I saw an article yesterday about crypto currencies on Market Watch. And prior to seeing this article, you should know that I’ve spoken and written about crypto currencies in the past. I am on record as saying the dollar price of all cryptos will eventually reflect the intrinsic value of $0, there are many problems with crypto, and the biggest threat to your crypto investment is actually government intervention.
Every time I say something negative about cryptos, I get both public and private responses ranging from the tame and professional to stuff like, “You’re a loser” or “You’re clueless” or “Why don’t you go learn what a crypto currency actually is or for that matter, what any currency is”, to the very worst of the worst littered with four letter bombs and vulgar insults.
(As an aside, if you want to have a respectful debate I’m game. To all haters…Say whatever makes you happy, that’s your lack of character not my lack of understanding of the issues at hand. Love and blessings to you, you’ll be blocked.)
In fact, about six months ago I was contacted by the CEO of a new crypto that still hasn’t ICO’d. He asked me for an economic assessment of his theory. And truthfully, with three dozen bankers, financiers, and lawyers on his board of directors, I was surprised that none of them had anything to say about his thesis; it was replete with economics fallacies, mistakes, and flat out lies and contradictions. And let that be a warning for you, my readers, the next time you want to go into the hottest new ICO. The industry has clearly attracted some pretty shady characters…but don’t misunderstand me. It’s not a blanket statement on the whole industry. Just a reminder of caveat emptor.
Regardless, I saw an article yesterday, and this time it was about government intervention in the crypto currencies. In the article the author details how governments and government agencies, in 2018, tripled their requests for information from a crypto exchange called Kraken. This is bad news for crypto enthusiasts because they all think that it’s impossible for the government to intervene because it’s completely decentralized and anonymous.
The problem with this attitude is 1) an exchange is the complete opposite of decentralized, 2) for anyone who has an account on the exchange, they have to provide their personal identification information to demonstrate ownership and for tax purposes for the IRS, and 3) if you don’t think the government can get involved, then you really don’t understand the nature of government.
And just so you know, the inquiries came from the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which is Wall Street’s law enforcement, and the Department of Justice, the Department of State, the CFTC (Commodities Futures Trading Commission), the IRS, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and others. This one exchange alone had nearly 500 inquiries, and that will increase exponentially this year.
That’s it for now, and thanks for reading Volume 37 of The Macro Market Wrap Up With The Mad Genius. Please leave your questions and comments down below, and I’ll be sure to respond pretty soon. Until next time remember that there is always a bull market somewhere in the world, and on the opposite side of every crisis, lies opportunity.
#economics #investing #bitcoin #crypto #cryptocurrency #blockchain #kraken #itoldyouso
