Crypto advocates often refer to Bitcoin as “digital gold,” but how does BTC stack up against gold as a long-term investment?
Low inflation or bust: Analysts say the Fed has no choice but to continue raising rates
The Federal Reserve’s steady interest rate hikes have put stocks and crypto into bear market territory, but analysts worry about what happens if inflation still remains out of the “target range.”
‘Hyper-deflationary’ network launches mainnet amid rising inflation
The AXIA native cryptocurrency becomes scarce as the activity or participation on the network increases.
Lack of proper financial services boosts crypto ownership in Nigeria, says report
One of the main reasons investors across the globe seek to diversify traditional assets into crypto is to counter rising fiat inflation.
Crypto users in Africa grew by 2,500% in 2021: report
A recent report by KuCoin reveals that the number of crypto transactions has increased by 2,670% in some African countries.
Crypto vs. physical: Musk-Saylor inflation debate boils down to scarcity
Musk acknowledged that assets that are predominantly scarce — such as physical property and company stocks — help investors in maintaining their purchasing power against high inflations.
Inflation spikes in Europe: What do Bitcoiners, politicians and financial experts think?
Bitcoin‘s role as an inflation hedge is popular, with one expert stating that ”you don‘t need Bitcoin until you do.”
EU will cut off 7 Russian banks from SWIFT, with ordinary Russians facing consequences
Inflation in the eurozone soared to 5.8% in February, well above the European Central Bank’s 2% target, amid a backdrop of escalating sanctions against Russia.
Analysts say Bitcoin’s range-bound trading at a key support level reflects a trend reversal
BTC’s journey into the $43,000 to $46,000 price range could be another sign that the multi-month correction has ended.
Digital Denarius: How a crypto revolution could have saved the Roman Empire
As Venezuela and Iran find themselves caught up in the cryptocurrency revolution, could this have saved the Roman Empire from crumbling into infighting and crippling inflation?
Turkey’s crypto law is ready for parliament, President Erdoğan confirms
Once implemented, the crypto law will implement a new economic model that can potentially help recover the lira’s falling value.
Volatility, hyperinflation and uncertainty: How everyday Venezuelans are using stablecoins to protect their livelihoods
Customers of stablecoin payment app Reserve express their dependency on technology for everyday transactions.
Digital ruble should not affect inflation, Bank of Russia says
According to official data, Russia’s inflation rate reached 8.1% in October, the highest level in almost six years.
Stablecoin payment app Reserve helps individuals protect their savings against inflation in Latin America
“Our long-term vision is to create a currency that is stronger than any fiat currency that exists now,” said Reserve community manager Yens Michiels.
Is Hyperinflation Inevitable? Jack Dorsey Says It’ll “Change Everything”
When Square’s boss Jack Dorsey talks about hyperinflation, the world listens. And Twitter reacts. Since so-called developed economies are now feeling the pain that inflation brings, the concept is in everyone’s mind. Every human has a front-row seat to witness the consequences of the United State’s relentless money printing. And, since the Dollar is still the reserve currency of the world, they’re all feeling it too.
Related Reading | Bullish For Bitcoin: US Inflation Expectation Breaks Out From Decade Long Downtrend
This is Jack Dorsey’s tweet:
Hyperinflation is going to change everything. It’s happening.
— jack⚡️ (@jack) October 23, 2021
As you can see, he doesn’t merely talk about inflation. He goes for “hyperinflation,” which caused adverse reactions in the replies and the quoted tweets. They accused him of fear-mongering and quoted official numbers at him. And the nay-sayers probably have a point here, because the US is far removed from the reality that word implies. However, one thing’s for sure: money printer goes brrrrrrrr… and it hasn’t stopped working since Covid hit.
Negative And Moderate Reactions To Jack Dorsey‘s Tweet
This is an example of an unnecessarily insulting response from a traditional finance person.
2/ step back and it’s disturbing that a lot of most powerful financial figures/oligarchs are invested, literally and figuratively, in various huckster schemes and libertarianish fantasies of state and civilizations collapse.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) October 23, 2021
This man has obviously not done his homework regarding Bitcoin, so his argument is invalid. And doesn’t require a response. Plus, he’s being insulting to get attention, which he got. So, good for him and his dopamine levels. Let’s hope he has fun staying poor.
This is a Venezuelan economist with a moderate answer to Jack Dorsey.
I don't think it will. But it doesn't need to happen for things to get ugly. https://t.co/Cj85mJ8o7x
— Eduardo Gavotti (@EduardoGavotti) October 23, 2021
Since Venezuelans have first-hand experience with hyperinflation, let’s take what he says into account. The US is just feeling what inflation does. So-called developing economies live with that concept on their backs every second of every day.
BTC price chart for 10/23/2021 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Informative Reactions To Jack Dorsey’s Tweet
The Human Rights Foundation’s Alex Gladstein, a notorious Bitcoin maximalist, had this to say to Jack Dorsey.
Those shocked by this tweet live in a bubble of financial privilege.
*1.3 billion* live under double, triple, or quadruple-digit inflation: Turkey, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Iran, Lebanon, Venezuela, Cuba, Sudan, and beyond.
It’s already one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises. https://t.co/P83opDagdu
— Alex Gladstein 🌋 ⚡ (@gladstein) October 23, 2021
He’s not lying. Hyperinflation is “already one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises.” However, the US is far away from “Turkey, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Iran, Lebanon, Venezuela, Cuba”, and Sudan’s situation. And, since the Dollar is still the reserve currency of the world, they have a comfortable cushion to resist the constant money printing’s effects.
Serial entrepreneur and former Coinbase CTO, Balaji Srinivasan, answered Jack Dorsey with a fully-fledged idea. A “censorship-resistant inflation index.”
I wrote a spec for a censorship-resistant inflation index. It’s framed for a startup, but Square could easily do this. In a crisis, accurate inflation info would be something people checked Twitter for every day. @milessuter @moneyball @jack https://t.co/SYb2mfxjex
— Balaji Srinivasan (@balajis) October 23, 2021
In the project, he brings forth some hard truths:
“If inflation is a government-caused problem, we can’t necessarily rely on government statistics like the CPI to diagnose it or remediate it. Indeed, in places with high inflation, censorship and denial is the rule rather than the exception.”
If you are technically capable, there’s still time to send your proposal and earn “A $100k Prize for a Decentralized Inflation Dashboard.” Be aware that “if you use Chainlink’s oracle tech in your project, the best dashboard will be eligible to receive a $100k grant in LINK tokens.” Those tokens are in addition to the main prize.
Poor Understanding Of The Terminology
In a Twitter Spaces room specifically dedicated to Jack Dorsey’s tweet, notorious podcaster Preston Pysh concluded.
“I think people’s understanding of the terminology, deflation, inflation, is just grossly misunderstood. And so, when you say we’re going to have these deflationary events that are then going to lead to more QE, which is then going to result in more inflationary events. I completely agree with you, but we’re talking that there’s so much information loss in such a simple word as deflation and inflation. So the deflationary event is that this whole system is constructed as credit.”
When he says QE, Preston refers to Quantitative Easing, which Investopedia defines as:
“A form of unconventional monetary policy in which a central bank purchases longer-term securities from the open market in order to increase the money supply and encourage lending and investment. Buying these securities adds new money to the economy, and also serves to lower interest rates by bidding up fixed-income securities.”
Related Reading | Jack Dorsey Plans to Build A Decentralized Exchange For Bitcoin
That being said, Preston asks:
“How many people in the US, or in the world, have that context when that’s not their expertise, right? They didn’t get a major in macroeconomics, or finance, or whatever. So, it’s just all buzzwords that people throw around. And, in the meantime, no one really even understands what those definitions even represent.”
For more information about inflation, check out the Bitcoinist Book Club analysis of Saifedean Ammous’ “The Bitcoin Standard.”
Featured Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay – Charts by TradingView
Venezuela to launch CBDC in October — and cut six zeros from its currency
The Central Bank of Venezuela is rolling out a CBDC in October and will launch an SMS-based exchange system to facilitate its use.
Bitcoin and Inflation: Everything You Need to Know
The cryptocurrency was designed to counter the harms of inflation, but is this really such a big issue?
Bitcoin News Roundup for June 30, 2020
As Zimbabwe embarks on its fifth bout of hyperinflation in modern history, CoinDesk’s Markets Daily is back with another bitcoin news roundup.
How Monopolies Sow the Seeds of Their Own Destruction, Feat. Tuur Demeester
The managing partner of Adamant Capital joins for a conversation about what the Protestant Reformation and the French Revolution can teach us about bitcoin.
Experts Say the Fed’s QE Program Will Strengthen Bitcoin – One Way or Another
While QE may be anathema to crypto hardliners, some experts agree the net effect on bitcoin prices is positive.