Holding my tongue on thoughts on this virus getting out and about, I admit when I started seeing headlines along these lines, I laughed out loud. Talk about being OTT, but this just shows how antiquated cash is. If you don’t think we’re going back to a barter system based on seashells, it’d be absurd for you not to have at least some faith in the prospects of programmable money. Any transaction that involves a middle man: Banks between depositors & borrowers; actuaries and insurance policies; Bank Guarantees between cross border trade- can be middleman-less with the advent of crypto. While it is hard to conceive any newcomer displacing king Bitcoin in terms of network size, user wallets & tx counts where we stand, that’s not to say that it is a zero probability event. It took 30yrs since the internet was released to the public before today’s behemoths came about with very few of the OG first movers (Lycos, Netscape Navigator, ICQ) still around.
And the recent mishaps show why. The comical post mortem given by Fcoin’s founder recently has stirred quite a few in the mix; IOTA the decentralized protocol has shuttered the entire network to fend off attacks on it’s Trinity wallet; EOS masternode allegedly “buys votes” poking holes into the very concept of proof-of-stake; and a $45mn BCH & BTC hack.
Legit or overblown, the virus is having a real impact on the markets. Chinese crypto players have naturally been axed for sale given the inherent outflow skew typical for all countries with cross-border capital controls but the latest has not only delayed the pace of development for the country’s CBDC, ASICs shipments have also ground to a halt subsequently leading to a USDT hoarding of sorts; the go-to medium of transfer. The skew has turned to better for sale on our trading desk and if you agree with Peter Marks, doesn’t look to turn anytime soon (daily desk color provided to registered users by our desk directly, be one of them here).
Technicals clearly with more impact than crypto in the broader context of an investment portfolio as the break below $10K casts doubt on the safe haven narrative but one thing we now know is that $10K will be a tough cookie to break. I’ve flipped out of BTC in to long dated treasuries and gold but this move through the lower Bollinger band with RSI pulling below 40, worth a punt me thinks.
There have Also been some encouraging developments: We saw the first cryptocurrency case proceeded (& closed) in the commonwealth, New Zealand has proposed to do away with double taxation of crypto by removing GSTs on all transactions, JP Morgan issues a 74pager on crypto acknowledging increasing participation by financial instos, testing on E-Krona by Riksbank kicks off… the consistent stream of headlines along these lines confirm my belief that we are past the initial hype and are trucking along the slope of enlightenment.
- Dapper Labs, the company behind KryptoKitties to launch UFC collectibles through strategic tie-up
- Malta FSC shares finding on STO’s after consulting industry participants.
- Tagomi joins Facebook’s Libra Association
- Omniex ties up with Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX)
- Ripple ($XRP) -6.4% welcomes Korean remittance firms WireBarley, Sentbe & Hanpass to RippleNet
May the trend be your friend… Happy Trading!
