This is an opinion editorial by Robert Hall, a content creator and small business owner.

Do you dream of retiring someday? You work all day and put in the hard work to grow your business or to do an excellent job for your employer so you can get a promotion and make more money. What are we supposed to do with our paychecks after the bills are paid, food is put on the table and the kids are taken care of?

Conventional wisdom tells us that we should save for retirement to enjoy our "golden years." This isn't bad advice per se as we can't keep working forever. Having money to rely on after you stop working is prudent financial planning. As you know, a whole industry is dedicated to planning for your future self.

Most financial advisors will tell you to invest your money in a 401(k) and let it grow over time. This has worked out for millions of Americans. For example, the S&P 500 10-year annualized return was 14.25%. This isn't bad when you take it at face value, but once you factor in inflation, this number becomes much lower. Instead of reaping the entire 14% gain, your purchasing power adjusted for inflation is more like 12% after you factor in the Federal Reserve target of 2% inflation target every year. If inflation continues the way it has this year for an extended period, your retirement savings could look much smaller than you thought. This 2% loss also compounds year over year the same as your gains; keep that in mind.

This isn't right! Why should we suffer because of the monetary policies set by the Fed? Mind you, we never voted for any of these jokers causing so much hardship for us and the rest of the world. The Federal Reserve's policy of printing trillions of dollars and buying up government treasuries is creating an unsustainable situation that could lead to the monetary collapse of the dollar.

Everyone thinks that it can't happen here, but it can. No one is immune to stupidity and hubris. Jerome Powell and the rest of the Federal Reserve have come down with a bad case of it. Do they honestly think they can control the economic lives of millions of people? How crazy do you have to be to believe this? Once people lose faith in the dollar, it's all over, folks, and that day is coming sooner than you think. Inflation raging at a 7% clip is a good way to scare people away from the dollar. I'm not saying it is imminent, but the overall trend is not good for the U.S.

So with all of this economic turmoil, how do you effectively save for retirement?

Bitcoin is the perfect vehicle for retirement for a variety of reasons. The first is that it is designed to appreciate into perpetuity. There are only 21 million coins that will ever be produced. This is called an inelastic supply. This means that as demand for bitcoin goes up, the price of bitcoin will also go up due to the scarcity of the supply. Did you know that there have been an estimated three million coins lost, so the total supply will be closer to 18 million by the time the last coin is produced in the year 2140?

The inelastic supply of Bitcoin is exactly what you want to see in a retirement fund asset. Investing your retirement savings in Bitcoin will secure your future retirement needs to the point where you can live comfortably.

Bitcoin is the perfect retirement vehicle because you are in control of your assets and not the bank or some assets manager. Believe it or not, neither of these actors have your financial interests at heart. Banks and asset managers are in the business of making money for their business and themselves. This means there are a bunch of hidden fees that you have to pay them to manage your money. This hides the actual cost of saving your money with a bank, and they will go to great lengths to ensure you don't fully understand all the fees. These entities want to take your money and for you to shut up.

When you compare this experience to buying and holding bitcoin, the experience couldn't be more different. The price of bitcoin is transparent and fees associated with buying, selling and sending to a non-custodial wallet are not hidden. This price transparency gives you a better picture of how much you are spending on fees. The cost of holding your bitcoin long term is meager. Buy a hardware wallet for cold storage and you are good to go. There is no ongoing cost to store your bitcoin wealth. The money you save on fees alone by investing in bitcoin instead of a 401(k) or IRA will add up over the years.

What can't be understated is the fact that you control your wealth and not your retirement administrator. The economy is not exactly excellent right now, and with inflation surging to 7% having easy access to your wealth in times of crisis will make all the difference. Can you imagine a bank run during which you cannot withdraw cash? Can you imagine your stock portfolio going to zero? This can happen to all of us. Lebanon is a good example of what can happen when the debt bomb explodes and everything becomes unaffordable. You are going to wish you had bitcoin! Luckily for you, it doesn't have to end up this way if you buy bitcoin now.

Forgoing a 401(k) or IRA may seem like a radical idea but have you stopped to think about why you invested in a 401(k) in the first place? What benefit do you get out of it other than having money when you retire? The most obvious reason beyond having savings for the future is the tax breaks you get from investing your money in the stock market.

I get it; it becomes very attractive when you can deduct your retirement contributions from your tax liability. You are being coerced into doing that if you think about it though. The government is telling you that we will take more of your money away if you don't invest your money in the stock market. Retirement investing is not entirely a free will choice.

If there were no tax breaks, would you save for retirement? Would retirement even be a concept? That's for another article, but you get my drift.

Saving for retirement with self-custodied bitcoin won't reap you any tax write-offs at the end of the year, but you get the security of knowing that your wealth is entirely secure and appreciating. I would gladly take that trade-off any day of the week. Who would you rather be in control of your wealth? Big banks or yourself? What do you trust more, Bitcoin or stocks? This is the choice we all have to make.

This is a guest post by Robert Hall. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

Read this article:
Bitcoin Is The New Retirement Strategy - Bitcoin Magazine

The start of this wasnt that favorable towards the crypto market as it began on a bearish note. The market is still signaling red, hence might end the week on a bearish note. The overall crypto has plunged by 3.02% in the last 24hrs and is now positioned at $1.09 trillion.

While the volatility continues since May, its becoming extremely difficult for traders and investors to make their decisions. Though there was some bull run seen last month, currently Bitcoin price is trading downwards. The flagship currency has lost its $23,000 mark and is currently trading at $22,807 with a fall of 2.86% over the last 24hrs.

Meanwhile, cryptoquant cryptoquant On-Chain Followers : 0 View profile , an analytic firm claims that the current phase is nothing like earlier bear cycles. The present bearish market is comparatively mild when looking at the 2014 and 2018 cycles.

It all started in November 2021 when the overall market began sliding down along with Bitcoin declining. Also, negative macroeconomic events have played a major role in bringing down the market.

As per the survey, considering the previous bear market performance, Bitcoin might find itself positioned at the $15,000 area in a few months. The analytic firm states that if the King currency decides to repeat the earlier bear cycles, then by the end of the year the pressure will see its heights.

As a result, as the year 2023 approaches, the market may be in for a long-term crypto rally. If Bitcoin begins to fall in price in the coming months, it may well continue until the end of the year.

On the other hand, Bitcoin price is also predicted to trade around the short-term target ranging between $21,000 and $20,000. This is likely to happen if there is short-term selling pressure on BTC.

Overall, If the current movement repeats, the king coin can see maximum pressure at the end of the year, starting in October trading range between $10,000 $14,500.

Was this writing helpful?

Visit link:
How Will Bitcoin (BTC) Price Perform In the Last 4 Months of 2022? - Coinpedia Fintech News

This is a transcribed excerpt of the Bitcoin Magazine Podcast, hosted by P and Q. In this episode, they are joined by Nate of Voltage to talk about how the Lightning Network can transfer value instantly between two parties without having to involve an intermediary. The Lightning Network will allow the Bitcoin network to scale exponentially into the payments world.

Watch This Episode On YouTube Or Rumble

Listen To The Episode Here:

Q: What does Layer 2 mean? Could we equate it and give examples back to the current internet infrastructure and how we interact with that to make it digestible? I found that explanation is most helpful.

Nate: So the internet is decentralized information. Bitcoin is decentralized money. When the internet was first being put together by geniuses 40-50 years ago, they [engineers] were just excited to pass bits and bytes to different college campuses. None of them had any idea of music streaming, video streaming, what we're doing right now, none of that was possible.

Different protocol layers had to be built on the internet on the TCP/IP protocol. I'm not an expert on it, but what we're doing right now is interacting with five or six layers of that base internet protocol. That increases things like throughput, bandwidth and quality, all that kind of stuff.

So the internet is this layered cake that you can visualize. You could Google internet protocol layers, and I'm pretty sure theres some cool graphics for that. And Bitcoin is only a little over 12 years old now or something? Layer 1 is great. It's very secure. It's immutable, censorship resistant, all these really cool features. But the throughput has a problem if you impose global finance on top of it.

Layer 2 is this idea where you could do bitcoin transactions without having to fill the blocks or jam up the pipes of the base layer. We could still have that security apparatus in a way, but also get the instant settlement and finality without having to interact with that [base layer]. Lightning Network is one proposal of that block.

Blockstream has something called the Liquid Network where you basically just transfer bitcoin off of the Bitcoin base layer you're not actually doing that, but that helps you visualize it. Lightning is similar, but different because Lightning has this sort of node gossip network system. It's just about taking the same concept that worked for the internet and applying it to this new money because bitcoin is the money of the internet, but it's also the internet of money in that respect.

Read more:
How The Early Days Of The Internet Is Similar To Building On Bitcoin - Bitcoin Magazine

JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington says digital currency exchanges like Coinbase will end up being a meaningful beneficiary of Ethereums long-awaited transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoW). Based on $2K ethereum prices and a 5% ethereum yield, Worthington explained that The Merge could boost Coinbases annual income by $80 to $100 million from staking services.

In 29 days, the Ethereum network is expected to implement The Merge on or around September 15, 2022. It will be a very big deal for the chain that has operated as a PoW blockchain for seven years. Thats because the network will fully transition into a PoS distributed ledger system. Four days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM), strategists saying Ethereum Classic (ETC) could benefit from The Merge, as ether miners will be forced to mine another Ethash-based cryptocurrency.

This week, JPMorgan analyst Kenneth Worthington explained in a note to investors that the crypto exchange Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN) could be a meaningful beneficiary of The Merge. The investment banks analyst also noted that staking revenue could bolster exchanges like FTX, Binance, and Gemini as well.

We see the staking revenue opportunity bigger (proportionally) than the income opportunity given we expect institutional staking clients will contribute meaningfully to [ether] staking revenue, but much less so for institutional customers, Worthington said. The vast majority of the economics remains with retail, the JPMorgan analyst added. In order to be a validator 32 ether is required to stake on your own, but a number of exchanges offer ethereum staking services with negligible threshold requirements to earn from staked assets.

At the time of writing, Coinbase is one of the largest ETH holders in terms of validators, according to the ETH Staking dashboard hosted on Dune Analytics. Out of the 13,326,533 ether deposited into the Ethereum 2.0 contract, Coinbase commands 14.7% or 1,966,080 ETH. Crypto firms like Kraken, Binance, Bitcoin Suisse, and Bitstamp also have significant staking positions, but Coinbase and the liquid staking service Lido have the largest. JPMorgans Worthington expects Coinbase to benefit significantly from the staking rewards.

We estimate Coinbase incremental annual staking revenue from the Ethereum Merge of $650 million based on $2,000 [ether] and 5% [ethereum] yield. We see [an] incremental annual income of $80-$100 million of staking income, Worthingtons note detailed.

Year-to-date, COIN is down 65.04% with a $357 per share high this year, but the current $85.44 is up from the $47 low share prices saw on June 30. Furthermore, on August 16, Coinbase summarized in a blog post what customers need to know about the upcoming PoW to PoS transition. During The Merge, Coinbase will briefly pause ethereum transactions and it will not process withdrawals and deposits during the change. The Coinbase pause rule further applies to ERC20-based tokens built on top of the Ethereum network.

On August 14, Coinbase and a number of exchanges were asked: If regulators ask you to censor at the ethereum protocol level with your validators will you: (A) Comply and censor at [the] protocol level (B) Shut down the staking service and preserve network integrity. Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong responded to the question on Twitter three days later, on August 17.

Its a hypothetical we hopefully wont actually face, Armstrong wrote on Thursday. But if we did wed go with (B), I think. Got to focus on the bigger picture. There may be some better option (C) or a legal challenge as well that could help reach a better outcome.

What do you think about the commentary from JPMorgans analyst Kenneth Worthington? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,700 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Read more here:
Coinbase Could Be a Material 'Beneficiary' of Ethereum's Merge Transition, JPMorgan Analyst Says Finance Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

Crypto holders on the hunt for a real property can now spend their digital assets on a 187-year-old estate in a Connecticut town.

According to the propertys listing agent, the seller of a 4.3-acre farmhouse compound in Greenwich is now accepting crypto assets as a form of payment for the $5,995,000 asking price of the property.

The main residence at the heart of the property, known as the Levi Ireland house, was built in 1835 and was designated as a landmark in the wealthy town where homeowners tend to have several other homes for weekend retreats.

The house spans over 4,200 square feet and features five bedrooms, three bedrooms and a powder room. A carriage house with three bedrooms and a one-bedroom guest cottage also lie on the property.

In an interview with CNBC in May, Kevin Sneddon, the propertys listing agent, says that the propertys owner holds a lot of virtual assets and actively trades them. He says the unidentified seller will take top crypto assets Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) as payment for the home.

Despite the volatile nature of digital assets, the seller has no plans to convert the potential cryptocurrencies received as payment for the home to cash or other assets.

Shes not going to turn it over and convert it to anything else. Shes going to add it to her crypto portfolio.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Wit Olszewski

Excerpt from:
Got Bitcoin? Sprawling $5,995,000 Connecticut Home for Sale in BTC and Additional Crypto Assets - The Daily Hodl

See Kevin OLeary at Benzingas Future of Crypto event in December. Reserve a seat now!

Kevin OLeary said on Twitter earlier this year that "NFTs will be bigger than Bitcoin."

The "Shark Tank" investor added his reason why: the ability for NFTs to record ownership.

At an estimated market capitalization of around $40 billion, the non-fungible token market will need to grow by over 1,000% to surpass Bitcoins market capitalization.

Yet given the vast applications for NFTs, this prediction is actually fairly reasonable. While Bitcoin is primarily used as a store of value as well as a currency in some instances NFTs can be used for intellectual property, art, gaming, identityand more.

The shark, investorand crypto bull has long supported cryptocurrency, DeFiand NFTs.

Amid the market downturn, OLeary stated hes doubling down on crypto, as there are plenty of opportunities to take advantage of in a bear market. Alongside Bitcoin, OLeary has also invested in Ethereum ETH/USD, Algorand ALGO/USD, Solana SOL/USD, Polygon MATIC/USDand many others.

To get more personal insights from Mr. Wonderful, were hosting our inaugural cryptocurrency conference in Manhattan in December.

Join us to meet the founders and investors building the future of crypto, NFTs, DeFi, and more at Benzingas Future of Crypto conference. Tickets just went live, so be sure to reserve a seat before prices increase.

Photo via Shutterstock.

Read more here:
Kevin O'Leary Says 'NFTs Will Be Bigger Than Bitcoin': What Else Does Mr. Wonderful Think About The Futur - Benzinga

In the last two years, Shiba Inu remained in the top 10 list of the most discussed cryptocurrencies on social media. While Dogecoin dominated Twitter during the first half of 2021, SHIB took over the reins in the second half of the year. On Monday, the number of Twitter followers for Shiba Inu breached that of Dogecoin indicating that SHIB commands a larger-than-life following.

Both SHIB and Doges followers stand at 3.4 million with Shiba Inus follower count much ahead at around 10,000. SHIB is now the third most followed crypto on Twitter and only behind Binance at 9.32 million and Bitcoin at 5.47 million.

Also Read: Why is the Cryptocurrency Market Crashing Today?

While Shiba Inus Twitter followers currently stand at 3.4 million, Bitcoins follower count is 5.47 million. Theres a huge gap of nearly 2.1 million followers between the two most popular cryptos. However, while Bitcoin joined Twitter in August 2021, SHIB joined the social media platform a decade later in February 2021.

SHIB crossed leading cryptos such as Solana, Ripple, Ethereum, and Dogecoin to claim the third spot in just two years. Considering how quickly the dog-themed token attracted followers, its numbers could surpass that of Bitcoin in the coming years. However, it might most likely not surpass Bitcoins followers in 2022, but 2023 might see possibilities.

Also Read: Shiba Inus Bone Doubles in Price: Breaches $1 From $0.50 in 30 Days

First and foremost, Shiba Inu is affordable to new investors and is considered to be a low-hanging fruit thats up for grabs. On the other hand, Bitcoin is unaffordable to the average Joe, so the excitement of following goes for a toss. Also, Shiba Inu constantly makes its rounds in news cycles and attracts new and first-time investors into its fold.

Therefore, as and when new investors enter the crypto markets, SHIB gains followers. Moreover, investors feel excited about SHIB as the token has entered the gaming, fashion, and food segment. Apart from seeing crypto as an investment, investors also consider the dog-themed token as part of their entertainment.

In conclusion, Shiba Inu beating Bitcoin in the number of Twitter followers is only a matter of time.

Also Read: Shiba Inu: Heres What to Expect From the Upcoming SHIB Mobile App

See the original post:
Will Shiba Inu Beat Bitcoin in the Number of Twitter Followers? - Watcher Guru