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Bitcoin Is Dead, Long Live Bitcoin! | Hodler’s Digest Christmas Edition - YouTube
Channel: Cointelegraph
[16]
One year has passed since Bitcoin reached
its peak price of nearly $20,000 and
[20]
then went down, bringing along the whole crypto
market into the year of the bear.
[24]
As a Christmas present for all you hodlers,
we decided to collect the most bullish statements
[29]
of the week.
[30]
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said that
despite the fact that the bubble has burst,
[34]
Bitcoin is here to stay.
[39]
For
Spencer Bogart, partner at venture capital
[51]
firm Blockchain Capital, Bitcoin could go
as low as $1000, yet the current bear market
[56]
represents a fantastic buying opportunity.
[72]
Equally positive seems to be binance founder
and Chief Executive Officer CZ, who announced
[77]
this week that his entire net worth is in
crypto.
[79]
“None of our plans changed, We’re pushing
forward very aggressively.”
[83]
Also this week: Erik Finman proclaims the
death of Bitcoin, Blockstream expands its
[88]
satellite project, fake trading volumes detected
on CoinmarketCap, and more.
[94]
I am Molly Jane, we are here in New York next
to New York Stock Exchange’s beautiful Christmas
[97]
tree and this is your Hodler’s Digest Holiday
edition!
[102]
Christmas time seems to have come for Bitcoin
too.
[104]
After hitting a 15-month low in the previous
weeks, Bitcoin surged back past the $4000.
[110]
The market bounce also affected all major
cryptocurrencies, many of which gained double
[115]
figures within a single day.
[116]
Let’s have a look at the latest updates.
[131]
This week we see a nice pop in Bitcoin we
went up from just above three thousand to
[137]
now just about four.
[139]
So that's about a 25% move in the price of
Bitcoin in less than a week.
[144]
And I don't think it's all that significant
in the long scheme of things.
[150]
Ever since we fell from approximately sixty
five hundred straightdown.
[155]
The moment we touched below 5000 I've been
expecting a rally.
[161]
And the more we kept falling the bigger the
rally I've been expecting.
[165]
How do we reverse from the four and a half
thousand dollar area.
[170]
I was expecting us to go all the way back
to six thousand plus.
[175]
When we broke below the four thousand dollar
area, I was still expecting five down the
[181]
high end of five thousand for a rebound.
[184]
We ended up falling all the way to the low
three thousand dollar range.
[188]
So now I am expecting this pop to approximately
5000 or maybe fifty five hundred.
[195]
We were falling too far, too fast.
[198]
And I've been expecting this rebound.
[201]
Bitcoin has probably bottomed for 2009 for
2018.
[207]
I know, we only have about two weeks left
in 2018.
[211]
But the way Bitcoin just went up a thousand
dollars in a couple of days you can certainly
[215]
go down a thousand dollars in a couple of
days as well.
[218]
I do believe we bottomed for 2018, but I don't
believe we bottomed for the bear market.
[225]
I believe new lows are coming at some point
next year.
[228]
“Bitcoin is Dead”, said crypto teen millionaire
Erik Finman in an interview with Marketwatch
[233]
this week.
[235]
Arguably the youngest crypto millionaire,
Finman first invested in Bitcoin in 2011 - at
[240]
the age of 12, when he used his grandmother’s
$1000 gift to buy almost 100 Bitcoins at the
[245]
price of $12 per coin.
[247]
Finman saw that $1000 increasing 4000 times
to around $4 million during the 2017 Bitcoin
[254]
price peak.
[255]
He is also known for winning a bet with his
parents, who would allow him not to go to
[258]
college if he became a millionaire before
the age of 18.
[262]
Despite the “lambo lifestyle” the crypto
kid boasts on his instagram account, Finman
[266]
claims it is all satire to attract people’s
attention to the projects he is developing.
[271]
At the age of 15, he launched Botangle, an
educational platform to match students with
[276]
teachers via online chats.
[277]
Finman said that Bitcoin “may have a bull
market or two left in it” but that ‘long
[282]
term, it’s dead’.
[283]
It sounds like Finman’s views on Bitcoin
changed drastically since the end of 2017,
[287]
when he declared that BTC was “the future
of currency” and “the future of the financial
[292]
system’.
[293]
We reached out to Erik to clarify his stance
on Bitcoin.
[295]
I do think Bitcoin is dead and I say this
as someone that's been a part of Bitcoin since
[300]
2011.
[301]
I've been a part of Bitcoin since like forever
I was I was kind of born into it and that
[305]
type of thing.
[306]
I think Bitcoin will go through maybe one
two maybe three more bull runs but I think
[311]
as a long-term project, the original reason
why buy into it has kind of died.
[316]
it was Warren Buffett who said and I'm paraphrasing
his quote totally.
[320]
Even if the stock is still going up.
[322]
If the reason that I bought into it in the
first place goes away I'm going to sell.
[327]
And I think that's that's where I met the
reason that I got into Bitcoin is now gone
[332]
it is dead it is gone.
[334]
That reason has totally been eliminated and
destroyed.
[337]
I don't like Bitcoin core I think as everyone
knows it's a little bit too slow.
[341]
Bitcoin lightning network is.
[343]
I'm not a fan of it.
[345]
I think that it puts it turns it into Visa
or MasterCard and I think that Visa and MasterCard
[350]
already kind of exist.
[351]
And then Bitcoin Cash which I like the technology
but I think the people behind it can't seem
[357]
to pull it off.
[358]
Litecoin is a dead coin and that type of just
capital world is like Litecoin.
[363]
I think I said you know there's this I gave
the analogy of when the sun goes out you know
[369]
there's eight minutes before you notice the
lights go out on earth and Litecoin is in
[372]
its seventh minute.
[373]
So I like Ethereum and I like Zcash for its
anonymous currency it's really cool if you
[380]
have one anonymous cryptocurrency that exists.
[382]
If you put Bitcoin in the Zcash or Bitcoin
in the Monaro and then suddenly you're like
[387]
off the grid and then let's say you even put
it back to a new wallet that's you know it
[392]
just kind of out of nowhere right.
[394]
I think cryptocurrency is absolutely going
to stay here forever.
[397]
I think cryptocurrency is great.
[398]
I think that's going to exist for a very very
probably to the end of time.
[403]
Bitcoin as long-term as a project is dead
and other cryptocurrencies can last.
[408]
But the community is also not very welcoming
at the same time.
[412]
Yes got a thousand dollars given to a gift
by my grandmother.
[416]
She said put it into my scholarship fund and
I did not put in my scholarship fund I did
[420]
put into Bitcoin.
[421]
So I got about 100 Bitcoins out of that.
[423]
It was about 10-12 dollars was the price.
[425]
And then kind of around one hundred and then
I started a business with some of that money
[430]
went and went up to twelve hundred and I spent
every year trying to get more and more and
[434]
more Bitcoin like trying to play the market
as best I can.
[437]
Launched the company you know took Bitcoin
on that Web site sold the company for Bitcoin
[442]
and then proceeded to try to play the market
from then on and then on and then on.
[445]
So it just wasn't just one hundred I group
grew to be more than that as time went on.
[451]
But yeah back in 2011 I had my first hundred
Bitcoins.
[455]
I made like 350 something Bitcoins but I have
a lot of in Ethereum because I'm kind of you
[459]
know transferring over I still have a lot
of Bitcoin Cash from that fork.
[462]
I make myself a target to all these like Bitcoin
kidnappers or whatever.
[465]
So I have to be careful but I'm still doing
pretty well.
[468]
A lot of teenagers did end up buying cryptocurrency
because of me and have made a lot of money
[472]
and will continue to make more money.
[474]
I was like 16-17.
[476]
I was at the top of this building in Dubai
that looked like a cruise ship on its side.
[483]
And I bought you know like multi-thousand
dollar gold flaked champagne.
[489]
I think that's what I did.
[490]
I drank gold.
[492]
It was ten thousand dollars.
[493]
I think 2019 will probably be the best year
yet I think for cryptocurrency in the history
[498]
of cryptocurrency.
[499]
Timothy C. May, co-founder of the cypherpunk
activist movement and author of “The Crypto
[504]
Anarchist Manifesto” died at the age of
67.
[508]
According to his close friend, Lucky Green,
who announced the activist’s death in a
[511]
Facebook post, May died of natural causes
in his California home.
[515]
Also known as the crypto godfather, May believed
that cryptography, intended as the power to
[520]
encrypt and decrypt messages, united with
decentralized computer networks, will enhance
[524]
individual liberties and protect users’
privacy.
[526]
That’s what Nick Szabo wrote on Twitter:
“Tim May was my chief cypherpunk inspiration.
[532]
His vision is of a cyberspace-free from government
oppression”.
[535]
The Cypherpunk Manifesto, published in 1988,
laid the theoretical ground on which blockchain
[540]
and cryptocurrency are currently built.
[543]
Back then, May said: “Computer technology
is on the verge of providing the ability for
[547]
individuals and groups to communicate and
interact with each other in a totally anonymous
[553]
manner.”
[554]
In 1994, May created the Cypherpunk mailing
list, which became the home for the most revolutionary
[559]
ideas leading to the birth of crypto.
[561]
The list included such names as Julian Assange,
Nick Szabo, Hal Finney, Wel Dai and many others.
[567]
While being supportive of blockchain technology,
in his last interview, May was highly critical
[571]
of the overspread crypto frenzy.
[574]
“There's way too much hype, way too much
publicity and not very many people who understand
[579]
the ideas.
[580]
It's almost as if people realize there's a
whole world out there and thousands start
[583]
building boats in their backyards.
[586]
Some will make it, but most will either stop
building their boats or will sink at sea."
[590]
Blockchain startup Blockstream announced the
expansion of its satellite service, capable
[595]
of streaming the entire Bitcoin blockchain
to different corners of Earth.
[599]
With the activation of its fifth satellite
covering the Asia Pacific region, Blockstream
[603]
will allow Bitcoin transactions to be executed
without Internet connection everywhere on
[608]
the planet, with the exception of Greenland
and Antarctica.
[612]
On top of that, a new API will allow users
to send encrypted messages using micropayments
[617]
on the Lightning Network.
[618]
Launched in August last year, Blockstream’s
satellite network relies on the Earth-based
[622]
stations connected to the Bitcoin blockchain
to send signals to satellites, which then
[627]
rebroadcast the signals to the designated
areas.
[630]
In order to use the service, users will just
need a small satellite receiver connected
[634]
to a computer.
[636]
Blockstream CEO Adam Back said that the project
aims at minimizing Bitcoin’s dependency
[640]
on internet connectivity and make it more
accessible in the emerging markets.
[645]
“We see the increased robustness of the
Bitcoin network and the lower cost of participation
[650]
contributing to helping businesses rely on
the service for backup,” he said.
[654]
“And for emerging markets to use as their
primary access to the Bitcoin network at a
[657]
lower cost.”
[658]
We reached out to Blockstream’s Chief Strategy
officer Samson Mow and asked for more insight
[662]
on the project
[664]
The satellite API will allow anybody to connect
to our services to broadcast communications
[672]
over the satellite.
[674]
So that will be paid for with lightning transaction.
[676]
So these will be small transactions and there
will be an auction where people can bid for
[682]
broadcast it if they are sending encrypted
communications and it's fully encrypted communication
[690]
so it's encrypted it comes to us and encrypted
when it goes out over the network.
[694]
So only your recipient could decrypt the message
so it could be a very uncensorable or robust
[702]
form of communications paid for by Bitcoin
with lightning.
[706]
The premise of the idea is that if Bitcoin
is the foundation of a new worldwide financial
[711]
system it needs to have redundancy it cannot
just be relying on terrestrial Internet.
[716]
So if you're if well Bitcoin is a consensus
critical network.
[721]
So it's dependent on all the nodes in network
being synced and in consensus.
[727]
So if you're using only terrestrial Internet
that means that you're prone to network splits
[733]
when an undersea cable and undersea internet
cables cut or a country might cut off their
[739]
internet from the rest of the world.
[741]
All you really need is a good TV dish.
[742]
You know the US is like Direct TV is popular.
[746]
It's like this big.
[747]
It's a very small satellite dish.
[749]
So you can find those laying around a lot
people had satellite TV before.
[753]
They don't use it anymore.
[754]
You can buy them for free sometimes.
[758]
So it really lowers the bar for getting the
Bitcoin block in because now all you need
[764]
to do is make it a one-time investment of
maybe a hundred dollars max and you can get
[770]
all that data free which is five-six gigabytes
of data a month.
[776]
According to a new report from Blockchain
Transparency Institute, 80% of the top 25
[781]
Bitcoin trading pair volumes on Coinmarketcap
are wash traded.
[785]
Wash trading is a form of market manipulation
in which investors simultaneously buy and
[789]
sell a certain asset to artificially increase
trading volumes and falsely signal interest
[794]
towards the asset.
[796]
BTI research showed that most of the surveyed
pairs had an actual trading volume of less
[800]
than 1% compared to the Coinmarketcap data.
[804]
Among the surveyed exchanges, Okex was “leading
the manipulation race” with all of its top
[809]
30 traded pairs allegedly being manipulated.
[812]
Only Binance and Bifinex turned out to be
clean, as well as liquid.
[815]
There is a clear reason why the exchanges
would artificially increase the trading volume:
[820]
the average fee that an ICO would have to
pay for listing its token is around $50,000.
[824]
So the higher the trading volume, the more
attractive it is and as a result the higher
[828]
the fee that crypto exchange can ask for.
[831]
According to BTI, many exchanges “exist
solely to collect listing fees while their
[836]
bots run their exchanges.”
[837]
The report shows that some of them made over
$1 million only with listing fees this year.
[843]
Inspired by the popular song “12 days of
Christmas”, Coinbase celebrated Christmas
[847]
holidays with “12 days of Coinbase”: every
day from the 10th until the 21st of December,
[853]
the major crypto exchange made a new announcement.
[855]
Maybe the most important one was that its
US-based users will be able to withdraw funds
[861]
through PayPal.
[862]
It is not the first time Coinbase and PayPal
have worked together: in 2016, they did an
[867]
integration to allow users to buy and sell
Bitcoin using PayPal, but due to the technical
[872]
difficulties, the integration was later terminated.
[874]
For those who would like to trade crypto but
lack the knowledge, the newly anounced Earn
[879]
feature will allow them to earn small amount
of cryptocurrency while learning about it
[883]
in an interactive and entertaining way.
[886]
Other announcements include buying Nike and
Uber e-gift cards with crypto and Coinbase-sponsored
[890]
crypto donations to support Venezuelan families
and Syrian refugees.
[895]
Nice campaign, Coinbase!
[897]
Next year we expect:
8 days of Coinbase - Hannukkah Crypto Miracle
[901]
and Coinbase Ramadan - a month of pure hodling!
[906]
Despite Novogratz’s last week claims that
people in the crypto ecosystem have sobered
[910]
up, someone seems still under the effect of
the Lambo-mania.
[914]
An alleged crypto millionaire was arrested
in Hong Kong this week after making cash literally
[919]
rain on the city streets.
[920]
In a video posted on his Youtube page, the
crypto enthusiast is seen asking people if
[924]
they ever seen money falling from the sky,
just before performing the miracle.
[930]
He was later allegedly arrested for “disorderly
conduct in a public place, while livestreaming
[935]
with a stack of cash in his hands.
[938]
This guy seems the perfect hero for 2019,
which according to the Chinese calendar, will
[943]
be the year of the pig.
[944]
However, for all you hodlers, we wish next
year to be the year of the crypto Bull.
[949]
Happy holidays from us at Cointelegraph, and
as always:
[953]
like, subscribe and hodl!
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