Monthly Archives: February 2021

Police in the UK arrested eight men on Tuesday as part of an international investigation into a gang that's been hacking celebrities and stealing their cryptocurrency.

The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and Europol released statements saying the gang used a technique called SIM-swapping to hack various celebrities over the course of 2020.

The NCA did not reveal the names of the celebrities, but said the victims included "well-known influencers, sports stars, musicians, and their families."

The hackers are believed to have stolen more than $100 million in cryptocurrencies, Europol said, as well as stealing regular cash out of celebrities' bank accounts. Paul Creffield, head of operations for the NCA's National Cyber Crime Unit, said money had been specifically been stolen out of bitcoin wallets.

The NCA added the hackers sometimes posed as the victims by gaining access to their social media accounts.

SIM-swapping is a relatively simple technique that means the hacker convinces the victim's cell phone carrier to transfer their number to a new phone controlled by the hacker. The hacker then typically changes the victim's passwords by getting reset codes sent via SMS. The same technique was used in 2019 to hack Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account.

The men arrested in the UK were all aged between 18 and 26, the NCA said. These arrests followed two others earlier this year in Malta and Belgium. Creffield said the hackers could face extradition to the US, as well as computer misuse, fraud, and money laundering charges in the UK.

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This article was co-authored by Vinny Lingam. Vinny Lingam is the CEO of Civic Technologies, a blockchain-powered identity protection and management startup. Vinny was awarded the Top Young ICT Entrepreneur in Africa Award in 2006, was on the World Economic Forum for Young Global Leaders in 2009, and was voted one of the top 500 CEOs in the World in 2015. He has a BS in E-Commerce from the University of South Africa. This article has been viewed 31,471 times.

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Updated: June 12, 2020

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3 Ways to Use Cryptocurrency - wikiHow

InvestorPlace

Ethereum (CCC:ETH-USD) is trading over $1,800 as I write this early on Feb. 11. Its up 150% year-to-date (YTD). A similar story is told about Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD), the worlds largest cryptocurrency. Source: Shutterstock InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips When it comes to stocks and other investments, generally, Im not particularly eager to write about them unless Im bullish about their prospects. Ill never short a stock as a result. Its just not in my nature to recommend someone sell a particular investment, especially when theyve bought for the long haul. Sure, Ill make sell calls based on valuation, but more often than not, its for stocks I like that have gotten ahead of themselves. Whats happening in the markets at the moment is unsettling to me. Not because Ive never lived through a major correction; Ive lived through many in my adult life (Im 56). I know from experience that markets always recover. Some, however, take longer than others. 8 Cheap Stocks Under $20 That Could Double Its a big reason why you might want to consider taking profits on your Ethereum bet. Let me explain. History Is a Good Teacher If You Own Ethereum Successful investors are generally interested in history. Thats because so much of what happens in the world repeats itself, over and over, and over. The markets are no different. History gives us perspective. Ben Carlson, one of my favorite financial bloggers anywhere, wrote a piece for his blog, A Wealth Of Common Sense, in March 2019 that discussed the worst entry point in stock market history. I recommend that you read it. Carlson plays with total returns in the markets over various 35-year periods. In one example from 1965 through 1999, the S&P 500 delivered an annual return of 12.4%. In another period from 1984 through 2018, the annual return was a respectable 10.7%, including the 1987 crash. I was one year into a financial services career at that point and figured the world as we knew it was over and done. It wasnt. Carlson compared the 1965 to 1999 period to the performance of the index from 2000 through 2018. That delivered an annual return of 4.9%, or about one-third of the performance over the 35 years. However, thats not his best argument. He points out that to generate a 12.4% return over 35 years from 2000 through 2034, an investor would need to achieve an annual return of 22% between 2019 and 2034 to generate the identical 35-year performance. So, the question you want to ask yourself as you sit on your significant unrealized gains YTD is whether, in 35 years, $1,800 will be considered the worst entry point in the cryptocurrencys history or one of the best. What you do with this analysis should determine whether you bail on your Ethereum bet or not. The Bitcoin Parallel InvestorPlaces Josh Enomoto recently wrote a piece that explained why he had unloaded most of his Bitcoin investment as his personal wall of worry got too hot to handle. Bitcoin is up 60% YTD and 358% over the past year as I write this. In May 2020, Josh discussed the concept of Bitcoin halving. He owned Bitcoin at the time. He held it at the end of 2019. At the beginning of 2019, he owned it. In 2018, he owned Bitcoin, arguing that investors had an opportunity to buy before the price really took off. Using the dates when each of these articles was published, Bitcoin traded at approximately $10,000 (February 2018), $3,800 (January 2019), $7,200 (December 2019), $4,900 (May 2020) and $37,000 (beginning of February). I cant tell you if Josh bought once in February 2018 and held through February 2020, or if he averaged down through 2019 and 2020, but what I can tell you is that $37,000, give or take a few thousand to account for the actual timing of the sale, was his time to bail. You see, when all your money is tied up in volatile investment markets, its difficult to get any peace. While Id never take such outlandish risks, I did have a sizable profit in Bitcoin, Josh wrote on Feb. 10. But as the price kept ticking higher and higher, the pressure got to me. Knowing how wild Bitcoin trading is, I could hold on for dear life and risk losing everything or I could get out while the going was good and take something, anything out of this experience. As Clint Eastwood said in Magnum Force, A mans [or woman] got to know his limitations. Indeed he or she does. I could continue with clichs and quotes for the next several hours. The point is, my colleague, who writes about investments for a living and has for many years chose to exit most of his Bitcoin position for a sizable gain after it had appreciated by 329% over the past year. By comparison, Ethereum is up 547% over the same period. Take from this what you will. On the date of publication, Will Ashworth did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. Will Ashworth has written about investments full-time since 2008. Publications where hes appeared include InvestorPlace, The Motley Fool Canada, Investopedia, Kiplinger, and several others in both the U.S. and Canada. He particularly enjoys creating model portfolios that stand the test of time. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. More From InvestorPlace Why Everyone Is Investing in 5G All WRONG Top Stock Picker Reveals His Next Potential Winner It doesnt matter if you have $500 in savings or $5 million. Do this now. #1 Play to Profit from Biden's Presidency The post Heres Why You Might Want to Bail From Your Ethereum Bet appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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All Cryptocurrencies Screener - Yahoo Finance

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez praised the city's governing commission for passing a resolution Thursday that willstudy the feasibility of paying employees in bitcoin, as well as allowing residents to pay fees and taxes in bitcoin.

Bitcoin reached a new record-high value this week as major tech and financial companies eye virtual currencies.

Mastercard Inc. on Wednesday said it is preparing to support cryptocurrencies directly on its network this year, as the company follows the rise of digital assets.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday said he bought Dogecoin for his baby "so he can be a toddler hodler."

Dogecoin is becoming the cryptocurrency of the stars.

Tesla makes a $1.5B bet on bitcoin.

The reckless abandon of the investing world has a new fixation: a cryptocurrency that began in 2013 as a joke, was mostly forgotten, and thanks to a flurry of tweets from Tesla Inc.

Bitcoins emergence as an investment thesis on Wall Street has tarnished some of golds allure.

Less than two days after tweeting that he would be taking a break from the social media platform, billionaire Elon Musk was on Twitteragain Thursday.

Musk said that bitcoin is "really on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people" during an interview on audio chat app Club House.

Crypto-asset broker Voyager Digital is opening 100 accounts per minute and has become a ranked app in the Apple Store as a result of volatility from GameStop, according to its CEO.

It has lost 11% so far this week, the biggest drop since a 12% fall in September

Early bitcoin investor Nikki Beesetti explains how a single transaction paid off in a big way.

The mayor of Miami wants to make his city more appealing to the tech industry by embracing bitcoin.

Billionaire Mark Cuban thinks the crypto craze thats sweeping across the investment community is exactly like the 1999-2000 tech bubble.

ANew York Citybar owner has put his two Manhattan establishments up for sale for the asking price of 25 bitcoins, telling FOX Business Network Monday that he believes thecryptocurrency is here to stay.

Bitcoins surge to record levels has become unsustainable, according to one Wall Street pro.

Bitcoin's record run may continue in 2021.

Regulators have bitcoin all wrong, says Twitter, Square CEO Jack Dorsey.

The price of the worlds most popular cryptocurrency traded as high as $31,824 early Saturday, with almost all other markets closed over the first weekend in 2021.

Originally posted here:
Cryptocurrency | Category | Fox Business

UPDATE (6/1): You may notice some changes in the feature with the new iOS app release. We're working closely with Apple and will share updates as available.

***

TL;DR: Moons are a new way for people to be rewarded for their contributions to r/CryptoCurrency. Claim your Moons in the new Vault section of the Reddit iOS or Android app! They represent ownership in the subreddit, they are tokens on the Ethereum blockchain controlled entirely by you, and they can be freely transferred, tipped, and spent in r/CryptoCurrency.

Today were launching a new feature in limited communities called Community Points. Community Points are a way for users to be rewarded for their contributions with a unit of ownership in their subreddit. Community Points can be earned, tipped, won, collected, and spent on unique items within a community. Each subreddit has its own stylization of Community Points, and the ones in r/CryptoCurrency are called Moons.

A Moon

How do you get Moons?

Moons are distributed monthly based on individual contributions (comments, posts, etc.) that people make in r/CryptoCurrency. Reddit karma provides a basis for measuring peoples contribution, but the final decision is up to the community.

Initially, 50 million Moons will be distributed based on karma earned in the subreddit to date. The amount distributed each following month will start at 5 million and decrease by 2.5% every cycle, so that the total number of Moons distributed over time will approach a maximum cap of 250 million.

Distribution Schedule

What can you do with Moons?

Moons can be traded freely and used for any number of purposes within the community. At this time, they can be used to display reputation within the subreddit, unlock exclusive features like badges and GIFs in comments with a Special Membership, and add weight to votes in polls.

New Special Membership

On the Blockchain

Moons exist as ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum blockchain, where they are managed by a suite of smart contracts that handle balances, transfers, distribution/claiming, and purchasing Special Memberships. The smart contracts and mobile apps have been reviewed and audited by Trail of Bits, an independent security firm with blockchain expertise.

As blockchain tokens, Moons are independent of Reddit. Once youve earned them, neither Reddit nor moderators can take your Moons away or decide what you do with them. Theyre all yours.

Community Points are currently on the Rinkeby testnet (through summer 2020). We plan to migrate Community Points to the Ethereum mainnet, and Points balances will be carried over.

Note: If you send Moons to outside non-Reddit wallets or contracts, you are sending them to testnet addresses. These tokens will not show up in outside software (e.g. wallet apps, Etherscan) unless you switch to Rinkeby and use the testnet Moons contract address (0xDF82c9014F127243CE1305DFE54151647d74B27A).

How to get started with your Reddit Vault

The first Moons will soon be distributed to every active contributor in the subreddit with at least 100 karma. You can get started by claiming your Moons in the new Vault section of the Reddit mobile app, which includes more details on the start-up process and how Moons work.

Please note that you will need to set up your Vault the first time you access it, and you will need to be on the latest version of the Reddit app (2020.17.0 or later). We will be rolling the Vault out over the course of the day, so if you dont see it now, please check back later.

See the inspiration for Community Points and get started

We are launching Community Points today in a couple of subreddits that have opted into this experiment and with whom we will be working closely. We are very excited to have you join us in this new beginning and were looking forward to seeing what ideas you have for Community Points. Well be sticking around to answer any questions you have, so please ask away in the comments below. Thank you!

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Introducing r/CryptoCurrency Moons : CryptoCurrency

Are you bummed about GameStop? Not because you lost your shirt, but because the ride is over? Looking for some more wild fun completely divorced from any meaningful definition of the word fundamentals? Well, some of the people who brought you the worlds trolliest short squeeze (and some of their famous friends) have a new joke for you to get in on.

The meme-inspired token rallied 37% in 24 hours to a record high of $0.084945 at 10:20 a.m. ET on Monday, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Dogecoins stellar run has boosted its market value to over $10 billion, making it the No. 10 digital coin on CoinMarketCaps ranking. Dogecoin was created in 2013 and is based on the then-popular doge meme that portrays a shiba inu dog alongside multicolored text in comic sans font. The cryptocurrency was initially started as a joke but has gained a following.

Its price is up by more than 1,600 percent so far this year, pushed in recent days by celebrity cheerleading from the likes of Teslas Elon Musk, the rapper Snoop Dogg and the rocker Gene Simmons of Kiss, who all promoted Dogecoin on social media.

Well, that was a very short while away from Twitter, indeed. But thought Musks interest in Doge appears limited to shitposting, hes a bit more serious about another crypto, to the extent that hes serious about anything. And hes not alone.

Tesla announced Monday it has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. Tesla also said it will start accepting payments in bitcoin in exchange for its products subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis. That would make Tesla the first major automaker to do so. The $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin will give Tesla liquidity in the cryptocurrency once it starts accepting it for payments.

Famed fund manager Bill Miller extended his endorsement of Bitcoin by reserving the right for one of his portfolios to indirectly invest in the largest cryptocurrency.

The Miller Opportunity Trust may invest in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, a vehicle institutions use for Bitcoin exposure, a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows. Millers fund would be prohibited from additional investing in the Grayscale trust if its aggregate Bitcoin exposure tops 15%.

Or, if youd prefer some volatility in the form of tangible means of exchange, theres always this.

Silver prices briefly jumped more than 10% to $30 a troy ounce early last week, then retraced much of their recent advance as bets on popular investments for retail traders, such as GameStop Corp. , unraveled. The trading activity has put the commodity squarely in the limelight, raising its profile with individual investors, [Electrum Groups Thomas] Kaplan said. The irony isand I dont know if they were crazy for buying GameStopbut in silver they got it right.

Outsize swings are common in the notoriously volatile market, but it is unusual for prices to move so much more than gold without a fundamental driver, traders said. Online investors rising interest in silver can only help, Mr. Kaplan said. Youre going to create this mountain of generally knowledgeable silver bulls, and thats a sea change for me.

Tesla buys $1.5 billion in bitcoin, plans to accept it as payment [CNBC]Bill Miller to Allow Opportunity Fund to Buy Into Bitcoin Trust [Bloomberg]Tweets from Elon Musk and other celebrities send dogecoin to a record high [CNBC]Dogecoin, the Cryptocurrency That Started as a Joke, Is Spiking [NYT]Silver Billionaire Thomas Kaplan Welcomes Recent Trading Frenzy [WSJ]The Hopes That Rose and Fell With GameStop [NYT]

Read more here:
GameStop Jokers Invited To Buy Up Actual Joke Cryptocurrency

(Reuters) - Bitcoin took another large stride toward mainstream acceptance on Monday after billionaire Elon Musks electric vehicle company Tesla Inc revealed it had bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency and would soon accept it as a form of payment for cars, sending the cryptocurrency shooting higher.

The announcements, buried deep in Teslas 2020 annual report, drove a roughly 20% surge in the worlds most widely held cryptocurrency to over $47,000. At current prices, 0.8 bitcoins would be enough to buy an entry-level Tesla Model 3.

Investors anticipated other companies will soon join a list of firms that invest in or hold bitcoin including BlackRock Inc, the worlds largest asset manager, and payments companies Square and PayPal.

Musk has upended Wall Street over the last year and briefly became the worlds richest person as shares of Tesla surged nearly 500% to become the fifth most-valuable U.S. company, leaving other companies and investors eager to follow in his wake.

If any lesser mortals had made the decision to put part of their balance sheet in Bitcoin, I dont think it would have been taken seriously, said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital LLC in New York. But when the richest man in the world does it, everyone has to take a second look.

The news sparked heavy trading in cryptocurrencies and caused exchanges like Coinbase, Gemini, Binance to experience technical issues, according to Coindesk here.

It also generated discussion on Reddit. While discussions of cryptocurrencies are banned on the WallStreetBets community that fueled the GameStop Corp trading frenzy, users in other subreddits posted to the moon, expecting more companies to follow suit after Tesla.

A well-known supporter of cryptocurrencies, Musk has weighed in regularly on the past months frenzy in retail investment, also driving up prices of the meme-based digital currency dogecoin and shares of U.S. video game chain GameStop.

Experts said they would not be surprised by a closer look from regulators given Musks bumpy past with watchdogs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission sparred with Musk and Tesla several times over his use of Twitter to discuss the company, ultimately resulting in his exit as company chairman and a pair of $20 million fines for Musk and Tesla.

Were talking about a billionaire with one of the most valuable companies in the history of the world who has seemingly gotten away with poking the SEC before, said Tyler Gellasch, head of the Washington-based Healthy Markets Association and former SEC official. Still, Gellasch said that examination doesnt mean this is likely to be an enforcement case.

Tesla said in a filing the decision to move nearly 8% of its reserves into bitcoin was part of its broad investment policy as a company aimed at diversifying and maximizing its returns on cash, including holding gold. The report said it ended 2020 with $19.38 billion in cash and cash equivalents.

We expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt, the company said.

Tesla said it had invested an aggregate $1.5 billion in bitcoin under the changed policy and could "acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term". (bit.ly/3q53p1m) Shares of the company rose 1.3% Monday.

Gold jumped more than 1% Monday while ethereum, another cryptocurrency, surged to a record high.

Central banks remain skeptical of digital currencies, but analysts say the more real world uses appear for bitcoin, the more attractive it will prove as a long-term store of value.

Bitcoin has rallied as far as $47,565 after Teslas disclosure. The cryptocurrency is up 1135% since March 2020, thanks in part to interest from institutional investors.

The argument for bitcoin is evolving. It used to be negative (reasons to buy), but suddenly there are positive reasons, and thats why you see bitcoin at (new highs), Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor of Allianz, told CNBC.

Tesla is the latest company to add bitcoin to its corporate treasury, following similar moves by Square, the payments company led by Twitter Inc chief Jack Dorsey and U.S. software firm MicroStrategy Inc.

Apple Inc may be the next big company to enter the cryptocurrency market, both by allowing bitcoin to be exchanged on its Apple Wallet service and investing some of its own reserves in units of the cryptocurrency, said Mitch Steves, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

If this becomes a trend in corporate treasuries the downside of staying on the sidelines will only become costlier over time, said Maya Zehavi, a blockchain consultant.

(GRAPHIC-Bitcoin hits record high on Tesla investment: )

Teslas move to put some of its corporate reserves in bitcoin may be a signal that it expects the cryptocurrency will emerge as another store of long-term value alongside the dollar and gold, said Graham Tanaka, president and chief investment officer of Tanaka Capital Management in New York.

Companies are very careful when it comes down to their reserves, he said. This doesnt appear to be a flash in the pan. It appears to be something that may be a fundamental change.

Reporting by Subrat Patnaik and Devik Jain in Bengaluru, Thyagaraju Adinarayan and Anna Irrera in London, Chris Prentice, Pete Schroeder, Krystal Hu and April Joyner in New York; Writing by Patrick Graham and David Randall; Editing by Megan Davies, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Nick Zieminski and Lisa Shumaker

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A Tesla for a bitcoin: Musk drives up cryptocurrency price ...

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Founded in 2013, Luno has been in cryptocurrency for almost as long as Bitcoin. We believe wholeheartedly that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and Litecoin have the ability to upgrade the world to a better financial system. With 8+ billion dollars in processed transactions, we believe we have built one of the worlds most sophisticated Bitcoin security systems, and have never been compromised.

At Luno we are striving to create as safe, simple and feature rich an experience as possible for our customers, as they make their way into the world of Crypto. Whether youre looking for a secure Bitcoin Wallet, an easy way to Buy Bitcoin (BTC) or Cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) or Litecoin (LTC), an advanced crypto trading platform, or simply a safe space to explore and learn about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, we have you covered.

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Luno Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency on the App Store

Bitcoin is not money

Theoretically and legally, cryptocurrencies such as bitcoinare not money despite what some people may think. Money serves three functions:it is a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value.

Not many goods and services are priced in and settled by bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies). Bitcoin is not universally accepted as a unit of account and a means of payment. Granted, many cryptocurrency payment apps have been created in recent years to promote its use. But none of them has made it to the core of the worlds daily transactions and payments [1], except for some underworld transactions.

Crucially, cryptos are priced in USD (or other fiatcurrencies). So they are no different from any item priced in USD standing onthe opposite side of money in a transaction. Veteran bitcoin investor MarkCuban summarised it succinctly when he said:

For cryptocurrency to be money, it (bitcoin) would have to be so easy to use its a no-brainer. It would have to be completely friction-free and understandable by everybody first. So easy, in fact, that grandma could do it.[2]

To legally qualify as money, a means of payment must begranted a status by a countrys laws as its official monetary unit. This legaltender status allows debtors to pay their obligations/liabilities bytransferring them to creditors as recognised and approved by law.

Recent research found that 80% of the worlds central banks were either not allowed to issue digital currency under the existing laws, or their legal frameworks are ambiguous and do not clearly permit them to do so [3]. China, however, passed a law in 2020 allowing its central bank to issue a digital currency [4], hence the birth of the worlds first official digital currency, the Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP) [5]. Despite being digital, DCEP is strictly speaking not a cryptocurrency.

Legal tender status is usually given to means of paymentthat can be easily transferred and used by the population in daily life. To usebitcoin, or cryptocurrencies, a digital infrastructure including computers,smartphones, internet networks and connectivity must be in place. Thiscondition makes it unrealistic for cryptocurrencies to become money. It echoesMark Cubans argument against bitcoin as money.

Bitcoin supporters say it is an investible asset.Investible, yes (in the speculative sense, in my view). Asset, I am not sure.

There is an income stream associated with a financialasset. Granted, there are assets with a zero yield such as commodities, butthey are traded because they have a practical use (for production orconsumption). Cryptocurrencies have neither an income stream nor a practicaluse.

The fact that they command a price and are tradablesuggests that speculation would be their single most important raison dtre.Hence crypto prices are subject to violent and random movement. This brings upthe other problem, store of value.

For something to serve as a store of value, it has to beliquid, universally accepted, and have a stable value. Cryptocurrenciesincluding bitcoin certainly do not have any of these characteristics.

Bitcoin trading suffers from illiquidity and manipulationbecause of the existence of whale wallets (wallets holding disproportionatelylarge amounts of bitcoins).

In late 2020, the top 100 wallets were estimated to own13% of total bitcoin supply (6) with most of the owners identities not known.It would therefore only take a few whale wallets to manipulate the bitcoinmarket, causing violent price moves. Huge price volatility has made bitcoin andcryptocurrencies unsuitable as store of value vehicles.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that the finite supplyof bitcoins and cryptos is a benefit and protects value, it is in fact a bigproblem for them being considered as money.

The maximum number of bitcoins that can ever be mined is21 million. At the time of writing, there are already 18.6 million bitcoins incirculation. The last bitcoin would be mined in 2040. All cryptocurrencies havea finite supply and the speed at which they can be increased is uncertain andnot controllable by anyone.

These supply limitations make cryptocurrencies unsuitableas legal tender because the static 'money supply' would deprive central banksof the ability to conduct countercyclical policy.

However, crypto promoters have capitalised on widespreadfear and distrust of fiat money arising from post-Global-Financial-Crisis (GFC)monetisation. They have skillfully twisted this supply problem into an argumentfor cryptocurrencies as a hedge against doomsday scenarios. I believe this iswrong.

China, which used to be the largest crypto mining country,has seen through the smoke and mirrors and has cracked down on trading andmining without reservation. This shows how quickly regulators could destroy thefreewheeling, decentralised crypto market. China instead has created anofficial DCEP with centralised control.

What crypto aficionados do not appear to understand isthat countries will take steps to protect their monetary systems and currenciesand their ability to tax and manage the economy. The more people believecryptocurrencies are money, the greater the risk of government intervention inthis market. The emerging trend of official digital currencies is a sign ofcentral banks fighting back.

The popular narrative that bitcoins finite supplyguarantees its value can play into concerns over central bank quantitativeeasing and what these QE programmes might mean for fiat money. Thus, the riseof cryptocurrencies can be seen as reflecting the anti-establishment movementsin many countries since the 2008 GFC.

Viewed positively, this 'crypto protest' could prompt governmentsto change their economic management to become more responsible and regain trustand credibility. Time will tell.

I believe crypto prices will eventually crash. This couldbe triggered by a shift in monetary policy or regulations. Alternatively, acrash could simply occur because prices are so inflated that much like theDutch tulip mania, marginal buyers are priced out of the market, leading to aself-feeding process of liquidation and falling prices when leveraged investorsstart to sell.

Also read:

Crypto-renminbito challenge US dollar

[1] Many gold ATM machines and settlement mechanisms wereinstalled around the world in the early 2010s as players were trying to promotethe use of gold as an alternative to fiat money and a medium of exchange fordaily transactions. However, they failed because of low public acceptance andthe inconvenience of using gold for transactions. Crypto apps could suffer asimilar fate, in my view.

[2] See Mark Cuban:This is What it Would Take for Me to Change My Mind About Bitcoin, NECNMoney Report, January 12, 2021https://www.necn.com/news/business/money-report/mark-cuban-this-is-what-it-would-take-for-me-to-change-my-mind-about-bitcoin/2387139/

[3] Legal Aspectsof Central Bank Digital Currency: Central Bank and Monetary Law Considerations,IMF Working Paper WP/20/254, November 2020.

[4] See China toLegalize Digital RMB and Prohibit Competitors, Lexology, November 12, 2020,and

Chinas New DraftLaw Seeks to Legalize Digital Yuan But Ban Competitors, Coingeek, 29October 2020, and

China passescryptography law as gears up for digital currency, Reuters, October 27,2019

[5] See Chi onChina: The Crypto-Renminbis Disruption to the Market, Economic Growth andPolicy, 5 August 2020.

[6] See Bitcoin Cash Rich List by BITAMP, and also Bitcoin Whale, Investopedia

Any views expressed here are those of the author as of the date ofpublication, are based on available information, and are subject to changewithout notice. Individual portfolio management teams may hold different viewsand may take different investment decisions for different clients. Thisdocument does not constitute investment advice.

The value of investments and the income they generate may go down aswell as up and it is possible that investors will not recover their initialoutlay. Past performance is no guarantee for future returns.

Investing in emerging markets, or specialised or restricted sectors islikely to be subject to a higher-than-average volatility due to a high degreeof concentration, greater uncertainty because less information is available,there is less liquidity or due to greater sensitivity to changes in marketconditions (social, political and economic conditions).

Some emerging markets offer less security than the majority of international developed markets. For this reason, services for portfolio transactions, liquidation and conservation on behalf of funds invested in emerging markets may carry greater risk.

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What is the problem with cryptocurrency (bitcoin)? - Investors' Corner - Investors' Corner BNP Paribas

Obviously bitcoin super fans tend to be Tesla super fans, and there actually tends to be a lot of symbiosis between those two groups, so it probably won't surprise anyone at all. So I don't know, it's a little bit unclear how many people are going to be taking up Tesla's offer to spend bitcoin on cars, but it seems like pretty good marketing to me actually in terms of speaking to that bitcoin audience and kind of formalizing all of these associations that we might have in our minds between EV enthusiasts and bitcoin fans.

MC: How would it work exactly? Do I just go to the website and pick out the car that I want and then give them my bitcoin information and then order the car?

LG: Well, Mike you'd have to have bitcoin to do that first, just an FYI. And as you stated at the top of the show, you're not a crypto guy, so.

MC: I'm speaking hypothetically!

LG: [Laughing] Oh, OK, OK.

MC: ... for the benefit of our listeners, Lauren.

GB: And that's true, actually. In fact, Mike, you would have had to had one bitcoin at the time that they made this announcement, because that was, the value of a bitcoin was basically equal to the base model three. So just need one. But yeah, so this is something that still needs to be worked out. Tesla has basically said that they plan to take bitcoin at some point in the future. They haven't said anything about the specifics, how they're going to handle the payment processing. A lot of companies will actually say that they're taking your bitcoin, but then they'll actually convert it into something else first. That's typically how bitcoin transactions work. For something like a car it might actually be easier to take bitcoin directly, because just the kind of transaction costs are less meaningful in terms of the total cost of a car. It can be expensive to use bitcoin just because of the energy and the fees that go into trading bitcoin. But that's a long way of saying that, we don't quite know just yet how the logistics will work.

LG: Greg, you've actually just reminded me at the start of the show I wanted to look up how much a single bitcoin was worth and then monitor it so we could gauge the price at the end of the show. OK, right now a single bitcoin is worth $47,892.92. So yeah, let's see if we upgrade our Tesla cars by the time the show ends, depending on how much it fluctuates.

GB: Depends on how much Musk is tweeting through our podcast.

LG: Yeah. So Mike, you had a good question about whether or not we know Elon is actually serious about this, right?

MC: Yeah, like Greg just mentioned, Elon tweets about bitcoin. When he tweets about bitcoin, it actually meaningfully moves the price of bitcoin. I think you mentioned in your story, Greg, that at one point Elon put a hashtag bitcoin in his Twitter bio and the price shot up 20 percent. So, we know that he is fond of using social media to move money markets. As you've mentioned, other companies are interested in bitcoin, investing in bitcoin. Some financial institutions are investing in bitcoin and that collectively is moving the price up. But are we sure this isn't one of Elon's little ploys?

GB: That's a really good question, Mike. I think that, what I should say first is that $1.5 billion, it's a lot of money, even for Tesla. I think they had something like $19 billion of cash on hand as of this announcement. So, I mean, 1.5 billion out of 19, it's a sizeable investment that's happening.

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This Cryptocurrency Is Really Burning a Hole in My Pocket - WIRED