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Will Bitcoin Mining Backed Volcano Bonds Be Enough To Ward Off The IMF?

El Salvador passed a bill making Bitcoin legal tender this week, putting it on equal footing with the country’s official national currency, the U.S dollar.

While this was celebrated as a victory for Bitcoin, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has since voiced its concerns with the move. During a press conference on the matter, IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice said:

“Adoption of bitcoin as legal tender raises a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal issues that require very careful analysis.

We are following developments closely, and we’ll continue our consultations with the authorities.”

IMF Does Not Approve Of Sovereign Adoption of Bitcoin In El Salvador

El Salvador moved quickly from announcing its intent to adopt Bitcoin through to congressional discussions and then passing the proposal into law.

President Nayib Bukele spoke about the economic benefits of Bitcoin, particularly in helping Salvadorans living abroad to send remittances back home.

However, the IMF and foreign investors do not look favorably on this move.

El Salvador is currently negotiating with the IMF for a $1 billion funding program to plug budget gaps until 2023. This is in addition to a $389 million loan received last month as a COVID relief payment.

The $1 billion program was already in jeopardy following the ousting of the country’s attorney general and several top judges. But the legalization of Bitcoin casts further doubt on the deal.

Last month, the El Salvadorian Congress voted to remove their top prosecutor, Attorney General Raul Melara, and five Supreme Court judges.

U.S authorities expressed concern, as they consider Melara among the few keeping President Bukele and his party in check over corruption. A tweet from President Bukele addressing the international community read:

“We want to work with you, trade, travel, get to know each other, and help where we can. Our doors are more open than ever. But with all due respect: we are cleaning our house… and that’s none of your business.”

The Crypto Community Responds

Social media comments on the matter include points such as El Salvador should be free to decide its own monetary policy, and calls for revolution as the IMF is doing this to protect its power of influence.

On the matter of El Salvador’s $1 billion budget shortfall, Max Keiser broached the idea of the Bitcoin community raising the money and loaning it to the Central American country.

“I’m sure #Bitcoiners can arrange a $1 billion lending facility stop-gap for El Salvador. The IMF can go f*** themselves.”

Keiser later tweeted about his “Bitcoin Mining Backed Volcano Bond” (BMBVB) idea. Precise details on this are scant at the moment. But presumably, as the name suggests, it would be backed by revenues generated from volcano-powered mining grids.

President Bukele said he spoke with the country’s geothermal electricity company yesterday to action volcano-powered Bitcoin mining.

Bitcoin daily chart

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
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Who Needs Coal When You Have Cow Dung? Cryptocurrency Mining Goes Brown

Proof-of-Work (PoW) cryptocurrency mining has been the subject of bad press in recent times. Critics argue that excessive energy consumption, and its use of fossil fuels, are wasteful and causing irreparable damage to the environment.

But, UK-based entrepreneur Josh Riddett hopes to change that with his renewable energy business, which turns cow dung into energy through anaerobic digestion.

Farmers Use Dung To Power Cryptocurrency Miners

Riddett set up Easy Crypto Hunter in 2017, selling mining equipment to farmers, who, in turn, use it to harness cow dung into energy.

In the past, farmers that generated renewable energy would typically sell that power to energy companies at a going rate of £0.04 to £0.07 per kilowatt-hour ($0.056 to $0.099). But with the rise in popularity of digital currencies, farmers soon realized they could make ten times as much mining cryptocurrency instead.

“The company’s mining rigs typically retail for £18,000 ($25,000) and have averaged approximately £30,000 each in annual profit over a three-year period, with the bulk of these gains made in 2021 as digital currencies won institutional acceptance.”

Riddett said business has been booming recently, as more farmers cotton on to the idea of incorporating cryptocurrency mining into their agricultural operations.

Bitcoin is the most recognizable of all cryptocurrencies, but Riddett said his equipment isn’t geared up to mine BTC. Instead, he gave the examples of Ravencoin and Ethereum as popular choices.

“Our computers are capable of mining hundreds of different digital currencies but we don’t mine bitcoin because it’s not as energy efficient as other coins and it’s not as profitable.”

ASICs Mining

Unlike Bitcoin, both Ravencoin and Ethereum offer varying degrees of application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) resistance. Meaning, the use of ASIC mining equipment to mine these cryptocurrencies offers little advantage.

ASIC miners are electronic circuits specifically designed to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They offer efficiency advantages over standard graphics cards, which are designed for games. Thus, ASIC miners are more profitable.

At the same time, everyday people cannot mine on ASIC networks efficiently. Large corporations with deep pockets dominate this sector, competing with the latest ASIC miners while basing operations in the cheapest energy spots.

Some argue that ASIC networks foster centralization, which contradicts the primary tenet of cryptocurrency.

What Is Anaerobic Digestion?

Anaerobic digestion uses bacteria to break down organic matter, including animal dung and food wastes, within a sealed container and in the absence of oxygen.

The microbial communities within the containers digest the waste product to produce both biogas and digestate. The digestate is used for fertilizer and similar agricultural products, while biogas can be turned into energy.

bio gas through anaerobic digestion can power cryptocurrency mining 

Source: epa.gov

Methane (CH4) accounts for up to 75% of biogas, with the remaining portion made up of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and water vapor. Biogas is used in the same way as natural gas.

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El Salvador’s Bitcoin Bill Gets Congressional Approval, But Skeptics Voice Their Concerns

El Salvador’s Bitcoin Bill was first publicized last weekend during the Bitcoin Miami 2021 Conference. It proposes to regulate Bitcoin as legal tender, therefore integrating it with the country’s official currency, the U.S dollar.

Yesterday, the Bill was passed before Congress to seek approval. Anthony Pompliano called it a “historic day for humanity.” The latest reports suggest that the Bill has now been approved. But doubts on both the Bill itself and the suitability of El Salvador as a Bitcoin hub remain.

President Bukele Sees Bitcoin As The Path To Economic Prosperity

President Nayib Bukele surprised the world on Saturday when he announced plans to make Bitcoin legal tender in the Central American nation.

He spoke about the benefits of helping migrants living abroad send remittances home. And also how this could improve the lives of millions by bringing economic growth and financial inclusion to the country.

“In the short term this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy.”

The move has triggered a flood of neighboring Latin American countries to signal their intent to follow suit. So far, the list of countries that may emulate El Salvador includes Brazil, Paraguay, Panama, and Mexico.

Skeptics Sharpen Their Knives

According to CNBC, El Salvador becomes the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender officially. Lawmakers voted by a “supermajority” in favor of the Bill. However, the Bill still needs to pass through the legislative process before becoming law.

Even so, during discussions, several lawmakers raised their objections to the Bill. Including Congressman Reyes, who spoke about the lack of discussion on the matter, the Bill having only 16 articles, price volatility, and the risky nature of the proposal.

Gold-bug Peter Schiff took the opportunity to continue his anti-Bitcoin rhetoric. He said the leading cryptocurrency would never to used as a payment method or in financial accounting terms. Adding, the whole thing was a setup to attract Bitcoin companies to El Salvador.

“it’s a non event. #Bitcoin will never be used as a medium of exchange or unit of account. The sole purpose of the symbolic gesture is to get Bitcoin companies to set up shop, pay taxes and create some jobs, while allowing Bitcoin pumpers to exaggerate the significance.”

As much as President Bukele has extended his welcome to cryptocurrency investors and entrepreneurs, doubts remain about the country’s safety.

Travel advice from the U.K Foreign Office mentioned that although the country is relatively “trouble free,” El Salvador has one of the highest crime rates in Latin America. It also raised issues with ongoing political tension in the country and a recent motion to remove judges from the constitutional chamber.

“On 1 May, motions carried by the Legislative Assembly to remove the judges who sit in the constitutional chamber of the nation’s Supreme Court and the Attorney General led to calls for protests.”

Bitcoin daily chart

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
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Questions Linger As FBI Recovers Colonial Pipeline Ransomware Crypto Funds

U.S agencies claim they have recovered most of the $4.4 million in crypto paid out to hackers of the Colonial Pipeline. But hazy details around the case leave more questions than answers.

Crypto Funds Recovered By U.S

Last month, news broke that hackers had exploited a pipeline that carries refined gasoline from Texas to New York, forcing a shutdown of operations. The pipeline is responsible for 45% of the East Coast’s fuel supply.

The chaos that ensued triggered a 6 cent per gallon rise at the pump. But more than that, fear of shortages had market analysts sounding the alarm.

Although the general practice is not to pay hackers, given what was at stake, Joseph Blount, the CEO of Colonial Pipeline Company, authorized payment of the $4.4 million demanded by hackers.

“I know it was a controversial decision. I didn’t make it lightly. I will admit that I wasn’t comfortable seeing money go out the door to people like this.”

Yesterday, U.S agencies announced the recovery of the majority of those funds from DarkSide; the Eastern-European-based group said to be responsible for the attack. CNBC claims U.S agencies recovered just over half of the crypto funds or $2.3 million in cash value.

The Deputy Director of the FBI, Paul Abbate, said his agency successfully seized the ransom funds from a Bitcoin wallet used by DarkSide to collect the ransomware payment from the Colonial Pipeline Company.

However, further details on this were not disclosed, leading to speculation on how that was possible.

If the FBI had cracked the wallet or somehow brute-forced it open, then crypto security isn’t as strong as we are led to believe. Alternatively, if the crypto wallet was an exchange wallet, why would the exchange make a partial return?

How Easy Is It To Crack A Bitcoin Wallet?

If the details are to be believed, then logic dictates the FBI must have cracked the wallet. But how easy is it to crack a crypto wallet?

Reports on this are mixed. A Reddit poster claims that a wallet recovery service cracked his wallet and returned his funds, minus a fee after he had mistyped his passphrase (twice). It took five months, and the poster had also sent his wallet.dat file as well.

Another method is brute-forcing the crypto wallet, which tries every possible combination until the correct one is found.

The Things That Matter Most blog said brute-forcing a Bitcoin wallet is near impossible. The tries required to achieve this is more than the number of atoms in the universe.

“When I tell you a Bitcoin private key is a 256-bit number you see the “256” and think it’s relatively small. In reality, 256 bits means 2256. There are that many possible private keys.

Expanded out, 2256 is: 115,792,089,237,316,195,423,570,985,008,687,907,853,269,984, 665,640,564,039,457,584,007,913,129,639,936.”

Based on current computing power, a conservative estimate puts a brute force wallet attack taking 0.65 billion billion years.

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Max Keiser Doesn’t Hold Back During Bitcoin Miami 2021 Conference

Max Keiser put forward his case for BTC during an interview at Bitcoin Miami. In doing so, the controversial broadcaster displayed a level of enthusiasm that raised one or two eyebrows from attendees and drew dissenting comments from social media.

Keiser Goes Off The Wall

Speaking with CNBC Africa, long-time Bitcoin advocate Keiser explained the fiat versus BTC argument by tearing up a $10 bill while explaining all fiat currencies are going to zero against Bitcoin.

“Here’s a ten dollar bill, this is gargage. Your people in South Africa, you have your rand, right? That’s going to zero. This is going to zero too, euros are going to zero, the yen is going to zero, the Chinese currency is going to zero. It’s all going to zero against Bitcoin.”

He added that those who don’t understand this would face a life of impoverishment when this happens.

When the interviewer said currency defacement is a criminal offense, Keiser launched into a tirade about political corruption. He said he who holds the Bitcoin makes the laws while adding that his BTC wealth will buy any politician.

“Do you know that with the Bitcoin I have I can buy any frickin senator or congressman I want? I make the laws. He who has the Bitcoin makes the laws Ran. We’re not just going to sit around and let the God damn government tell us what to do…”

Commenting on the clip, Input Output Global CEO Charles Hoskinson replied with a gif from the 1983 Scarface movie showing the lead character, Tony Montana, taking cocaine.

Although Keiser is known for his eccentric behavior and straight taking, some have questioned whether this interview has done more harm than good for the image of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Miami 2021

After a year of virtual conferences due to lockdown restrictions, Bitcoin Miami 2021 is the first major blockchain event to allow attendees.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who has carved out a pro-crypto reputation with his plans to make Miami a Bitcoin hub, opened the event saying, “This is not a moment. This is a movement.”

The event was initially set to be hosted by Los Angeles on April 30. But the uncertainty of the COVID restrictions forced organizers to look elsewhere, with Miami benefiting as a result.

Organizers estimate the three-day event will draw over 50,000 attendees as they come together to discuss the leading cryptocurrency and where it’s headed.

Several prominent crypto figures have attended, including Jack Dorsey, Michael Saylor, Ron Paul, and Nick Szabo.

The event has been accused of promoting BTC maximalism, with some commentators even drawing parallels with Bitconnect’s infamous event featuring Carlos Matos.

During Keiser’s segment on Friday, in front of a roaring crowd, the controversial broadcaster yelled, “we’re not done, we’re not done, f*ck Elon, f*ck Elon,” before hugging Michael Saylor.

Elon Musk has drawn the anger of cryptocurrency enthusiasts for his U-turn on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin daily chart

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
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Elon Musk’s Heartbreak Tweet Sends Bitcoin Tumbling

Bitcoin takes a fall following an obscure tweet from Elon Musk suggesting a potential breakup with the leading cryptocurrency.

Despite the best efforts of many to ignore Musk in recent times, the Tesla boss today demonstrated his range of influence goes far beyond that of his critics.

Bitcoin Takes A Tumble

The market has been uncertain since Tesla withdrew BTC as a payment method coming up to a month ago. Musk cited concerns over the use of coal in Bitcoin mining as the reason.

During the sell-off that followed, Bitcoin found support at $29.8k, leading to a strong bounce at that price level. But since then, it has been trading in a narrow band between $34.6k – $39k.

Bitcoin daily chart with 200-day MA

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Hopes of breakout were dashed in the early hours of today, GMT, as BTC fell 3% following Musk’s heartbreak tweet. The sell-off has continued into the morning, with Bitcoin sinking to $36.7k at the time of writing.

The Tesla boss has come under fire in recent times over what some deem market manipulation. In his latest tweet, Musk wrote #Bitcoin followed by a heartbreak emoji. This was accompanied by a meme referencing the Linkin Park song In The End.

True to form, the tweet leaves readers guessing the true message behind the communication.

Source: @elonmusk on Twitter.com

Co-Founder of Onchain Capital Ran Neuner commented that this latest tweet didn’t have the same effect as his Bitcoin U-turn tweet a few weeks ago.

“Anyone else feel that with every Bitcoin tweet,@elonmusk is losing more and more clout?”

Musk Accused Of Market Manipulation

Given the strange circumstances around the Bitcoin U-turn and the events that followed, many have tried to theorize what is going on with Elon Musk.

Talk show host and political commentator Stuart Varney raised concerns over the level of influence Musk seems to hold on cryptocurrency markets.

Varney puts Musk in the same category of brilliance as Steve Jobs but questions his involvement with Dogecoin, which Varney points out is supposed to be a “joke coin.”

“The man ranks right up there with Steve Jobs!

So what an Earth is he doing fooling around with a joke coin, otherwise known as dogecoin?”

Varney goes on to say he’s worried about what Musk can do with financial markets. Adding that, the spin side of this point implies financial systems are unstable and exploitable. More so, we, as market participants, are easily manipulated.

“…he’s a natural-born showman and he uses his talent and his gigantic wealth to attract attention. He loves it. And it works.

It tells me that there is a lot of money out there right now, and we are easily manipulated.”

Former offensive tackle at the Carolina Panthers Russell Okung launched a billboard campaign this week to remind people that we should not take Musk seriously when it comes to Bitcoin.

The billboard slogan reads, “Stick to space, Elon.”

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Apple Co-Founder Loses Lawsuit Against YouTube Over Crypto Giveaway Scams

Steve Wozniak has lost his lawsuit against YouTube over scammers using his image to push crypto giveaway scams on the streaming platform.

The case touches on the responsibility of social media companies to police content posted by users. But, in a ruling made yesterday, a California state judge said YouTube and its parent company, Google LLC, are protected by federal law from such responsibility.

Earlier this year, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse opted to settle with YouTube over a similar episode.

Wozniak Argues YouTube Directly Benefited From Crypto Scams

Crypto giveaway scams refer to tricksters pretending to be well-known figures appealing for crypto donations. In return, the sender is led to believe they will receive multiples back on their original donation.

It takes common sense to spot the scams. However, as Input Output Global CEO Charles Hoskinson alluded to recently, common sense is lacking in the world.

Hoskinson has also suffered from scammers using his image. Victims who’ve lost money often reach out to him for help, by which time there’s little anyone can do.

On that, Hoskinson vented his frustrations, saying he will never give away free ADA. He appealed to people’s common sense, saying nothing is for free.

“I continue getting emails about giveaway scams- usually from the victims. Again I WILL NEVER GIVE AWAY FREE ADA. IF YOU SEND ADA, THEN YOU WILL LOSE IT!!! I keep saying it and people’s commonsense, greed and nativity set it. You don’t get something for nothing. Stop doing it.”

Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, online intermediaries that host or republish speech are protected against laws that could otherwise be used to hold them legally responsible for what others say and do on their platform.

Nonetheless, Wozniak argued that this doesn’t apply in his case as YouTube failed to remove fraudulent videos, “materially contributed” to the scam by selling ads driving traffic to the videos, and falsely verified YouTube channels that hosted giveaways, hence added to their believability.

Judge Sunil R. Kulkarnia said Wozniak’s arguments do not surmount the immunity provided by Section 230. He now has 30 days with which to amend his complaint.

Garlinghouse Settles For Undisclosed Terms

In March 2021, Ripple settled its lawsuit with YouTube on allegations the social media giant failed to stop scammers from impersonating CEO Brad Garlinghouse.

Ripple argued that this caused irreparable damage to its image, brand, and reputation. All as a direct result of YouTube’s failure to take down the channels and videos running the giveaway scams.

In a series of tweets, Garlinghouse said YouTube didn’t follow its own policies by allowing fake and hacked accounts to perpetuate the scams.

Although all parties have now come to a settlement, Garlinghouse said action at this level is still just playing “whack-a-mole.” Meaning, channel takedowns don’t solve the problem.

“While specific settlement terms are confidential here, it’s clear to all that without accountability and action, trust erodes in this industry, at a crucial time when govts around the world are looking closely at crypto.”

The pseudo-anonymity of cryptocurrency and relatively lax punishments for crypto fraud only encourage scammers. Garlinghouse is correct in calling for appropriate top-down measures against the problem.

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Here’s Why The Bitcoin Bull Run Isn’t Done Yet

CNBC’s Brian Kelly builds the Bitcoin bull case by referencing a divergent metric that, in the past, foreran the calm before a price storm.

Uncertainty reigns, and market sentiment is extremely fearful. As such, the narrative of a return to crypto winter is strong. However, Kelly’s analysis leads him to believe it’s time to buckle up for a breakout.

Bitcoin Bull Run Still On Track

From peak to trough, a 54% drop from its $65k all-time high was sufficient to spook the market. Short-term investors exited their positions, at a loss, for fear of further downside.

Bitcoin’s flat performance hasn’t helped the matter since its price bottomed at $29k. For the last two weeks or so, BTC has been range-bound on the daily close between $35k and $41k.

Bitcoin daily chart

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

Although the start of this week resulted in consecutive daily gains, a rejection near $38k on Tuesday has added to the narrative that the bear market is back.

However, CNBC’s Brian Kelly builds the bull case by referring to the rate of Bitcoin address growth compared to expected address growth. He noted that actual address growth is holding flat, whereas expected address growth has nosedived.

Bitcoin addresses, actual vs. expected

Source: CNBC Television on YouTube.com

“For me, when you look at Bitcoin it’s all about network effect and really about address growth. So, one of the key metrics I look at when I’m managing crypto money is how fast addresses are growing versus what the market is expecting.”

Kelly points out the last time a similar divergence in addresses happened was March 2020, during the “Corona-Crash.” The resultant price action saw a +1,750% move over 13 months, peaking at $65k.

“Generally, when Bitcoin gets that mispriced is a sign of that bottoming process. So, we look back at March 2020 when we had a massive divergence, that’s when Bitcoin was thirty five hundred and it roared to sixty five thousand.”

In supporting this view, Kelly mentioned that the fundamentals remain the same in that institutions are still around. The hedge narrative remains, and regulatory authorities continue to express a desire to work with crypto instead of banning it.

Is The Bull Run Still Intact?

Hitting an all-time high, then experiencing a rapid decline of 54%, is signal enough to indicate the end of the Bitcoin bull run for many.

Automation Engineer, Alexandros Roumpos, points out that crypto bull periods usually run for 460-518 days. This current phase is only 370 days in, but he remains cautious in declaring with certainty that the bull run is intact.

“It looks like the market is split in the middle. One part believes that we are in a bearish phase and that this cycle is over because of the big correction. The other half believes that we haven’t seen the big gains in this bull run and that we are in a healthy correction.”

Nonetheless, some analysts have spoken about bigger price swings and long bull runs due to the effect of institutional money this time around.

However, as Roumpos makes clear, no one can predict the future.

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Dogecoin Creator Says Crypto Price is 99.9% Driven By Greater Fools

The Co-Founder of Dogecoin, Billy Markus, said crypto prices are mainly driven by fools selling to even greater fools.

“I agree with the greater fool theory driving most of crypto prices, but I’m honestly wondering what percent you think any crypto is purchased from utility vs greater fool theory From my viewpoint it’s about 99.99% greater fool theory.”

The greater fool theory states you can profit from buying overvalued assets because there will usually be a greater fool willing to pay an even higher price. Under this theory, the cycle continues until there are no greater fools left.

Is Crypto A Fool’s Game?

Markus started the initial discussion by commenting on Bitcoin’s flat weekend performance. This soon spawned several threads, including statements that Bitcoin is dead, a waste of energy, and other such FUD.

But more interestingly, was a comment that crypto markets are inherently worthless and driven by greater fool theory. However, fundamentals will eventually “always win,” even if they count for little in the short term.

“crypto markets are a cesspool of dumb money chasing memes there is no noble movement in that, just a bunch of bros playing greater fool theory and getting played the tech is all that matters in the end. the fundamentals always win.”

This point of view would go some way in explaining Dogecoin’s unbelievable YTD run. Despite the recent crypto crash, DOGE is still +6,000% since the start of the year. For comparison, Bitcoin is +28% YTD.

While many commentators have tried to account for DOGE’s phenomenal growth, which peaked at a $92 billion market cap last month, it’s difficult to reconcile this with the ill-defined use case and unlimited token supply.

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz tried to explain the logic-defying growth as an anti-establishment movement. In other words, Dogecoin’s value comes from people’s unhappiness with the current legacy financial system.

But is that enough to sustain Dogecoin in the long term?

Markus Cannot Comprehend How Dogecoin Has Developed

Markus no longer takes an active role in the development of Dogecoin. But he resurfaced during the height of Wallstreetbets and Dogecoin mania.

His first communication came in a Reddit post that detailed the origin story and his reasons for walking away. At the time of the post, the price of DOGE was spiking hard. Markus expressed his disbelief asking if Dogecoin deserves that?

“People are talking about Dogecoin going to $1 – that would make the “market cap” larger than actual companies that provide services to millions, such as Boeing, Starbucks, American Express, IBM. Does Dogecoin deserve that? That is not something I can comprehend, let alone answer.”

Markus was coming from the point of view that this project took a few hours to create and lacks utility. Yet somehow draws parity with industry titans that serve millions of real people.

With that in mind, it’s no wonder Markus believes most of the crypto industry is driven by greater fool theory.

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Cardano Boss Says Good Riddance To Dying Banking System

Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson shared his damning thoughts on the legacy financial system, concluding that cryptocurrency will take over because it offers a better way.

The Banking System Brought This On Itself

Much is said about the enmity between cryptocurrency and banking. While the banking system towers above cryptocurrency in terms of both capitalization and the number of users, Hoskinson believes this is a situation that will change.

“You can’t go back; you can’t change that. You can’t put that genie back in the bottle. Central banks will fade away, it’s just going to happen. Your conventional legacy banks are going to fade away.”

His reason for thinking this comes down to the nepotism and profiteering embedded within the banking system. All of which conspire to squeeze the “little guy,” often in circumstances of desperation and lack of choice.

“It wasn’t us who charged 15% to some of the poorest people in the world to move their money home to take care of their parents. It was the people who ran the old system. It wasn’t us, in this industry, who charge 85% interest to lend $100 to a subsistence farmer, desperately trying to survive after a drought.”

Hoskinson further laid scorn on the banking system’s complicity with criminal activity. Referencing general instances of laundering drug money and oil for food programs, Hoskinson turned the tables by saying cryptocurrency is the remedy to fix this.

“Never allow them to say ours is the industry that’s the risk. Ours is the industry that’s the antidote to the excesses, corruption, and nepotism that we’ve found. This is an industry of frustration that has now been replaced by an industry of creativity and innovation. We’re going to change the world.”

Cardano Gears Up For Smart Contracts

In terms of leading the charge against the banking system, Cardano is up there as a project capable of rising to the challenge. But, like the whole of the cryptocurrency industry, it is a work in progress.

Nonetheless, last week saw developers Input Output Global (IOG) reveal its progress on shipping the final phase of Cardano’s smart contract rollout.

Currently, the firm is working on the “Alonzo Blue” stage which involves Plutus pioneers and some “alpha partners” working on the first-ever Alonzo testnet.

The “alpha partners” have been drafted to build a range of dapps including oracles, DEXs, lending and borrowing, stablecoins, NFTs, and DeFi tools.

During this stage, the goal is to uncover and fix bugs to stabilize the code environment. The remaining “Alonzo White and Purple” stages will see the testnet open up a wider group of testers. At the “Alonzo Purple” stage, the protocol is almost ready for public rollout, which is expected in August.

As Hoskinson alluded to, change is coming, and thanks to smart contracts, Cardano will be one of the cryptocurrency projects eating away at the legacy system.

Cardano daily chart

Source: ADAUSD on TradingView.com
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JP Morgan CEO: Steer Clear of Crypto, But I Can’t Tell You How To Spend Your Money

Crypto agnostic Jamie Dimon reiterates his cynicism towards the nascent investment class, warning investors to “stay away from it.” However, the JP Morgan boss has no qualms about selling it to clients.

In what is a love-hate relationship with cryptocurrency, Dimon, once again, sounds the alarm on cryptocurrency. But based on his willingness to offer it to clients, it’s clear he thinks crypto isn’t going away.

Crypto Buyer Beware

The JP Morgan boss blasted Bitcoin in the recent past, calling cryptocurrency a fraud and worse than tulip bulbs. He even went as far as saying he would fire any member of staff trading it. His justification? Because it’s stupid and against our rules.

That was four years ago. Now, JP Morgan staff are openly active in the crypto space. For example, earlier this year, a report by JP Morgan analysts gave a $146k price prediction for Bitcoin.

More recently, the U.S investment bank also announced plans to offer an actively managed Bitcoin fund to wealthy clients.

The move echoes the approach by many top U.S banks, who have also laid out plans to enter cryptocurrency markets. Including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Industry analysts point out that JP Morgan has been taking the biggest strides into cryptocurrency out of all the U.S banks.

“JPMorgan has been taking some of the biggest strides, adding Bitcoin exchanges Coinbase Inc. and Gemini Trust Co. as banking clients last year.”

Nonetheless, while no longer openly hostile to crypto, the JP Morgan boss still has his reservations. In a congressional testimony to the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, Dimon advised people to stay away from it.

Despite his doubts, Dimon acknowledged that his personal opinions on the matter do not affect what services JP Morgan offers its clients. With high client demand, he said it’s not his place to tell people how to spend their money.

“This goes back to how you have to run a business. I don’t smoke marijuana but if you make it nationally legal, I’m not going to stop our people from banking it.”

Dimon Wants A Crackdown

During the Investment Company Institute (ICI) annual meeting earlier this week, Dimon called on regulators to bring more oversight to the crypto industry. Adding, authorities continue to drag their feet when it comes to governing the space.

“There should be legal, regulatory, tax, related framework, AML, around crypto. It’s now worth $2 trillion. When are they going to say, “Oh my God, this is worthy of our attention.”

He urges regulators to act now before it gets too big, and, as he believes, past the point when crypto criminals are ruining all our lives.

Even so, it’s clear Dimon knows crypto isn’t going away. Why not join them, if you can’t beat them?

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Garlinghouse Laughs Off Rumors He Was Behind The Bitcoin Energy FUD

Brad Garlinghouse weighs in on the Bitcoin energy debate by saying Ripple is a more energy-efficient alternative to the leading cryptocurrency.

Speaking to CNBC, Garlinghouse said Elon Musk’s U-turn on Bitcoin was appropriate. Adding, it wasn’t surprising that the Tesla boss eventually flipped on Bitcoin, considering his environmental credentials.

Bitcoin Energy FUD

Two weeks ago, Elon Musk dropped the bombshell that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin due to his concerns that it was damaging to the environment.

A sharp sell-off followed, which was accompanied by more FUD leading to further drops in the Bitcoin price. While this week has seen some reprieve, BTC remains below the 200-day moving average, suggesting bears are currently controlling the market.

Bitcoin daily chart

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

This event has reinvigorated debate over the environmental impact of Proof-of-Work (PoW) cryptocurrencies. Putting sustainability squarely back on the agenda once again.

Bitcoin proponents, including Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, say Bitcoin can be made green over time. But Garlinghouse dismisses this argument saying the facts and trends don’t support this view, and Dorsey will need to “reevaluate himself” down the line.

“I think Jack Dorsey, as time goes by, will have to take a look at the fact pattern and trendline and reevaluate himself.”

How Ripple Differentiates Itself

Ripple prides itself on being a much more energy-efficient platform than Bitcoin. Rather than wasteful PoW mining, the Ripple Ledger reaches consensus through a network of independent validating nodes. This process acts as a distributed economic system storing accounting information.

Garlinghouse claims Ripple is one hundred thousand times more energy-efficient than Bitcoin, and that most people grossly underestimate Bitcoin’s environmental impact.

According to the Ripple boss, offsetting the Bitcoin network’s carbon cost for a year would require planting 95 million acres of forest.

“To offset that, from a carbon production point of view, to offset that, you’d have to plant 95 million acres of forest, that’s basically the size of California.”

Responding to claims that Ripple was behind the Bitcoin energy FUD, Garlinghouse laughed off the rumor saying prominent figures are talking about this problem, not just himself.

“Look, you have Bill Gates speaking out about all of this, you have Janet Yellen speaking about this, you have Elon Musk speaking out about this.”

He added that Ripple wouldn’t be locked in a battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission if it held such sway and influence.

“If Ripple could control those people we probably wouldn’t have a lawsuit from the SEC, as an example. So, it’s a real issue, the way we solve real issues is by internalizing them, understanding them, and addressing them.”

In any case, he implied, rather than an attack on Bitcoin, these types of discussions are how the problem gets resolved.

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Top Stars Line Up To Support Environmentally Friendly NFT Platform OneOf

Marketplace OneOf sets its sights on disrupting the NFT industry with its goal of reforming the fan experience. The platform was designed to cater to musicians and their fans, even children and teenagers, through a user-friendly experience.

Crypto as a whole, not just NFTs, carries many negative connotations, including being overly complex and environmentally damaging. But OneOf seeks to change that through its eco-friendly and charitable ethos and by enlisting help from the glitterati.

OneOf Calls On The Stars

OneOf has the backing of music industry mogul Quincy Jones, who has secured the support of a string of popular artists. The list includes Doja Cat, John Legend, TLC, Charlie Puth, Jacob Collier, G-Eazy, Alesso, and Whitney Houston’s estate.

The project has been two years in the making and recently raised $63 million in a seed round with backing from Bill Tai. Tai is a Silicone Valley venture capitalist involved with numerous tech startups, including Zoom and Dapper Labs, which created CryptoKitties.

OneOf describes itself as “A green NFT platform built for music artists and fans.” Running on the Tezos network, it takes advantage of low fees and its Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism to offer a better all-round experience for users and the environment.

“Deeply committed to a sustainable blockchain future, OneOf will donate a percentage of revenue from every sale to a charity of the artist’s choice, or an environmental cause partner.”

The majority of the NFT ecosystem runs on Ethereum, which suffers from high gas fees, making minting and transfer expensive. Ethereum also operates on a Proof-of-Work chain, meaning the mining process is energy-intensive. OneOf claims to be 2 million times more energy-efficient than other Ethereum-based NFT marketplaces.

Instagram Looking To Get In On Non-Fungibles

The latest market data from OpenSea shows interest in NFTs is cooling. March 2021 was the platform’s best-ever sales month, bringing in $150 million. But the following month saw a 38% slump in sales.

“On OpenSea, a major NFT marketplace, monthly sales were $93.6 million in April, having hit almost $150 million in March, compared to $95 million in February and $8 million in January.”

A similar pattern was reported by both Nifty Gateway and NBA Top Shot.

Despite that, as evidenced by NFTs holding their own during the recent crypto crash especially gaming-related items, some argue that NFTs are a better investment than cryptocurrency.

Reports from China claim the NFT sector over there is booming. So much so that Alibaba launched a digital art auction last week.

Add to that rumors of Instagram coming out with their own platform, and it’s clear that NFTs still hold appeal at the board level.

The social media giant is said to be early stages of designing its NFT platform. The firm has apparently reached out to artists inviting them to a panel discussion.

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Congratulations For Surviving The Biggest Crash In Bitcoin History, But Is Worse To Come?

Data from Glassnode shows that the recent Bitcoin crash was the largest in history in dollar terms, coming in at $2.56 billion. The “corona crash” of March 2020 was the previous biggest, at $1.38 billion.

Although 13% gains yesterday brought welcome relief, uncertainty still rules. The question on everyone’s mind is, are we still in a bull market?

Chart of Bitcoin crashes

Source: @WClementeIII on Twitter.com

Sentiment Remains Raw

The events of the past fortnight have shown that Bitcoin is not immune to FUD or, as some suspect, market manipulation. Holding throughout this period has been a painful experience for most. But the biggest fear is that last Wednesday’s crash signaled the end of the bull run.

Debate still rages as to whether that’s the case or not. From a sentiment point of view, a reading of 22 on the Fear and Greed Index shows frazzled nerves are still raw with extreme fear.

This is a marked improvement over yesterday’s reading of 10. But to say the market remains cautious would be an understatement.

The Fear and Greed Index measures emotions and sentiment to represent them on a scale of 0 to 100. 0 represents extreme fear, while 100 shows extreme greed.

A look at the Bitcoin daily chart shows BTC is currently below the 200-day moving average, which indicates that bears still have the upper hand despite yesterday’s relief rally. A close above the 200-day moving average is needed to allay fears that the bull market is over.

BTC is trying to build on yesterday’s gains and work its way above the 200-day moving average. But until that happens, from a technical perspective, it’s too soon to say with conviction whether the bull cycle remains intact.

Bitcoin daily chart with 200-day MA

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

What’s Next For Bitcoin?

That hasn’t stopped a flood of analysts from giving their opinion on the matter. The Founder of Fundstrat Global Advisors, Tom Lee, said volatility is the nature of Bitcoin. He maintains his pre-crash price prediction of $100k by the end of the year.

“I think bitcoin is hyper-volatile. That’s the nature of it, but that’s what creates the reward for people.

Again, even though bitcoin is in the penalty box now, I still think it could exit the year over $100,000.”

Similarly, in an interview hosted by Scott Melker, PlanB sought to reassure viewers by saying his stock-to-flow (S2F) and stock-to-flow X (S2FX) models suggest the bull market is intact.

According to his analysis, Bitcoin is on track to hit $100k per the S2F model or $288k per the S2FX model.

“I’m very data-driven so I don’t make that up, but I read in the data, I look to my stock-to-flow models, the stock-to-flow model and the stock-to-flow X model, and both models actually show we’re certainly not at the end of the cycle.

We still have some room to go until $100,000 on average or $288,000 on average if you follow the stock-to-flow X model.”

S2F refers to a statistical analysis model that looks at the effect of scarcity on the Bitcoin price. Critics argue that scarcity is not the sole driver of price.

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Hoskinson Shares His Top Tips For Surviving The Crypto Crash

The CEO of Input Output Global (IOG), Charles Hoskinson, took to social media to share his advice on coping with difficult times. Drawing on his experience of running a multi-billion dollar firm, Hoskinson points to mindfulness as the key to getting through these difficult times.

Crypto Market Panic

The events of the past week or so were a real wake-up call for anyone with a vested interest in crypto. FUD, driven by threats from China, Elon Musk, and U.S. regulatory concerns, has conspired to crash the market.

Just a week and a half ago, crypto markets were riding high as the total crypto market cap hit $2.5 trillion for the first time. But FUD event after FUD event saw things take a turn for the worst.

The local bottom hit on Sunday after the market bounced at $1.3 trillion, making a staggering 48% loss in value across the board. While some tokens fared better than others, with Polygon and Maker showing signs of fight, the losses of the last five days have taken their toll.

Total crypto market cap last 3 months

Source: coinmarketcap.com

The upshot to this has seen fear, anger, and panic dominant proceedings. This has only been exacerbated by the crypto-haters relishing this crash.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) retweeted a message he posted in February when markets were going up to remind us that critical common-sense rules apply equally during a downturn.

With that, what can be done to cope with dwindling portfolio valuations for those still holding the line?

Mindfulness In The Face Of Adversity

In a bid to spread a calming influence on things, IOG boss Charles Hoskinson weighed in on the situation by promoting mindfulness and resilience as a strategy to handle the stresses of the past week.

Hoskinson implied that investors have no control over macro events, which have ramped up in recent times to cool the market.

“What’s really hard is when you have a collective event. you see the crypto markets are the crypto markets, and the macro right now on the U.S side is that regulation is coming. And on the China side, there’s a crackdown. Both of these have put a needle into the balloon of the market, and now things don’t look so hot.”

Much like what CZ alluded to, Hoskinson said overextending oneself is a recipe for disaster. But he points out, no matter what is said about this, people, in general, don’t listen.

“No matter how much you warn people and how much you talk about this stuff and how much you say, “hey, be mindful and respectful that stuff that goes up goes down,” people don’t listen. They never will because they think the minute they get rich that all the problems go away.”

In getting to where he is now, Hoskinson said he faced difficulties and uncertain times. But what got him through the ups and downs was mindfulness, which he recommends incorporating into our daily routine.

Mindfulness is a type of meditation that involves being intensely aware of what is being sensed and felt in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. This involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind.

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Crypto Crash Cost Ethereum Boss His Billionaire Status, Said We’re Caught In A Bubble

As devastating as Wednesday’s crypto crash was, few hodlers lost as much as Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin. According to CNN, Buterin’s public wallet was valued at $1.1 billion on the morning of the downturn. But following the crash, it stood at $870 million.

Markets bounced back as the selling eased off. But prices are still down from before the crash. Add to that a sentiment of extreme fear, and many are wondering if the bull run ended with Wednesday’s crash.

Ethereum On A Knife Edge

A week ago, Ethereum was riding high after hitting a new all-time high of $4.4k. Since then, ETH has been caught in a downtrend, with things getting much worse due to the crypto crash.

At one point, at the height of the panic selling, the price of Ethereum dipped as low as $1.9k before wicking back up. That’s a 57% loss from its all-time high.

While yesterday was a green day, prices are still down from pre-crash levels.

Today sees a move above the $2,750 resistance level; however, a break above $3k would give more confidence in a recovery for the number two cryptocurrency.

Ethereum daily chart YTD

Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

As ever, what happens next depends on what Bitcoin does. Bitcoin hangs precariously but did close yesterday above the 200-day moving average, giving hope that the bulls still have some fight left.

Nonetheless, as investors continue nursing their losses, sentiment remains low. The question on everyone’s mind is, is this the end of the bull run?

Is The Bull Run Over?

Although Buterin believes crypto “isn’t a toy anymore,” rather it’s a significant part of the new world that’s being created. But he still thinks markets are caught up in a crypto bubble.

He did, however, stop short of giving his opinion on whether Wednesday’s crash signaled the start of a new crypto winter.

“[On whether we are in a bubble] I would say yes. But, again, that obviously does not come with a prediction of when the bubble’s going to end because that’s notoriously hard to predict.”

On the other hand, Bitcoin-bull Willy Woo said confidently that this is not the end of the bull market.

Woo said there is a lot of activity in the network compared to valuation. He added that the crash was from a highly organic level, meaning he doesn’t believe this is the down leg from a final blow-off top.

“We dumped down from a level that was highly organic, no speculative premium. 2017 top, for example, we were 3.8% higher than the organic valuation. This is not a mania phase and then the end of the [sic] bear market.

This is just the middle of the bull market derivatives unwind. So we’ve got a lot of cheap coins sitting here in the market. I think it will take a bit of time to recover.”

The next few days and weeks will prove critical in determining whether Woo is correct in his assessment.

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4Chan Insider Predicted Bitcoin Crash, Claims It Was A Coordinated Attack

Investors are contemplating what next following the market correction, which saw Bitcoin drop as low as $29k.

Many pin the events of yesterday on FUD, whether Elon FUD, China FUD, or OCC FUD. However, an “insider” on anonymous board 4Chan claims it was a coordinated attack by an unnamed firm connected to the Chinese government.

Such claims, without a verifiable source, should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism. But the post was made 12 hours before markets dumped and did predict the sell-off.

4Chan Insider Gave Fore Warning

This week, news broke of a renewed crackdown on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency by Chinese government agencies.  A joint statement released by three industry bodies said financial institutions could not conduct business related to cryptocurrency.

“The group specifically laid into the cryptocurrency’s market massive volatility, saying digital tokens have “no real support value” and prices that are “extremely easy” to manipulate.”

Such stories have become commonplace. Therefore this was dismissed as irrelevant FUD. But, the 4Chan insider claims this was intended as a precursor to the coordinated sell-off that tanked markets yesterday.

“The purpose of today’s press release alongside all the FUD posting is to get BTC as low as it can get before 7am UCT.”

As a side note, the sell-off occurred yesterday at around 13:00 GMT. Even though China geographically spans five different timezones, the country follows a single timezone called China Standard Time (CST), which is +8 hours on GMT/UTC. There is no timezone known as “UCT.”

Things take a sinister turn when the insider explains the purpose of the sell-off was to attack a single stakeholder. Based on the information given, the details would appear to fit Elon Musk.

“First there will be a coordinated sell-off to drop the prices below a certain threshold and liquidate one certain stakeholder (can’t outright say who he is but he bought a lot at the dip he was partly responsible for).

Once liquidated, the plan is to buy up all of the reserves and essentially leave him bankrupted.”

The post then ends with a near-term price prediction of $70k.

What Next For Bitcoin?

The events of yesterday were a shock for many. While volatility is part and parcel of cryptocurrency, the speed and magnitude of the drop were extreme.

From its recent all-time high of $64k, Bitcoin lost 54% of its value at the height of the sell-off.  What’s more, it closed the day below the 200-day moving average (MA), indicating that bears now control the market, leading to dread of a return to crypto winter.

While today sees price trying to push back above the 200-day MA, the sentiment is reading extreme fear.

RSI looks to be curling back upwards after hitting a low of 22.6. March 2020’s “corona-crash” was the last time RSI dipped to similar levels, bottoming around 14.6 at that time.

Bitcoin daily chart

Source: BTCUSDT on TradingView.com

Although the insider claims a snapback is coming, it remains prudent to proceed with caution.

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Market Sentiment Hits Low As Binance Has Largest Bitcoin Inflow Ever

The price of Bitcoin dips below $40k, triggering bearish sentiment. BTC is now down 40% from its highs, making this in line with the worst drops of 2017. Currently, Bitcoin is holding the 200-day moving average, having wicked below it briefly during the early hours.

bitcoin btc

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

William Clemente III noted that Bitcoin inflows into Binance have never been higher, at around 27k units. This would suggest sellers are keen to liquidate their holdings, adding to the bear case and denting the narrative around Bitcoin as an institutional-grade store of value.

Bitcoin flows into and out of Binance

Source: @WClementeIII on Twitter.com

Bitcoin Haters Sharpen Their Knives

Gold-bug Peter Schiff took the opportunity to weigh in on the Bitcoin selloff, targeting companies that bought BTC as an inflationary hedge. Schiff called out the “asinine advice” given by MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, saying Bitcoin losses now far exceed the expected annual inflation rate.

He signed off by saying now is the time to jump ship.

“CEO’s who followed@michael_saylor‘s asinine advice to plug their balance sheets into #Bitcoin to hedge against an expected annual #inflation rate of 2% are now down as much as 34% on their “hedge” in one month. That’s 17 years of expected inflation losses. Time to pull the plug!”
Saylor has been a prominent figure in promoting Bitcoin for corporations. Earlier this year, MicroStrategy hosted an online event in which he shared MicroStrategy’s playbook on investing in BTC as a treasury strategy. Over 1,400 firms attended the event.

In response, Saylor posted a screenshot showing gold’s return vs. Bitcoin over the last 12 months at -77%. This was triggered a frenzied outburst from Schiff. He called Saylor a coward for not wanting to debate him on the gold vs. Bitcoin argument.

“Also, instead of just posting irrelevent [sic] replies to my tweets, why don’t you agree to debate me? So far you have turned down every opportunity to do so. It’s clear to me that you’re afraid to actually confront me and defend your ridiculous views, so you take the coward’s way out.”

Saylor countered by saying the basis for the debate is unclear as Schiff has a wide scope of recommendations, not just gold. Adding that his caveat of buying “just not too much” of everything fails to give any definitive answers.

MicroStrategy Adds To Its Holdings Again

Undeterred by the bearishness, Saylor announced another Bitcoin buying spree for MicroStrategy – the second since the Elon-FUD of last week.

In a tweet, the MicroStrategy boss said the firm spent $10 million to acquire an additional 229 BTC.

“MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 229 bitcoins for $10.0 million in cash at an average price of ~$43,663 per #bitcoin. As of 5/18/2021, we #hodl ~92,079 bitcoins acquired for ~$2.251 billion at an average price of ~24,450 per bitcoin.”

Bitcoin is at a critical juncture. Time will tell if Saylor’s confidence in it is justified.

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Dave Portnoy Buys SafeMoon, Says He Doesn’t Know Why

The founder of Barstool Sports, Dave Portnoy, has released a video where he picked SafeMoon as his sh*tcoin of choice. Portnoy said he purchased $40k worth of SafeMoon as a hedge against the fragility of Bitcoin.

However, popular crypto YouTuber Lark Davies continues in his calls that SafeMoon is a Ponzi scheme. A month ago, as SAFEMOON was blowing up, Davies posted a tweet in which he likened it to the most infamous scam in crypto history, Bitconnect.

Dave Portnoy Diversifies Into Alts

Portnoy is best known as the founder of the sports and pop culture blog Barstool Sports. But he began gaining popularity for live-streaming his stock trades.

A little under a year ago, Portnoy crossed over into the world of crypto by asking the Winklevoss twins to teach him about BTC in a live stream.

In February, he exited his Bitcoin position before it pumped to $51k, missing out on the gains as a result. He responded by venting on social media, saying he will never rebuy Bitcoin.

“I’m never buying Bitcoin. Never never, I don’t believe a thing about it. But I do think it’s profitable, and I think there’s enough steam that it may just continue to go up forever. But I don’t buy the underlying junk behind it.”

Despite that, Portnoy did buy back into Bitcoin.

More recently, he has turned his attention to alts, which is, as he claims, a response to the Elon-FUD of the past week. In a humorous video, the Barstool President narrowed down his choice of alts to six, eventually announcing SafeMoon as his pick.

“It’s time for me to choose a side, and I’ve done that. Here we go, DOGE, ASS, Litecoin, SafeMoon, SHIBA, HOGE. The new breed of sh*tcoins, and I’m going to pick one and I’m going to become the leader. I’ve already purchased $40,000 of the coin…”

Davies Warns Off Investing In SafeMoon

As “leader” of SafeMoon, Portnoy said he would not sell in the near term. Adding that he will “ride it to the stratoshpere or hell on earth.”

However, Portnoy’s research methods leave a lot to be desired. On justifying his choice, he said it could be a Ponzi scheme. But he likes the word moon.

More worryingly, he recommends getting in now, saying it’s the early buyers that walk away in profit should SafeMoon collapse.

“Why? I don’t know f*cking why, it could be a Ponzi scheme. I like the word moon because that’s where I want to go so I’m buying SafeMoon. I also like how every f*cker is selling out there, you get a 10% penalty that disperses 5%… Ponzi, Ponzi, Ponzi. It’s early, if it is a Ponzi, get in on the ground floor…”

In response to the video, Davies accuses Portnoy of promoting a Ponzi scheme.

“Paper hands Dave is now promoting the #safemoon ponzi scheme…. yeah, that is about on brand for him.”

Davies concedes that people may have made money on SafeMoon. But the situation is no different from Bitconnect. Back then, people who called out Bitconnect were attacked. But when the rug pull came, most lost out.

SafeMoon chart

Source: SAFEMOON on CoinGecko.com
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Raoul Pal Calls Out Bitcoin Maxis For Their Role In The Market Downturn

As markets reel from the latest Elon Musk Bitcoin FUD, the CEO of Real Vision, Raoul Pal, said BTC maximalists are in part culpable due to their blinkered view.

“The biggest impediment to BTC adoption are bitcoin maximalists. Few understand this.

Be more open. Don’t try to ram your points home. Support people and don’t be tribal and never be abusive and insulting if someone doesn’t share your BTC only views. It’s a big world out there.“

Speculation Mounts That Musk Has Dumped His Bitcoin

Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced his firm would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment. He said the environmental damage caused by coal-dependent miners was behind the decision.

Markets tanked on the news with over $400 billion wiped from the total crypto market cap. This resulted in a 13% drop for Bitcoin on the day, forming a daily close of $49.3k.

Buyers stepped in, stabilizing the market over the next few days. But the weekend saw further sell-offs.

Musk replied “Indeed” to a tweet that mentioned the hate being directed towards him during this period.

The tweet by @CryptoWhale spoke about Tesla selling their remaining Bitcoin holdings. It also said such a reaction is justified considering the attacks he has endured.

Musk’s response of “indeed” leaves the door wide open on what he agreed with. CNBC speculates that Musk was hinting that Tesla has already sold their remaining Bitcoin holdings.

Fred Wilson, a founding partner at Union Square Ventures, commented on the situation by saying he believes Musk is manipulating the market.

“He’s playing games. It is hard to take anyone who does that seriously. I’ve lost enormous respect for him over the last year because of it.”

Wilson later added that he still respects Musk’s achievements, but not his tweets.

China Controls The Hashing Power

Adding to the fallout, Musk said the Bitcoin network is controlled mainly by a select group of big mining firms in a now-deleted tweet. He also spoke of a natural disaster at a coal mine in Xinjiang, northwestern China, which significantly dropped the Bitcoin hashrate.

“Bitcoin is actually highly centralized, with supermajority controlled by handful of big mining (aka hashing) companies.

A single coal mine in Xinjiang flooded, almost killing miners, and Bitcoin hash rate dropped 35%. Sound decentralized to you?”

Estimates put 65% of Bitcoin’s hashing power coming from China, with the USA and Russia in joint second, accounting for 7% of the hashing power each. With four out of five of the biggest mining pools being based in China, exposure to political risk is high.

The above is not new information, but coming from Elon Musk is much harder to gloss over.

As Pal said, there’s more to crypto than just Bitcoin. BTC maxis are not helping their cause by denying that.

Bitcoin daily chart YTD

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com