters, youre not alone. But, you had better get used to it because the fascination with BTCs correlation status is unlikely to fade any time soon.What this reveals about bitcoin is intriguing. Its not so much the correlation measures per se they are fun to watch go up and down, but theyre not the deeper story. The deeper story is why it matters so much to us.

When we point to BTCs increasing correlation with the S&P 500, gold, avocados or whatever, we are searching for a handle on its prevailing narrative. We hope that correlations will give us a clue.

BTC is a difficult asset to pin down. It is a scarce asset like gold, yet with a harder cap. It can be used for pseudonymous transactions, as can cash. It is a speculative holding for many, like equities. It is a bet on a new technology, like a growth stock. It is a hedge against a dollar collapse, a way to spread financial inclusion, an investment in financial evolution, a political statement. It is all of these, or none of these, depending on your intellectual leanings, economic philosophy and mood.

The narrative we choose for bitcoin matters, though. Not only does it form our investment thesis around the asset, but it also influences our valuation methods. Do we extrapolate its potential price using the size of the gold market? The payments universe? Transaction fees? Something else entirely?

So, faced with such a slippery narrative, we look to correlations to tell the story. If its highly correlated with gold, then the market views it as a safe haven. If its more closely correlated to the S&P 500, then its a risk-on investment. If bitcoins correlation to the dollar index plummets, then its a hedge.

We look to the market to tell us what bitcoins narrative is. But this creates a feedback loop (Follow gold! Follow Nasdaq!) that helps to perpetuate bitcoins momentum-fueled volatility, and which is often thrown off course by the evolving nature of markets.

BTCs 60-day correlation with the S&P 500 has been coming down recently. That must mean its no longer a risk-on asset. Its increasing correlation with gold corroborates that, putting BTC back in the safe haven story.

But wait. Youll have heard that BTC has not had a good run over the past few days. Youll probably also have heard that Tesla has had a particularly bad time this week. I wonder if theyre correlated.

What do you know, it looks like BTCs correlation with TSLA is increasing! BTC is now more correlated to TSLA than to the S&P 500. That must mean that bitcoin is now being seen as a tech stock. No wait, its being seen as a proxy for market hype. No wait, I mean its being seen as a moon shot.

Obviously, Im kidding, but point Im trying to make is that short-term correlations can tell a good story, but theyre not that meaningful.

With a happy ending

Correlations are based on price movements, which, especially in these crazy times, do not always respond to common sense. Prices have, on the whole, become untethered from fundamental factors and are being pushed around by sentiment. Sentiment fuels momentum, which we often mistake for a trend; it also perpetuates the directionality of prices, which can exaggerate correlations.

Yet, sentiment can turn fast when investors are jittery, and theres plenty to be jittery about. The story changes again.

This grasping for data to back a story reveals our very human need to put bitcoin in context of things were already familiar with. If it goes into a certain mental box, its easier to understand and easier to make decisions about. Boxes are comfortable. Yet, in the long run, they are unsustainable.

In the short run, too: These markets are nuts, and boxes are being smashed all over the place. Bitcoin, which never did belong in any box that we know, is hopping from one story to another, as told by correlation metrics.

I like a good chart as much as anyone, probably even more so (after all, I am an analyst), and I plan to continue to watch the numbers stories with interest. But rather than use return relationships as a narrative crutch, Ill be keeping an eye on what they say about what investors are looking for.

For short-term market movements, what we think bitcoins narrative is doesnt matter as much as what other peoplethink bitcoins narrative is. Other people move the market, so we should know what asset framework theyre using. The correlation stories are useful for that.

For long-term market movements, correlations matter more for portfolio diversification than for anything else. In the not-too-distant future, markets will hopefully be less confusing and even short-term covariance and other relationships might be steadier, and easier to use for planning purposes. By then, even bitcoins correlations might start to matter less for the story and more for the allocation calculations.

By then, we will hopefully no longer need to put bitcoin in a pre-conceived box. It will have found its own narrative, understandable by all.

Drawing lines

Investor activism comes to crypto. Technically its not the first time, but as far as I know its the first initiated by an institutional investor, which pushes it into a more public arena with potentially far-reaching consequences.

California-based hedge fund manager Arca is stepping up its campaign to overhaul decentralized exchange and prediction market platform Gnosis, which raised $12.5 million in a 2017 initial coin offering (ICO). Arcas complaint is that the project has seen its initial ICO proceeds and therefore its balance sheet multiply simply due to the increase in the price of ETH, and yet has not produced anyproducts that accrue value to the token holders.

Arca insists Gnosis should at least trade at the net asset value of its treasury, which is at current prices $139 per GNO (the platforms token, which at time of writing has a market price of $67), and that the mispricing is due to poor decisions on the part of management.The investor has suggested to management that it use the bulk of its treasury to make a tender offer for all outstanding GNOs. This would value each token at approximately $90, providing a decent return for early investors. Since the report of Arcas proposal came out last week, GNO has increased 34% in price (at time of writing), while bitcoin has fallen 4% overthe same period.

The interesting part is not the potential flip for investors as they crowd out the upside. Whats important about this is how it changes the conversation around token investments, on so many levels.

First, it will unleash a healthy discussion around responsibility. Token sales, especially those issued in the heyday of 2017, are lightly regulated if at all, with no clearly defined lines of obligations. This discussion could professionalize the field and encourage other institutional investors to take an interest.

Second, it could refine the definition of token. Is it like a venture investment, where investors are expected to help their portfolio companies in exchange for greater potential returns? Yet venture investments arent liquid, and tokens to some extent are. So, is it more like equity, in which case, do token holders have stakeholder rights? ArcaCIO Jeff Dorman believes his firms holdingis like an interest-free loan, which comes with the expectation that lenders are kept informed of the borrowers progress and plans for the proceeds.And, third, it could influence investment strategies. Weve seen the price of GNO jump over the past few days, presumably in the expectation that management will listen to Arcas demands. Will we see activists intentionally accumulate tokens in order to influence a companys direction?

Finally, this could trigger some governance innovations. Apart from investors collectively insisting on more transparency and accountability, we could start to see some protocol or algorithm adjustments. What could investor activism look like on staking networks, where the amount of tokens you hold programmatically determines the say you have in certain governance issues? What if an investor wants to leverage that position to influence more than the protocol had contemplated? How can a project protect itself against predator stakes?

Given the scope of the problem and what it means for the evolution of token issuance as a fund-raising mechanism and as a value proposition, this situation is worth keeping an eye on. Arcas initiative will most likely end up being about much more than a fair return on an investment.

Anyone know what's going on yet?

As the relentless growth in COVID-19 cases around the world shines greater focus on the bumpy road to a vaccine, uncertainty in the timing of an economic recovery seems to be spilling over into stock market valuations. The S&P and Nasdaq look on track to have their second week of declines, for the first time since March.

Amidst the growing uncertainty, BTC also had a down week, significantly underperforming gold and equities and giving a boost to its 30-day volatility.

While it may feel like stock market volatility is back with a vengeance, the VIX is still well below its June level, and about where it was in December 2018. In other words, this isnt too unusual.

Both the latest U.S. unemployment and consumer price indexfigures came in slightly higher than expected, adding to the overall unease. As renowned investor Stanley Druckenmiller re-ignited the heated debate between those that expect inflation and those that expect deflation, expect greater focus on bitcoins narrative as an inflation hedge.

CHAIN LINKS

My colleague Nathan DiCamillo shows how we can follow the initial public offering of INX, the first registered offering of security tokens in the U.S., and gives more insight into how the issuance will work. TAKEAWAY: This is an eye-opening peek at the transparency of a security token offering, vs. a normal security offering. You can actually watch the securities move, in real time. That, plus the innovative business model behind them, and the evolution of capital markets they represent, andthe fact that its the first token sale to register for retail distribution with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, make this issuance worth following.

Another issuance worth watching is that of Diginex, the Hong Kong-based company behind the newly launched EQUOS.io crypto exchange. This week it announced that it has raised $20 million from four family offices and a hedge fund, ahead of an anticipated Nasdaq listing later this month via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). TAKEAWAY: This will be the first crypto exchange to publicly list in the U.S., as well as an indication of public interest in crypto market infrastructure. For investors, its a listed play on the growth of the ecosystem. For analysts, its a welcome peek at the accounts of a market infrastructure participant, which could be even more interesting as rumors of a Coinbase listing continue to circulate.

Options market data shows an upward trend over the past couple of months in the traded volume of ether (ETH) puts vs. calls, which hints at a growing fear of a price drop. TAKEAWAY: The bitcoin (BTC) put-call ratio is flat over the same period, which implies that the hedging is specific to ETH. This could indicate greater concern about the fragility of the recent inflows into some decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, and the potential impact on the networks congestion and token price.

The recent growth in bitcoin accumulation addresses, or addresses with at least two incoming bitcoin transfers in the last seven years and no spends, could indicate growing support for bitcoin in spite of lackluster price performance. TAKEAWAY: That we can even extract this metric is an example of the unique data sets available to crypto asset investors. Imagine having this level of information with traditional assets.

More than 30% of new customers at bitFlyer, one of the leading Japanese crypto exchanges, are in their 20s, according to a recent survey. TAKEAWAY: Its not news that millennials are interested in crypto assets. Last year investment management firm Charles Schwab revealed in a quarterly report that bitcoin was the fifth most popular investment among its millennial customers. A JPMorgan report issued last month also flagged millennials penchant for bitcoin over gold.

Investment management firm Wave Financial has received its first round of investment from clients for the Wave Kentucky Whiskey 2020 Digital Fund, which it plans to tokenize in a year or two. TAKEAWAY: I include this as an example of how interesting the tokenized security field will soon get. It should be clarified that holding a fund token does not give you access to the whiskey. It does allow you to share in the profits when the whiskey is eventually sold to wholesalers. Yes, this could be achieved without tokenization. And it remains to be seen how comfortable investors will be with this concept. The investment so far is still relatively small, but will be worth watching.

Podcast episodes worth listening to:

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How Bitcoin Correlations Drive the Narrative - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Jameson Lopp, co-founder and CTO of Casa, a crypto custody firm has released a test result report on Bitcoin multi-signature hardware signing performance on the Casa blog on Sep. 13.

The result shows that hardware crypto wallet devices can handle small, simple transactions well. However, they have trouble performing once the transaction becomes complicated. Casa is said to be built upon geographically distributed multisig, dedicated hardware devices to secure keys, designed user experience, and client services.

Lopp pointed out that while the company has no control over the hardware devices, the goal is to support any device at the end of the day. Thus, he decided to conduct research and hoped to draw some conclusions and help multisig software providers better understand the limits of hardware and customize wallet software for better performance.

Casa is currently compatible with six hardware including Trezor, Ledger, Coinkite and Coldcard The test was done on all the supported hardware devices and also BitBox.

Lopp set up the test by leveraging Electrum's 4.0.2 appimage on Debian Linux and created a variety of P2WSH (native segwit) multisig wallets that use Bitcoins testnet and with the hardware devices plugged in via USB. In each wallet, there was a deposit of 100 UTXOs.

Lopp created a series of tests to determine these hardware wallet capabilities when signing multi-signature transactions of varying complexity. He repeated these tests and concluded that its better and more secure if hardware devices can show progress indicators for loading and signing. He added that:

I came to really dislike hardware devices that don't show progress indicators for loading and signing. As such, I highly prefer Coldcard and Trezor in this respect. BitBox and Ledger are anxiety-inducing because you have no idea if anything is actually happening.

When it comes to overcoming transaction size limitation and delay of transaction processing time, Lopp suggested that hardware wallets could try to break up a send into multiple smaller transactions that are below its limits.

When the transaction process takes too long, some devices will lock itself from inactivity. Lopp suggests that the least device manufacturers could do to avoid such inconvenience is to disable the screen lock timeout while the device is still working on the transaction.

According to Lopp, hardware devices should also support Partially signed Bitcoin transactions (PSBT) and all possible valid multisig transactions. He added that:

I believe it's time for hardware manufacturers to start acting like platform providers and ensure that they are providing robust platforms that can be used to build a wide variety of solutions.

There are two steps for hardware devices to follow when signing a Bitcoin transaction, according to Lopp:

First, The transaction gets loaded onto the device, it parses the details and displays them on the screen for user confirmation. These details are generally the address(es) to which funds are being sent, the amount(s) being sent, and the fee being paid. Then, Upon user confirmation, the device signs each transaction input and then returns the signed transaction to the wallet software.

Go here to see the original:

Bitcoin hardware devices need to improve to handle complex transactions - Cointelegraph

One of the interesting things about cryptocurrency investors is they really dolook at the world very differently from many of their counterparts in traditional finance.

The thinking goes something like this: The efforts of governments and central banks to repair the economy are doomed to fail, and likely to make the situation worse. There is no point in moving to a defensive investment strategy because prices for digital assets are going to the moon. Every time the stock market goes up, it just validates the reality that the dollar is being debased by trillions of dollars of central bank money printing.

The latest turn-logic-on-its-head zinger came Monday from Dan Morehead, a former Wall Street trader and hedge fund executive who now heads the cryptocurrency-focused investment firm Pantera Capital in the San Francisco area.

In amonthly letter, Morehead was discussing how central banks typically succeed when they pointedly attempt to increase inflation, as the Federal Reserve is now pursuing as an official policy. Hecited Venezuela and Zimbabwe as twoprior success stories, as it were.

Morehead then pivoted to the argument that asset prices are not rising because stock fundamentals have improved, but because a huge wave of money is being printed.

Gold is at a 5,000-year high, Morehead wrote. Or, said another way, paper money is at an all-time low.

Its that counterintuitive,put another way perspective that can sometimes seem refreshing, partly because the crypto investorkeeps getting proven right. Audiences on both Wall Street and in broader society are now becoming more receptive to the idea that thetraditional financial system and economy arebothunsustainable and unfair.

The Federal Reserves top monetary officialsmeet this week to discuss their next steps for healing the U.S. economy, which at this point appears to consist of doingnothing for the next several yearsuntil inflation rises above the central banks historic 2% targetand stays above that level for a while.

Asreported byFirst Mover Monday, its possible the Feds next move would come if the stock market takes a fresh dive, prompting the central bank to step in and pump more money into the economy to keep markets functioning smoothly.

Jeff Dorman, another former Wall Street veteran whos now chief investment officer of the cryptocurrency-focused investment Arca Funds in Los Angeles, wrote Monday in hisweekly columnthat Congress, which has been gridlocked over a newcoronavirus-related stimulus package, might alsobe prone to a similar do-nothing-until-you-have-to dynamic.

He has written in the past that it would likely take an equity temper tantrum before Congress acts, and he wrote this week, Methinks Congress will be acting soon.

Moral hazard never left, but its definitely back, according to Dorman.

What tips the scalestoward the crypto investors being the sane ones and not the other way around is that market signalsare currently validating the crypto investment thesis.

Bill Gross, the legendary former Pimco bond fund manager, is encouraging investors to get defensive because there is little money to be made almost anywhere in the world,CNBC reported Monday.

Tell that toMorehead of Pantera, whose Digital Asset Fund has returned 168% so far this year, according to the letter.

Morehead said bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are winning because they have a relatively fixed supply, similar to gold, and improved usage/fundamentals, similar to tech stockslike Amazon and Netflix.

Just compare the following chart of year-to-date asset-class performance from Pantera:

To this one fromGoldman Sachs (off by a few days so the percentages are a touch different):

One includes crypto, and goes up to 244%; the other doesnt include crypto, and it goes up to 29%. So far this year, based on the track record so far anyway, it turns out thesmart money was in crypto.

Bitcoin Watch

Bitcoin looks north, having breached a 10-day-long sideways trend with a move above $10,500 on Monday.

Bullish developments on key technical indicators back the range breakout. For instance, the 14-day relative strength index has violated a descending trendline, signaling an end of the price pullback from the August high of $12,476.

Further, the MACD histogram, an indicator used to gauge trend strength and trend changes, has crossed above zero, indicating a bullish reversal.

As such, resistance levels at $11,000 and $11,200 could soon come into play. That said, the cryptocurrency remains vulnerable to a potential sell-off in equity markets, according to analysts.

Previous sell-offs have been exacerbated by risk-off momentum in stocks, particularly the tech-heavy Nasdaq index, Matthew Dibb, co-founder and COO of Stack Fund, told CoinDesk in a WhatsApp chat. We remain cautiously bullish this week.

Token Watch

BZx (BZRX):DeFi lending projectrecovers $8M of cryptocurrencyfrom attacker who exploited code bug.

Aave (LEND), Yearn.Finance (YFI), Compound (COMP), Synthetix (SNX), MakerDAO (MKR), REN (REN), Kyber Network (KNC), Loopring (LRC), Balancer (BAL), Augur (REP):New 10-token DeFi Pulse Index provides way for traders to get exposure to DeFi without having to go and buy every token individually.

Tether (USDT), Tron (TRX), Ethereum (ETH):Tether moves 1B of its dollar-linked USDT stablecoins toEthereum blockchain from Tron.

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First Mover: Bitcoin Investors the Sane Ones as Federal Reserve Cheers Inflation, Price Nears $11K - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Youve probably seen the comic posted in one of the many online crypto communities; an adaptation of a popular Reddit meme. A jolly little character offers up two games, one adventurous, the other challenging.

His friend asks about a third option.

When you play that game, the first little guy replies, days will blur together. Regular meals are a thing of the past. Friends will become concerned. And the whole time youll be unsure if youre even having fun.

That third game is, of course, Bitcoin.

That comic is familiar to those of us in the crypto industry. From traders staying up until the early hours, to crypto journalists working day and night to cover the fast-growing space, we all relate to it and thats why it makes us laugh.

But what is it about Bitcoin that initially grabs us and sends us down the rabbit hole? Why do these lines of code reach out of the computer screen, grab our imaginations and pull us in?

During four interviews, with diehard Bitcoiners, Decrypt identified some common traits: a dislike for authority, with a political stance that leans towards libertarianism. But while they revel in Bitcoins attributes as a hedge against inflation, or its security, it wasnt those factors that initially drew them in. Rather, it was the moment they first used Bitcoin or were able to visualise it, that flicked a subliminal switch. So, while the current narratives are important, what gets us obsessed with Bitcoin is something a little more intimate.

On a day in September 2015, David Bennett, senior administrator at the Texas Tech University, felt confined.

He was at work in his cubicle, lit by a lamp instead of the overhead fluorescent lights that were never turned on. The office was so buried in the middle of the gray, chunky concrete building that was the universitys library, he couldnt even hear it when it rainedan event that, in the southern end of the High Plains desert landscape, would typically bring everyone running to the windows.

Bennett looked at his monitor. He was just about to send 0.2 Bitcoin, worth $80, from his Coinbase account to Jack Spirko of the Survival Podcast, so he could become a member. He had heard about Bitcoin online a few years ago, but it was only from listening to these podcasts that he was starting to learn more. He popped in Spirkos address and hit send.

It quickly dawned on him that there were so many things he hadnt done. He hadnt put in his bank account details, his home address, his telephone number. He hadnt authorised someone to take payments from his account. There would be no phoning the bank up to complain that further scam payments had been taken from his account. That was it, done.

He felt liberated.

That started the whole trip down the rabbit hole, he told Decrypt. I sat back. I didnt say anything then, but later told my co-workers about Bitcoin.

Bennett soon became a regular listener of Bitcoin educator Andreas Antonopoulos as well as Trace Mayers weekly Bitcoin Knowledge podcast. Finding himself ill-content with just one podcast episode every week, he set up his own called Bitcoin and where he discusses news on a daily basis.

To this day, he continues to maintain that Bitcoin is a weapon, but, in the words of Parallax Digital CEO Robert Breedlove, one for peace.

It was a cold day in late October, 2019, when Phil Gibson, a software salesman, drove home for his lunch hour. His friend had convinced him to buy a range of altcoins, such as the Brave browsers Basic Attention Token and business-focused Syscoin, on crypto exchange Binance. Only the friend had warned him to get a VPN first.

Standing at the kitchen table with his laptop out, Gibson tried paying for NordVPN. But his debit card refused to work, flagging an error message. He tried his credit card. Still no dice. He got on the phone to his bank, to find out what was going on. While he was waiting on hold, it dawned on him that it was probably to do with what he was buying. The customer service assistant came back on and confirmed his suspicions.

Gibson was angry that the bank was banning him from spending his money how he wanted. He ignored the idea of calling his local branch and looked for another way. He noticed the VPN provider accepted Bitcoin, so he took out CashApp, bought Bitcoin and paid for the VPN directly.

Once I saw that it worked, it was just amazing, he said. Bitcoin is FU moneyits a hell of a drug.

While he had heard about Bitcoin in 2017 during its epic run to $20,000, this was the moment he truly understood its value. It slotted straight into his libertarian-leaning beliefs and he started binging Bitcoin information, such as the Bitcoin audible podcast by Guy Swann.

But there was one thing about Bitcoin thatunlike the fiat money he had in his bank accountreally resonated with him.

Its mine, he said. Even if I sound like Gollum.

Economics student Marty Bent was sitting alone in the library of DePaul University in Chicago, one evening in the summer of 2012. Outside of his evening classes, he had spent the day working at a managed futures fund where he wrote almost exclusively about central banks and monetary policy. With his anti-authority bent, it was clear to him that governments were getting it all wrong.

I was pretty glued to what the central banks were doing for three to four years. In the depths of QE2, QE3, Operation Twist, I quickly learned the central banks didnt really have any idea of what they were doing, he said, referring to examples of quantitative easing and bond buying by the Federal Reserve.

In that moment, he wasnt studying for his economics lessons the next evening, nor was he preparing for the next days commentary at his day job. Instead, he was on BitcoinTalk, poring over everything there was to know about Bitcoin.

Bent said, I was reading up on Bitcoin and getting a better understanding of the technology and the monetary policies behind itand it sort of clicked.

Bent soon started making Twitter lists of prominent Bitcoiners to keep track of what was going on. In the winter of 2013, he used his bonus check to buy his first Bitcoin for $800. Soon after that, it shot up to $1,200 and, driven by the feeling of euphoria, he was suddenly telling his coworkers all about it.

Bent now writes a daily newsletter called Marty's ent and is host of the Tales from the Crypt podcast. Both of which are focused, as you might expect, on Bitcoin.

In early 2017, Robert Breedlove was in his home office in Las Vegas, reading a paper on his iMac. Breedlove was a libertarian who had long wondered about moneywhat it was, and why governments had a monopoly on it. He had read a book called The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve, and one Christmas, he had even handed out copies of an abridged versioncalled Dishonest Moneyto his family.

So, its unsurprising that, at that very moment, he was reading Nick Szabos explanation of smart contracts, a technology for coding agreements between two parties. Breedlove had known about Bitcoin for several years but it was at this moment, when he finally got what it was for.

When i read Nick Szabos work on smart contractswhich was actually written in the late 90sthat was when I had my lightbulb moment, he said. Oh my gosh, this whole finance industry is basically this intermediate function that could be disrupted by smart contracts.

It was Szabos example of a vending machine that struck him. A canonical real-life example, which we might consider to be the primitive ancestor of smart contracts, is the humble vending machine, Szabo wrote.

At that moment, Breedlove could visualize how Bitcoin or Ethereum could play the part of the vending machine, removing the need for the legacy finance industrywhile rivalling state-backed fiat currencies. Thats when I realised that the tech was really going to be a big deal, he said.

He soon came to believe that it was Bitcoin that had the strongest foundation to disrupt the concept of money. After reading The Bitcoin Standard, by Saifedean Ammous, he devoured books by economists Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard and Friedrich Hayek. He went on to become the CEO of Parallax Digital, which invests in Bitcoin-focused products, and has written a 62-tweet-long thread that sheds light on Bitcoin in an exoteric nutshell.

See the original post:

Why We Get Obsessed With Bitcoin - Decrypt

Bitcoin (BTC) is getting its best advertisement once more as another major central bank floats the idea of charging people to save their money.

As Bloomberg reported quoting minutes of a meeting held Thursday, the Bank of England (BoE) has become the latest central bank to discuss negative interest rates.

According to the results of the meeting, the BoE will enter discussions with banking regulators over negative rates, which effectively mean lending institutions, and, hence, savers must pay to store cash.

The reason is the impact of the coronavirus lockdown on the economy, along with the looming prospect of Brexit, deal or no deal.

The bank is leaving all options on the table, due to elevated uncertainty, one analyst told the publication in light of the news.

The pound slid against major currencies Thursday, as policymakers further confirmed that they had voted to keep interest rates at 0.1% for the time being.

Bank of England balance sheet chart (GBP). Source: TradingEconomics/ Bank of England

Bitcoin proponents immediately seized on the BoEs troubles, arguing that such a policy simply undermined both fiat currencys reputation and its own position.

Wow, the Bank of England discussing negative interest rates. If they adopt this, they would be paying you to borrow, Tyler Winklevoss wrote on Twitter.

You couldnt buy a better advertisement for Bitcoin but u can take their money and go long bitcoin.

Veteran trader Tone Vays had similar thoughts.

I don't think any Bank would pay you to borrow but they will charge you to store/save your money at the Bank, what more can a Bitcoin Hodler as for! he said, responding to Winklevoss.

Thanks Bank of England, you will help drive $BTC adoption.

Others took aim at the interim interest rate decision.

One of the most important prices in our society is determined by vote, Christopher Bendiksen, head of research at digital asset investment strategist Coinshares, tweeted.

You read that right. In 2020, 8 middle-aged men and one woman literally come together several times a year to determine the price of credit. This will seem unbelievably archaic to our descendants.

As Cointelegraph reported, the BoE is particularly infamous in Bitcoin circles, the United Kingdom government bailing out the banking sector en masse on the eve of Bitcoins birth in 2009. An article from the national newspaper, The Times, was even included in the Bitcoin genesis block.

More recently, central banks reactions to coronavirus have fuelled the idea that Bitcoin will increasingly function as a hedge against fiat.

This week, the United States Federal Reserve fielded queries about its plans to overshoot inflation targets, a process that would weaken the U.S. dollar and provide a likely further boost to safe havens such as gold and Bitcoin.

For its part, the BoE had said that negative interest rates would be damaging to the U.K. economy as recently as last month.

The European Central Bank, or ECB, has administered negative rates since 2016, but such a move would be a historical first for the U.K.

Read more here:

Bank of England talks negative interest rates in best ad for Bitcoin - Cointelegraph

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --In Redefining the Future of the Economy: Governance Blocks and EconomicArchitecturethe authorsreveal what the first generations ofblockchainare missing. Norman Augustine, distinguished engineer and former Lockheed Martin CEO, states:"Your book is fascinating the way it moves from economics to governance to mathematics to philosophy to poetry."

Futurist George Gilder, author of Life After Google: the Fall of Big Data and the Rise of the Blockchain Economy, Wealth and Poverty, Microcosm, Telecosm, Life After Television, and the Silicon Eye, writes: "[Redefining the Future of the Economy] is a just-in-time blockbusting chain-reactive manifesto for a revolutionary second generation of blockchain for finance. If you are involved with the Cryptocosm, or with finance, or with artificial intelligence, you have to read it. . Talbot, a super savvy investment strategist, and Benko, a paladin of money theory, actually know why the movement is bogging down and how to fix it."

They prescribe the missing ingredients: Layering consensus algorithms for the creation of sophisticated financial systems and using combinatorial mathematics to provide an organizational structure bringing order to the autonomous chaos of AI, providing accountability and regulatory compliance.

Dawn Talbotis a Wall Street veteraninstitutional research analyst, corporate finance professional, and portfolio manager. Ralph Benko is a Washington insider, aReagan White House deputy general counsel and former senior counselor to the blockchain sector's trade association.The book is available from Amazon and we offer complimentary review copies to journalists and thought leaders. The authors are available for interviews to discuss their breakthrough findings.

Contact: Ralph Benko [emailprotected] 202.800.6550

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http://www.Tevoro.com

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Tevoro.com Announces New Book Revealing What's Missing from Bitcoin, Ethereum and Other Cryptocurrencies - PRNewswire

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week in uncertain territory as $10,000 stays in place but fundamentals shift to bullish.

Cointelegraph highlights five things that could shape BTC price action in the coming days.

In what will likely become a frequently-quoted announcement, oil giant BP said this weekend that the world has hit peak demand for the black gold.

In a report quoted by Bloomberg, BP said that demand for oil would stay broadly flat for the next twenty years, with pressure coming from alternative fuels and coronavirus.

It subsequently recovers but never back to pre-Covid levels, Spencer Dale, the firms chief economist said.

It brings forward the point at which oil demand peaks to 2019.

Macro asset year-to-date returns. Source: Skew

The startling admission is yet another surprise to come out of the global economy, at the same time as central banks admit that unconventional monetary policy has become the norm in 2020.

With coronavirus at the helm and lockdown returning to at least one country on Monday, Bitcoin looks poised to benefit from oil and fiat currency weakness, as before.

As Cointelegraph reported, previous extreme volatility in the price of certain oil assets allowed BTC to shine as a hedge against losses.

Another week, another meeting for the United States Federal Reserve and a chance for safe havens to capitalize on its policy shifts.

On Wednesday, the Fed will outline how it plans to implement economic measures which will impact inflation something which previously sparked dollar weakness.

Maintaining a policy status quo in this context would be akin to throwing in a towel, which would undermine the credibility of the new framework right out of the gate, Aneta Markowska, chief financial economist at Jefferies told MarketWatch on Monday.

Any actions from the Fed could weigh on the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) once again, something to which Bitcoin has shown significant inverse correlation since July.

Gold markets are already considering the likelihood of a shake-up, analysts say, betting on the Fed putting itself in an increasingly difficult position. The precious metal has formed a golden triangle and is ripe for a breakout.

For Bitcoin, its all about DXY a reversal of recent strength at the beginning of September would be a clear bull signal. Conversely, continued gains would likely keep selling pressure at $10,500 intact.

DXY 2-month chart. Source: TradingView

The coronavirus crisis is many times more destructive than the financial crisis of 2008, Steve Barrow, head of forex strategy at Standard Bank, meanwhile summarized to Bloomberg.

Theres every reason to believe that the move to tighter monetary policy will take as long - and probably much longer -- than the post-financial-crisis period.

In terms of central bank policy specifically, this year is seeing a seismic change similar to oil demand.

With Bitcoin as an antidote to central bank meddling with the money supply, any further devaluation in fiat is only to be welcomed by BTC proponents looking for a safety net.

Global central bankers are discovering that monetary policies they once viewed as unconventional and temporary are now proving to be conventional and long-lasting, Bloomberg summarized about the situation worldwide.

According to data from the publication, major central banks are employing crisis policies in 2020 that they have never used before.

As RT host Max Keiser often comments on his show, The Keiser Report, nothing is as permanent as temporary fiscal policy from a central bank.

Within Bitcoin, however, the future looks decidedly rosy. Hash rate a measure of how much computing power miners have decided to dedicate to validating transactions has broken out to hit yet another all-time high.

On Monday, data from Blockchain shows, the seven-day average hash rate stood at 135 exahashes per second (EH/s).

Bitcoin 7-day average hash rate 2-month chart. Source: Blockchain

Hash rate strength underscores miners continued faith in Bitcoins long-term profitability. Difficulty, perhaps the most essential measure of blockchain health, is set for a 5.4% increase this week something which will send it, too, to record highs.

Commenting on the general situation, Cointelegraph Markets analyst Michal van de Poppe suggested that zooming out was all that was needed for a bullish take on Bitcoin.

If you'd like to compare periods and market cycles, the current state of the market is comparable to 2016, he tweeted on Monday.

Slow upwards grind, with long sideways consolidation periods. In 2016, several were seen. In 2020, 2021, it's likely we'll see that too. Bullish.

Cryptocurrency commentators are also eyeing moves by stablecoin Tether (USDT) as a pointer for BTC price trajectory.

Specifically, Tethers burgeoning market cap, passing $15 billion in recent days, has historically spurred Bitcoin gains.

Bitcoin tether printer divergence. This story always seems to end the same way, analyst Cole Garner tweeted, highlighting how previous increases in the USDT supply positively impacted Bitcoin.

As Cointelegraph previously reported, stablecoin holders, including those of USDT, appeared keen to snap up cheap BTC at prices around $10,000.

Read the rest here:

Fed, oil and record hash rate: 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week - Cointelegraph

ENCINITAS, Calif., Sept. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Glen Oaks Escrow, one of Southern California's largest independent escrow companies, recently announced that it closed its second Bitcoin transaction.

The organization shared that the homebuyer contacted the Glen Oaks Escrow office in San Diego to inquire about using Bitcoin after hearing about previous Bitcoin transactions that were administered within the organization.

"We're thrilled that our organization has closed another transaction with Bitcoin. We made the decision in 2018 to start accepting Bitcoin payments, and we are glad that we did, given that consumers see the value and are taking advantage of this payment method. This transaction exemplifies that, while a young technology in our industry, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies have the potential to become a bigger part of real estate transactions. And, given the current economic climate, some experts are predicting that real estate, gold, and Bitcoin will perform strongly over the long-term. We look forward to being there for our clients and are very proud to be at the forefront to enable transactions in this way," shared Joe Curtis, COO of Glen Oaks Escrow.

Glen Oaks Escrow accepts Bitcoin payments through BitPay, which acts as the payment processor in the transaction and is used to verify the funds. The escrow company then sends out an invoice to the buyer, similar to wire instructions in a fiat currency transaction.

The buyer then has a fixed window of time to remit payment using Bitcoin or another accepted cryptocurrency. The funds go to escrow through BitPay, which converts the Bitcoin into cash and wires US Dollars into the escrow account. In summary, BitPay takes the Bitcoin and converts it to cash for the seller, so the seller never actually sees the Bitcoin payment, just the cash.

"While some people and companies are still trying to understand how cryptocurrencies fit into the real estate industry, we continue to see the growth of usage in other markets. From Crypto Startup Schoolsto large banks getting involved with cryptocurrencies, we are confident that this new way of doing business will increase in our industry. We're proud to be paving the way for this technology," explained Curtis.

About Glen Oaks Escrow

Glen Oaks Escrow is part of the Pango Group, a family of companies that include American Trust Escrow, CV Escrow, Escrow Trust Advisors, AV Escrow, VOI Insurance Solutions, and Document Archive Solutions.

Pango Group has been one of the leading independent escrow resources in California for over 20 years with locations from Los Angeles to Orange County to the Coachella Valley and San Diego and owns and manages over 30 offices and 300 employees.

The company's mission of running exceptional real estate service businesses that enhance the lives of the people, partners, and communities we serve has been an integral part of its success. It was recently named one of the Best Places to Work for the 5th year in a row in Los Angeles.

CONTACT:Lucia Asbury(760) 697-9146[emailprotected]

SOURCE Glen Oaks Escrow

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Glen Oaks Escrow Announces It Assisted With Yet Another Bitcoin Transaction - PRNewswire

Despite much anticipation, the Indian cryptocurrency bill is not included in the list of bills to be introduced in the current session of parliament. Meanwhile, a new report of Indias government planning to ban cryptocurrency trading has emerged.

The Indian government has been deliberating on how it will treat cryptocurrencies in the country after a draft crypto bill was submitted by an interministerial committee headed by former Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg last year.

The government originally said that it planned to introduce this bill in the Winter session of parliament last year. When that did not happen, there were reports suggesting that the crypto bill could be introduced in the Monsoon session, which started Monday and will continue through Oct. 1.

Tanvi Ratna, CEO of blockchain policy and regulatory advisory firm Policy 4.0, explained on Twitter Sunday that the Monsoon session of parliament was disrupted due to the covid-19 pandemic, adding:

Cryptocurrency ban legislation does not appear in the list of 45+ bills on the agenda for the 18-day session. This is big news, though this could change & there are other routes for govt.

The Indian government has not made any announcement regarding its plans for cryptocurrency, which has led to rumors and speculation. Several reports indicate that the government is planning to ban cryptocurrencies as outlined in the draft bill submitted by the Garg committee.

The latest crypto ban news was published by Bloomberg on Tuesday. The publication claims that India is planning to introduce law to ban cryptocurrency trading. Citing people familiar with the development who asked not to be identified, citing rules on speaking with the media, the publication wrote:

The bill is expected to be discussed shortly by the federal cabinet before it is sent to parliament.

The federal government will encourage blockchain, the technology underlying cryptocurrencies, but is not keen on cryptocurrency trading, according to two people, the news outlet added.

Since this is not the first time the Indian crypto community has had to deal with ban rumors, many people on Twitter were quick to point out that the sources of the news are anonymous, and previous ban rumors never materialized.

Blockchain lawyer Varun Sethi commented: Words like federal cabinet suggest its inspired from some western country. In India, we generally use central government. Also, no sources or quotes raise doubts.

Furthermore, Crypto Kanoon co-founder Mohammed Danish previously explained that if the Indian government decides to pass a law to ban cryptocurrency in some ways, this law can be challenged by crypto business, traders, or enthusiasts based on various rights available to them under the Constitution.

Despite multiple ban reports, the cryptocurrency community in India firmly believes that the government will not impose a full ban on cryptocurrencies since much has happened since the Garg committees bill was drafted.

Earlier this month, Begin India Think Tank founder Deepak Kapoor explained that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could have the same legal status as stocks. In July, Garg himself said that Crypto assets as commodities should be allowed, even though he stood by his recommendation that cryptocurrencies should be outlawed. He has since retired from government service.

Do you think India will ban or regulate cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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India's Crypto Bill Omitted From Parliament Agenda While New Ban Report Appears - Bitcoin News