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Circle, The Company Behind The USDC Stablecoin, Announces Euro Coin

Does the world need Euro Coin? There are already stablecoins pegged to the Euro in the market. The difference here, however, is Circle. As the issuer of the well-regarded USDC, they have the reputation, the know-how, and the clientele to make this happen. Even with all of those advantages, it’s the market that will decide if the world needs Euro Coin.

Related Reading | Crypto Investors Find Safety In Stablecoins, Bitcoin, Ditch Altcoins En Masse

On the project’s page, they describe it as, “Euro Coin (EUROC) is issued by Circle under the same full-reserve model as USD Coin (USDC), a trusted dollar digital currency with more than $54 billion in circulation.” At first, Euro Coin will exist on the Ethereum blockchain, it’ll be a traditional ERC-20 already compatible with everything out there.

1/ CIRCLE LAUNCHES EURO COIN: Today, we announced our 2nd major fiat-backed stablecoin, Euro Coin, which went live on Ethereum mainnet, and will be available to mint and redeem on June 30th. https://t.co/vPZkItL0Fu

— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) June 16, 2022

The Euro Coin will be “100% backed by euros held in euro-denominated banking accounts so that it’s always redeemable 1:1 for euros”. The difference with regular euros is that EUROC will be “available 24/7 and moves at internet speed”. The new stablecoin debuts on June 30th. “Businesses can mint Euro Coin straight from the source by depositing euros into their Circle Account using Silvergate’s Euro SEN network.”

What’s Euro Coin ’s Main Use?

In a recent tweet, Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire summarized the product’s value proposition. “Like USDC, Euro Coin is being issued under a regulated framework for money transmission, under the same statutes that regulate USDC, with full-reserves in Euro, with the same security, liquidity and transparency that the market has come to expect from Circle”. Does it solve a problem, though? Two words: foreign exchange.

4/ Euro Coin expands opportunities for payments, on-chain FX, trade finance, commerce and broader digital asset markets use-cases. The launch is symbolic of a shift in crypto markets towards greater and greater utility value from blockchain infrastructure.

— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) June 16, 2022

Back to the project’s page, Circle promises “multi-currency digital banking and near-instant foreign exchange, where daily volume in traditional markets can top $6.6 trillion globally.” As we read a while ago in the Bitcoinist Book Club, “The Bitcoin Standard” explains how that huge market emerges just to solve “the age-old problem of lack of coincidence of wants.” As explained by Saifedean Ammous, the process goes like this:

“The seller does not want the currency held by the buyer, and so the buyer must purchase another currency first, and incur conversion costs. As advances in transportation and telecommunications continue to increase global economic integration, the cost of these inefficiencies just keeps getting bigger. The market for foreign exchange, at $5 trillion of daily volume, exists purely as a result of this inefficiency of the absence of a single global homogeneous international currency.”

As Circle’s numbers show, since the book’s publication the foreign exchange market kept growing. And since we’re far from living in a bitcoin standard, with a “single global homogeneous international currency,” the foreign exchange will keep growing. And that’s where Euro Coin comes in. 

ETH price chart for 06/16/2022 on Kraken | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
The New Stablecoin’s Characteristics

  • Where will the money that backs the operation be? “Circle will hold euros in euro-denominated banking accounts at leading financial institutions, beginning with Silvergate Bank in the U.S.”

Related Reading | Crypto Company Circle Seeks To Become Global Digital Currency Bank

  • “Businesses can use a free Circle Account to mint and redeem Euro Coin at no additional cost”. Circle can afford to treat businesses like that because they’re that big and established. 
  • Circle will audit the Euro Coin. “Grant Thornton LLP will be issuing monthly attestations of Euro Coin reserves, starting with an attestation for the month of July 2022. Circle will publish the attestation reports on this webpage, with July’s report being available to view online by the end of August 2022.”

It’s also worth noting that the main criticism the project received was because they choose Ethereum to start with. However, Circle promises the Euro Coin in other blockchains soon. And considering that USDC exists in every smart contract-enabled blockchain under the sun, there’s no reason not to believe them.

Featured Image: Screenshot from Circle’s website | Charts by TradingView

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Five Bitcoin Short Films For A Lazy Holiday Evening: Energy, Money, &… Basket?

Happy Holidays from the NewsBTC team. We come bearing gifts. The cure for those suffering from cryptocurrency withdrawal syndrome. Spend the evening learning about Bitcoin in the most relaxed way possible. These five films were released throughout 2021 and contain the alpha everyone needs for the years ahead. At least the first four do, the fifth one has nothing to do with Bitcoin except for one small detail.

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Our sister site Bitcoinist covered the films and most of the accompanying text comes from those articles. Is there a better time for these films to make an appearance in NewsBTC than this lazy evening? Grab your beverage of choice, heat up those leftovers, and hit play in the one that interests you the most. Chances are you’ll end up watching them all.

Once again, happy holidays and happy watching!

Bitcoin Short #1- “This Machine Greens” (38 mins)

Is Bitcoin mining’s energy consumption a bug or a feature? This documentary’s “thesis is that the process is “a net positive for the environment.” The aim was to “dispels many of the misconceptions about Bitcoin mining.” Directed by  Jamie King, of “Steal This Film” fame, and produced by Enrique Posner and Swan Bitcoin. 

From the Bitcoinist’s coverage, in Part 1 they focus on the Petrodollar system:

“Watch “This Machine Greens” to learn how the US Military literally backs the Petrodollar. And, of course, the US Military uses infinite energy year after year. Learn about the deal that the US made with Saudi Arabia. The US was to protect the Middle East. The Saudis promised that “The global oil market will be denominated in and conducted with dollars. Ensuring a constant global demand for the currency.” Think about the results of this crucial deal.”

From Bitcoinist’s coverage, in Part 2 they explain how Bitcoin mining will fund green energy initiatives:

“According to Alex Gladstein, Bitcoin can fund the “Electrification of new areas and creation of new economic activity.“ This machine greens, if you will. And if we’re talking infrastructure for clean energy, Magdalena Gronowska breaks it down:

 “It’s derisking constructions of renewable energy facilities. It’s derisking it because it’s willing to buy 24/7, 365. And when you have a predictable buyer, a predictable revenue stream, it’s easy to plan out your operations. And that certainty means that that site gets built.”

Bitcoin Short #2- “Human B” (73 mins)

This recent German documentary is one of the best introductions to Bitcoin produced to date. On top of that, directors Aaron Mucke and Eva Mühlenbäumer created a slick audiovisual piece that flows like a river and is an aesthetical pleasure to watch. 

In Bitcoinist’s coverage of the documentary, they introduce it like this:

“Human B” shows us how people in Germany and Austria view the Bitcoin phenomenon. This is a worldwide movement, and it’s important to listen to all the voices out there. In the documentary, we get to hear from Bitcoin authors like Der Gigi and Anita Posch. From economist and punk rocker Marc Friedrich and journalist Friedemann Brenneis. Plus, from a normal person like Jan, who ends up being the star of the show.

The documentary takes a surprising left turn when it travels to Caracas, Venezuela. There, we hear from Alessandro Cecere AKA El Sultán del Bitcoin, and from Juan José Pinto from Doctorminer.”

#3- “Hard Money” (34 mins)

This one is not about Bitcoin per se. This Bitcoin short is about money. To understand why Bitcoin is so important for the planet, people might need a refresher course on what money actually is.  This documentary is analogous to the first few chapters of Saifedean Ammous’ “The Bitcoin Standard,” and features sound bites from some of the most important Bitcoin philosophers out there. Directed by Richard James.

In Bitcoinist’s coverage of the film, they convince you to watch it with this:

“Watch the “Hard Money documentary and you’ll be able to answer these questions: Why was gold chosen as the premier form of hard currency? What were gold’s “severe flaws”? What is inflation and how does the government hide it? How breaking the relationship between the Dollar and gold broke the relationship between the market and reality. What is low and high time preference?  What does fractional reserve banking create? Why are the institutions that issue debt effectively printing new money?”

BTC price chart on Bitbay | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Bitcoin Short #4- “Bitcoin Is Generational Wealth” (15 mins)

This one is not a documentary, even though it uses some of the genre’s techniques. Also, this is the only specimen on this list that didn’t get a positive review from Bitcoinist. Why is that? We won’t spoil it for you. Watch the film first and then read the linked text. Directed by Matt Hornick. Written and narrated by Tomer Strolight.

In Bitcoinist’s bad review of the film, we find this quote:

“Half speculative fiction, half predictive programming, “Bitcoin is Generational Wealth” is in a genre of its own. Using high-quality stock footage to produce a professional montage, the film should work. But it doesn’t. Is the script to blame? Probably. The film shows an idyllic future that every Bitcoiner has dreamt about, but it doesn’t explain how we get there. It takes the “Bitcoin fixes this” meme to its ridiculous extreme.”

#5- “Lynchpin” (21 mins)

This one is about amateur basketball. Its only link to Bitcoin is that Swan and the Bitcoin Movie Club financed and produced it. Is this the first of many or a one-time thing? Word on the street is that the companies will finance several chapters of this story, but don’t quote us on that. “Lynchpin” was supposed to be a TV show, so it sounds possible on that end. We’ll keep you all posted. Directed by Mike Nicoll.

In Bitcoinist’s presentation of the short film, they introduced it as follows:

“Compton Magic’s Etop Udo-Ema, “America’s most recognized basketball powerbroker,” is “Lynchpin’s” star. Before Covid hit, this charismatic man receives an offer that he can’t refuse. The whole short film follows him trying to change sponsors and create a league. That carries Etop to Roc Nation and its boss Jay Z, who happens to be Puma’s creative director. The whole enterprise seems to be on its right track. No one could predict the monkey wrench that hit the world’s engines.”

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And that’s enough Bitcoin for tonight. Happy holidays!

Featured Image by Bru-nO on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView

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Why Is Bitcoin-Twitter Suddenly Obsessed With The Essay “Anatomy Of The State”?

It’s only logical that Jack Dorsey is a Twitter influencer. The mind behind Twitter used his platform to promote “Anatomy Of the State,” an essay by Murray N. Rothbard. The Austrian School of Economics is slowly permeating mainstream consciousness. Dorsey’s focus and dedication to Bitcoin’s ideals reached a whole new level. And crypto-Twitter reacted in different ways, with Rothbard’s name trending over the weekend.

Related Reading | Why Square Will Create New Bitcoin-Focused Company, According To CEO Jack Dorsey

The tweet that started it all offered no explanation:

https://t.co/LOWVNVrBex

— jack⚡️ (@jack) August 14, 2021

The .pdf file containing it is freely distributed by Mises.org, an institution dedicated “to promote teaching and research in the Austrian school of economics, and individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.” About the incident, the increased attention they received, and Dorsey’s choice, the institution said:

Dorsey linked not to some article on bitcoin or money, but to Murray N. Rothbard’s seminal 1974 essay “Anatomy of the State.” This short missive may well represent Rothbard’s most bracing and concise attack on government as an institution, and that’s saying something. 

So, this is not just some essay. What does it say about the government exactly?

A Summary of  “Anatomy Of the State”

This short book is deep and covers many concepts and hard truths. The monopoly on violence. The fallacy of the “social contract” concept. How governments use “vested economic interests” to keep us at bay. “The alliance between the State and the intellectuals.” War. Revolution. The alliances between different states. Social power. State power. A lot. However, we could summarize “Anatomy Of the State” with this example it provides:

“One method of the birth of a State may be illustrated as follows: in the hills of southern “Ruritania,” a bandit group manages to obtain physical control over the territory, and finally the bandit chieftain proclaims himself “King of the sovereign and independent government of South Ruritania”; and, if he and his men have the force to maintain this rule for a while, lo and behold! a new State has joined the “family of nations,” and the former bandit leaders have been transformed into the lawful nobility of the realm.”

And that explains the world we live in.

BTC price chart for 08/17/2021 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Ok, But, What Does Rothbard Have To Do With Bitcoin?

The Mises.org institute links Dorsey’s “Anatomy Of the State” tweet to this one:

#wtfhappenedin1971

— jack⚡️ (@jack) August 15, 2021

That one refers to this phenomenal website that uses easy to understand charts to show how everything got exponentially worst when Nixon un-pegged the US Dollar from gold, giving rise to the Fiat currency era. The era we’re living in. Well, that directly relates to the Austrian School of Economics, as the institute explains:

Only Austrian economists present a coherent critique of pure fiat currency, which means only Austrians have anything compelling to say about Nixon’s final closure of gold redemption. The Mengerian and Misesian explanation of how money arises and obtains value as a highly saleable commodity requires no central fiscal or monetary authority. It requires no state.

And, do you know what else requires no state or central authority to function? Bitcoin, the greatest money ever created. 

"The Mengerian and Misesian explanation of how money arises and obtains value as a highly saleable commodity requires no central fiscal or monetary authority. It requires no state." @jeffdeist for @mises commenting on @jack's tweets https://t.co/BvlKNM6cAZ

— Stephan Livera (@stephanlivera) August 16, 2021

What Is Sound Money And How Do We Get It?

And that relates “Anatomy Of the State” to our sister website’s Book Club. They’re  analyzing “The Bitcoin Standard,” and defined sound money as:

 Austrian economists pose that, “the best money revolved around understanding salability and what the market would choose as money.” Saifedean Ammous adds one more thing.

“… the salability of money according to the will of its holder and not some other party. Combining these criteria together formulates a complete understanding of the term sound money as the money that is chosen by the market freely and the money completely under the control of the person who earned it legitimately on the free market and not any other third party.” 

Related Reading | Why a Hedge Fund’s Attempt to Usurp Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Could Hurt Crypto

So, to sum it all up, the human family doesn’t need the independent government of South Ruritania to dictate what we should use as money. We have Bitcoin. And that’s what Dorsey’s “Anatomy Of the State” tweet was all about.

Featured Image: extract from “Anatomy Of the State’s” cover image | Charts by TradingView

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Central Bank Balance Sheet: Bitcoin’s Most Bullish Chart Ever

For a network that allows final settlement of sound money, there’s no better marketing tool than a central bank balance sheet. That’s the reason for this popular saying in the Bitcoin community: Central bank policies are Bitcoin’s ad campaign. Governments keep printing money, causing inflation, and devaluating the bills in your pocket. As long as that keeps happening, Bitcoin will become more attractive.

Related Reading | BItcoin’s Sudden Drop to $9k Coincides With Fed’s Balance Sheet Contraction

Bitcoin’s price chart might be vertical right now, but governments all over the world are printing and printing as you read these lines. 

Let’s look at the Dollar, for example:

How Does This Central Bank Balance Sheet Relate To Bitcoin?

The pink line and the yellow candles are inversely correlated. This goes hand in hand with Plan B’s infamous S2F model, Bitcoin’s supply and Bitcoin’s price are locked in so far. This speaks to digital scarcity and to the unmovable fact that there will only be 21M bitcoin. How many Dollars will there ever be? Nobody knows. But “an incredible ever-increasing amount” is a fair bet.

The blue area inside the white line is a representation of the central bank balance sheet. The steep line unnaturally pointing up that begins in 2021 corresponds to the stimulus packages in response to the COVID crisis. The already rampant money printing got to an extreme only seen in developing economies that don’t control their own destiny. 

Make no mistake, unlike other currencies, increases in the US Dollar’s money supply affect the whole world. Directly to dollarized countries like El Salvador. Indirectly to every country that uses the dollar as a reserve currency. And people from these countries don’t even get a stimulus check in the mail as a consolation prize. 

Another interesting thing about the chart is that, lately, Bitcoin’s price seems to have lost correlation to the dollar’s rampant money printing. Does that speak to a coordinated attack to sink bitcoin’s price? One could argue the point.

One could also argue the point this reader makes:

But take that last one with a grain of salt. And remember that these articles are never financial advice. Do your own research.

BTCUSD price chart for 07/13/2021 - TradingView

BTC price chart on Currency.com | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

What Can We Do To Safeguard Ourselves From Money Printing?

Governments around the world will keep printing bills and more bills, there’s not much anyone can do about that. However, you can safeguard your money from debasement by investing it in a hard asset. And what’s the hardest asset that humanity has ever created? You guessed it, it’s Bitcoin. To put this into perspective, let’s quote Saifedean Ammous’ “The Bitcoin Standard”: 

“The ratio between the stock and flow is a reliable indicator of a good’s hardness as money, and how well it is suited to playing a monetary role.”

And The Bitcoinist Book Club’s take on that quote and book:

If it’s difficult to produce new “monetary units,” that’s “hard money.” If it isn’t, then it’s “easy money.” Over time, people who use hard money will tremendously outperform people who use easy money. A constant increase in the supply will erode the purchasing power of the easy money, it’s as simple as that. The law of supply and demand never fails.

Related Reading | Central Banks’ “Free Money” is Behind Bitcoin Bull Run: Mati Greenspan

Bitcoin is “difficult to produce,” that’s one of the reasons it works. The energy it takes to produce bitcoins, and to sustain and protect the Bitcoin network, give each coin its value. Or, as  Saifedean Ammous himself put it:

And now you know why Bitcoin is so important to humanity. And why your fellow men’s purchasing power keeps decreasing over time. 

Featured Image by Christine Roy on Unsplash - Charts by TradingView
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Top Economist Calls Bitcoin As Legal Tender “Stupid”. Here’s Why He’s Wrong.

Let’s not kid ourselves, a person like Steve Hanke has enormous incentives to defend the status quo. He’s benefited tremendously from it. It could be argued that his livelihood depends on Bitcoin failing. A project to make it legal tender in any country goes directly against Hanke’s interests, and it’s no wonder he spoke against it. The insult was over the line, though.

We´re going to take the higher road and elegantly answer all of his points. The tweet in question was this one:

Is Bitcoin A Store Of Value?

Who decides this? The people. If one person uses an asset to safeguard his wealth, then it’s a store of value. The question then is, is Bitcoin an effective store of value? Well, considering it’s the only commodity in the history of the earth that presents absolute scarcity, it’s probably a safe bet. Make no mistake, though, it’s still a bet. The Bitcoin experiment is an ongoing process and nothing is set in stone.

Related Reading | Why Bitcoin Declared Legal Tender Could Have Major Implications Beyond El Salvador

Scratch that, one thing is set in stone. There will only ever be 21 million bitcoins. The supply is fixed, so if the demand increases, the price will go up. It’s as simple as that. To add credibility to the argument, let’s quote Saifedean Ammous’ “The Bitcoin Standard”:

Until Bitcoin’s invention, all forms of money were unlimited in their quantity and thus imperfect in their ability to store value across time. Bitcoin’s immutable monetary supply makes it the best medium to store the value produced from the limited human time, thus making it arguably the best store of value humanity has ever invented. To put it differently, Bitcoin is the cheapest way to buy the future, because Bitcoin is the only medium guaranteed to not be debased, no matter how much its value rises.

Did you know that 40% of all US Dollars that have ever existed were printed in the last twelve months? That’s what debasement looks like. And the whole world is feeling its effects. 

Is Bitcoin A Medium Of Exchange?

Our friend Steve Hanke was answering Paraguay’s congressman Carlos Rejala but, as you probably know, the first country to approve bitcoin as legal tender was El Salvador. This is not a coincidence, since “a real village with real Bitcoin uses in daily life” is right there in El Salvador. 

The Bitcoin Beach project is also the main real-life use case for the Lightning Network. If there’s a place in which small Bitcoin transactions are an everyday thing, it’s this one. As Nasdaq informed last year, when the project was still developing:

In the flagship Bitcoin village of El Zonte, for example, you can use bitcoin to pay for a haircut, get your nails done and chow down on some local dishes (like some delicious pupusas). Soon, you’ll even be able to buy a cup of coffee with it and go to the doctor’s office for a checkup.

If there’s any doubt that Bitcoin Beach was the inspiration for El Salvador’s historic move, Stephan Livera paraphrases what President Bukele said on Clubhouse: 

So yeah, Bitcoin is a proven medium of exchange with real-life use cases. We could include the incredible amount of Bitcoin transactions that the virtual world sees every day, but there’s no need.
BTCUSD price chart for 06/09/2021 - TradingView

BTC price chart on Bitbay | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

Is Bitcoin A Reliable Unit Of Account?

Let’s admit it, Bitcoin’s price is volatile. Why is that? Let’s quote “The Bitcoin Standard” once again:

As it stands, given that Bitcoin constitutes less than 1% of the global money supply, large individual transactions in Bitcoin can have a large impact on price, and small variations in demand can cause large swings in price. This, however, is a feature of the current situation where Bitcoin as a global settlement network and currency is still a tiny fraction of global settlement payments and money supply.

Bitcoin is still in its infancy. You can’t ask a 12-year-old child to behave like an adult. What does it need to grow? Nurture. And since it IS a currency, nurture is equivalent to widespread adoption. This is exactly what’s happening, with all of these countries considering emulating El Salvador in making Bitcoin legal tender. 

Related Reading | Time To Pay Attention: Bitcoin Indicator Behavior Mimics Historic Rally

If Bitcoin becomes the global reserve currency of the world, volatility won’t be a problem. And the whole planet will be a level playing field because one country won’t have the immense privilege of issuing the global reserve currency. And debasing it at will.