As the third Bitcoin halvening approaches, a handful of OGs will wistfully recall the first such event, which occurred in November 2012. Back then, following the completion of block 210,000, the mining reward halved from 50 to 25 BTC. To commemorate the milestone, early adopters threw parties throughout the world, from Tel Aviv and Macau to Munich and Helsinki.

Also read: Get Ready for the Bitcoin Halving Here Are 9 Countdown Clocks You Can Monitor

The first Bitcoin halving was a big deal, eagerly talked about for months in advance. Discussions and debates centered around the economic consequences of the halving, the future stability of the network and the effect on mining operations. Was Satoshis monetary policy of reducing block rewards by 50% every 210,000 blocks really the best way to keep inflation under control or would it signal the beginning of the end for Bitcoin?

Although bitcoin was only worth about $11 at the time of the first halving, community members appreciated the momentousness of the occasion and, in honor of the big day, hosted parties which, one can extrapolate, were attended by a mixture of those who were deeply invested in the community and hangers on who may have had little idea what the hell Bitcoin was. As for those who couldnt meet up in person, they congregated in chatrooms to trade ideas and raise a metaphorical toast to Satoshi.

According to the original thread in the Meetups section of the Bitcointalk forum, unofficial parties were thrown in Las Vegas, Tel Aviv, New Hampshire, Vienna, Macau, Brazil, Munich, Berlin, Bratislava, Switzerland, London, Ukraine and Helsinki. Some were advertised on Facebook while others had their own dedicated thread on the forum, with those wishing to attend communicating with organizers and posting pics from the shindig.

As The Verge reported at the time, Bitcoin miners, geeks who configure their own computers to mint the cultish digital currency, have been waiting for this moment for a long time about four years, which is how long Bitcoins have been in circulation.

Interestingly, after the final post on November 29, 2012, the halvening thread was resurrected four years later to announce the second-ever halving party in Campinas, Brazil. The resurrection of the thread also led to announcements about parties in Israel and Australia. (Although commonly known as the halvening these days, in 2012 it was simply the halving until Dogecoin colloquialized the phrase two years later with its own block reward reduction.)

These crypto parties, which have echoes of the key signing parties popularized by the cypherpunks, presented an opportunity for bitcoin acolytes to meet in real life and discuss such topics as privacy, technology and Bitcoins architecture. Prior to the first block halving, there were few occasions for bitcoiners to interact in meatspace; in 2012, crypto conferences werent really a thing.

Needless to say, bitcoiners will be hoping the price rises in the wake of the third halving, just as it did after the first, when BTC surged from $11 to $1,100 within 12 months, reaching parity with an ounce of gold and prompting renewed toasts to Bitcoin and its departed creator.

Of course, the crypto landscape has changed immensely since 2012: the 2020 block reward halving will encompass not only Bitcoin Core, but also Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV, both of which emerged from hard forks of the original Bitcoin protocol. Eight years on from the first halving, whos up for another party?

Bitcoin History is a multipart series from news.Bitcoin.com charting pivotal moments in the evolution of the worlds first cryptocurrency. Read part 23 here.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

Did you know you can verify any unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction with our Bitcoin Block Explorer tool? Simply complete a Bitcoin address search to view it on the blockchain. Plus, visit our Bitcoin Charts to see whats happening in the industry.

Kai's been manipulating words for a living since 2009 and bought his first bitcoin at $12. It's long gone. He specializes in writing about darknet markets, onchain privacy, and counter-surveillance in the digital age.

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Bitcoin History Part 24: Celebrating the First Halving in 2012 - Bitcoin News

Investigators have cracked down on another illegal cryptocurrency operation in Ukraine, with a government official amid the storm.

Earlier this week, the official Facebook page of the Kyiv Prosecutors Officeannouncedthat it had begun a sweeping investigation into the activities of an unnamed staff member. The investigation, which will be conducted in line with the State Bureau of Investigation, comes in light of allegations that this staff member used the office computers to illegally mine cryptocurrencies.

According to the Facebook post, the individual was an information technology specialist at the office and also held executive positions in the State Judicial Information Systems for a while. The individual allegedly engaged in the illegal use of the offices network equipment to spread malware across the machines and use their computing power to mine crypto.

The defendant also allegedly tried to profit off his access to the offices systems by providing access to third parties in exchange for a small fee. According to the Prosecutors Office, up to three online stores and a resource for Chopper motorcycle enthusiasts had been using their computers to mine cryptocurrencies from as far back as August 2018.

The Prosecutors Office has now opened charges of illegal interference with the operation of computers, as well as the distribution of malware. Although the Prosecutors Office didnt disclose the nature of the mining operation (including the type of cryptos mined or how much was mined), it did confirm that if found guilty, he could face up to 6 years in prison.Like many countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Ukraine has had many problems with illegal crypto mining. With a relative abundance of energy and expansive government resource count, several in the country have tried to capitalize and use resources to mine cryptos.

Last August, UNIAN reported that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Ukraines top counterintelligence and law enforcement agency, cracked down on an illegal crypto mining operation in the country. The miners had worked at a nuclear power plant facility located inYuzhnoukrainsk, and as the report confirmed, their work had compromised the security of the nuclear plant by connecting its computers to the Internet.

Regardless, the Ukrainian government has employed a progressive stance on regulating crypto mining. Earlier this month, the countrys Ministry and Committee of Digital Transformation published its guidance on regulatory policies, in which it confirmed that it would be leaving the industry to regulate itself.

Regulators showed their belief that Bitcoin and its consensus protocol rules are enough to regulate on-chain activities, since network users and node protocols band together to enforce rules. Thus, the government wont need to ensure any oversight or intervention.

Authorities also explained that the presence of open-source protocols would help Bitcoin to self-regulate, while open network access will see to privacy and easy asset movement.In the absence of any oversight functions, the authorities explained that they would focus on building enabling policies in areas such as digitization, digital innovation, and the development of an information-driven society.

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Ukrainian Government Official Charged with Illegal Bitcoin Mining Operation - Inside Bitcoins

Bitcoin has been falling ever since it failed to break above resistance at the $10,000 level earlier during the week. It rolled over and dropped by a total of 8% during the week, causing a bloodbath within the entire cryptocurrency market.

It recently found some support around the $8,800 level and is attempting to bounce higher, however, the momentum is certainly within the bullish favour and it is likely that Bitcoin will continue to drop lower.

Bitcoin Price Analysis

BTC/USD Daily CHART SHORT TERM

Taking a look at the daily chart above, we can clearly see Bitcoin rolling over at the $10,000 as it started the vicious price decline over the past few days. Yesterday saw the printing of a Doji candle which is an indecision candle as the bulls and bears battle for market momentum.

It had found support at a downside 1.414 Fibonacci Extension level and has been trading along with this level for the past couple of days as we wait for the market players to make their next move.

The cryptocurrency has also been supported by the rising trend line that has been in play since the start of the year.

Bitcoin is considered as neutral at this moment in time but is in danger of turning bearish if the sellers break beneath the rising support trend line.

If the sellers break beneath $8,800, we will expect this rising trend line to provide the first level of support. This is followed by support at $8,672 (.5 Fib Retracement), $8,559 (downside 1.618 Fib Extension), and $8,242 (.618 Fib Retracement).

On the other hand, if the buyers push higher, the first level of resistance lies at $8,975. Above $9,000, resistance lies at $9,270, $9,506, $9,741, and $10,000.

Key Levels

Support: $9,800, $8,672, $8,559, $8,242, $8,000..

Resistance: $9,975, $9,000, $9,270, $9,500, $9,637, $9,615, $9,815, $10,000, $10,190, $10,360, $10,474.

Summary

Article Name

Bitcoin Bulls and Bears In Strong Battle To Gain Control - Who Will Win?

Description

Bitcoin found some form of respite from the recent price decline after finding support at the $8,800 level.It was also supported by a rising trend line that has been in play for around 2-months of trading.

Author

Yaz Sheikh

Publisher Name

Coin Gape

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Bitcoin Bulls and Bears In Strong Battle To Gain Control Who Will Win? - Coingape

/latest/2020/02/analyst-argues-bitcoin-can-be-considered-a-safe-haven/

Bitcoin Can Be Considered a Safe Haven, Analyst Argues

analyst-argues-bitcoin-can-be-considered-a-safe-haven

Analyst Dave Chapman has argued that bitcoin can be a safe haven against economic uncertainty and that few assets have performed as well as BTC so far this year.

Chapman, who is the executive director for Hong Kong-based BC Technology Group Ltd., told CNBC in an interview that bitcoin should be considered a safe haven asset despite its recent drop in price.

He said,

I think bitcoin can be considered a safe haven, relatively speaking. Despite the current macro environment and the pandemonium that has kickstarted 2020 bitcoin is still up 23% year to date.

He continued, adding there are "very few investments that have performed equally as great as bitcoin this year or frankly others." Chapman said the two most common questions he receives from investors concern bitcoins status as a safe haven asset and whether the price is uncorrelated to other asset classes.

He told CNBC,

If you look at whats happening with bitcoin at times of political unrest and economic uncertainty, at times bitcoin does appreciate...if you look at whats happening in US equities today, US equities are down 5% to 10% where bitcoin is up 2%. I think personally thats quite telling.

Chapman also highlighted the changing attitude towards bitcoin from JPMorgan and other Wall Street entities as a positive sign for the industry.

Featured Image Credit: Photo via Pixabay.com

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Bitcoin Can Be Considered a Safe Haven, Analyst Argues - CryptoGlobe

Everybody knows that one day Bitcoin mining will eventually cease, and the last coin will be mined. The date for this is expected to be around the year 2140. So what could an investment of $100 now be worth in 120 years time?

To estimate the price of Bitcoin well into the future we need to take a look at growth models for the cryptocurrency. The two most well-known are Parabolic Travs Parabolic super trend price growth model, and Plan Bs Stock to Flow price model (S2F).

Well also have to take into account that if hyperbitcoinization does occur, and Bitcoin becomes global money used by everyone, and no other kind of currency exists at all, there are still limits to Bitcoins price growth.

Hal Finney predicted Bitcoin to have a price of 10 million per coin back in 2009. In Finneys estimate he simply took the estimates for world household wealth and divided it by 21 million coins.

He arrived at $10 million per coin. Decrypt revisited the idea, and recalculated with updated numbers and came to a price of $18 million per coin. Bitcoins parabolic growth can only keep rising until there is no more wealth whose value can be converted to Satoshis.

Parabolic Travs parabolic super trend model closely correlates with Plan Bs stock to flow model. While many investors discount the idea of parabolic growth, Bitcoin has already grown 2,232,111,011.11% since Marti Malmi sold the first Bitcoins for fiat currency in 2009, to its all time high of $20K in 2017.

Bitcoin follows an S-curve of technological adoption, because while it is a currency it is also new technology, which is being adopted by new users at S-curve adoption rates.

See the similarities in Travs parabolic price model and S-curves of new technology adoption? They are both parabolic. We may see BTC follow the steeper curve exhibited by smart phones and the internet.

Stock to flow is how many years it would take to produce the current total supply of an asset. Golds stock to flow is 62. It would take 62 years of mining to produce the current world supply.

Plan Bs S2F further supports this parabolic growth with the model he provided to show the impact Bitcoins halvings have on price. Bitcoins S2F is 25, currently but will be halved to an S2F of 50, much closer to gold.

On the graph above you can see the parabolic price increase overlaid with the reduction in block rewards every 210,000 blocks (roughly 4 years).

Plan Bs model predicts a trillion dollar Bitcoin market cap after the upcoming halving, or a projected price of $55,000 per BTC.

Following Plan Bs model, Digitalek.net projects the price of BTC in 2025 to be $1,215,730.5 per coin.

Credit Suisse estimates global household wealth to be $360 trillion in USD. Dividing this number by 21 million Bitcoin puts us at a price of $17,142,857 per BTC.

However, Chainalysis estimates that as much as 4 million BTC have been lost, so lets calculate for 17 million BTC. Using Finneys calculation with 17 million BTC instead of 21 puts us at $21,176,470.58.

Assuming hyperbitcoinization occurs by 2140, $100 dollars of BTC at todays current price of $8880, would be 0.01126 in Satoshis. These same Satoshis could have a projected value of $238,373.77 by the time the last Bitcoin is mined in 2140.

How much do you think 1 BTC will be worth in 2140? Let us know in the comments!

Images via Shutterstock, charts by Market Realist, Planb, HCBurger1, Tradingview @ParabolicInvestor

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How Much $100 of Bitcoin Could Be Worth When the Last Coin is Mined - Bitcoinist

Anyone following crypto news has undoubtedly seen numerous articles that forecast Bitcoins (BTC) valuation following the upcoming halving slated to take place in May of this year. And although the price of Bitcoin is clearly important to the industry and investors at large, planning for the halving is particularly critical to cryptocurrency miners.

Once the halving occurs, the unfortunate truth is that the profitability of all but the most efficient mining operations will be greatly challenged. To stay in the green, many will either be forced to upgrade their equipment or to shut down their mining operations altogether.

However, careful planning can mitigate these risks, and there are several steps miners should take to set themselves up for sustained profitability in the wake of the halving. To understand all the factors at play, its important to review what makes mining profitable in the first place. This includes:

The hash rate is the estimated number of tera hashes per second that the Bitcoin network is performing. It is a general measure of the networks processing power and of how many times the network can attempt to add a block to the Bitcoin blockchain every second.

The hash rate is a good indicator of the networks health, and while it cant be precisely measured, it can be estimated based on the current difficulty and time of block confirmations of Bitcoin.

Mining Bitcoin is not easy, and it has only gotten harder as more miners have joined the network. The difficulty of mining a block correlates with the overall network hash rate, and thus with the competition. The more people trying to solve a block, the more difficult it is to do so.

Miners can increase their chances by employing high-powered application-specific integrated circuits that are efficient and always running. The ultimate goal is to solve a block that is worth more than it costs to solve. Miners can also improve odds by joining a mining pool, in which profits are shared with the other members of the pool and vice versa.

Its not expected for the halving to have a big impact on mining difficulty. It may adjust slightly to make up for no-longer-profitable miners leaving the network, which will allow for the remaining miners to mine more profitably and to drive forward the hash rate, price and difficulty in general.

The electrical efficiency of mining devices has a massive impact on overall profitability. If miners are expending excess energy and paying more in electrical costs than receiving as a result of solving a block, theyre going to end up in the red.

Related: Bitcoin Mining's Electricity Bill: Is It Worth It?

A more efficient device will lead to greater profits in less time while also expending less energy, thus, reducing costs. Such efficient machines are going to be needed to correct for the reduction in block reward following the halving. Machines, such as the Antminer S9, are going to become essentially obsolete and will need to be replaced with newer, more efficient miners like the Antminer S17.

The power cost also has a big impact on profitability and is directly related to the power consumption as well as to the cost of electricity at the mining operation. As more efficient machines are needed to keep up with the reduced revenue following the halving, miners will need to run operations in a place with low energy costs.

Mining colocation centers offer high power and low costs of energy, along with several other benefits, such as 24/7 security and equipment oversight. Its strongly suggested that miners consider state-of-the-art facilities throughout the country to help them make the most of their operations at a fraction of the cost and consumption.

This is what halving is all about. The current block reward of 12.5 BTC will be halved to 6.25 in the spring, and the revenue of all miners on the network will be cut in half, as well. The only way to make up for this is to increase mining power and reduce operational costs.

The price of Bitcoin has historically responded well to previous halvings for those miners capable of remaining in the market after the fact. However, this has been the subject of considerable debate in the crypto community, and although opinions vary, the outlook is bullish.

The bottom line is that when the Bitcoin block reward halves, so will the total revenue generated by all miners. If the hash rate, power consumption and power cost all stay the same as they were before, its likely that a mining operation will be unprofitable if the hardware hasnt been upgraded to remain competitive.

When getting into this space, its essential to keep emotions out of the equation. Its best to rely on the numbers and objectively analyze trends and key indicators to set oneself up for the best chance at success. This is certainly easier said than done in todays environment, as social media, family and friends have made it easier than ever to become influenced by outside sources. Still, it is important to understand that long-term trends are more indicative of where the market is headed than are random fluctuations.

Looking back at the last two halving events in 2012 and 2016, both led to new market highs for Bitcoins price within a year to a year and a half. No doubt that the upcoming halving will impact the market, and although we cant know for certain what will happen, if the demand for Bitcoin remains the same and scarcity is greater, the expected response would be to see the price increase. By how much, it is hard to say.

For those committed to the long-term play, good planning and investing in the latest hardware seems prudent. Going a bit further, for those who dont host their own mining equipment, analyzing hosting options and locking in competitive pricing now in a multi-year contract can help manage costs in the coming months.

The best piece of advice for miners: Assess your needs today and well in advance of the halving. As Benjamin Franklin once famously noted, If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Dave Perrill is the CEO at Compute North. A 25-year veteran of the IT and information security industry, Perrill has been keenly immersed in the cryptocurrency mining industry and blockchain technology since its formative days. He founded and subsequently sold two technology companies, including an Internet Service Provider/Managed Security Provider, SecureConnect, which was acquired by Trustwave Holdings in 2012. He also has extensive experience in networking, data center engineering, scaling large IT systems and security.

Excerpt from:
Are Miners Prepared for the Halving of Bitcoin? - Cointelegraph

Two of the largest bitcoin mining equipment manufacturers are in a neck-and-neck race to roll out top-of-the-line machines ahead of bitcoin's (BTC) halving event in less than three months.

On Thursday, Beijing-based mining giant Bitmain launched its latest AntMiner S19 and S19 Pro models, boasting computing power as high as 110 terahashes per second (TH/s) and an energy cost of 29.5 watts per terahash (W/T).

Going by the firm's specifications, the two models would currently be the most profitable bitcoin mining devices if available, closely followed by the WhatsMiner M30S from Bitmain's Shenzhen-based rival, MicroBT, according to a miner profitability index from f2pool.

The launch comes on the back of a heated battle between Bitmain and MicroBT, which has gained a significant share of the mining equipment business after selling about 600,000 units of its M20 series in 2019, chipping away at Bitmain's long-time market dominance.

MicroBT, which launched its flagship M30 models in December, has started taking pre-orders for the latest and most powerful product line since last week, with deliveries of sample units starting as early as next month.

According to MicroBT's major distributor Pangolin Miner, the M30S priced at $2,430 apiece touts a computing power of 86 TH/s with an energy cost of 38 W/T and uses 8-nanometer chips supplied by Samsung. The firm said some devices will ship from March to May, but large pre-orders would have to wait until as late as June.

On the other hand, prices and the pre-order/delivery dates for Bitmain's S19 models have not yet been announced. Adding to the uncertainty is whether Bitmain can deliver production on a large scale, since the latest models adopt 7-nm chips that come in limited supplies from its vendor, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

It also remains to be seen how the industry will react to the releases of top-notch but more expensive mining equipment, as bitcoin's price has retracted from its recent growth momentum above $10,000.

Currently, Bitmain's older model the AntMiner S9 is still one of the most widely used miners, generating a daily gross margin of about 30 percent at bitcoin's current price, based on f2pool's index.

Further, the coronavirus outbreak in China has affected the country's manufacturing and logistics businesses, causing delays for those that were looking to expand or upgrade existing mining facilities.

In fact, data from mining pool BTC.com shows bitcoin's mining difficulty a measure of how hard it is to compete for mining rewards has stagnated for a month and is currently around the same level seen on Jan. 28.

But with bitcoin's halving event approaching in May, a programmed-in change that will reduce the network's mining rewards from 12.5 BTC per block to 6.25, older models like the S9 will become unprofitable unless bitcoin's price increases significantly. As such, miners may have to either upgrade or get out of the industry.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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World's Top Crypto Miners Race to Roll Out Top-of-Line Machines Ahead of Bitcoin Halving - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

Bitcoin Magazine is the proud host of the Bitcoin 2020 conference being held in San Francisco on March 27th and 28th, 2020.

Welcome to Bitcoin 2020, a one-of-a-kind festival celebrating the dawn of a new technological paradigm and the counterculture behind it.

Bitcoin is about more than just money; it is a movement rooted in the controversial idea of freedom. Its first adopters were champions of liberty, privacy, sound money and cryptography, and its these very principles that have united a diverse and global community of cypherpunks, entrepreneurs, YouTube streamers, billionaires, mommy bloggers, athletes, pirates, mathematicians, makers, skateboarders and so many more This group of misfits, rebels and pioneers represents a community spread across all ages, continents and identities.

Ive described our vision for Bitcoin 2020before: an annual gathering place for Bitcoiners to network, discover and inspire each other. Weve replaced stuffy hotel lobbies with half pipes and beer gardens this event is for the community, not Wall Street. When we meet in San Francisco, it will be to celebrate the technology that has given us so much hope for the future.

We at BTC Media andBitcoin Magazineare honored to play our part in this grand experiment, and we take the responsibility of hosting this annual pilgrimage seriously (but not too seriously,clearly). We ask our attendees, speakers and sponsors to respect the ethos of the event, tomaintain decorum(when applicable) and to treat each other kindly.

Our goal is to deliver the best Bitcoin-focused content in the most Bitcoin-friendly fashion there are plenty of platforms for other topics. Each of our speakers has agreed to focus on non-forked, Nakamoto Consensus Bitcoin (BTC).

We know that you may have some questions about Bitcoin 2020, so weve preemptively answered a few of them below.

We are closely monitoring the situation as it evolves, and we are following all CDC guidance to make sure that we employ best practices. With that said, we are full-steam ahead to host Bitcoin 2020 on March 27 and 28 and are still on pace to sell out the event.

Here is a sample list of preventive measures that we will be taking to ensure the health and safety of attendees, in no particular order:

Yesterday,The Wall Street Journalpublished a comprehensive articlewith thoughtful tips to keep in mind when traveling. It references the CDCthree-level warning system.

It is in my nature to make a few jokes and lighten up any situation, but we are taking this very seriously and will provide updates should things change significantly. On to the fun stuff

Bitcoin 2019 was the beta version of our biggest-ever Bitcoin conference. Bitcoin 2020 is 1.0.

Last year, we wanted to see whether this idea would even work. This year, were putting out a product that will blow you away. Bitcoin 2020 is on pace to sell out, with over 3,000 attendees.

Last year, we found that people had an appetite for more of a festival-style event, so this year were adding a block party, an SF Bitcoin week chock-full of activities and events, Whale Night (with a little poker fun), an official afterparty and a rooftop halfpipe that the one and only Tony Hawk will be demoing on with his friends. This year, we will be utilizing the entire venue, not just parts of it.

We also wanted to build on some of the successes of last year, so weve revamped the art gallery and given it some dedicated space, maxed out the swag store so that you can leave B20 as the ultimate Bitcoiner and expanded the Lightning Arcade so that you can play games and compete with friends (and maybe win some sats). Weve even found some ways to gift you free sats so that your bitcoin wallets can leave the conference a little fatter than when they entered.

If youre a creative type, weve pushed outsome challengesyou should think about taking on as well: Design your Bitcoin citadel, create a Bitcoin campaign ad, build a Bitcoin application or memeify a Bitcoin t-shirt. We want to unlock those golden ideas that are sitting in the heads of Bitcoin enthusiasts, and weve got some amazing prizes to help sweeten the deal (in case winning, itself, isnt sweet enough).

Thats a stupid question. Bitcoin is the single most interesting thing happening in the world today of course it needs a conference! With so many brilliant people from all around the world working to turn their visions into realities, its important to find a time and place to come together and celebrate our progress. We created Bitcoin 2020 to serve as a platform for the community; a place where Bitcoiners can meet and exchange ideas with people not found on Twitter, make new friends, pitch investors, land jobs and spark ideas theres nothing else like it.

Finally, the rest of the world needs to know what Bitcoin isreallyabout, as told by Bitcoiners (not experts). Bitcoin 2020 is a beachhead to broadcastourideas and values to the wider world. There will be major announcements, cultural icons, cutting-edge activations and provocative ideas that are impossible to ignore.

Hard no. Bitcoin 2020 is about the ideas, products, technology, culture and people behind Bitcoin, and only Bitcoin. This is not the place to talk about how scalable your next-gen perpetual motion protocol is compared to Bitcoin, how smart your permissioned database is or how Bitcoin is merely blockchain 1.0. The entire point of this conference is to showcase what can be built on Bitcoin and how vast its potential is.

Smart contracts are cool. DeFi is compelling. Stablecoins meh. Pepe Cash and CryptoKitties are hilarious. Proof of existence is neat. Sidechains, CoinJoin, Layer 2, Layer 3, Layer 99, the list goes on. There are so many cool concepts that can be built on Bitcoin, and all are on topic as long as theyre being built on the Bitcoin (BTC) protocol and do not require a hard fork to become reality.

Love Ethereum? No Problem! Save it for Devcon. @Vitalik @FluffyPony @CharlesHoskinson @DanLarimer and @RogerVer are all invited and welcome to Bitcoin 2020, but they should come prepared to discuss BTC, and only BTC.

Sadly, no. As much as wed love to turn your near-worthless coin into sweet, sweet sats, this event is only for projects with a product or service that utilizes Bitcoin or makes Bitcoin more useful. Were not here to judge your token side hustle were capitalists, after all but we only care about what youre doing for/with Bitcoin anything else is off topic. Jealous and sobbing because we turned away your sponsorship inquiry this year? The fix is easy: Use that ICO money to do something great for Bitcoin, then tell us about thatnextyear.

This conference is about non-forked, Nakamoto Consensus Bitcoin (BTC). We can appreciate differences of opinion about Bitcoin forks, but there is only one Bitcoin. Thats what were here to discuss. BIPs that require hard forks are considered off topic. Bitcoin is BTC. Love it or hate it, but no point in debating it. /shrug

This is not Stalinist Russia. There will be no forced apologies, public lashings or reparations. While at Bitcoin 2020, if only for a moment, let the past be in the past; your savage attacks will pack just as much zing on Crypto Twitter after the fact. Very few people attending the conference will agree on 100 percent of things. After all, unified thought doesnt make for a great marketplace of ideas. There are a handful of speakers and sponsors who Im sure will be controversial but all of them have committed to following our ethos, and were convinced they have something valuable to contribute to the conversation.

Maybe it will be while youre listening to a thought-provoking panel, maybe while youre battling it out in the Lightning Arcade, or maybe while youre kicking it in the beer garden with some of your new Bitcoin friends, but at some point, if we do our job right and you come to the event ready to work collaboratively instead of hauling old baggage, you might just catch a fleeting glimpse of the magical world to come.

See you in San Francisco!

David Bailey

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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Welcome to Bitcoin 2020! - Nasdaq

Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya disagrees with Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett on the value of bitcoin, as Buffett declared earlier this week that cryptocurrencies have "no value."

"He is completely wrong and outdated on this point of view," Palihapitiya said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday.

Buffett thinks that cryptocurrencies "don't produce anything" and have zero value, declaring that he never will own anything like bitcoin. He's long been a critic of bitcoin and has described the digital currency as "rat poison squared," a "mirage," and "not a currency."

Although Palihapitiya disagrees with Buffett on the potential for cyrptocurrencies, the Silicon Valley investor said he still greatly respects Buffett on the whole.

"I think he's an exceptional person. I've learned an enormous amount, both from afar and the few interactions I've had with him," Palihapitiya said.

Palihapitiya has long been a supporter of the digital coin, saying "everybody should have 1% of their assets in bitcoin specifically."

"I don't think when you wake up and see a coronavirus scare and the Dow down 2,000, you should not be going in and buying bitcoin. That is an idiotic strategy," Palihapitiya said. "I think a reasonable strategy is to say 1% of my net worth should be in something completely uncorrelated to the world and how the world works. You quietly over some period of time accumulate a position and then just never look at it again and hope that that insurance under the mattress never has to come due. But, if it does, it will protect you."

CNBC's Kevin Stankiewicz contributed to this report

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Warren Buffett is 'completely wrong and outdated' on bitcoin, Chamath Palihapitiya says - CNBC

There is a lot of antipathy and mistrust over bitcoin from the current baby boomer generation which largely doesnt understand the technology. Millennials on the other hand have been brought up with tech and theyre about to inherit trillions.

According to statistics an estimated $60 trillion in wealth will be passed down from boomers to millennials over the next 30 years. Boomers are defined as being born between 1946 and 1964 so an estimated 10,000 of them turn 65 every day.

Ikigai Fund manager Travis Kling posed the obvious question:

Boomers are generally old school investors that prefer traditional assets such as blue chip stocks and commodities, they are risk averse.

This can be evidenced by some of the repetitive commentary from some of the boomer characters on crypto twitter that revel in bashing bitcoin at every opportunity.

They do not understand the technology and do not want to; most of them have already made their millions, some have made billions. A generational paradigm shift is about to occur.

The global economy is in dire straits, that much was true even before the Coronavirus (Corvid-19) outbreak put the world on red alert. Booms and busts are cyclical and the last big one was in 2008.

Back then housing markets started to fall and banks were over lending, allowing people to take out loans at over 100% the value of their property.

Banks were also engaging in trading profitable mortgage-backed securities, backed by home loans as collateral, that they sold to investors. Financial institutions around the world owned these mortgage-backed securities, but they were also into mutual funds, corporate assets, and pension funds.

The banks demanded more mortgages, often lending to non-credit worthy people, to prop up their profits from the sale of these derivatives. The bubble eventually burst so to say that banks caused the last financial crisis is an understatement.

Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996 according to the Pew Research Center so many have vivid memories and experiences from this global economic crisis. Most of them came of age and entered the workforce facing the height of this recession and many are now laden with debt.

Therefore a massive distrust of the banking system which caused this collapse is prevalent among this demographic. This was highlighted by Satoshi Nakamoto in his now famous whitepaper;

The central bank must be trusted not to debase the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is full of breaches of that trust. Banks must be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction in reserve.

It stands to reason then that a large portion of this wealth will not go into the banking system or old school assets, but into a technology that is immutable, finite, and can be trusted bitcoin.

Will millennials drive the next bitcoin boom? Add your comments below.

Read more here:
How Millennials Will Inherit Trillions And Buy Bitcoin - Bitcoinist