Monthly Archives: September 2021

The government is a parasite masquerading as our friend. Rulers want us to believe they have our best interest in mind while enriching themselves and their cronies. The simple truth is governments exist to maintain themselves. They never shrink, they always get larger.

This is as true of democracies as it is of dictatorships. The unstated goal is for the 1% to enrich themselves at the expense of the 99%. It has been true throughout all of human history, and it is today. Sounds harsh, but if you study history youll see it clearly. The same can be said about central banks and most major companies in the world. They are rent seekers.

Darwinian survival of the species is always in play, even for governments. And the bigger they get, the more extractive they become. And the more monopoly power they acquire, it makes them that much harder to reign in. They are like a giant organism that is constantly saying FEED ME!

So how do we reign that in? You want your government to shrink? Buy bitcoin. Bitcoin is not a parasite. Bitcoin is not trying to extract as much as it can from you like governments and central banks do. Bitcoin isnt aiming to control anyone. Bitcoin takes the pressure off investing. Bitcoin is the greatest savings technology the human race has devised. I can save in bitcoin and remove myself from having to learn a second career as an investor.

Bitcoin is the cure for parasites. Bitcoin, like proper food handling, is a simple but effective cure. Cleaning and disinfecting the modern financial system is no easy task, but a decentralized network capable of transferring value instantly is a fair remedy. The eradication of the parasite begins with small doses of freedom in the form of the early OGs and from there, spreads throughout the organism, clearing out unhealthy corruption, replacing the corruption with Cantillon benefits and ultimately awakening society to the parasite itself. The final stages of the parasite involve self-destructive tendencies reminiscent of totalitarianism but it is of no concern to those knowledgeable about the decentralization of bitcoin.

Bitcoin can protect your wealth from governments because they have no ability to dilute the current or future issuance of bitcoin, nor steal it from us. And that is simply amazing.

This is a guest post by Mark Maraia. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

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Bitcoin Will Protect Your Wealth From The Government - Bitcoin Magazine

Shares of crypto-related stocks, including Marathon Digital Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: MARA), Riot Blockchain Inc (NASDAQ: RIOT) and Bit Digital, Inc. (NASDAQ: BTBT) are trading higher amid an increase in the price of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH).

Bitcoin is trading 2% higher at around $46,791.80 on Thursday.

Ethereum is trading 3.6% higher at around $3,509on Thursday.

Marathon Digital shares are also trading higher after the company announced DMG Blockchain will join Marathon's mining pool, MaraPool.

Marathon Digital focuses on mining digital assets. It owns crypto-currency mining machines and a data center to mine digital assets. The company operates in the digital currency blockchain segment and its cryptocurrency machines are located in Canada.

Marathon Digital is trading higher by 6.8% at $39.82 per share.

Riot Blockchain is focused on building, supporting and operating blockchain technologies. The company's portfolio consists of Verady, Tesspay, Coinsquare and others.

Riot Blockchain is trading higher by 4.2% at $31.65 per share.

Bit Digital, Inc. engages in the bitcoin mining business. The company was formerly known as Golden Bull Limited and changed its name to Bit Digital, Inc. in September 2020.

Bit Digital is trading higher by 2.7% at $11.38 per share.

See more from Benzinga

2021 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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Why Bitcoin-Related And Ethereum-Related Stocks Are Trading Higher Today - Yahoo Finance

Bitcoin (BTC) and spot gold hovered below their key psychological levels on Wednesday as a stronger United States dollar weighed on investors appetite for hedging assets.

The BTC/USD exchange rate dropped 5.27% to its intraday low of $44,423 but recovered a portion of those losses after reclaiming the $45,00046,000 range as support. The pairs recovery also came as an extension to its ongoing rebound from $42,830, a level it reached on Tuesday after falling by more than 18% in the session.

Bitcoins massive sell-off coincided with a strikingly similar but dwarfed decline in the rivaling gold market. In detail, the precious metal suffered its worst daily drop in a month on Tuesday as spot XAU/USD rates fell below $1,800 following a minus 1.37% intraday move.

The large red hourly candle on gold and Bitcoin charts appeared between 10:00 and 11:00 UTC. However, the precious metal consolidated sideways after the big decline in contrast to Bitcoin that extended its downtrend.

In detail, the cryptocurrency crumbled under the weight of excessively leveraged bullish bets. Bybt data showed that about $3.68 billion worth of longs in the Bitcoin options market got liquidated in the last 24 hours, marking it the largest liquidation since June.

Automated liquidations caused additional selloffs in the Bitcoin market, as traders were forced to sell their BTC holdings to cover their margin calls.

Worth noting, the sudden drop in Bitcoin and gold prices coincided with a sharp spike in the U.S. dollar index (DXY).

The index,which measures the dollars strength against a basket of top national currencies, rose by 0.41% to 92.53 on Tuesday and continued climbing in the ongoing session to settle its intraday high at 92.73.

DXY moved away from its one-month low, benefiting from the rising U.S. Treasury yields ahead of the government debt sale this week, including $58 billion in three-year notes, $38 billion in 10-year notes, and $24 billion in 30-year bonds.

The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield, which was around 1.32% after Fridays weak non-farm payroll report, rose to 1.377% on Tuesday. At the time of writing, it stands at 1.351%.

Rising yields typically compete for haven flows against Bitcoin and gold. But despite the latest climb, they remain below Julys 5.4% core inflation, thus posing non-yielding safe havens as more attractive bets against rising consumer prices.

But with the Federal Reserve planning to start winding down its $120-billion-a-month asset purchasing facility at the end of this year, some analysts believe that bond yields will keep on recovering. In turn, they will provide the dollar a bullish backstop.

Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto, toldCNBC:

Related:Bitcoin price to hit $100K in 2021 or early 2022: Standard Chartered

Meanwhile, the rising COVID-19 Delta variantthreatens to dampen recovery prospects. In turn, it could force the Fed to sustain its expensive bond-buying program, thus keeping a lid on yields and the dollar alike.

As a result, the outlook for Bitcoin and gold looks mixed. The Federal Open Market Committees meeting later this month expects to shed more light on the taper timeline.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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Bitcoins sharp fall from $50K linked to stronger US dollar, gold Correlation shows - Cointelegraph

Sep 11th 2021

San Salvador

ON SUNDAY September 5th a couple of hundred protesters huddled beneath the Monument to the Constitution in San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, holding hand-made signs. Most were in their mid-twenties. Taking turns to use a microphone they condemned Nayib Bukele, the 40-year-old president. Nearly all of them covered their faces, less for fear of catching covid-19 than of being identified by the police who took photographs of the event.

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They were out on the streets to decry a ruling by the Supreme Court two days earlier that presidents can run for a second consecutive term. That allows Mr Bukele to stand in 2024, and appears to go against the constitution. Daniel, a 28-year-old graphic designer, attended the protest with his mother, holding a sign that read Bukele Fascista. He had voted for Mr Bukele, but now feels that the constitution is being trampled upon.

The ruling is the latest power grab by Mr Bukele. In February New Ideas, his party, won a supermajority in legislative elections. Since then he has taken over the judiciary. Five judges from the Supreme Courts constitutional chamber were sacked in May and replaced by sympathisers; they were the ones who ruled that he could run again. On August 31st the Legislative Assembly passed a series of bills, including one that boots out all judges over the age of 60 or with 30 years of service under their belts. Mr Bukele can now replace themup to a third of the judiciary.

But on the other side of the city from the protest, in Plaza Morazn in downtown San Salvador, few were bothered by Mr Bukeles undemocratic tendencies or the intricacies of the judicial system. When Mr Bukele was mayor of the capital, from 2015 to 2018, he cleaned up the plaza and the downtown area, which used to be controlled by gangs. Dorian Martnez, a waiter in a caf there, feels that the president has been successful in most things, and is different from previous politicians. He praises his ability to get a hospital built during the pandemic. I would vote for him a second time, he says. Imagine what he could achieve.

More of Mr Martnezs compatriots seem to agree with him than with the protesters, who turned out in slightly larger numbers on September 7th. The presidents approval rating has hovered at around 90% since he took power in 2019, by far the highest of any leader in Latin America, and possibly the world.

Many Salvadoreans say that Mr Bukele has made their lives better. They point to new roads, food handouts and safer neighbourhoods. Some credit him with bringing down murder rates, which started to fall well before he took over (see chart). Though many suspect Mr Bukeles government of negotiating with gang members (as previous governments also did), he denies this. On August 23rd El Faro, a digital newspaper, revealed that officials had secretly met imprisoned gang members over the past year, allegedly to keep crime low in exchange for better prison conditions.

Mr Bukeles popularity is not the only thing that has given him cover for his astonishingly quick takeover of the state. Salvadoreans lack faith in democracy, thanks in large part to the corruption and poor governance of the two parties that had alternated in power since the end of the civil war in 1992. Mr Bukele promised to shake up that duopoly with New Ideas, which was registered as a party only in 2018.

It also helps that the president is a masterful self-publicist. The Supreme Court judgment happened just a few days before El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender, alongside US dollars. The move is not terribly popularin one survey over two-thirds did not want to be paid in crypto. But it has attracted headlines around the world (although the rollout was a shambles). Mr Bukele has been frantically tweeting about the cryptocurrency, of which the country has bought hundreds of tokens (spending around $30m). By contrast he stayed silent about the Supreme Courts decision.

Meanwhile Mr Bukeles control of the judicial system means that it would be impossible to mount a legal challenge, says Ruth Lpez, a lawyer at Cristosal, a human-rights organisation in El Salvador, even if the rulings and sackings are illegal. The electoral authority has said it will abide by the courts decision to allow the president to run for a second consecutive term, although one of its officials expressed surprise at the decision.

The United States appears to be hamstrung in how it deals with the president of a country of just 6.5m people. President Joe Bidens administration has condemned Mr Bukele; the American ambassador to El Salvador likened him to Hugo Chvez, Venezuelas late dictator. Officials in Washington may be able to exert some economic pressure, perhaps by pressing for conditions on an IMF loan worth $1bn that is in the works. The State Department stopped supporting the attorney-generals office after the incumbent was ousted in May.

Yet the United States is battling a migrant crisis of Central Americans on its southern border. Over 2m Salvadoreans now live in the United States, up from 700,000 in 2000. Mr Bidens team would rather not risk destabilising the country, causing more people to flee. On August 27th it donated equipment including eight helicopters to El Salvadors armed forces, who are loyal to Mr Bukele.

Some may take comfort in a poll which showed Mr Bukeles approval rating at 87%. Although still ridiculously high, that is the lowest it has been since he took office. But with the levers of power now under his control, and $30 of free bitcoin to any Salvadorean who signs up to the crypto service (the equivalent of about three days on minimum wages) the millennial caudillo can afford not to please everyone.

This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Crypto creep"

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El Salvador's bitcoin bro president is beloved and dangerous - The Economist

A Suffolk County IT supervisor was arrested this week for allegedly running a cryptocurrency mining operation out of government offices on Long Island, officials announced Wednesday.

Christopher Naples, 42, a supervisor of information technology operations for the county clerks office, is accused of operating 46 cryptocurrency mining devices in a county building in Riverhead, according to the Suffolk County Districts Attorneys Office.

At least ten of the machines have been running since February, mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency and inflating the electricity bill by $6,000, the prosecutors said.

The devices were located in six different rooms inside the county building, including under removable floorboards and inside an unused electrical wall panel.

Mining cryptocurrency requires an enormous amount of resources, and miners have to navigate how to cover all of those electricity and cooling costs, District Attorney Sini said.

This defendant found a way to do it; unfortunately, it was on the backs of taxpayers, said Sini.

Investigators are working to determine if Naples profited from the scheme.

Naples was charged with public corruption, grand larceny, computer trespass and official misconduct, officials said.

He was arraigned Wednesday at Southampton Town Justice Court and released on his own recognizance.

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Suffolk County IT supervisor accused of mining Bitcoin at workplace - New York Post

Miami, Sept. 9, 2021 Miami Dade Colleges (MDC) Business Innovation & Technology (BIT) Center will present a webinar on Cryptocurrencies Trends + Bitcoin with special guest Mike McGlone of Bloomberg Intelligence on Thursday, Sept. 30, from 12 1 p.m. Join the webinar in person at the BIT Center or via Zoom. Its free and open to the general public with registration.

During the webinar, McGlone will share his outlook for Bitcoin and crypto-assets Where markets are heading and why. What are the risks and potential rewards? Are crypto-assets the epicenter of a new cold war? What to expect and what might trip up current trends.

McGlone is a senior commodity strategist for Bloomberg Intelligence, a unique research platform that provides context on industries, companies, and government policy, available on the Bloomberg Professional service. With over 25 years of futures and commodity trading and investing experience, he specializes in the broad investible commodity and crypto markets, authoring the monthly Bloomberg Commodity Outlook and Bloomberg Crypto Outlook. Prior to joining Bloomberg, he was a head of U.S. research at ETF Securities. He also headed the commodity business at S&P Indices and was head of futures research at ABN Amro and VP research, analyst, trader, sales at Aubrey G. Lanston / IBJ Futures.

MDCs state-of-the-art BIT Center explores the role of technology in digital transformation, process automation, and analytics in the ever-changing business landscape. The BIT Center is an initiative of MDCs Miguel B. Fernandez Family School of Global Business, Trade & Transportation and offers various programs and courses in three core areas marketing and digital marketing; banking and finance; and industry certifications.

WHAT: MDCs BIT Center Presents Webinar on Cryptocurrencies Trends + Bitcoin

WHEN:Thursday, Sept. 30, noon 1 p.m.

WHERE: BIT Center, MDC Wolfson Campus

300 N.E. 2nd Ave, Building 2 / or join via Zoom

Register for the webinar at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cryptocurrencies-trends-bitcoin-by-bloomberg-tickets-170235877091.

For a complete list of BIT Center courses and events, visit http://www.mdc.edu/bitcenter.

For more information about the BIT Center, please contact Chechu Lasheras at 305-297-5696, jlashera@mdc.edu, or Max Ramirez rramirez2@mdc.edu.

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MDC's BIT Center to Host Cryptocurrencies Trends + Bitcoin by Bloomberg Webinar Sept. 30 - The Reporter

Bitcoin surpassed the $52K handle on Monday morning, as crypto-asset markets have been moving northbound and gathering more fiat value. The overall crypto economy is around $2.45 trillion and it has gained 3.5% during the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, bitcoin charts show a pending golden crossover which to many means the overall market outlook looks bullish.

Digital asset markets are in the green today and many crypto assets have seen single to double-digit gains during the last 24 hours. At the time of writing, the entire crypto-economy of 10,000+ cryptos in existence is around $2.45 trillion on Monday. Bitcoin (BTC) has gained more than 3.5% today and 6.3% during the last seven days. On Monday morning (EST), BTC surpassed the $52K zone reaching $52,230 per unit. Many assume BTCs next few months will be bullish and a pending golden cross chart signal indicates this may be the case.

Basically, when the short-term moving average jumps over the long-term moving average and starts moving northbound, traders call it a golden cross and assume an upward trend is coming. On Friday, BTC broke through the resistance of $50,500, paused for the weekend, and exceeded $51,500 on Monday, where it is now struggling to hold on, Fxpro senior financial analyst Alex Kuptsikevich told Bitcoin.com News.

Actually, Bitcoin has been trading above $50,000 since last week as the bulls managed to keep the rate above the 200-day moving average. In light of this, the price of over fifty has become quite common over the past few days, Kuptsikevich added. The analyst further stressed:

Anchoring above this mark will open the way to $60,000 and may become a catalyst for a fully-fledged reversal of the crypto market.

Meanwhile, ethereum (ETH) is only up 0.3% today but over the last week, ether has gained 22.2%. ETH hit a high above the $4K handle on September 1, but has been below that region since then. Simon Peters, Etoros crypto-asset analyst, says ether is headed toward all-time price highs.

Ether is closing in on all-time highs while bitcoin has reached above $50,000 for the first time since mid-May, Peters said. ETH surged in the last week, coming close to breaching the $4,000 level. The crypto asset began the week below $3,200 but rose quickly through the week, reaching $3,981 by Friday. Over the weekend gains have flattened but remain trading in this range, he added. The Etoro crypto analyst continued:

A confluence of factors is contributing to the rising price of ETH. ETH burning, staking, gas fees, transactions, and locked away tokens on defi are all working in concert to support price levels. BTC meanwhile has hit above $50,000 for the first time since mid-May. The crypto asset started the week with falls to below $47,000 before rallying midweek above $50,000. In early trading today BTC has surged again, closing in on $52,000.

As bitcoin and ethereum have seen some gains and of course attention, a number of other crypto-assets have seen better returns over the last 24 hours. Coins like quant, omg network, filecoin, ftx token, fantom, qtum, chainlink, mdex, bitcoin cash, and EOS have all seen double-digit 24-hour gains.

What do you think about bitcoin and the rest of the crypto economys recent improvements? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, bitcoinwisdom.io

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Bitcoin Quickly Jumps Above the $52K Zone Only to Get Pushed Back, Crypto Economy Climbs 3.5% Markets and Prices Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

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Bitcoin is just one important aspect of the accelerating changes we see in the contemporary world. From culture and medicine to art and education, the shifts we are beginning to see will undoubtedly only gain momentum in the near future.

One of the events that shines a light on this is the well-established SALT Conference, and the Bitcoin Magazine Podcast was lucky enough to host a conversation with the brains behind this event, Anthony Scaramucci.

Scaramucci is also the founder of SkyBridge, and has had years of experience across different high-powered sectors of the economy. We got into a fascinating conversation centering on the conference, but also delving into many topics including the education system, psychedelics, literature, and so much more.

Our political class has failed us, Scaramucci said. They don't think long-term. They don't think strategically. They react to the efforts of lobbyists, and they react to the efforts of influences of foreign powers, frankly.

Scaramucci has a very unique take on cryptocurrencies and decentralization and some of his views may not align with the majority of our audience, but they are incredibly thought-provoking and worthwhile for the open minded. So, to hear it all and for a few more reasons to entice you to attend The SALT Conference, be sure to check out this episode.

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Bitcoin And The SALT Conference With Anthony Scaramucci - Bitcoin Magazine

A Bitcoin ETF has been long denied to U.S investors. In recent times, countries such as Canada and Brazil have authorized BTC, ETH ETFs. And yet, the SEC continues to refrain from doing so in the United States.

However, such optimism has grown significantly over the last few weeks after SEC Chair Gary Genslers comments at the Aspen Security Forum. Gensler discussed crypto in detail, and one of his comments was,

Given these important protections, I look forward to the staffs review of such filings, particularly if those are limited to these CME-traded Bitcoin futures.

Now, many speculated that this was an indirect suggestion to Wall Street about the kind of Bitcoin ETF the SEC will be willing to accept. A Futures-based ETF without direct exposure to spot markets.

Hypothetically, let us assume a Bitcoin ETF does become official by the end of the year. How will Bitcoins market would react post-approval?

In order to draw a realistic comparison, the case study of Gold can be taken to address a possible path for Bitcoin after its ETF launch. The first Gold ETF was approved in Australia back in 2003, following which the SEC approved one in 2004, with trading commencing on November 2004.

Now, between a yearly low in 2001, to right before the ETF approval in 2004, Golds value rose by 76%. However, right after the ETF, the market started to thread sideways and dropped down by 9% in one month.

It was almost a year later that the ETFs impact was felt on the charts.

Source: jarvislabs

Over the next 5-6 years, Gold went on a parabolic rise, hitting a high of $1900 from $420-$440 A straight 330% hike from the time Gold ETF started trading.

It was a clear fractionalization of assets, according to statistics. Gold was made easily accessible and fresh institutional interest emerged for the asset during the 2008 financial crisis. Gold was already considered a hedge against inflation.

That remains one of the best periods to have invested in Gold.

An official Bitcoin ETF will obviously improve the credibility of the digital asset as a legitimate investment vehicle. If it emulates Gold like-for-like, BTC will be valued at over $200,000 within the next 5 years.

However, a few difficulties may arise as well.

A Bitcoin ETF regulated by the SEC is possibly going to have a weekend off period. Right now, the trading desks for both BTCC and EBIT are from Monday to Friday. That is a problem when BTCs spot market is 247.

Any Bitcoin ETF would be subject to extraordinary volatility during off-market hours, and investors will not be able to exit their positions during off-hours.

In order to tackle such a scenario, a U.S ETF would need to offer 24-hour trading on OTC exchanges. This will ensure investors do not have a blind spot with these Bitcoin products.

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Assessing how Bitcoin's market will REALLY do if an ETF is approved - AMBCrypto News