Bitcoin

‘Im Open’ to Bitcoin: Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein

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FYI.

– ‘Im Open’ to Bitcoin: Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein:

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is not comfortable with bitcoin, but he says that he understands that it may ultimately prove to be the next step in the evolution of money

The investment banking executive, who last month used a rare tweet to state that he was “thinking about bitcoin” but had not formed a definitive opinion, shared his updated thoughts on cryptocurrency in an interview with Bloomberg held at the investment banking firm’s Sustainable Finance Innovation Forum in New York.

He stated that the thought of bitcoin gave him a “level of discomfort” but conceded that he felt the same level of skepticism when he first encountered the cell phone:

“I have a level discomfort with [bitcoin], as I have a level of discomfort with anything that’s new,” he said. “But I’ve learned over the years that there’s a lot of things that work out pretty well that I don’t love.”

A self-described history buff, Blankfein reflected that the evolution of money has taken paths that many people from earlier eras might not have predicted. “Maybe in the new world, something gets back by consensus. Instead of a government fiat, maybe it’s a consensual arrangement by people that agree that it’s worth something,” he stated.

https://youtu.be/YIMWLOSRZ_A

Consequently, Blankfein does not intend to let his personal discomfort get in the way of a potentially disruptive technology. Perhaps this is why Goldman Sachs is considering launching a bitcoin trading operation at the same time that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is publicly threatening to fire “stupid” employees who engage in bitcoin trading.

Read more‘Im Open’ to Bitcoin: Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein

Ron Paul Warns “Government Interest In Bitcoin Makes Me Nervous”

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– Ron Paul Warns “Government Interest In Bitcoin Makes Me Nervous”:

Former presidential candidate Ron Paul urged legalization of all competing cryptocurrencies to fiat during a televised phone interview with The Street’s Daniela Cambone, Editor-in-Chief for Canadian outlet Kitco News…

As Coinivore reports, Paul noted how the trend seems to be that the government waits until something grows successful enough and then attempts to severely restrict it with regulations.

“If Bitcoin is a really good deal and a good process,” he said, “rest assured the government will be looking at it very carefully.”

Government interest in Bitcoin “makes me a little bit nervous,” he added, “people should be very cautious.”

As for currency competition, “If the people want Bitcoin and want to use it, the government should stay out of it,” he told Cambone.

Read moreRon Paul Warns “Government Interest In Bitcoin Makes Me Nervous”

Iran Is Preparing Infrastructure For Bitcoin Adoption

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– Iran Is Preparing Infrastructure For Bitcoin Adoption:

The Iranian Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Amir Hossein Davaee said that “The ministry of communications and information technology has already conducted a number of research studies as part of efforts to prepare the infrastructure to use Bitcoin inside the country.”…

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Here Comes Bitcoin Gold: Bitcoin Rally Falters On Latest Blockchain “Hard Fork”

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FYI.

– Here Comes Bitcoin Gold: Bitcoin Rally Falters On Latest Blockchain “Hard Fork”:

Less than three months after the blockchain “hard forked” and Bitcoin split into legacy Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, here comes Bitcoin Gold. As of block 491,407 on the bitcoin blockchain, another alternative version of the protocol of the cryptocurrency has been formed after some developers split the blockchain. And in just one month, yet another fork is imminent.

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A Look Inside The Secret Swiss Bunker Where The Ultra Rich Hide Their Bitcoins

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– A Look Inside The Secret Swiss Bunker Where The Ultra Rich Hide Their Bitcoins:

Somewhere in the mountains near Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne lies a hidden underground vault containing a vast fortune.

It’s no ordinary vault, according to Quartz. Built inside a decommissioned Swiss military bunker dug into a granite mountain, it’s precise location is a closely guarded secret, and access is limited by myriad security precautions.

But instead of gold bars, the bunker contains hard drives on which customers’ bitcoins are being kept in what’s call “cold storage” – i.e. the owners’ private keys are protected by an air-gapped hard drive. The vault is one of many operated by Xapo, an early bitcoin company known for its cold storage wallet products and a debit card that pays for transactions in digital currencies.

The company won’t disclose how much bitcoin is stored in the vault, but one employee who spoke with Quartz said he sometimes takes customers with millions of dollars in bitcoin on tours of the vaults where their fortune is stored. Xapo was founded by Argentinian entrepreneur and current CEO Wences Casares, whom Quartz describes as “patient zero” of bitcoin among Silicon Valley’s elite. Cesares reportedly gave Bill Gates and Reed Hoffman their first bitcoins.

Read moreA Look Inside The Secret Swiss Bunker Where The Ultra Rich Hide Their Bitcoins

Julian Assange Thanks US Govt For His 50,000% Gain On Bitcoin As Russia Unveils ‘CryptoRuble’

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– Assange Thanks US Govt For His 50,000% Gain On Bitcoin As Russia Unveils ‘CryptoRuble’

Once again the unintended consequences of government intervention are exposed…

In 2010 – following the release of sensitive government documents related to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – John McCain and Joe Lieberman led a bipartisan attempt to cut off WikiLeaks funding by forcing ‘traditional’ payment systems to block them.

7 years later and the price of Bitcoin has… risen…50,000%!

And Julian Assange chose yesterday to thank the US government and its corporatocracy for his forced investment…

As CoinTelegraph concludes, Wikileaks has been on the forefront of revealing government corruption, and Assange has lived as a fugitive in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012. With all the antigovernment rhetoric, it’s no wonder Assange is not friendly with pro-government fiat currencies. Wikileaks and its founder represent the sort of non-governmental control that Bitcoin is founded upon.

Read moreJulian Assange Thanks US Govt For His 50,000% Gain On Bitcoin As Russia Unveils ‘CryptoRuble’

Bitcoin Is Now Bigger Than Morgan Stanley

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FYI.

– Bitcoin Is Now Bigger Than Morgan Stanley:

On the back of (unconfirmed) rumors suggesting China may back down from its harsh stance of ICOs and crypto exchanges following this week’s National Congress, the price of Bitcoin soared overnight, testing near $5900 before falling back a little this morning. That has pushed Bitcoin’s market cap above $90 billion for the first time, surpassing PayPal, Netflix, and Morgan Stanley…

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Bitcoin Explodes To New Record High Over $5200

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FYI.

– Bitcoin Explodes To New Record High Over $5200:

Having bounced back from China’s exchange closures and Dimon’s damning, Bitcoin just broke above its pre-China ICO ban highs and traded above $5000 for the first time in history (even as Russia decided to block local access). There was no looking back as the cryptocurrency is now trading $5240 – a new record high.

As Coindesk notes, prices had dropped to a low of $2,980 in mid September after China banned token sales and local cryptocurrency exchanges. However, in the subsequent days, BTC quickly regained poised, reportedly due to a pick-up in trading volumes in Japan, South Korea and other markets. The rotation of money out of the ether and ethereum-based coins and into bitcoin also helped the cryptocurrency scale new heights.

Read moreBitcoin Explodes To New Record High Over $5200

Bitcoin Price Will Reach $10,000 in 6-10 Months: Billionaire Wall Street Mogul

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FYI.

– Bitcoin Price Will Reach $10,000 in 6-10 Months: Billionaire Wall Street Mogul:

Former Wall Street giant turned billionaire private investor Mike Novogratz would not be surprised to see bitcoin price hitting above $10,000 in early 2018.

Michael Novogratz, a retired Wall Street investor and noted cryptocurrency advocate who is starting a $500 million crypto hedge fund – with $150 million of his own money – was speaking to CNBC when he revealed he was an early investor in ‘bitcoin, ethereum and a lot of different ICOs.”

Asked to put an estimate on bitcoin’s value in the coming months and years, Novogratz prefaced his take by stating “the herd [is] coming”, referencing several institutional investors getting into bitcoin – a decentralized cryptocurrency traditionally popular with the everyday retail investor.

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H/t reader kevin a.

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Why Precious Metals Are The Better LONG-TERM Store Of Value Over Bitcoin

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Full article here:

– Why Precious Metals Are The Better LONG-TERM Store Of Value Over Bitcoin:

Many precious metals investors are starting to question whether gold and silver are still the best store of wealth in the future.  The reason Alternative Media community is starting to have doubts about their gold and silver investments is due to the rapidly rising value of the cryptocurrency market.  Also, a number of precious metals analysts have jumped ship and are now only supporting the cryptocurrencies as the next best thing since sliced bread.

While some precious metals analysts now believe that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are the better assets to own in the future rather than gold and silver, I do not belong to that group or mindset.  I differ from these analysts based upon my energy analysis.  Unfortunately, these analysts that promote cryptocurrencies as the “New” digital assets of the future, are ignorant about the Falling EROI – Energy Returned On Investment, or are clueless to the dire energy predicament the world is facing.

Read moreWhy Precious Metals Are The Better LONG-TERM Store Of Value Over Bitcoin

IMF Head Foresees The End Of Banking And The Triumph Of Cryptocurrency As Bitcoin Surges Above $4400

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Lagarde: 666 – with Baroness Rotschild

Don’t miss:

– The Drive to Cryptocurrencies, Who is Really Driving This Bus, by Lynette Zang (Video)

– The Economic Reset Has Been Planned By The Central Banks & Is Happening Right Now: Lynette Zang (Video)

Continue to prepare for the coming greatest financial collapse in (known) world history.

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– IMF Head Foresees the End of Banking and the Triumph of Cryptocurrency:

In a remarkably frank talk at a Bank of England conference, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund has speculated that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency have as much of a future as the Internet itself.

It could displace central banks, conventional banking, and challenge the monopoly of national monies.  

Christine Lagarde–a Paris native who has held her position at the IMF since 2011–says the only substantial problems with existing cryptocurrency are fixable over time.

In the long run, the technology itself can replace national monies, conventional financial intermediation, and even “puts a question mark on the fractional banking model we know today.”

In a lecture that chastised her colleagues for failing to embrace the future, she warned that “Not so long ago, some experts argued that personal computers would never be adopted, and that tablets would only be used as expensive coffee trays. So I think it may not be wise to dismiss virtual currencies.”

Here are the relevant parts of her paper:

Read moreIMF Head Foresees The End Of Banking And The Triumph Of Cryptocurrency As Bitcoin Surges Above $4400