Bitcoin is on the move – who’s surprised?
Hilariously, everyone’s favorite “currency” that is definitely not a currency has managed to rally above $8,700:
As usual, there is no readily discernible catalyst for this, which pretty much by definition means it’s pure, unadulterated speculation.
“Central banks are working on this issue of crypto currencies very intensively,“ the SNB’s Thomas Jordan told an event in Basel on Thursday, before adding that in his view, people should “look at them more as an investment than a currency.” And he should know, because after all, he prints actual currency.
The fresh round of gains comes after a week that saw a $31 million theft at Tether and amid further evidence that this craze is getting more out of control literally by the day. As we detailed on Friday, Swissquote Bank SA is now launching an actively managed Bitcoin certificate that relies on algos to move in and out of the digital currency based on “technical signals” derived from social media. Meanwhile, the new secret recipe for success in the stock market is simply to “add blockchain” and watch the speculators pile in. Here’s a good example:
One thing I’ve mentioned previously in response to comments here at HR is there’s something perverse about claiming Bitcoin is a substitute for fiat money but then turning around and immediately quoting Bitcoin prices in the same fiat currency that you’re maligning. Rangold’s Mark Bristow expressed similar incredulity with what is a glaring inconsistency in rhetoric from the crypto crowd during an interview with Bloomberg on Friday.
“At the end of the day, I’ve heard no one ever say they have two bitcoins. They say they have 7,000 euros worth of bitcoins. Or I’ve got $5,000 worth of bitcoins, or I’ve suddenly made $2,000 because the bitcoin has gone up,” Bristow said, somewhat dryly.
“The largest bitcoin exchange in the U.S., Coinbase, added about 100,000 accounts between Wednesday and Friday — just around Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday — to a total of 13.1 million,” CNBC notes on Saturday.
To let CNBC contributor Brian Kelly tell it, Bitcoin was all anyone was talking about as they gorged themselves on turkey. “Anecdotally, everyone I have talked to in the cryptocurrency community has said that Thanksgiving table discussion was all about bitcoin, and that inspired many family members to buy bitcoin,” Kelly muses. “I suspect that pattern was repeated across tables everywhere.”
Yes, Kelly “suspects” that everyone was talking about Bitcoin on Thanksgiving. That is either a completely ridiculous thing to say or it’s true. In either case it’s absurd.
And speaking of absurd, here’s a “subtle” reminder for you:
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