Daily Archives: November 15, 2021

A hedge-fund manager who made winning bets on subprime loans back in 2007 isnt too worried about a repeat of that crisis.

I dont believe were in a bubble today, as far as ratios are concerned and leverage in the system is a concern, Kyle Bass, founder and chief investment officer of Hayman Capital Management, said in a weekend interview with the Investors Podcast Network.

Thats because the U.S. has 40% more foreign cash in the system from two years or even 18 months ago, he said. Im a monetarist at heart. I believe, if you increase the money supply by 40%, youre going to have a 40% depreciation in purchasing power, roughly thereabouts, he said.

And while the amount of appreciation in real estate has been unprecedented over the past two years, in order for a bubble to form, its going to have to get to many multiples of peoples income tough with more jobs than people right now.

In ourcall of the day, Bass said he thinks investors should be sticking cash in one crucial place. I think assets, including real estate, are going to continue to move much higher over the next decade because I think the central banks cant raise rates more than 100 basis points, he said.

But as individuals see the value of their dollar depreciate and hes especially worried about hydrocarbons and food inflation in the next year forget bitcoin as the perfect substitute or a great substitute for gold and/or an inflation protector.

Bass said from here on out, its going to be really difficult to make money on bitcoin due to intense regulation he sees coming in 2022 from the U.S. government, followingChinas crackdowns this year.

I think that the blockchain, I think that NFTs [nonfungible tokens], those things are all very much here to stay. Private crypto, I put a question mark by over the long run. Id be careful with that now, he said.

But those who are cashing out are likely buying real estate and land over gold. I think about the tangible benefits and both physical and mental benefits of being outside. I think thats likely to move a lot faster than gold does. Id much rather own that kind of land, he said.

His sweet spot is rural land, where Bass noted you can put a judicious amount of leverage on itand stay way ahead of this insidious degradation of your savings. Hes so convinced of the assets worth that he set up a private-equity firm a couple of months ago Conservation Equity Management to buy land and mitigate environmental impacts from big industrial and commercial land users.

He sees prices of land moving much higher in pro-business and low tax states such as Florida, Texas and Tennessee.

Bass ended the interview with a warning on China, of which he has been a longtime critic. Noting increasing rhetoric, he sees that country invading Taiwan as soon as mid next year. That would put the U.S., its military and everyone else who depends on Taiwan Semiconductors wafer fab in big trouble, especially as the companys semiconductor fab under way in Arizona is still years from completion, he noted.

And dont even think of going near China real estate, as he sees all those highly leveraged developers such as Evergrande 3333, +4.03% getting wiped out, leaving Chinese banks with holes in their balance sheets. He also warned against U.S. investor FOMO [fear of missing out] over Chinese stocks, noting that even if Alibaba BABA, -0.16% looks cheap, its financials are a mystery.

That packed interview can be foundhere.

Read: Resist buying U.S. stocks and Treasurys, Morgan Stanley advises. Heres what its strategists recommend buying instead.

Tyson Foods TSN, +3.55% delivered a beat on profit and sales and launched a $1 billion savings program. And its a big week for retailers, with Walmart WMT, -0.58%, Target TGT, +1.66% and Home Depot HD, -0.42% all on tap.

The Empire State manufacturing index is ahead, but the weeks big data will be retail sales, due Tuesday.

Swedish EV maker Polestar, due to go public via a merger with a SPAC Gores Guggenheim GGPI, +15.38% says its aiming for sales of 290,000 by end 2025.

Austria is beginning a 10-day lockdown of people unvaccinated against COVID-19 as Europe battles a COVID wave. Surgeon General Dr.Vivek Murthywarned of an uptick in cases in the U.S. as cold weather arrives.

The flagship fund ARKK, -0.81% of Cathie Woods ARK Invest has sold most of its remaining stake in online real-estate firm Zillow Z, -0.64%.

American Tower AMT, -4.26% is buying data-center real-estate investment trust CoreSite COR, +3.55% in a $170-per share deal.

President Joe Biden will hold a virtual meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday.

Meanwhile, Biden reportedly could make his Fed chair pick as soon as this week, renominating Jerome Powell or choosing Fed Gov. Lael Brainard instead.

Stocks DJIA, -0.04% SPX, -0.00% COMP, -0.04% are higher to start the week, but other assets, such as oil CL00, +0.66% and gold GC00, +0.03% are down. Bitcoin BTCUSD, -3.74% is cresting above $25,000.

Woman calls police after aggressive possum holds her hostage.

Storms causes swarm of deadly scorpions in southern Egypt, killing three people and injuring hundreds.

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Kyle Bass says the big money has been made in bitcoin. This is where investors need to put cash next. - MarketWatch

It is in decentralization that nature dwells. In centralization, we have seen only masks; we have seen only rogues who deceive fools; charlatans who come to governments to get some money, who send men to war while they go in to plunder their refrigerators with impunity, who plunge them into poverty through taxes, credits and debts, and who force them to pay their bills in exchange for allowing them to continue walking the Earth. That is, after all, centralization: A lot of smoke and lies mixed in the same stove, whose flame is kept burning by the politician who thinks that men are not worthy to govern themselves. In his opinion, that happiness is reserved for small tribes that hide among jungles and mountains, like animals that hide from civilized societies, but that in the long run are discovered, colonized and exterminated by them.

If it is unusual for a politician to exercise power without corruption, it is even more unusual to exercise power without centralization, especially if there is a type of decentralization such as Bitcoin, which bases its transparent and immutable government on mathematics and which, as such, is already mature and strong enough to be ashamed of depending on a government that is not interested in the progress of mankind. Let us remember, of course, that good inventions were never made with the prior authorization of any government, starting with the alphabet, which had to be the first tacit agreement or the first social contract between peoples, just before merchants invented money to represent the value of food, housing or sex. The great inventions were always decentralized, and in order to function they never needed the permission of any human committee, as did the most nefarious ones, such as religion, politics and armed armies, which were born precisely to satisfy the desire for domination of centralized powers. It is hard to understand, for this very reason, how it is that the people today believe they have any kind of voice, when it is clear that they have long since fallen into the hands of the tyranny of centralization, and allow a government from which they are completely excluded to do whatever it wants with their work and their money, to watch over them as it wants, where it wants and as it prefers, and to tell them without any shame whatsoever:

"He who is a skillful guardian of a thing is also skillful in stealing it." Plato, Republic I, 334b

The only Heracles against the economic and governmental monsters of this world is Bitcoin, with all its "decentralized" weapons, which do not benefit any bee without first benefiting the swarm, and which value human privacy to such an extent that anyone can put on the helmet of Hades. The blockchain, as a science related to privacy, does not have, naturally, total transparency; if so, not only its security would be threatened but also its immutability, because it would allow exactly the same thing that gave rise to its birth: excessive government surveillance, an abusive interference in individual freedoms justified in the defense of collective freedoms, more inequality, much more corruption, and everything that is in direct contradiction with the philosophy of Bitcoin.

Secrecy, at least in the Bitcoin blockchain, is not a manifest duty, but one of its main rights, since in it the word privacy means the same as freedom, and the collective benefit is not achieved at the expense of sacrificing any individual inclination. The primary purpose of Bitcoin, like that of any innovation, is to leave beings in the world freer than we were in it, so that whoever wants to reach a certain goal also has the means to obtain it, depending as little as possible on others, spending his days devoted to the art of which he believes himself capable and, above all, without being forced to surrender his freedom in exchange for a simple illusion of legality.

"Truly, nature leaves us free and liberated, but we ourselves bind ourselves, we constrict ourselves, we enclose ourselves within walls, we reduce ourselves in the small and petty." Plutarch, Moralia, 601c

Freedom, unfortunately, is hated in excessively centralized epochs to such an extent that its entire psychology seems oriented to belittle and slander it, causing man to be so bad as free today, that even free he feels and acts in the world as a slave. Free, in all cases, means not moved or forced, without any feeling of constraint: the mere fact of being able to make one's own life an experiment, without any authorization from any man, institution or government. Perhaps all men would be free and equal if they had no needs, but as long as misery subordinates some human beings to others, as long as they act out of strict necessity rather than by virtue of their freedom, as long as few of them belong to themselves, and others must be counted among their belongings, so long, we say, will dependence and inequality exist, and slavery will be a very real misfortune.

And yes, it is true, we know that, in comparison with other ages, the man of today enjoys much more freedom, and that the slave who at night kissed the same hand that in the daytime whipped his back is now a thing of the past; but still we are far from believing, as those addicted to the idea of progress believe, that the man of these times is entirely free by birth, an impartial child of the universe, who goes out to sea without a single wave pushing him back to the harbor. A man who centers his financial freedom in having more and more debts and does not realize that the worst state of affairs is that of one who has nothing that really belongs to him cannot be free at all, for he contemplates the ideal of freedom in its simplest and most caricatured form. Such a man judges freedom not by what he is able to do, but by what he is able to endure, even in the midst of the worst need, and believes that the fact that he has no master is enough to affirm that he does not live as a slave. Such a man makes it his destiny to serve all his life, provided he is allowed to say that he loves his freedom with idolatry: For he can say that because he is free he would serve God, if the devil himself commanded him to do so; but, though he dislikes the yoke, and though he says he hates it, he knows very well that he must bear it.

"However much your name may weigh you down, you are a slave, and not to one man; rather, to many you will be inexorably enslaved, and, bowing your head like a labourer, you will toil from sunrise to sunset for insulting wages." Lucian, On Salaried Posts in Great Houses (The Dependent Scholar), 23

It is surprising, on the other hand, the prodigious number of emphatic speeches that have been made in all ages against slavery among the ancient Greeks and Romans, but it is still more surprising to find that those peoples did not have even one-third of the slaves that Europeans and North Americans still have today. The present lords of the Earth are quite content to think that, had it not been for the Babel adventure, the whole world would speak English today. They are our great democrats, but they cannot tolerate the idea that there is anything beyond the control of their regulatory policies, much less that people invent and use things that make the earthly existence of their bureaucrats unnecessary. Freedom is only freedom when they want it to be, not when others want it to be, and what they have achieved with much effort and sacrifice, with much less effort and at great difficulty they always have to prohibit it. Everything that they have not done to authorize is a moral evil, a criminal action product of the freedom that man has allowed himself to abuse, and, therefore, it must be harmful to the rest of society, which must thank them by obeying and thinking as it has been taught to obey and think.

"Freedom recruits apostles; / But I follow none of them; the coarse game / I know all too well; all want / Freedom for their own gain. / Do you really want to free your neighbour? / Start by serving him... that is the way." Goethe, Epigrams, 50.

Be that as it may, the truth is that those of us who trust in the Bitcoin idea have heard a lot about the freedom of others, but we do not believe that there is anyone on the face of this Earth who has forged one like ours. We know that whatever price is paid for freedom is a good price, that the freest man is the one who has the greatest relative independence of his forces, that he is the one who lives best and desires best and feeds best, the one who is most detached from himself and renews himself. It is because we have learned in time to desire what we must that today we live as we wish, discovering every day that we have barely two seconds in life, and that it is not worth spending them crawling under the feet of any government. If we are to be condemned, we think, let it be for having sought freedom without rest; for having sought from life only what is just and beautiful, pursuing it to the best of our knowledge. What future life could we have achieved for ourselves, had we continued to live the present one for others? Is there a more dishonorable slavery than voluntary slavery? Can anything be attained without first untying the spirit and freeing it; without doing all that is necessary to unleash it?

"The spirit is free by nature, not a slave: it does well only what it does for itself and at pleasure." Schopenhauer, The World as Will and Representation, Supplements, I, 7.

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

See more here:
Bitcoin Offers Freedom In A World Of Slavery By Design - Bitcoin Magazine

According to a leading digital asset management firm, global payments platform Cardano (ADA) is witnessing a surge in institutional investments.

In a new report from CoinShares, ADA nearly tied institutional Ethereum (ETH) inflows last week, bringing its total year-to-date amount to $108,000,000.

Ethereum inflows totaled $17.3 million last week, with Cardano right behind at $16.4 million. The week prior, Cardano inflows were $5 million and Ethereum inflows were $31.4 million.

The newly recorded Solana(SOL),Polkadot(DOT), andXRP inflows are $9.8 million, $5.2 million and $3.1 million, respectively.

With inflows coming into the market for a 13th consecutive week, CoinShares says that recent price rallies may have attracted more institutional capital into the space.

Digital asset investment products saw inflows totaling US$151m last week, the 13th consecutive week of inflows, bringing year-to-date inflows to a record US$9bn. Intra-week prices rises also saw total assets under management (AuM) reach record highs of nearly US$87bn, but closing the week at US$83bn.

Bitcoin (BTC) is below all-time highs in current value and weekly investment inflow, slipping in market dominance, according to the firm.

Bitcoin saw the majority of inflows totaling $98 million, pushing [assets under management] to a record $56 billion.

This is despite its dominance (relative performance) versus altcoins waning over the week.

Despite the overall digital asset investment product market welcoming inflows worth over $151 million last week, CoinShares notes that these numbers are subdued volumes compared to earlier this year.

Although flows have been positive recently, we have witnessed subdued volumes in 2H, averaging $750 million daily versus $960 million in 1H 2021.

Last week, CoinShares revealed that decentralized blockchain Tron (TRX) seemingly came out of nowhere to catch institutional interest. This week TRX saw net outflows, according to the firm.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Tithi Luadthong/FotograFFF

See more here:
Institutional Investors Leap Into Cardano and Ethereum As Bitcoin Market Dominance Drops: CoinShares - The Daily Hodl

Popular Bitcoin ATM operator, Bitcoin of America, has announced their newest location in one of Chicago's hottest nightclubs. Joy District is known for its nightclub/restaurant hybrid. It is located in the heart of River North and has been awarded as one of Chicago's best and hottest rooftop bars. You can now socialize at Joy District with friends and even interact with a Bitcoin ATM all at the same time.

Bitcoin of America is a popular virtual currency exchange, registered as a money services business with the United States Department of Treasury (FinCEN)(RegNum). Bitcoin of America is known for ensuring a fast and hassle-free transaction, while providing top of the line customer support. Bitcoin of America is looking to provide their customers with a fast and easy transaction process, while securing the best rate in the market. They are headquartered in Chicago and have locations in most major cities across 31 US states.Bitcoin of America also offers online trade, a wallet and mobile app, and agent locations.

To date, Bitcoin of America has 30 plus Bitcoin ATM locations across the city of Chicago. You can find a majority of their locations in convenience stores, liquor stores, and 24-hour gas stations. This new location is changing the way that most people think about interacting with cryptocurrency. It is rare to find a Bitcoin ATM in a social setting like a nightclub, but Bitcoin of America is finally making this all possible.

Bitcoin of America is always looking to provide convenience to their customers. Their newest Bitcoin ATM location at Joy District also operates as a traditional ATM. Customers have the option to either withdraw cash or choose the cryptocurrency of their choice. Bitcoin of America is looking to change the way that they interact with their customers by making their Bitcoin ATMs more accessible. They launched their all-new universal kiosk this year.

There are 3 total functions that these kiosks offer. The first is the traditional ATM feature where customers can dispense cash from a debit card. The second function is being able to buy cryptocurrency with cash. The last is that customers can sell crypto in return for cash. They are hoping that these kiosks will help make cryptocurrency into more of a daily normality. What makes these locations so convenient for customers, is that often times there is a need to take out cash beforehand. Now customers have the ability to do it all at one location. Bitcoin of America has also explained that these universal kiosks are great for merchants who typically have a Bitcoin ATM and traditional ATM sitting next to each other because they are able to free up floor space.

Bitcoin of America has made a large footprint when it comes to bringing cryptocurrency to the City of Chicago. They announced in early October that they are now the official entitlement sponsor of The Chicago Blackhawks Post Game show. In August of this year Bitcoin of America also announced that they would be working with WGN Radio Chicago. WGN even added a daily Bitcoin price update sponsored by Bitcoin of America. They are hoping to bring awareness to cryptocurrency by promoting it across all platforms. Bitcoin of America has also been vocal about providing more free opportunities for the public to learn the basics of cryptocurrency and bringing more women into the industry.

Bitcoin of America is looking to places more locations similarly to their newest addition. They even offer a host program for any business owner looking to get involved. Bitcoin of America provides a fully automated, turnkey opportunity for businesses to make extra income by hosting a cryptocurrency exchange. The surprise to many is that all of this comes free of charge when you host a location. Bitcoin of America takes care of everything from maintenance to marketing. All of their locations receive a monthly ad budget on Google and 100+ business directories. With all of this increased marketing, Bitcoin of America mentions that it has led to increased foot traffic as well. There is also a chance for a wider network of customers, as locations are being advertised in new places. Bitcoin of America offers 24/7 customer support to both the host and to the client. They even take care of all maintenance and installation services for the hardware required to run a local bitcoin exchange.

Bitcoin of America is also hoping that their point-of-sale system will allow for locations like Joy District to begin integrating cryptocurrency into their businesses. The POS system allows stores to start accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Similarly, to hosting an ATM, the, cost for this is zero. You even get the same advantages: free advertising, marketing materials, and passive income.

Excerpt from:
The Future of Nightlife Is Here: Bitcoin of America Adds Bitcoin ATM to Joy District Chicago - Crain's Chicago Business

The political and economic sun has been rising in the East over the past century with China playing an increasingly important role in global geopolitics. Despite this trend, I have long been skeptical of Chinas centralized and autocratic governance structure, and 2021 could be a monumental year, exposing the frailties of excessive control. If Bitcoin proves to be as important a technology as I think it is, then the CCPs decision to ban bitcoin mining could prove to be the biggest geopolitical faux pas of the next decade. In summary, while decentralized Bitcoin has displayed its resilience to regulation, bans and decreased the probability of a 51% attack, centralized China may have handed a critical technology of the future to its peers.

The U.S. and China have been at loggerheads in recent years with flashpoints over controlling companies, tariffs and trade, Xinjiang, the Olympics, coronavirus origins, Hong Kong, spying, Huawei, Taiwan, the South China Sea, TikTok and WeChat, Tibet, and so on. Hopefully the worlds two largest nations do not end in a hot war, but they will likely remain in a cold war for many years to come as the U.S. withdraws from its position as global hegemon, China rises in the East and we jostle for a new world order. Despite all this conflict, the geopolitics of bitcoin mining has fallen under the U.S.-China radar.

Most people do not properly comprehend Bitcoin let alone politicians and mainstream media outlets so ignorance of Bitcoin geopolitics is unsurprising. But just like Bitcoin is growing in financial and economic importance, so will its geopolitical significance.

There is a fascinating geopolitical shift underway in Bitcoin where power is shifting from the East to the West.

China and the U.S. are both trying to exert control over their populations. The Chinese centralized apparatus is far swifter and more effective than the U.S. Some would argue there are benefits to the Chinese approach like fighting the COVID-19 pandemic but there are certainly consequences too. While China is turning away bitcoin miners, Western entrepreneurs are capitalizing and entrenching this industry in the West.

We have established over recent quarters that Bitcoin is a powerful technology with immense potential for the world. The future is uncertain, but a digital, decentralized, secure and scarce asset has the potential to be a cornerstone of a new digital financial infrastructure. With each passing cycle, the probability that Bitcoin has a role to play in global financial infrastructure increases and smart individuals, institutions and funds are securing their exposure to the network.

Miners are a critical component of the Bitcoin network; they secure the network and process transactions. At the start of the year, China sat in the kingmaker seat in this industry with approximately 75% of global bitcoin mining resources. This dominance was potentially a powerful tool for the Chinese economy. Yet in Q3 2021, China decided to ban bitcoin mining. Rather than tax, coerce or confiscate the equipment, miners were allowed to leave China en masse in Q3 2021.

The reasoning for Chinas decision is uncertain but what we do know is that it would be very difficult to execute this type of blanket ban in a moderately free country. Imagine your country wiping out an industry at a whim. The U.S. is struggling to pass an infrastructure bill; how are they going to pass a ban on an asset they do not even understand? I wrote more about this in Worried About A Ban? Then You Need Bitcoin More Than You Think.

The Western world is far too swayed by tax revenue, fear of making mistakes and immediate political pressures to implement a blanket ban on bitcoin mining. By contrast, China is only able to implement a ban because it is centralized and autocratic. I expect this rash centralized decision could be the biggest geopolitical faux pas of the next decade, ceding technological power and resources to global peers.

Not only do miners secure the network, they convert energy into a digital monetary network, which has potentially profound implications for the broader energy industry. I recommend reading Nic Carters recent article Bitcoin Mining Is Reshaping The Energy Industry And No One Is Talking About It for more information . I also covered much of this ground in The ESG Solution.

1) Miners can utilize energy at times when normal consumers have low demand. Often this energy is wasted because we do not have a cost effective means of large-scale energy storage nor long-distance transportation.

2) Miners can provide a base load for intermittent electricity producers. Renewable energy producers are often the most intermittent, so miners can support renewables investment and ESG goals.

3) Miners can make an energy grid more robust because they can also be turned off if energy is required elsewhere.

Source: CBECI

China has just handed over one of the most exciting new industries to the rest of the world. Miners have relocated across the globe, and the U.S. has been the biggest beneficiary. Most U.S. politicians probably have no idea what is going on, but some do. I know Ted Cruz is not everyones cup of tea but listen to this interview he gave on bitcoin mining. I think he understands a thing or two about the potential positive impact mining could have in America.

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

Read more here:
Chinas Bitcoin Ban Is The Unnoticed Geopolitical Event Of The Decade - Bitcoin Magazine

In a moment of balance and strength, I felt my muscles stiffen, the pressure against my right triceps increasing. Flirting with gravity, I engaged my core like I had a hundred times before, raised my hips a little higher, and started angling my upper body towards my friend. I looked at him with a labored gaze before I remembered my many teachers' endless insistence that I smile. With equal part astonishment and equal part disbelief, he muttered that he could never possibly do that: "That's impossible. You are just so flexible!"

The great mistake in that sentence is the word are: it took me five years to reach that yoga pose, and only in the last 12 months or so was I strong enough to finally experiment with the arm balance we were exploring. There was no static "are" involved, no fixed description that somehow belonged to my being or inscribed in my genome. Combining the balance, the strength, the flexibility, and the concentration required to hold my body in place was no mere accident or circumstance. For hours on end, day after day, week after week, I had put my money where my mouth was or rather, body where my yoga mat was and endured. I had put in the work that over time resulted in a body capable and strong enough to hold a complicated arm balance.

What the Bitcoin networks proof-of-work so neatly captures about reality is that nothing valuable in our world comes from nothing; nothing worth having can be had by the waving of magic wands. You must put real-world resources behind the computer network that powers bitcoin, for a randomized yet pre-programmed chance at receiving some new coins. Let there be light, said God allegedly and nobody else ever. This isnt just true in the ethereal world of digital money, but in probably every endeavor worth doing.

Wherever I look these days, I see proof-of-work. The skills that people have acquired are their proof-of-work long arduous hours before a computer coding, in a simulator trying to fly an airplane, in a baking hot sun laying bricks upon bricks, or in apprenticeships or training that teach you how to safely lay electrical wires or perform open-heart surgery. The humongous podcast catalogues that this or that podcaster has, or the astonishing output that certain writers have run up, are proof-of-work. The relationships people have cultivated, with their friends and families and lovers, are proof-of-work. All of them included different ingredients, came into existence in different ways and with different starting points, but all required nurturing to flourish. They exist, and flourish, because their participants have put work into them.

All of us are given very different starting points in life, and sometimes anothers raw talents seem altogether unfair. That guy had a head start; this dude lucked out; that family had financial resources; those people had better genes. Often, we see ourselves as uniquely disadvantaged compared to someone else or some ideal life we might imagine that others lead. Even so, very few people can succeed with raw talent or ability alone: even the most talented basketball player needs hours and hours on that court; the baseball batter with the most perfect build needs to hone that hitting ability into perfection.

Nobody gets anything for free, not even the Bitcoiners who stumbled onto the worlds best performing asset way before it was cool. They faced challenges of their own that us latecomers never had to: they doubted the entire project, more than once every time something bad happened or their underdeveloped markets dropped 80%. They had to learn on their own, rather than follow podcasters and how-to guides for everything. They had to invent, circumvent, or build the technical and financial infrastructure that the rest of us take for granted today. Yes, the ones who grasped the importance of bitcoin in the early days, and put in the mental and practical work required, have been richly rewarded but they also faced challenges to their diamond hands that the rest of us could hardly even imagine.

Deep friendships dont drop from the sky, but require long and hard work. Beyond the youthful relations that bloom during intense summers or first semesters at college, the enduring friendships we grown-ups have nurtured remain precisely because we maintain them. With our best friends, we've gone through rough patches, dealt with hard times, shared accomplishments, and put in the hours needed when either they wanted it or we needed it.

Soul mates, lifelong companions, and other idealized descriptions of love require even higher amounts of devotion and negotiation. They take time to develop, and not just days and weeks and years but time spent together, exploring, improving, attempting, and yes, negotiating. Successful relationships are proof-of-work. Its hard to carve out an intimate life with another person, harder the more stressors of politics, societal divides, and financial hardships surround them. One does not simply swipe right a few times and effortlessly find their perfect life partner: however well-matched you are, it takes work time, attention, commitment, vulnerability, and plenty of sacrifices. Its the proof-of-work that matters, not the proof-of-accident or fleeting attraction.

There is but one proof-of-steak I endorse in my life the pictures of my carnivore(-ish) meals that I send, not to Instagram as my fellow millennials might have, but to my shitcoiner friends (always with a comment about staking). And even this proof-of-steak is technically proof-of-work, because you need to source it, earn it, make it, and most importantly: commit to it before it starts building you into the stronger human being for which steak is intended.

My generation was raised, intentionally or not, with the opposite mentality a proof-of-stake mentality, where our mere existence conveyed rights, benefits, and well-being. Every one of us spoiled snowflakes were unique and perfect the way we were, and now are, and tomorrow will be. Whatever we feel is real, whatever delusion we have incorporated lately must be unquestioningly accepted by everyone else. We cannot be exposed to any sort of risk, in case they traumatize us or hurt our precious feelings; horrific ideas of other people cannot be allowed in our midst.

Its no surprise that a generation of proof-of-stake later, we're all coddled and compliant, naive and credulous, unhealthy and stupid. It's no wonder we trust our monetary overlords more so than our own interactions with the world: the top stakers in our fiat proof-of-stake system say that something is, then surely who am I to object?

Everything important in life requires you to focus, to work diligently toward the thing you desire. You will face set-backs; others will do better than you; and you will wonder why on Earth you even try. Before you actually get around to pressing that buy button, do that bitcoin-paying gig, or mine those first sats, you get nothing.

Everything in the world requires work physical, mental, or financial. What we are isnt fixed, and at the bottom of bitcoins promise to the world lies the promise that work rewards and discipline matters. Everyone gets bitcoin when theyre ready, or intellectually open to it; everyone thus gets the bitcoin price and allocation they deserve.

You dont get things for nothing; You must put in the work before you reap the rewards. Bitcoin teaches us that. Until very recently in our societies, reality taught us that too.

In time, perhaps it can once more.

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

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Like Bitcoin, Everything Important Is Proof-of-Work - Bitcoin Magazine

According to Invesco Asset Managements presentation, the underlying fund, Invesco CoinShares Global Blockchain UCITS ETF, aims to achieve the performance of the CoinShares Blockchain Global Equity Index. The latest review document published by the index provider (CoinShares) states that the index aims to offer exposure to listed companies that participate or have the potential to participate in the blockchain or cryptocurrency ecosystem.

The review document further adds, During the quarter ended October 2021, the CoinShares Blockchain Global Equity Index generated a total return of 12.9%, in comparison to the MSCI World Net Total Return Index, which generated a total return of 3.8%. This strong quarter was primarily driven by a resurgence in crypto prices. However, although crypto prices overtook their April 2021 highs, stock valuations have not returned to the elevated levels seen in the first half of the year."

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Invesco CoinShares Global Blockchain ETF has a size of $1.075 billion and is domiciled in Ireland. It was launched on 8 March 2019. Since inception, the ETF has delivered 238% in absolute terms compared to the 1,572% return delivered by bitcoin.

However, the ETFs broader universe of blockchain and tech companies also makes it less volatile than bitcoin. When bitcoin nearly halved from around $60,000 to $30,000-odd levels from March to June 2021, the fund took a hit of just about 20%. However, the fund is more volatile than a broad equity index.

According to the funds presentation, its one-year standard deviation is 31.1% compared to 11.1% for the MSCI World Index. Bitcoin, on the other hand, has a one-year standard deviation of 75.5%, said a senior financial services executive, who declined to be named.

The Invesco ETF has a mix of crypto-related stocks and companies that are in the broader tech space. The ETFs largest holding (4.83%) is Coinbase Global Inc., a US-based cryptocurrency exchange. Its second largest holding (4.34%), GMO Internet is a Japanese company engaged in businesses such as internet infrastructure, online advertising and media, internet finance businesses and cryptocurrency, according to its website.

Around 65% of the ETFs portfolio is in blockchain-related companies and 35% is in companies providing broking services, mining operations or are crypto asset exchanges, or provide financial services, says the executive mentioned earlier.

The fund counts among its holdings providers of technology, technology hardware, software, systems, networking, financing projects; companies like IBM (one of the pioneers working in enterprise blockchain space), Oracle, Intel, AMD, Samsung Electronics, NTT Data Corp, Taiwan Semiconductor, Qualcomm," he said.

The Invesco India presentation points to the increasing adoption of blockchain tech in the world, including India. Blockchain is the technology that enables cryptocurrencies to exist, but it is not identical with them. The BFSI sector is leading the blockchain adoption in India. There are more blockchain solution implementations across major banks and insurance companies," it adds.

A Nasscom report cited in the presentation points to specific examples such as ICICI Bank using blockchain in international remittances and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance using blockchain in claims settlement.

The healthcare sector is also adopting blockchain, it says. Apollo Hospitals is collaborating with Oracle, Strides Pharma and NITI Aayog to build a blockchain solution that will store drug details such as drug serial number, labelling and scanning details about manufacturers supply chain which will track every hand change in the network," the presentation says.

Private companies and government institutions in India are warming up to the idea of blockchain.

As Mint reported earlier, market regulator Sebi has asked depositories to create, host and maintain a system using the distributed ledger technology, or blockchain technology, to record and monitor the creation of securities as well as to monitor the covenants of non-convertible securities, which will be tested from 1 January 2022.

The Invesco CoinShares Global Blockchain ETF FoF is, at best, a limited bet on crypto. The fund does not directly hold any cryptocurrencies. It benefits from rising crypto prices by investing a part of its portfolio in firms related to the crypto industry. The correlation of daily returns of the ETF and bitcoin prices over the past year is just 20%. However, for investors who are curious about this space, this may be a conservative way to take a small exposure to the crypto space.

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Is Invesco's new fund a foot in the bitcoin door? - Mint