All that Glitters is Not Gold — But It’s Not Bitcoin Either
Luminaries of the cryptosphere such as Thomas Lee of Fundstrat, a research firm, liken Bitcoin to gold, as a potential store of value and a hedge (perhaps) against inflation. So far though, there is less obvious evidence of that. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is again pushing up against the US$4,000 level, hovering below this resistance, trading within the US$3,900 band as the world hurtles into 2019. Yet hedge funds are pouring into gold, in anticipation for greater volatility and turbulence in global markets in 2019. Now that technology stocks have fallen out of fashion and hedge funds as a whole have underperformed indexes in 2018, will Bitcoin be seen as a flight to safety?
- 29/12/2018
- 4
Ethereum & ConsenSys — A Tale of Resilience
Imagine you had US$5 billion. Just as a thought experiment, imagine that you had US$5 billion to do with as you pleased. What are the things you’d buy? Would you quit your job? Go on a lifetime holiday? Buy a new house? A plane? A yacht? A car? Seriously, close your eyes and imagine for just a few minutes, what you’d do with US$5 billion. Because late last year and towards the early months of this year, Consensys and Ethereum co-founder Joseph Lubin was worth about that much money. And according to Forbes, Lubin was the second-richest person in the cryptosphere, based largely on reports that he owned (personally) between 5% and 10% of all Ether in circulation, which at the time had a market value of US$100 billion and was trading around US$1,389.
- 27/12/2018
- 6
Ripple Has Yet to Make a Splash
With all the recent hype surrounding Ripple, I thought it would be timely to re-examine the cryptocurrency that’s since pipped Ethereum to be the world’s second largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Our firm has been studying and analyzing Ripple for the better part of its lifespan. In this piece, I will examine some of the challenges facing Ripple, its potential for future expansion and try to sieve out the wheat from the chaff when it comes to the world’s second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin.
- 25/12/2018
- 7
Bitcoin Futures are Not the Future of Bitcoin
If you were a rice farmer in Japan before the 17th century, your life was one of constant toil, uncertainty and suffering. Although the costs of rice farming were more or less fixed, seeds, fertilizer, water and manpower, the ultimate price that you’d get at the market was like a game of Pachinko (a Japanese recreational arcade game that is typically used for gambling). During periods of bumper harvests, price of rice would fall and farmers would sometimes be left with less than the cost of their production (there is only so much sushi you can eat) and at other times, during poor harvests, rice prices would soar and farmers would get rich (provided they had survived the previous good harvest).
- 20/12/2018
- 5
Money Could be So Much Better
Reach into your wallet and if you’re lucky, you probably have some crisp green notes inside. Take them out. Feel the cotton-linen blend between your fingers (that’s right greenbacks are not made of paper as the rappers would have you believe, they’re made of cotton and linen) and notice that unmistakable smell that is money. There’s nothing quite like having that tactile experience of money — better yet if that money has a portrait of Benjamin Franklin on it. From Rai Stones to seashells, mankind’s experience, encounter and regard for things of value has evolved throughout the ages and even today we’re evolving. Because that greenback that you just molested, is probably the closest you’ll get to government-issued money again as you go about your day.
- 17/12/2018
- 3
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