by Pam Martens and Russ Martens, Wall St On Parade:
Yesterday the U.S. Senate Banking Committee assembled to hear Facebook’s David Marcus explain how the company wants to create a global digital currency called Libra, to be run by a Switzerland-based global organization called the Libra Association, made up of 27 members from the fields of payment systems, technology, telecommunications, blockchain services, venture capital, nonprofits and academic institutions.
Given Facebook’s serial history of abusing the privacy rights of its users and selling their data without their permission, not to mention its role in facilitating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, we immediately went to check out the names of the nonprofits that had signed up to monitor this sprawling international monetary system cooked up in a Facebook lab in a year’s time. We were hoping to see names like American Civil Liberties Union, Public Citizen, Consumer Federation of America, or Center for Constitutional Rights. No such luck. Here’s who Facebook lists under nonprofits, multilateral organizations and academic institutions: Creative Destruction Lab, Kiva, Mercy Corps, Women’s World Banking. We have to admit to ignorance of any of these groups.
from BullionStar:
Last week the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) refused to approve nine different proposals for bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs). This comes on top of a number of prior SEC refusals of bitcoin-based funds, including the SolidX Bitcoin Trust and two separate denials of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, the first in 2017 and the second this summer.
Why have so many other U.S.-listed commodity ETFs been approved over the years whereas bitcoin ETFs keep getting rebuffed? It is tempting to view the SEC smackdown of these bitcoin ETF proposals as a sign of distaste for this new and anarchic technology. But I don’t think this reading is accurate. If anything, SEC vs Bitcoin is less about Bitcoin and more about the SEC’s attempt to impose standards in an age where Wall Street is trying to package almost everything into a broadly-available security.
from The Dollar Vigilante:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT4GNu4tUOE
by Dave Kranzler, Investment Research Dynamics:
I actively traded the internet stocks during the late stages of the internet/tech stock bubble in 1999 – from the short side. I will admit that I did take a few long-side day trade rides on a few internet stocks. I remember one Chinese internet stock that I bought in the morning at $10 after its IPO free’d up to trade and sold it about 2 hours later at $45. To this day I have no idea what the company’s concept was all about – I think it was one of those incubators. I doubt that company was in existence after 2001. As such, the crypto-currency craze reminds me of the internet stock bubble.
The cryptos certainly are a heated debate. The volume from the Bitcoin defenders is deafening, the degree to which I’ve only seen near the peak of bubbles. I had a subscriber cancel his Mining Stock Journal subcription after sending me an email explaining that he canceled because he was pissed off that I was not a Bitcoin proponent. He accused me of discouraging people from buying Bitcoins. His loss, he’s missed on out some high rate of return trade ideas in a short period of time like Banro and Tahoe Resources. I’m not trying to discourage anyone from buying anything. I’m simply laying out the “caveat emptor” case.
Having said that, there’s truth to the proposition that the inability to short Bitcoin contributes to its soaring valuation. I’d like to have an opportunity to see what would happen to the value of gold if the ability to short gold via the paper gold mechanism was removed from the equation.
Is it “Bitcoin” or “Bitcon?” The cost to produce, or “mine,” a Bitcoin does not imbue it with inherent value, as some have argued. It cost money to produce Pet Rocks in the 1970’s and they took off like a Roman Candle in popularity purchase price. Now if you own a Pet Rock, it’s nearly worthless. It costs money to produce and defend dollars. We know the dollar is headed for the dust-bin of history.
I’m not saying you can’t make money on cryptos. A lot of people made a small fortune on internet company stocks in 1999. But I’d bet that 98{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} of the internet stocks IPO’d during the tech bubble no longer exist. Currently cryptos are fueled by the “greater fool” model of making money. Most buyers of the cryptos are buying them on the assumption they’ll be able to sell them at a later time to another buyer at a higher price.
Cryptos are de facto fiat currencies. Perhaps there’s a limit to the supply of each one individually. But that proposition has not been vetted by the test of time. I do not believe that anything in cyberspace is 100{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} immune from hacking. Just because there have not been reports of the Bitcoin block-chain being hacked yet does not mean it can’t be hacked. It’s also possible that, for now, any breach has been covered up. Again, the test of time will resolve that. However, as we’ve seen already, the quantity of cryptocurrencies can multiply quickly in a short period of time. Thus, in that regard cryptos are no different than any fiat currency.
Finally, all it takes is the flip of a switch and your Bitcoin is unusable. But all these flaws are, for now, covered up by the euphoria of the mania. This is no different from every flawed “investment” mania in history. The current wave of crypto buyers are buying them with the hope of selling them at higher price later. “Hope” is not a valid investment strategy. “Hope” is the heart-beat of a speculative market bubble.
Perhaps one of the most definitive signals that the top in Bitcoin is imminent is this snapshot taken by the publisher of the Shenandoah blog at johngaltfla.com:
This picture was snapped in Florida. The sign says “got bitcoin? Passive income and no recruiting. Earn up to 1{5f621241b214ad2ec6cd4f506191303eb2f57539ef282de243c880c2b328a528} on your money Monday – Friday.”
I recall reading about the process by which Bitcoins are “mined.” Anyone can get started but it involves an upfront investment plus the ongoing expense of the considerable amount of energy used to power the computer system required to engage in the mining process.
Let me guess, the creators of Bitcoin will be happy to assist you with buying the equipment and software necessary to get started? How is this any different from a high-tech-equivalent of a multi-level marketing scheme? As johngaltfla asserts: “When someone implies that it is ‘easy money’ it isn’t, it is a bubble.”
I’m not here to criticize anyone attempting to profit from trading Bitcoin. I am suggesting that it is not a good idea to get married to the trade. I regret not loading up on Bitcoins in 2012.
Without a doubt I believe there is legitimacy to the cryptocurrency concept. However, I can envision a Central Banking-led attempt to implement the crptocurrency model as means of centralizing the process of removing cash currency from the system. But that also means the eventuality that Governments collude to remove competing cryptos from the internet. This is just surmisal on my part. Again, the test of time will determine the ultimate fate of cryptos.
Read More @ InvestmentResearchDynamics.com
from RoadtoRoota:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb9H2X2BWQ8
by Kenneth Schortgen, The Daily Economist:
There are many different gold ‘markets’ for savers and investors to participate in, but only a few provide both security or delivery in real physical gold.
In the West the LBMA, Comex, and equity based GLD ETF’s focus on paper ownership of gold, where investors who want to own the precious metal but don’t want to deal with storing it put their trust in brokers and associations that have a long history of fraud and manipulation. While over in the East, the Shanghai Gold Exchange functions as a true physical gold market. But unless one chooses to store their gold in an offshore vault, taking physical ownership is once again a difficult proposition.
This leaves savers with a couple of different options to either store or back their wealth in gold while still having the ability to access their money in real time.
One of these platforms comes in the form of a company called Gold Money which allows businesses, savers, and investors to transfer their sovereign currencies into an account that is completely backed by gold, and yet still have access to that money in the form of a debit card or wire transfer mechanisms.
The next one is company called Goldmint, which is a cryptocurrency based platform using the Blockchain. And on Sept. 20 this enterprise is officially starting its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) where one can purchase tokens that are backed by physical gold.
Today, on the 20th of September, GoldMint is launching its ICO. The GoldMint ICO will mark the birth of a new means of exchange for physical gold, with transactions leveraged over the blockchain based platform. This platform will utilize the private and individual gold trading market and potentially the management of larger physical stocks such as those in central banks. It will also provide an electronic payment solution backed by physical gold and a system for gold-backed peer-to-peer lending.
GoldMint is celebrating the beginning of its ICO by attending 3 major events on the same day the crowdsale kicks off. One of these events is BlockchainLive in London– Europe’s leading Blockchain conference bringing together over 75+ global experts in various fields.
Another one is Moscow’s ICO Event which this time mainly focuses on how legislation will impact the cryptocurrency space.
Today GoldMint is also present at the Global Blockchain Summit in Hong Kong gathering iconic speakers from various industries to discuss about the real-world applications of blockchain technology, as well as its potential benefits, risks, and regulatory concerns. – Coin Speaker
As the world begins to de-dollarize, and China gets ready to implement a new oil contract convertible to gold, it appears more and more that gold will see a return to the monetary system in some form of fashion. And when you add in the rise of the blockchain and cryptocurrenies to the mix, melding gold and cryptos is the most economical way to get the best of both worlds and be able to move onto the cutting edge of what is very likely to become the future financial system.
Read More @ DailyEconomist.com
from RT:
Max interviews Marshall Auerback, market practitioner and research associate at the Levy Institute. They discuss the alleged Trump market boom and the US economy.
![](https://www.sgtreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/1000-oz-Comex-Silver-Bar-Sweepstakes-1200x125-1.jpg")