Category Archives: Bitcoin

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao says that the limited supply of cryptocurrencies, particularly large-cap assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Binance Coin (BNB) could soon break from their correlation with the stock market.

In a new interview on CNBC, Zhao says that unlike fiat, the amount of digital assets that can go into circulation is limited.

I think like were one year in from the previous all-time high. The inflation, the interest rate, the adjustments, etc., those all affect the markets, but those are short-term.

I think longer-term, given how much money was printed over COVID the last couple years, and the amount of quantitative easing that was done, inflation would definitely kick in just by simple logic.

Cryptocurrencies, the big ones Bitcoin, BNB coin, Ethereum, theyre limited supply, so their supply didnt increase. The number of people getting into this industry and the utility, the number of people who need to use those coins have increased. The demand has increased, but today, unfortunately.

Zhao says that he expects a decoupling between crypto and stocks but a correlation in market conditions emerged because people invest in both equities and digital assets.

In theory, if we go by supply and demand, theres a very simple logic to derive from that, but today, many people trading cryptocurrencies are also in the stock market so when the stock market tanks, people want to hold cash and they also sell cryptocurrencies. So today, on the short time frame, its kind of coupled, but in theory, they should be decoupled.

Looking at Ethereums successful merge to proof-of-stake, Zhao says those in the space should manage their expectations since the anticipated changes will not take effect right away.

Many people have very high short-term expectations for the merge. They think the Ethereum gas fees will drop from $10 per transaction to $0.02 overnight. Thats most likely not gonna happen. Its a long process. The Ethereum upgrade takes multiple stages over multiple months or years.

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Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Says Bitcoin, Ethereum and Rest of Crypto Should Decouple From Stocks Here?... - The Daily Hodl

As the market looks ahead to the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, discussions over the weekend centered around the Fed decision and its implication for growth and the financial markets.

Here's a recap of a few major headlines that hit the wire over the weekend:

Black Swan Author Slams Fed, Bitcoin: Nassim Taleb renewed his BitcoinBTC/USD bashing and also criticized the Fed for maintaining interest rates at extremely accommodative levels.Zero interest rate for a long period of time, you are hurting the economy, you are creating a bubble, creating tumors like Bitcoin, he said. He renewed his call for the apex crypto going as low as 0.

Disney-Comcast Lock Horns Over Hulu: Streaming platform Hulu is majority owned by Walt Disney Company DIS, while Comcast Corporation CMCSA holds a 33% stake in the platform. Both companies have a deal in place to transfer full ownership in Hulu to Disney in 2024.

Disneys CEO Bob Chapekhas recently sounded out his intention to push forward the timeline for the acquisition of the remaining stake in Hulu. While Chapek suggested a lower price could be renegotiated, Comcast CEO Brian Robertsruled out any such move.

Tesla Sued Over Deceptive FSD Advertising: A Tesla Inc. TSLA owner has sued the company and its CEO Elon Muskfor deceptively advertising the full-self driving software tech as fully functioning or just around the corner despite knowing that it did not work or was non-existent and made vehicles unsafe.He had reportedly paid a $5,000 premium for his 2018 Model X to get Enhanced Autopilot, which was sold as a precursor to the FSD software suite.

See Also: Rich Dad, Poor Dad Author Warns Of 'US Dollar Dying' Yet Gain; 2 Commodities And 1 Crypto Robert Kiyosaki Recommends

Bluebird bio Receives Back-to-Back Nod: bluebird bio Inc. BLUE announced that the FDA approved its gene therapy to treat a rare, inherited neurodegenerative condition called cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy, which affects young boys, between the ages of 4 and 17 years. The wholesale price of the drug is fixed at $3 million, making it the most expensive drug to date.

Elon Musk Gets Pat On The Back: Tesla CEO Elon Musk received praises from Eric Schmidt, who formerly served as Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG unit Googles chairman and CEO, for providing Ukraine with SpaceXs Starlink terminals.

Elon is a real hero in the story, he reportedly said, praising him for the speed of the internet Starlink provided while he was traveling by train in Ukraine.

What Else: U.S.President Joe Bidensignaled that he isnt yet decided on running for office in 2024. Its an intention to run again, he said, adding that it remains to be seen whether it is a firm decision to run.

Russian President Vladimir Putinsaid if Europe wants more gas, it should lift sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. He denied Russias role in Europes current energy crisis and blamed the predicament on the continents green agenda.

Excerpt from:
Elon Musk's Tesla Sued, 'Black Swan' Author Calls Bitcoin Tumor, FDA Okays Most-Expensive Drug And More: - Benzinga

As bitcoin plunged below $20,000 in mid-June, many cryptocurrency users were distraught over massive losses with some reporting they had lost their life savings. But one corner of the internet was cheering: Buttcoin, a Reddit subforum launched in 2011 to poke fun at cryptocurrency.

Im addicted, I need help, read one popular post. I just love watching line go down too much. I always tell myself after it breaks through this next support line, youll be satisfied but theres ALWAYS another lower level after that. Im actually hoping it levels off at 20K for tonight, said another user. Im kinda tired and need more time to think of new lower priced memes.

One tech industry worker who frequents Buttcoin told the Guardian they stayed up until 3am one night to watch the crash unfold. I know this may sound pathetic but I get a dopamine hit when I see the bitcoin price going down. It was so exciting.

The cryptocurrency flirted with its two-year low again this week, which meant a festive mood at Buttcoin. With about 135,000 members, the subreddit is tiny compared with the millions of people who chat on Reddits many pro-cryptocurrency forums. But frequent contributors to the community whose logo replaces bitcoins golden B with a pair of golden buttcheeks describe it as a kind of digital support group, laced through with dark humor, for people who are horrified by the proliferation of crypto scams and pyramid schemes. Though they may not have the power to destroy crypto, they can make jokes when it stumbles. As Buttcoin members say, instead of mining useless digital coins theyre mining comedy gold.

Just like the crypto culture it mocks, Buttcoin has its own set of memes. Some of them simply flip crypto sayings. Instead of baying for token prices to rise to the moon, Buttcoin users chant to the floor. But Buttcoins most popular jokes take pro-crypto logic and push them to sarcastic extremes. To skewer crypto promoters habit of spinning negative news, Buttcoin users comment This is good for bitcoin under stories of cryptocurrency catastrophes. (Bitcoins been banned in a major country? Good for bitcoin. Bitcoins price is plummeting? Good for bitcoin. Someone lost their life savings to a bitcoin scam? You guessed it good for bitcoin.)

Another crypto catchphrase smugly referencing the technologys complexity, Few understand, has been become a Buttcoin meme in its own right. (For example: a Buttcoin user jokes that a 2003 Toyota Camrys rising price amid the crypto crash makes the Camry a superior store of value. Every 2003 Camry has a unique VIN and you can drive it to the supermarket too Few understand, another replies. This is good for Toyota, a third chimes in.)

Buttcoins most senior moderator, an IT worker who goes by spookmann, told the Guardian that the 11-year-old forum has changed as crypto itself as grown and festered. Originally the tone was almost entirely Haha... thats so silly! And certainly that element is still present, but nowadays theres an increasingly tragic element of Ugghh... so many people are having their lives ruined by this damn thing!

The biggest posts on Buttcoin are shot through with schadenfreude. The subreddit invariably celebrates when bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, dips below symbolic price levels which to many Buttcoin users, proves that the scam is unraveling. I definitely get hopeful when it starts seriously dipping or when some stablecoin scheme goes to zero, said Joe, a systems engineer who browses Buttcoin every day. Theres a kind of thrill to the validation of it, right? Especially since the crypto bro stereotypes are so obnoxious whenever it goes up in a new bubble.

But the more controversial posts mock crypto investors themselves for losing money though theres disagreement over how far to go. Some highly rated posts on the subreddit argue that there should be no sympathy for victims. They can go fuck themselves, read one post in late June, with more than 1,500 upvotes: Criticizing scams is not being mean. This also isnt a support group to help console people who lost all of their money on ElonDogPoop Coin. Not all Buttcoin users agree. Even if they are assholes, I dont relish the idea of the average [investor] losing their life savings even if they should have been able to see the scam for what it is. That unambiguously sucks, Joe says.

Theres a shared enjoyment of watching things go up in flames, said M, a Buttcoin user and a tech industry worker, but he still has sympathy for those drawn into crypto by family members or by the promise of a better life Times are tough for most. He pointed to the victims of Celsius, an unlicensed crypto bank that offered massive returns to over a million investors in an alleged ponzi scheme that collapsed earlier this summer. The court testimonies which included pleas from ordinary people who lost their life savings were heartbreaking, M said.

Because Reddits pro-cryptocurrency forums quickly delete critical posts, Buttcoin also attracts users looking to commiserate over loved ones who have been caught up in the scam. One support seeker was Izzycc, a 23-year-old social work student whose boyfriend of eight years had become depressed after getting sucked into the NFT fad and losing money.

Im absolutely fucking praying for the downfall of cryptocurrency, she wrote. It would mean a wakeup call for him, he might finally pull out of this scam, and maybe even start to feel a little better not staring at a number thats only going down. Buttcoin users urged Izzycc to break up with her boyfriend and so she did. It was for a couple of reasons, but the NFT stuff was kind of a big one, she told the Guardian.

I just hated being around it all the time. I hated when he would talk to my family about it. It was just kind of embarrassing, I guess. Shes doing a lot better now, but still browses Buttcoin: The people are funny, and I know too much about cryptocurrency to not at least casually browse the site at this point.

Buttcoin sometimes deals with heavier tragedy. In August, a user described a close friend who had gone all-in on crypto before he killed himself. I was secretly making fun of him, the user wrote, till I recently heard the bad news and its hard to feel sorry for crypto bros, but now that Im here, I do. Im tearing up hearing about this, wrote one user. Another user observed: This sub makes a lot of jokes that I consider comic relief, but everything about this sucks, in reality.

Thats the tension that runs through Buttcoin: beneath the memes lies real pain and a frustration of watching helplessly as more people around you get hurt. I think if the crypto cult was just a bunch of dudes off in the woods with a server farm and a maypole there wouldnt be any real call for Buttcoin to exist, said Joe. But it apparently intends to stick around and become a sufficiently big part of the world overall that I dont have that option.

Buttcoin isnt so much a force for resistance as it is a coping mechanism, Joe said, and one that at least for him, may even be backfiring.

Im pretty sure the algorithms have actually been sending me more crypto ads since I started posting regularly because they cant tell the difference between Im reading about how absurd this is and Im reading about this as a potential sucker/customer. He refreshes Buttcoin anyway, hoping hell one day witness the price go all the way to the floor.

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When bitcoin plunges, Buttcoin cheers: the online community praying for the end of crypto - The Guardian

The crypto market crash started from the Feds and its fight against inflation. The announcement to increase interest rates caused a panic that created doubts in the minds of crypto investors. As the Federal Reserve implemented the plan, the overall financial markets, including crypto, plunged.

Another factor that helped push crypto prices down was the crash of Terra Luna USDT. The algorithmic stablecoin depegged, leading to massive losses that plunged the market into oblivion. Since then, crypto prices have fluctuated in a terribly prolonged crypto winter.

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Cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum lost their massive gains, and many crypto projects disappeared completely.

Some analysts opined a price rally as the market lamented over the continuing crypto winter. But unfortunately, these predictions seem to be delayed as the crypto market records more fluctuations.

For instance, Bitcoin has lost more than 37% since the market downtrend. June 2022 brought a lot of price crashes for the coin like never recorded before. The next month, July saw a little gain of 17% in BTC price, but that rally was short-lived. The coin lost everything and is now trading below the $20 mark.

Bitcoin even dived deeper on September 7 when the price plummeted below $19K; it recovered quickly. So whats the way forward for the number one crypto?

While the investors await a price rally for Bitcoin and others, an analyst has indicated that such occurrence depends on the Federal Reserve.

Dan Nathan, the RiskReversal Advisors principal stated this during the popular CNBCs Fast Money episode. According to Nathan, Bitcoin can only reverse to a bullish trend if the Feds change their stance on the inflation fight approach.

Recall that in the last Federal Reserve annual meeting held on August 26, 2022, Jerome H Powell made a speech that caused concerns for investors. The feds chair declared a more aggressive approach in the agencys fight against inflation.

Before the meeting, Neel Kashkari suggested using the Vokcker approach. Given that Kashkari was initially dovish in his stance, the crypto community became worried. Powell intensified the panic when he announced that the agency would intensify its strategies. So, the likelihood of the feds pivoting in its approach is farfetched.

To say that these outplay affected crypto prices is an understatement. Many coins started a downward trend from that day and are still at it until now. The short-lived rallies are no match for the frequent pullbacks.

Related Reading: On-Chain Data Shows Bitcoin Whale Dumping Behind Dip Below $19k

Bitcoin dominance has plummeted to its lowest ever. Nathan even stated that the coin is trading like an ordinary stock currently. So, a rally for the number one crypto may not be possible this 2022, given that the feds are not about to pivot.

Excerpt from:
What Bitcoin Needs To Regain Its Higher Marks, Analyst Explains - NewsBTC

On a spring afternoon in Guatemala, I watched Patrick Melder, a 55-year-old missionary, find a potential convert. He began his pitch with the cadence of an experienced salesman.

Were here to talk about bitcoin, said Melder, who wore a khaki Panama hat he had bought in New York City, an Apple watch, and a bag slung over his shoulder with Guatemala Bitcoin stitched on its side.

Juana Antonio Coc listened to Melders translator with skepticism. He was urging her to accept bitcoin as payment in her small tienda, which sells alcohol, ice cream, and fishing lines in Panajachel, a vacation destination that borders a deep-blue lake and four looming volcanoes. Im not good at technology, she said in Spanish.

Melder, white and wiry with short-cropped, salt-and-pepper hair, wasnt deterred. You have a smartphone. I saw it. Thats all you need. Ill give you free bitcoin right now, he coaxed Coc, who was wearing a rose-colored traje, a traditional Mayan dress. Periodically, customers who wanted beers or watermelon-flavored popsicles interrupted Melder. She will get 146% per year, he said at one point to his translator, referencing the average annual growth of bitcoin since 2009.

Just two days earlier, the price of bitcoin had plummeted more than 20%. Investors were suddenly short millions of dollars, and the global market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies had lost almost two trillion dollars since its peak in November 2021. Why was Melder, a retired ears, nose, and throat surgeon from Atlanta, trying to persuade a small shop owner in another hemisphere to use a volatile cryptocurrency that was crashing in value?

The answer, simply, is faith. An evangelical Christian who has preached the gospel across four continents, Melder believes bitcoin is objective truth. Like Christs second coming, bitcoins eventual dominance is inevitable, he says. Since November 2021, he has traveled multiple times to Panajachel to persuade businesses to accept bitcoin, educate children about the cryptocurrency, and encourage residents to mine it.

In the not-too-distant future, those who adopted bitcoin early will be immensely wealthy, he writes in his self-published book, The Christian Case for Bitcoin.

Melders unyielding belief in bitcoin isnt unique. Bitcoin maximalists, or those who believe Bitcoin is the one true cryptocurrency, have continued to buy and sell bitcoin despite its recent downturn. Other Christian-turned-bitcoin missionaries are also spreading the good word of the blockchain to the worlds poor. Deeply committed to both bitcoin and god, Melder and those like him are blurring the boundaries between faith in technology and faith in god. As I followed him on the streets of Panajachel this past spring, he said he doesnt see much distance between the two.

Bitcoin has all the trappings of religion, he told me. No question.

An experienced Christian missionary, Melder says the techniques he uses to spread bitcoin beliefteaching children, promising riches, door knockingare similar to what Christians do when they spread the gospel. Bitcoin evangelism is no different than Christian evangelism, he told me. Its the same.

And he recognizes that bitcoin belief and belief in god are not as far apart as they seem. Bitcoin is a religion, he flatly asserts in the first chapter of The Philosophy of Bitcoin and Religion, another book he self-published.

He may not be far off. Like Christianity, there is a prophet: Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous founder of Bitcoin. There is a sacred text: Nakamotos white paper, a blueprint for the cryptocurrency. And there are die-hard believers. Like all religions, those who experience Bitcoin experience the transcendent, writes Melder.

Patrick Melder, a bitcoin missionary and a Christian one, in Guatemala.Photo: Ben Weiss

Before he found bitcoin, Melder found God. When he was a high school freshman in Houston, a classmate taught him about the Christian afterlife and scared the bejesus out of him. I didnt want to go to hell, Melder said. So, he joined a fundamentalist church and preached the gospel on the streets of Houston during the weekends. After developing a distinct libertarian streak, he went to college and medical school. Once he finished his residency, he accompanied Christian missions to southwestern India, then to Kyiv, Ukraine, and finally Guatemala. In 2012, he and his wife set up an art camp at a private Christian school in Panajachel. For the next six summers, Melder and his family returned to the school to teach art and enjoy Panajachels eternal spring, as many call the towns balmy climate.

Soon, Melder became an evangelist for another causebitcoin. He first heard about the cryptocurrency in 2018, but he didnt become a true believer until late 2020, when he discovered Twitters bitcoin community, listened to bitcoin podcasts, and read bitcoin books. I was amazed, he said. The more he learned, the more he thought that bitcoin had the potential to provide economic opportunity without creating dependence.

It was around this time that Melder first heard about Bitcoin Beach in the town of El Zonte, perhaps the worlds most famous experiment in community cryptocurrency adoption. For years, Michael Peterson, a 47-year-old evangelical Christian from California, had hosted Christian missionaries at a retreat in El Zonte, where he and his family had lived for years. In 2019, with the aim of helping residents, Peterson secured a large donation in bitcoin from an anonymous donor. It came with only one stipulation: that the donation be distributed in bitcoin, not dollars. Peterson decided to work with members of El Zontes community to create a circular bitcoin economy, or market where people buy and sell goods with bitcoin. A gifted publicist, he painted his project in El Zonte as a great success, and the Salvadoran president cited it as an inspiration when announcing that the country would become the first in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. As journalists, Bitcoin enthusiasts, and curious travelers flocked to Bitcoin Beach, it became a mecca for cryptocurrency believers. The town also turned into a training ground for those who wanted to learn how to perform crypto-conversions elsewhere.

Panajachel, GuatemalaPhoto: Ben Weiss

Rich Swisher, a 53-year-old evangelical Christian from California, visited El Zonte after he had founded his own bitcoin conversion project. Having accompanied numerous Christian missions to Peru, he and Valentin Pompescu, a 42-year-old Romanian, decided to bring bitcoin to the communities where they had also ministered. They called their initiative Motiv, which empowers the disempowered and emancipates people from oppression using bitcoin, according to its website.

Melder similarly visited El Zonte to pay his respects, and he then launched his own initiative in the lakefront community of Panajachel. Like Peterson, he wants to bank the unbanked, or give those who dont have bank accounts a means of saving money. And he believes bitcoin is a natural hedge against inflation. Bitcoin is your bank, he later told me. In a nod to Peterson, he dubbed his project along Lake Atitln, Central Americas deepest lake, Lago Bitcoin, or Bitcoin Lake.

When I shadowed Melder for more than a week, I wasnt the only one to join his bitcoin mission. There were Guatemalan podcasters, a red-meat-loving representative from a bitcoin mining company, an elderly inventor from Texas, two bitcoin devotees from Switzerland, and a familya father, his teenage daughter, and her friend, who all flew out from St. Louis.

For Kate and Madaket, the teenagers from St. Louis, traveling to Guatemala for the first time was a treat at the end of their senior year of high school. However, their time in Panajachel wasnt merely a vacation. They came to lead a class on bitcoin.

The day after Melder spoke to Coc in her small tienda, we met up with the teenagers and Bill Whittaker, Madakets father. Wearing two black tank tops emblazoned with an orange bitcoin logo, Kate and Madaket were pretty nervous, before class began, they told me.

Minutes later, they sat down behind a plastic, foldable table in front of roughly 20 students from the private Christian school where Melder and his wife had run an art camp. Were here because we love bitcoin, began Kate, who was orange pilled, or converted into a bitcoiner, by Madakets father.

Through a translator, Kate and Madaket explained that, for their high schools senior project, they had refurbished bitcoin minersthe specially adapted computers used to sustain and operate bitcoins network. They then donated three miners to Panajachel, one to South Africa, and another to Zimbabwe. Bitcoin will continue to increase in value as we get older, Madaket told the class. So, you gotta get in it early, so you can get really rich off of it.

Mining distinguishes Melders project in Panajachel from Bitcoin Beach, where bitcoin supplies flow from the original donation and flush wallets. Miners that support bitcoins network receive the cryptocurrency in exchange for lending their computer power to the cryptocurrencys distributed ledger. Melder hopes to use human waste, trash, leaking methane, and used cooking oil from Panajachel to power bitcoin miners and then donate the profits back to the town. The vision is still in its infancy.

As the children looked on mutely at the teenagers, Madakets father jumped in to help. A soccer coach and residential advisor at his daughters private school, Whittaker is a bitcoin mining fanatic. Its as bad as a nicotine addiction, Melder said of Whittakers fanaticism. Every time Whittaker flies, he brings a bitcoin minerwhich looks like a big bomb, Kate told methrough security. And while he was away from St. Louis, he lined up a babysitter for his pet catsand the bitcoin miners plugged into his apartments outlets.

The last time we were here, we talked about decentralized and centralized activity, Whittaker, who is the bitcoin mining specialist for Bitcoin Lake, said to the 12-through-15-year-olds. And centralized activity typically means that theres somebody at the top that controls everything that flows down to the people.

The children stared back at him. Whittaker went on to talk about renewable energy and bitcoin mining. The children seemed similarly disinterested, except for one boy who was fidgeting in the front. The back of his t-shirt read: Mi lago! Mi casa! Mi orgullo! Bitcoin soluciona esto! or My lake! My house! My pride! Bitcoin solves this! (What bitcoin solves, though, the shirt didnt make clear.)

After Whittaker went on about the average cost of a kilowatt of electricity per hour in Guatemala, he ceded the stage to Melder. Before Melder moved on to the next topic, he made sure the children understood the importance of what they were talking about. I know all the other parents around here, he said, we feel like sometimes our kids come to us because they feel like money grows on trees. Well now, you just put the computer in the wall, and its making money.

Do you guys have any questions? asked Melder. No one responded.

For Jason Josephson Storm, a professor of religion at Williams College, Melders categorization of bitcoin as religionisnt unreasonable. Current notions of religion and science date back to the nineteenth century, and since then, new religious movements often blend the two seemingly conflicting categories, he said in an interview. Once you produce notions of religion and science and claim that theyre in conflict, it makes it very attractive to try and suture the link between religion and science, added Storm, pointing to the worship of aliens as an example.

And if bitcoin is a religion, it brings with it the same complexities and criticisms that Christianity does. Like Christian missionaries, who tend to preach to marginalized communities abroad, bitcoin and blockchain enthusiasts are experimenting financially with the worlds poor, say some academics. Its being sold by these people as if its a noble humanitarian mission, said Pete Howson, a professor at Northumbria University in the United Kingdom.

Oxfam, a nonprofit based in the UK, recently launched a blockchain project in Vanuatu, an island nation thats one of the most endangered by climate change. The nonprofit hopes to use blockchain to distribute cash for disaster relief. And in Puerto Rico, cryptocurrency investors have gentrified parts of the island as theyve flocked to the U.S. territory to exploit the local governments lax taxation policy. Howson and others have called this trend crypto-colonialism or blockchain imperialism.

Theres a colonial perception of what is possible in what are these unruly and wild west parts of the world, said Jorge Cullar, a professor at Dartmouth College who studies cryptocurrency communities in Latin America. He added that bitcoins volatility makes it a poor choice for those whose everyday finances are precarious. For the immediate timescale, everyday timescale, the volatility makes it unacceptable and literally unusable.

Melder, though, believes the opposite. Hes convinced that he is liberating the people of Panajachel from colonialism. The U.S. imposes the global financial system on less developed countries, and bitcoin is the only way out, he argues. This is not monetary colonialism, he said of his project, Petersons in El Salvador, and others who are spreading the gospel of Bitcoin far and wide. This is monetary liberation.

On one of our last days in Panajachel, Melder met with a group of indiginous leaders in the towns public library. Over 95 percent of residents that live near Lake Atitln identify as indigenous, according to Guatemalas most recent census.

As the sun set, Melder launched into an hour-long lecture on inflation, the gold standard, and colonialism. Four to five hundred years ago, the Spaniards came. They raped your land. They took your gold, he said. It is my desire that the natural resources that you have here, which will produce digital goldbitcoinwhich will stay here in the community. In front of me, a womans eyes fluttered as she struggled to stay awake.

After Melder finished, the leaders grilled him and his translator. They asked him how he was going to distribute Bitcoin he would mine using the communitys resources, why he came to Panajachel, and whether he himself has any financial interest in Bitcoin Lakes success. Melder says he doesnt. Ultimately, the community representatives seemed wary. Melder had just mentioned their homes history of colonization, after all.

Virtual money is the money of the future, but there are many complexities, Juan Carlos, one of the indigenous leaders present at the meeting, said as the discussion came to a close. So it would be best to schedule a date for the next meeting.

As night eased the daily bustle of Panajachel, we filed out of the library. Melder had sensed the leaders skepticism, but he wasnt deterred. After having preached in Houston, India, Ukraine, he knew that for every convert, there were many non-believers. Earlier that week, he said to me, You cant sell everybody on everything.

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Christian Missionaries Are Turning to the Gospel of Bitcoin in Latin America - Gizmodo

Bitcoin was once considered digital gold. Like gold, it would be a hedge against inflation. Not so. ... [+] (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)

Ladies and gentlemen, I hate to say this, but bitcoin BTC is not digital gold and the investment case of bitcoin being an inflation hedge is dead. If you think the $20,000 price tag is back, wait until you see $12,000.

We all wanted Goldman Sachs to be right when they called bitcoin digital gold. But like their call in 2008 that oil was going to $200 a barrel, sometimes the best minds get it wrong.

Historic inflation is pushing up the price of food and fuel, among other items. Some securities benefited as the market bet the Fed would not dare raise interest rates in the middle of a technical recession (the U.S. economy contracted for two consecutive quarters, the definition of a technical recession). Stocks did okay on this gamble. Despite the S&P 500 being down year-to-date, its way better than bitcoin. In fact, the entire cryptocurrency market is a dud. Some NFTs are down 85%. Buying on the lows is like that old saying never catch a falling knife.

Bitcoin, with its capped supply of 21 million coins, and Goldman Sachs store of value thesis (digital gold), meant the no. 1 traded cryptocurrency was supposed to be a hedge against inflation.

Bitcoin is not immune to macroeconomic factors, says Andrei Grachev, managing partner at DWF Labs, a Web 3.0 investor based in Zug, Switzerland. Ongoing factors like the Federal Reserves decision on interest rates have affected market confidence greatly, and market uncertainty means investors will turn to low-risk assets. Unfortunately, bitcoin is still seen as a newer, volatile asset to be a hedge, but I think Bitcoin is still going to be a highly profitable asset for middle and long-term investors.

Unlike the crypto investors of the past who wanted to hodl bitcoin forever, big money investors are more likely to sell Bitcoin now when markets turn defensive.

Bitcoin was heavily correlated with the Nasdaq. When it fell, Bitcoin fell more. Now it's decoupled. ... [+] (Photo by Chris Hondros/Newsmakers)

Getting defensive on bitcoin basically means, dont buy it. If youre not buying the Nasdaq, then definitely do not buy bitcoin. Build cash and wait for it to fall further, because everyone is convinced that it is.

Bitcoins tech stock correlation is over. Cryptos main drivers are still the dedicated, long-term holders," says Przemysaw Kral, CEO of Zonda, a cryptocurrency exchange based in Tallinn, Estonia, who thinks the Nasdaq correlation to bitcoin is a thing of the past.

Last year and into early 2022, bitcoin followed the Nasdaq rather than act like inflation hedge assets like gold. Bitcoins value should be, in theory, uncorrelated to the stock market. One has nothing to do with the other.

The fact that bitcoins price was so correlated to the financial markets indicates that we are still far away from Satoshis vision of decentralization, says Abraham Piha, co-founder and CEO of Tomi.com, a decentralized cloud computing solutions provider for companies building the third generation of the internet the blockchain space best known as Web 3.0.

The (cryptocurrency) market is still pretty centralized and controlled by Wall Street hedge funds, and their liquidity is damaging us as all, Piha says from his office in New York City. Only when we achieve real decentralization will Bitcoin be a hedge against inflation and a true store of value. Right now, the only real benefit is that it's an asset that no one can take away from its owner.

Billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones called Bitcoin an inflation hedge last year. Mark Cuban dismissed the idea, calling it a marketing slogan for bitcoin enthusiasts. Cuban was right.

Whats going on?

Since the birth of bitcoin, we have lived in the era of low-interest rates that encouraged investors and speculators to put their money in risky assets. Nothing is riskier than cryptocurrency. Maybe slot machines and roulette are riskier.

Mark Cuban said the idea that Bitcoin would be an inflation hedge was a "marketing slogan" for ... [+] Bitcoin bulls. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

The recent decline in crypto prices is not really driven by inflation, but by the rising interest rates to clean up the excess liquidity in the market, clamp down on inflation, and strengthen the U.S. dollar because of rising rates. Rising interest rates mean higher Treasury yields, attracting foreign bond buyers from low-yielding nations like Japan and Europe. Leveraged Bitcoin bets have been cashing out as well.

Bitcoin hasnt been around long enough to prove whether its genuinely an inflation hedge and a store of value. Despite its scarcity, the price of a cryptocurrency like bitcoin is still mainly based on investor sentiment. It could still gain acceptance over time and become less volatile, but that has not happened despite some small headlines about companies accepting bitcoin for payment. This is mostly true today in high-end real estate, often a money launderer's delight, making bitcoin the perfect match for luxury high rises in Miami and Dubai.

If you zoom out over the last decade, then you can see that bitcoin has performed better than most traditional stocks, says Irina Berezina, the Lisbon, Portugal-based COO of Uplift DAO, a platform for cryptocurrency startups. She pointed out Blackrocks recent foray into bitcoin. They created a fund for their high-net-worth clients.

If BlackRock BLK has started pumping client money into that fund, its been a money pit. Bitcoin was trading flat late Thursday. Bulls are looking for a break.

The digital gold story isnt working. The inflation hedge story isnt working. The bitcoin is a crypto Nasdaq isnt working.

That could be changing. Remember, the last time bitcoin fell below $10,000, it spent the next 12 months climbing to about $60,000.

Rather than inflation, bitcoin is a hedge against currency debasement and in its mature state offers an alternative to central banking, says Ben Caselin, Head of Research and Strategy at AAX in Hong Kong. In places like Argentina, Turkey, Nigeria or other countries where inflation has run high for decades, there is no question as to the ability for Bitcoin to act as a hedge against inflation.

Sadly, El Salvadors experiment with bitcoin as legal tender seems to have hit a wall. bitcoin as an alternative to fiat is barely a success story.

Bulls like Caselin are focused on the long-term story of bitcoin.

But in the near term, they see bitcoin losing that strong correlation with the stock market. Over the last two weeks, investors have been selling the S&P 500. Bitcoin fell in a big way on August 19 but has caught up to the S&P since. Over the last five days ending Labor Day, bitcoin was down 1.1%, and the SPDR S&P 500 ( SPY ) ETF was down 2.6%.

The long crypto winter has taken more than 50% off of Bitcoin's value this year. It's two times ... [+] worse than the Nasdaq, also in a bear market. By comparison, Nasdaq is in a Teddy Bear market. Bitcoin is in an angry, hungry, polar bear market.

One thing in favor of Bitcoin is the currency market. The euro, pound and yen are at decade lows against the dollar.

The dollar index is much moving in one direction and one direction only, and that is to the upside. Usually, when the dollar index picks up this much strength, we normally see Bitcoin price breaking down, says Naeem Aslam, chief market strategist for AvaTrade in London. Bulls are holding their ground. They have not allowed the Bitcoin price to get battered because of the tech sell-off and a strong dollar, he says.

If there is a capitulation to the downside now that Bitcoin has breached $20,000, the next move isn't going to be about the $18,000 price level or $15,000; the sell-off could be so intense that it could quickly push Bitcoin closer to $12,000, Aslam forecasts.

My overall view is that the crypto winter will get worse before it gets better. Most professional traders I talk to are looking for 10,000 rather than 30,000 in Bitcoin. There's a very limited buy side demand at the moment, says Lars Seier Christensen, chairman of the Concordium Foundation and founder of Saxo Bank. The Ethereum merge is unlikely to instill a real bullish feeling in the market, as the reality is it doesn't change a lot.

Alas, with economies looking weak because of inflation in Europe, and higher interest in the Western economies, Bitcoin failed to live up to its hype as the crypto inflation hedge.

Once it has been through a few market cycles, investors will better understand how Bitcoin responds to macro developments.

There is a strong relationship between Bitcoins price and the dollar, says Caselin. The dollar has shown strength in recent months, so a drawdown in the dollar could kick off a rally in Bitcoin in the near term. But in the future, its more interesting to me to watch how Bitcoin and digital assets take root in emerging markets on the basis of use cases. Over time, such widespread adoption will stabilize Bitcoins growth and change the dynamics between the crypto and traditional markets.

*The writer owns Bitcoin.

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Bitcoins Inflation Hedge Case Is Dead; Crypto Leader Heading To $12k - Forbes

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From Shiba Inu to Squidgrow Sponsored Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

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Core developers have released an update to the worlds most popular Bitcoin software that will protect node operators from malicious actors introducing a fake version of Bitcoins blockchain. The revision, which developers have designated Bitcoin Core 25717, also adds defenses against various Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks.

When a node operator downloads Bitcoin Core software for the first time, they must also download the current Bitcoin blockchain (a large, 426GB file). During this initial block download, the old software would only perform relatively rudimentary checks of block headers to check for a canonical version of the blockchain.

Bitcoin Core 25717, however, adds a long-awaited Headers Presync phase to the softwares pre-synchronization protocol. The upgrade replaces easy-to-hack, hard-coded values in Headers Presync with far more secure Proof of Work puzzles. This protects node operators from a malicious actor introducing a fake version of Bitcoins blockchain into their node.

A full node operator in Bitcoin stores the entire blockchain since inception, including every transaction that has occurred since 2009. In this way, operators can fully validate any proposed transactions on their own hard drive, without trusting anyone to guarantee that nobody double-spends coins.

In addition to addressing vulnerabilities in the initial block download, Bitcoin Core 25717s new Headers Presync adds security during synchronization. Because a new block of data is added to Bitcoin every 10 minutes, nodes must sync again after they download the 426GB file. As time goes by, nodes must also synchronize periodically, especially after power or internet outages. Bitcoin Core 25717 improves the security of these syncs.

The software update also addresses DoS attack vectors, which can prevent nodes from downloading the canonical blockchain. In addition, the update reduces memory overhead by downloading presync data before downloading the entire blockchain.

Finally, the update also adds support for transient, one-time, Invisible Internet Project (I2P) addresses. I2P is a network layer for censorship-resistant, anonymous, peer-to-peer communication.

Read more: This Twitter account documents Bitcoin eating the world

With over a decade of operation and a multi-hundred billion dollar bounty that no hacker has yet been able to steal, experts generally agree that hacking Bitcoin is becoming increasingly unlikely. Considering the sheer amount of mining machines securing Bitcoin, a 51% attack has become prohibitively expensive.

Any other attack, such as hacking the GitHub repository or compromising a Bitcoin Core lead maintainer, would have to introduce a change and get past other lead maintainers, node operators, and miners. A compromised full node that accidentally downloaded a fake blockchain would be incompatible with the Bitcoin network because the data on its blockchain would not agree with the data on other nodes.

At least one attempt to sidestep user consensus a Bitcoin fork called Bitcoin XT failed because it couldnt get enough supporters on board.

Bitcoin Core 25717 provides an additional layer of security by making it more difficult to introduce a malicious blockchain into new full nodes or to conduct DoS attacks. Bitcoin Cores update makes nodes less likely to accept malicious data or suffer silent attacks that prevent them from downloading the valid, canonical Bitcoin chain.

For more informed news, follow us onTwitterandGoogle Newsor listen to our investigative podcastInnovated: Blockchain City.

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This Bitcoin Core update will protect full node operators from hacks - Protos

For years, Ethereum proponents have pined for the hypothetical, as of now moment when ether eclipses bitcoins market capitalization: The Flippening.

What better time than Ethereums Merge? Its one of the most significant updates in the history of cryptocurrency yet, converting its energy-intensive, proof-of-work-backed consensus with its own brand of proof-of-stake.

The fusion of Ethereums Beacon Chain and its long-running mainnet is expected to trigger in six days time.

But whether its enough for ether to usurp bitcoin is another story. Bullish sentiment would propose June as the bottom for both equities and cryptoassets both have tanked about 70% from their respective November peaks.

Bitcoin is hovering around $19,000 and its market capitalization stands at just under $368 billion, representing 39% of the total digital asset market.

Ether trades for $1,600, and its nominal value is a touch over half bitcoins, at $196.4 billion, a little over one-fifth of cryptos collective capitalization.

Back-of-the-napkin math shows The Flippening would occur if ether reaches roughly $3,050 true only in the relatively unlikely event that bitcoins price holds steady.

The flippening is only really a symbolic victory for ETH maximalists, but perhaps not overly significant for the industry as a whole, Bobby Ong, co-founder of data provider CoinGecko, told Blockworks.

Its unlikely for ether to rise past bitcoin in the next 12 months, Ong said, as both bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) have been moving in similar directions due to the macro environment, dogged by inflation.

Ether is eyeing another run at yearly highs against the price of bitcoin, indicating markets are assigning value to the Merge.

But ether was much closer to flipping bitcoin more than five years ago, the early innings of the last bull-bear cycle. On June 12, 2017, the market capitalization of ETH was almost 84% that of BTC, with just $7.16 billion separating the two, according to TradingView data.

That figure is currently around 52% (with more than 100% indicating a flippening). In January 2020 at the bottom of the last bear market the situation was far worse, with ETH at just 11% of BTCs value ($15.4 billion to $146.7 billion).

Still, market values dont tell the full story.

Comparing on-chain metrics including transaction count, protocol fees and the number of active addresses across networks can also provide insight into their growth.

Ethereum is ahead in terms of transaction count and protocol fees, CoinGeckos Ong said, and in major dapp development. Its also steadily catching up to Bitcoin in terms of daily active addresses.

But the number of total bitcoin users active or not vastly outpaced ethers at the height of the previous bull run.

Bitcoin users grew 37.5% between July and December 2021, from 128 million to 176 million, according to a Crypto.com report published earlier this year. On the other hand, only 23 million users held ether, a statistic which only grew by 1.4% over the same period.

Ethereums switch to proof-of-stake could help boost those numbers. Not only is the Merge expected to cut Ethereums energy consumption by more than 99% replacing its GPU miner-based issuance model to one based on crypto-collateralized validator nodes (read: servers) it also lays the foundations to scale the networks base layer more effectively, proponents say.

This might help spur further ecosystem development and present an attractive investment opportunity to eco-conscious investors, even institutional ones, so goes the bull case.

We expect not only renewed interest from building projects on the platform but also from an investment perspective, Lachlan Feeney, founder of Australias largest blockchain consultancy Labrys, told Blockworks.

Yet, big money institutions are still concentrating their exposures, for the most part, to bitcoin.

This advantage cannot be understated as the influence of institutions grows within the market, said CoinGeckos Ong. Whether ETH, or any other crypto, can challenge its market share in this space remains to be seen.

Bitcoin and Ethereum differ significantly in primary use cases, diverging their value propositions. Bitcoins application scope is narrow: Its censorship-resistant money, propelled by peer-to-peer payments.

But Bitcoins architecture by design does not support smart contracts, unlike Ethereum and a raft of layer-1 competitors. This essentially restricts bitcoins usage to micropayments and tips. (Remember the Lightning Network-powered Pollofeed?)

Indeed, even with Lightning, Bitcoin is less applicable to the broader Web3 crypto ecosystem.

This magnetizes Bitcoin to its store of value sales pitch users should rather hold their bitcoin than spend it in the same way as ether and other Ethereum-bound assets.

Some argue the Bitcoin development community prides itself on an unwillingness to iterate as quickly as Ethereum, bucking the move fast, break things tradition of Silicon Valley lore.

The early abdication of Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoins pseudonymous founder, contrasts Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterins persistent gravitas within Ethereum crowds another potential boon to its value prop.

Vitalik actually stepped away from doing a lot of work on Ethereum at the end of the ICO craze, but he still sets the roadmap and he still gets a lot of input, Katie Talati, director of research at Arca, told Blockworks.

Added Talati: And obviously, his opinion means a lot. Hes not necessarily dictating the day-to-day, but I think it does help having a bit of a guide.

Another effect of Ethereums proof-of-stake plan is that it will eventually turn the token into a deflationary asset, which industry participants say would likely generate significant interest.

Bitcoins supply limit is famously hardcoded to 21 million, while ethers floats. The protocol modifies ETHs issuance rate and supply constantly, with the network currently burning transaction fees rather than paying them to validators.

Sometimes, more ether is burned inside a block than issued, temporarily switching the cryptocurrency from inflationary to deflationary a phenomenon expected to occur more frequently post-Merge.

Bitcoins issuance slowly decreases, halving every four years but its supply will never formally decrease. This, at best, imbues anti-inflationary properties, although they are amplified once block rewards reduce to zero next century.

Vivek Raman, head of proof-of-stake at BitOoda, believes Bitcoins faults give Ethereum an edge in creating sustainable monetary policy, complete with high network revenue to inspire longevity.

Its almost like a mathematical inevitability, Raman said about the possibility of Ethereum flippening, estimating it could happen possibly a year after the upgrade. He argued bitcoin enjoys its status due to an early-mover advantage, backed by the idea of a pristine digital asset immaculately concepted by Nakamoto.

According to Raman, Bitcoins proof-of-work may ultimately work against its value prop, especially considering mining rewards halve every four years.

While tapering issuance hasnt threatened its security model so far, with enough miners on the network despite lower rewards, theyre still paid less over time. This means theres less and less incentive to mine every four years, Raman said.

So, what are the tell-tale signs of an impending Flippening? Surging open interest on ether futures has been floated as one indicator: Theres currently $12.8 billion in BTC open interest compared to $8.6 billion for ETH, per CoinGlass.

But Raman suggested open interest is mostly a short-term signal. And in any case, rising levels of open interest on ether futures could simply reflect appetite for Ethereums decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols.

Ethereum has decentralized finance sitting on top of it. So, it has an economy running on it because of that, theres more leverage, Raman said. If theres more leverage in the system, youre gonna see a lot more open interest from futures and options. But thats just a function of more speculators, more participants.

With no clear indicators and a suffocating macro backdrop, predicting the Flippening is a tricky undertaking.

It doesnt seem likely to occur around the Merge or even within the next year but its clear the two networks, and their native digital assets, are poised to diverge in a big way.

David Canellis contributed reporting.

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The Flippening: Will Ether Flip Bitcoin in the Next Year? - Blockworks

In this week's episode of Market Talks, we welcome Ray Salmond, head of markets at Cointelegraph.

The main topic of discussion with Ray will be the recent crypto market pullback and whether there is a possibility of the price of Bitcoin (BTC) going all the way down to $15K. We take a look at the charts to analize the price movements and figure out important price levels to keep an eye on.

Some might see the falling crypto prices and see an opportunity. We ask Ray how this market could be a potential opportunity for some. We also get his take on why the price of Bitcoin keeps dropping so consistently.

Miners are an integral part of the Bitcoin ecosystem, but what happens when mining Bitcoin is no longer profitable and miners suffer huge losses? Will we see a capitulation event? What will that do to the price of Bitcoin and the whole crypto market? We try to get a sense of the Bitcoin miners' sentiment.

The EthereumMerge is all over the news recently. We ask Ray for his insights about the matter and whether his outlook is bearish or bullish. Also, what's his strategy for trading the Merge? The markets are getting increasingly volatile at the moment and you might be wondering what is the best strategy right now buy, sell, hodl or trade? Make sure you stay till the end of the show to find out.

Tune in to have your voice heard. Well be taking your questions and comments throughout the show, so be sure to have them ready to go.

Market Talks with Coffee 'N' Crypto's Tim Warren streams live every Thursday at 12 pm ET (4:00 pm UTC). Each week, we feature interviews with some of the most influential and inspiring people from the crypto and blockchain industry. So, be sure to head on over to Cointelegraphs YouTube page and smash those like and subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

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Is Bitcoin heading to $15K? Why are the markets suddenly pulling back? - Cointelegraph