The Celsius Network was started with the foundation of a great idea, to improve upon the existing financial institution’s model. They have brought the traditional interest bearing account to cryptocurrency. You can securely hold your coins and receive interest on them. Their network is simple, trouble-free and accessible to all crypto users no matter their level of experience with digital currencies.

Their founder, Alex Mashinsky, has stated that the Celsius Network was merely positioning themselves at the right place at the right time. They were capitalizing on a need that hadn’t been met by any other service within the crypto space. Celsius is a bridge between centralized finance, CeFi, and decentralized finance, DeFi. Mashinsky himself is both excited and passionate about the crypto industry and the growth coming out of it. This enthusiasm for the tech and his product is certainly reflected within Celsius. In the words of Alex, “The world needs banking. It does not need banks.” 

An average interest rate for a bank account in the United States is anywhere from 0.01-0.6% annual interest. On just Bitcoin, one can earn 6.25% interest on the Celsius Network. They offer interest on a whole selection of cryptocurrencies, as well as stablecoins including, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV), Zcash (ZEC), OMG Network (OMG), TrueUSD (TUSD), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Paxos (PAX), PAX Gold (PAXG), DAI (DAI), Celsius Tokens (CEL), 0x (ZRX), Tether (USDT), TrueGBP (TGBP), TrueAUD (TAUD), TrueCAD (TCAD), EOS (EOS), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Binance USD (BUSD), Kyber Network (KNC), Chainlink (LINK), Livepeer (LPT), Matic Network (MATIC), Synthetix Network Token (SNX), Uma (UMA), Uniswap (UNI), Decentraland (MANA), Compound (COMP), and Aave (AAVE). Celsius is always looking to offer new cryptos or tokens on their network. Some of the upcoming offerings include Yearn.Finance (YFI), Curve DAO Token (CRV), Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), Polkadot (DOT), and Cardano (ADA). If that selection wasn’t enough, take into consideration that Celsius’ customers, Celsians, can earn from 10.5-12.5% interest on stablecoins, and on select tokens can earn up to 13.99% interest! Try and find a bank that will do that on your dollars (USD). I’ll save you the effort; you won’t find one. 

Celsius doesn’t just offer interest on your crypto, however. The platform offers the ability of borrowing much like a traditional bank. Those who wish to gain interest place their tokens on the Celsius Network, and those coins are used as liquidity for those who wish to borrow. For those who wish to apply for a loan, you can find an explanation for that process here. Celsius also offers borrowers the ability to pay their loan back in Celsius Tokens (CEL) at up to a 30% discount on interest payments. For further questions about loans on the Celsius Network, check out their website, or send an email to loans@celsius.network. 

A question always asked is, “Why should an individual choose Celsius over a competitor, ie. BlockFi. There is a definitive answer and many may be surprised with the facts. Celsians earn 50% more interest on your crypto and over 50% more interest on stablecoins. The Celsius Network has never been compromised or hacked, whereas BlockFi has and this is publicly known. Check out this CoinDesk article detailing BlockFi’s breach of security. Celsius offers excellent security for its customers accounts and ALWAYS has Celsians’ best interest in mind in all that they do. Celsius has over $2billion on their balance sheet, whereas BlockFi has less than $25million. Celsians have received 5x more interest than the customers of BlockFi. The Celsius Network is fully financially compliant with regulators in over 200 countries around the world, and is a financially transparent platform that has been audited by Chainanalysis. 

The Celsius Network isn’t just an option for an interest bearing account. Celsius is THE best option. They’re always looking out for the little guy, and you won’t find a platform out there that is offering their services and their level of fulfillment to their customers. I encourage you to check out their website, Celsius.Network, and do research of your own. They also offer a user-friendly mobile app available at Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Times are changing ever quicker. Industries are being over-hauled by technology and innovation. With the pace ramping up, its easy for investors to remain in their old habits. Those old traditional ways may just cause you pain. With a new digital age and technological advancements, one needs to be agile enough to move with the trends.

ARK is an investment manager that is seeing the whole picture and the growth within it. They choose to focus their attention on the innovation within industries that are spurring disruption. As stated on their website, ARK recognizes, “that innovation demands a dynamic approach.” By viewing the big picture and how its unfolding, ARK is able to readily analyze industry and see the points at which the tech is communicating and building bridges between markets. Combining the traditional means that finance would deploy alongside their disruptive tech model. ARK’s approach brings greater perspective, as they don’t see industry as individual pieces, but more as pieces that are interlocking and working together.

Cathie Wood founded ARK for two main reasons: to focus on disruptive innovation and for their research to be transparent. This positions them as an asset manager that leads the way in educating investors by sharing their thesis openly. Describing ARK, Cathie has said, “We’re all about finding the next big thing. Those hewing to the benchmarks, which are backwards looking, are not about the future. They are about what has worked. We’re all about what is going to work.”

In a recent webinar titled, mARKet Update, the analysts at ARK spotlighted some industries and factors within the world economy that they are currently keeping an eye on. They began with the idea that an ability to save gives one the ability to invest. Investment then leads to growth and production. First taking a look at the current political atmosphere, ARK differentiated between what a Biden victory might look like vs. a Trump victory. They explained that a Biden victory could mean investment moves outside the United States and into foreign countries. Whereas, a Trump victory more than likely would leave most investments within the U.S. This would bolster the U.S. economy and make it more competitive on a global scale by diversifying industries within the country.

Moving on from the election and into the debt crisis facing the globe, ARK analysts pointed towards the share buybacks that have become quite well known. This activity increases share price for the short term, but by not increasing the quality or innovation within their product, a company hollows or cannibalizes itself in this way. Without new competitive products on the market, a company begins losing market share. This behavior is happening all throughout the world, and the increasing advancement within technology is only devouring these companies quicker.

Disruptive tech is not a new thing. We seen the tech unicorns like Uber, Lyft, AirBNB, and Door Dash all take over market share and they do it through software. No need for physical infrastructure or locations to be built. These businesses take advantage of the already existing structures and allows individuals to monetize them. Fusing the gig economy with the organization and resources of big business.

Technology moves exponentially and those making it accessible have thrived in our current conditions. As remote work proved viable for many businesses, Slack has allowed employees to communicate, but also has connected companies together so they can work more cooperatively. More access to television has also been a trend. Amazon building a network within its Alexa, Fire TV, and Prime Video. Roku has also expanded their reach. By partnering with TV manufacturers they lowered costs by having the TV’s already loaded with the Roku software. No accompanying unit needed.

The push in this digital direction only increases when you take into consideration companies like Square who are disrupting the financial world. No physical locations needed, users control, hold and manage their own funds through means like CashApp. Square aggregates data from their Square terminals which are used by many small businesses. This gives them a greater picture of the market and how to act within it. That then better informs their financial products. Competitors like WeChat and WhatsApp are pursuing much similar models. This begs the question, if the individual can control their own value, do we even need banks anymore? Finance also then is consumed by software. ARK foresees financial giants like JP Morgan to be the survivors of the banking world. Akin to what Wal-Mart did to retail stores, JP Morgan may be all that remains of brick and mortar banks in the coming years.

Tech will eat finance and then soon after work itself. Automation is a quickly growing industry. Not only within manufacturing, but also within other services. Self-driving cars are the next to be put to work. If a car can drive itself, will one need to call a taxi or Uber driver in the future? No, you’ll call up the car itself to your location for pickup. TESLA has shown interest in that particular sector. If one makes and owns the cars, they not only have and own the cars, but also the software that is the secret sauce. With automatic updates over the air, this places TESLA at a high advantage.

ARK has many more updates scheduled. You can catch the next one on November 10th. They are always at the forefront of what’s next. Not just that, but they explain the movements causing that trend to occur. It was great hearing their insight and I encourage everyone to follow them on social media and catch one of their mARKet Updates.

Blockchain was created to exchange digital value. Whether that value is within data or of a monetary nature, blockchain transfers the value efficiently and securely. The current leader in the space of decentralized finance, the Ethereum blockchain (ETH), is showing much promise, but is held back by a couple weaknesses. The ETH network has been experiencing congestion over the last several months. This is both a wonderful problem to have, but needs fixed sooner rather than later. You do, of course, want adoption and interest in your network. Brought on by the DeFi crowd, ETH transaction times are longer, and the fees per transaction are much higher. This is not efficient. There are means to enhance the Ethereum blockchain and remedy the current problems though.

Layer-2 solutions help streamline a network by aggregating transactions into a more effective framework for validation. Think of ETH as a highway. The participants within the network are sending their value down that highway, but the lanes are narrow. Traffic is slow. Layer-2 brings some order to this by consolidating transactions together. The OMG Network has shown themselves as a leader in these scaling solutions.

Through compressing or bundling transactions together, the OMG Network saves data and space on-chain. With more space on-chain, the network isn’t as bogged down so transactions move much quicker and those fees are much cheaper. By utilizing ETH’s immutable smart-contracts, all value is moved securely. ETH moves roughly 14 transactions per second, and the OMG Network scales ETH to thousands of transactions per second. The efficiency gained through what OMG offers makes fees 3x lower than that of the ETH network. With the current atmosphere of DeFi and NFT hype, solutions like this would be a blessing for all participants involved.

Its been known since CryptoKitties that Layer-2, that the OMG Network has been needed. With the interest and demand in the space, now seems to be the prime time for Layer-2 and the OMG Network. The next era of Ethereum is around the corner. Bitfinex, one of the largest exchanges by volume, has already integrated Tether (USDt) on the OMG Network. OMG will prove itself. Its lean. Its fast, and will help farm all your favorite food tokens with great ease. I can see it. We are close.

For more information on the OMG Network and what they are building, I suggest watching a recent Fireside Chat with OMG Network CEO, Vansa, CTO, Kasima, & COO, Stephen for a sense of the direction this network is moving and what challenges they are overcoming for the Ethereum Network.

The COVID pandemic caused masses of people to begin shopping online and engage businesses with contactless payment methods. Some businesses have even began to go as far as to not accept cash any longer. This is in part because they don’t wish to spread the virus, but there is also a shift throughout the world towards digital currency. How is paper fiat being overturned by its digital counterpart?

Humans have always naturally moved towards efficiency. The efficiency accompanies innovation. Most things in the world, like water, will move towards the path of least resistance, and trade on a global scale will be no different. A frictionless method to transact trade is needed more than ever. The U.S. continues to weaponize its world reserve currency via sanctions, censorship within the SWIFT system, and delegating credit lines to only the countries closest to the U.S. They are keeping a tight grip on the dollar currently while much of the world is pleading for the paper bills.

There is a race going on in the world behind the scenes. Who can roll out their digital currency first and reap the first mover advantage? Who can facilitate the needs of vast sections of the globe? China has stated that they have already began testing their central bank digital currency. Major state banks within several cities in China are testing digital currency wallets. A property within the country has also been rumored to have been purchased with digital currency. The race goes on. They soon plan to implement their currency within WeChat and Ali Pay to push adoption and use forward within the country.

Looking into the future, Beijing has released its plan to become the epicenter for blockchain technology by 2022. However, Beijing is just one of 11 cities across China to announce official plans to work with the technology in the future. Already, 140 government services are delegated unto blockchain technology. Data sharing, connecting businesses to work cooperatively, and pandemic/epidemic control are among some of the most beneficial usecases thus far. It has been reported that a 40% reduction in paperwork has occurred saving so much time and again generating efficiency.

Do you honestly think the United States is going to sit back and let China take the wheel though? Of course not. The U.S. is pressing forward on digital currency too. The U.S. government has put forth legislation so that all banks within the U.S. will offer digital currency wallets to their customers by January of 2021. Diving into this further, in an interview, Crypto Wendy O and Jason Brett discussed VISA’s interest in the digital currency space. Jason explained that VISA, who is involved in so many methods of payment, has also filed patent for a process of digitizing central bank currencies. The patent is based around the Ethereum blockchain for certain, but included infrastructure like HyperLedger within the framework for possible use.

The recent stimulus checks given out across the country only spotlighted how a digital currency could have made the process so much smoother. If every citizen had a digital wallet, the currency could be deposited instantly. No waiting for direct deposit, no waiting for a check in the mail, and the money would be available instantly to spend. The aid the people need immediately in their hands.

Countries aren’t the only ones trying to cash in on the digital revolution. Companies like Facebook and Telegram have also been actively trying to take finance into their own hands and away from the umbrella of the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Dollar. Facebook pursuing the Libra project and Telegram attempting to issue a TON token for use on their platform. This would essentially make the companies banks themselves. All large tech companies will begin moving in this way towards payments, in one fashion or another. WeChat, Ali Pay, Paypal, Apple Pay, CashApp all will seek to cash in on them transaction fees and your purchasing data. Companies like Square able to aggregate billions of data points across their multiple platforms to give them a broader picture of their customers. They then can use this data to more unlock supply lines of credit to businesses that most need it, such as small business. Square’s average loan size is $7000 vs. a traditional bank’s $1 million. By using these data points, they can readily map patterns within rural vs urban businesses, demographics, geographic location and different size of companies to most readily assist their customers. Efficiency and innovation spring exponentially forward when you have the data to draw from.

In these ways, digital currencies will in turn act much the same way making our global economy more efficient as a whole. The truth is in the data, and transacting through digital currencies will allow this data to be more readily available. This gives financial institutions, as a whole, better more refined products to offer their customers. Be it through the size of the credit line, placement within industry, or location geographically, working in these ways will allow small businesses to thrive much like their large corporate counterparts have for years.

So digital currency seems to be the way of the future. China and Russia are after it. The United States is after it, but have you even heard of Bitcoin? Bitcoin is the dominating digital asset right now in the world. It was the best performing asset of the last decade and is keeping pace. The development of web 3.0 is only ramping up as the decentralized tech born from Bitcoin progresses further. Companies like BlockFi are only proving that traditional finance, like banks, are done for. Taking the digital currency model, BlockFi offers an interest bearing account much like a bank. Only without the overhead, physical locations and additional employees, companies like BlockFi can offer far higher interest rates than their traditional competitors. Technology grows exponentially, and the value and adoption of Bitcoin, crypto, and digital currency will grow alongside this development. Gold just can’t be shook just yet though.

Central banks continue to devalue their currencies as our world grows more volatile. Investors have began piling into gold to save their wealth. Gold has been making records as 2.8 million ounces were marked for delivery in May of 2020. Russia and China being the largest producers and buyers of gold in the world. In the last 5 years, Russia has doubled its gold reserves. To continue their break from the dollar, Russia recently passed legislation to allow the doubling of its gold reserves again. Dedollarization is an economic trend that few can afford to take part in at the moment, but as the Japanification of the U.S. continues the dollar will weaken. The stock markets detach themselves even further from reality and safe havens like gold see their rise. At the same time, the costs of gold mining have been very low due to the drop in the price of oil. So gold miners are producing an asset in high demand at a low cost. What to take away from this is that gold miners have performed well, but what this shows is that the cheapest gold is still in the ground. Countries like Zambia have sprung to action. Nationalizing their gold mines, Zambia will own their gold, as currently most mines are owned by foreign countries. This will be another growing trend that will drive the prices of safe haven assets higher. In this digital world, however, Bitcoin has been making significant gains next to that old shiny rock and not just in its price either.

Bitcoin hodlers are not selling. At least 55% of Bitcoin wallets have remained untouched. These investors are only adding to their positions. We are living within a digital world, and so a digital currency will be king. As our financial markets fluctuate, people are flocking towards liquid assets that can be parted with quickly. The banks roaring the printers spinning out that cash, as Bitcoin continually mines fewer and fewer supply due to its halving mechanism. The value of Bitcoin thus driven up as it becomes scarcer and paper money fills the world.

The nature and use of Bitcoin and gold are what attracts people to them as stores of value. The primary function is as a financial instrument. Most other physical assets have a primary industrial use, whereas gold and Bitcoin are used to transact and store wealth. The assets are thought of as unchanging within their central core. The ability to hold these assets yourself should not be overlooked either, but again, within a digital age, Bitcoin is supreme. The efficiency of exchange can not be touched by gold. A Bitcoin user can transact with someone on the other side of the globe in seconds, and that user can also then take physical possession of their Bitcoin. This process would take days or weeks with gold. The rate at which Bitcoin is mined is known. Its total capped supply is known. The number of wallets is known. There are no questions, and again, all this data is available to more readily inform our financial systems. Bitcoin’s scarcity is literally knowable. Never before have we had that in a financial asset. We have no idea the exact number of gold ounces or U.S. dollars circulating throughout the world. Do you see the innovation now?

Bitcoin’s market share is still super small. At around 200 billion dollars, Bitcoin is a drop of water in the pond of 300 trillion dollars invested in assets around the world. With greater clarity comes greater perception, comes greater method, greater efficiency and data derived, With greater data comes a knowing and whole understanding of a thing. Some things are not yet able to come to this point because the data cannot be found. Bitcoin is knowable. There is value in something that is proven. So if I can know the scarcity of $BTC, the circulating supply, the transactions made, there are no questions. Efficiency is gained, and we push ourselves farther forward into the next innovation. Do you even Bitcoin?

Earlier this year, David Burkett, the developer of Grin++, was scheduled to speak about his work on Mimblewimble extension blocks for Litecoin. Like many events this year, it had to be rethought. His talk was to be hosted by Blockchain in the Burgh, a community of crypto enthusiasts, educators, and early adopters. They have monthly meetups in the Pittsburgh area to bring further clarity to blockchain and crypto, as well as spur further adoption of the tech. Since the COVID pandemic, their meetups have been hosted online with the help of Bits and Tokens, a blockchain media company. Broadcasting from this virtual venue, interest was not stifled. A total of 56 attendees were registered for the event August 29 including, Litecoin creator, Charlie Lee.

David started off his casual conversation with us all by explaining the spelling of Mimblewimble, as many have had troubles with this. Mimblewimble is spelled with a capital “M”, a lower-case “W”, and it is all one word. You are now all learned in this art! With that formality out of the way, David got into the juicy stuff. He began explaining the privacy within the Mimblewimble protocol and how it functions alongside Litecoin.

With typical transactions across a network, everything is transparent. The amounts of tokens exchanged and addresses involved are in view for anyone to check upon. With the help of the Mimblewimble protocol, some privacy should be lent to our money and how we choose to use it. No amounts, no addresses, no possibility of linking a transaction to an address, and nothing is learned through the transaction happening except that it is happening. Running on the Litecoin network, Mimblewimble is built as an extension block. It can be thought of as a sidechain, but an extension block is a second layer mined alongside the original block. This soft fork gives the network further functionality.

David went on to explain that the mechanism for enabling some privacy is actually a big piece of code and scales terribly within a network, but Mimblewimble implements a few tricks that actually increase scalability. As transactions are mined within a block, they are joined together in what is called a coinjoin. Several transactions are all placed together so that the boundaries of the individual transactions are no longer visible. You can see there are inputs and outputs involved in the transaction, but can’t discern any links between any of them. A trick that improves scalability on-chain lies within what happens after the transaction is made. The data of the coin being spent is not held onto, but the data of the unspent coins is. This property or feature is called cut-through. Because of this, Mimblewimble networks offer privacy, are cheaper to run and scale far easier. The initial download of the blockchain is also sped up by cut-through. Less data kept within transactions means less data on-chain.

Going on further, David showed how a MW transaction doesn’t function as a normal one would. The sender and receiver work together to create the signature that conceals the transaction. These signatures are a type called Schnorr Multisignatures. Through what is a complicated process, the transaction is again made simpler and in a way streamlined. The network participants work to piece a signature together. This saves space within the transaction on the blockchain and conceals the addresses of the participants. The combined use of a coinjoin and Schnorr multisignatures speeds up transactions verifications, keeps the blockchain lighter, and gives the user added levels of privacy.

David wasn’t shy about areas of MW that can be improved upon. MW is still an early in its development, and David expects it will look far different as time goes on and they continue to innovate the Mimblewimble protocol. He stated that Mimblewimble is not something to be compared to Monero or Zcash. What MW gives is transactions with increased privacy while still having scalabilty. However, He is working towards ways of improving the privacy of the protocol even further. Payjoins, where both transaction participants send coins so the original sender is not known. Dandelion broadcasts which hops a transaction around a network before broadcasting the transaction. In this way the original sender is not broadcasting the transaction and is kept concealed. Payment hubs are another idea to further distance senders and recievers.

The Mimblewimble dev is most excited and nervous about the upcoming testnet that will show MW as an extension block on the Litecoin Network. He said that there are many pieces that have not yet been tested together. So there will be plenty to learn and much work to be done. Most of the work thus far has been on the node side of transactions and verification. The wallet side and creation of transactions is up next, and David expects that by the end of 2021, if miners and community agree, the Litecoin network will be running with Mimblewimble extension blocks with no changes to the miners or the pools.

You can keep up with all David is doing @DavidBurkett38 on Twitter. You can also stay up to date with all the meetups Blockchain in the Burgh and Bits and Tokens are putting together. You can follow them respectively on Twitter, @BlockchainBurgh and @BITSANDTOKENS. Big shout out to Laura Taylor and Rebecca White for organizing this!

If that wasn’t enough, the U.S. also has countries such as, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Russia and parts of Africa wishing to break free from the constraints of the U.S. dollar controlled SWIFT system. With their monetary motives, Russia and the Saudis tanked the price of oil by flooding the market with supply while there was no demand during the COVID pandemic. The U.S. shale oil industry needs oil to stay around $30 per barrel for shale fracking to be sustainable and stay afloat. Although this dump in price did hurt many oil producing nations, they are able to produce their product at a far less cost than the U.S. These low oil prices do benefit much of the world economy though.

The price of oil topped out in 2008, and has been on a steady-going descent ever since. With the addition of electric and autonomous technology growing drastically further, oil prices are forecast to continue to decline in the coming decades. Technology has a deflationary effect on costs over time, as well as, the increased productivity associated with innovation. Electric power eventually will become more competitive with oil. This should flatten the price of oil thus flattening out prices of goods for everyone. Oil has such a bearing on the prices of so many products. So as the energy cost to produce them deflates with these leaps in the energy sectors, the consumer, you, should notice their money going further. This dual between electric and oil also benefits you when you’re the largest manufacturing economy in the world.

China and Iran recently signed contracts for the trading of oil and billions of dollars in infrastructure investment within Iran over next 25 years. This mutually beneficial deal between the two will make upgrades to the oil infrastructure within Iran, as well as upgrading Iran’s anti-air capabilities and bolstering Iran’s manufacturing industry. This strategic partnership pulls oil futures contracts into Shanghai, and thus increases the flow of Renminbi, China’s domestic currency.

Economic incentives are not the only prize to be had for these countries. For China, the extension of the Belt & Road initiative into the Middle East is bigly important. Iran, Iraq and Syria are strategic regional partners. By executing this deal with Iran, China is solidifying a foothold in the Middle East and will likely gain favor amongst the other nations. Iraq and Syria will likely see similar deals from China.

They say to be the best you have got to beat the best. China is manifesting their take over, and posturing to pose serious threat against the US and its world reserve currency. China has convinced vast portions of the globe that their systems are superior to the Western democracies. So we see further friction play out on the world scale between these two countries. However, less than 1% of global transactions across borders are settled in Chinese currency. Literally, China’s biggest setback is when they have to interact with other countries. When you are the largest manufacturer and exporter of goods, that happens a lot. China is then often settling those trades in the most widely accepted currency around the world, dollars. All transactions within their domestic economy, within China, are within their Renminbi currency. However, the Chinese government wholly controls the Renminbi. Most foreign countries take major issue with this, as the Chinese government isn’t wholly transparent with their balance sheets or ledgers. Being so, most countries do not deal in Chinese currency. The U.S. dollar holds its reign on trade, which means governments and banks need to keep dollars in their reserves to facilitate these trades. China produces more than anyone, and so they trade more than anyone. In this way, as their domestic economy within China grows, China must also grow their U.S. dollar reserves to facilitate the growing cost of trade globally which is settled in dollars. With a global economy comes global trade. China has to continue growing their dollar reserves, and when you are trying to become the worlds largest super power, this is a problem, as you have to bend to the currency most widely used.

China has done something quite clever, however. Rather than continually buying US Treasuries which would increase the liquidity of dollars thus aiding the US. China has began accepting dollars within mass amounts for infrastructure projects through their “Belt and Road” initiative. In this way, they are given dollars for the cheap labor they offer, and are literally building and paving their road to being free of the dollar. Within the “Belt and Road” initiative, the countries involved will be settling many trades within Chinese currency. China plans for the long game, and they see what happens to the majority of people with the dollar as king. The dollar is supported by debt. This liquidity and strength the dollar gains from this debt is reaped from the poorest peoples. All too clear within our current crisis, the rich having ready access to that freshly printed money, and the poor are left waiting at the door to figure out their state of things by themselves.

The cryptocurrency space has long been a sphere of many niches and tribes all come together for this wondrous technology that was gifted to us by Satoshi. An ever clearer vision of freedom brought to the people. Without the connection, without the community, the space does not move. The people given the gift carry the momentum of crypto, and our space has many more miles to cover. It becomes then more and more vital to tap back into the community and feed that crypto spirit in our current times.

Westwood 2020 was one of the most significant events of the year, and it wasn’t realized until all the individuals came together for a weekend, for one another. To share a meal with one another, courtesy of Mister Mosti. To embrace and be close with your fellow coiners, thanks to Clint Westwood. This ignites the passion we all have for our futures. The significance of an event like this within our current state of the world was felt by us all on the Westwood Ranch.

Deep in the heart of the Midwest, there’s something called God’s country, and it leaves a lasting impression on you. The beauty to take in as wide as the view of the sky. The breeze through the trees and all the birds from the state there on location to sing just for us, the setting was perfect for an uplifting event such as this. From all directions, the crypto community came together from all corners of the space. Whether it was crypto, finance, political, governmental, or life in general, the breadth of experience and talent was heavily felt. Those differences within skillset and passion cannot be matched, cannot be bested. We are so strong together, and we were reminded of that throughout the weekend.

We were all vibing high on the same frequency. You can definitely feel that when you’re with your people, your family. The Crypto Campfire Podcast, members of Coin Flip ATM, the Litecoin Lisa crew, JMack, Paulie P., Mister Mosti, Soul070, Public Awakening, and the man with the plan, Clint Westwood, were all so grateful for their time with one another. It is not a coincidence the people you have within your life. We all are on our own paths, but universe can bring us together for one cause or another. Its within these crossing of paths that growth and expansion come to a thing, and crypto is no different.

The crypto markets reacted appropriately as this crypto family took time for each other. Bitcoin and Ethereum both pumping with authority. It was a sure sign that when you bring this much positive spirit to one place the expansion it brings to the space ripples outward. New knowledge was shared and lessons were learned at the ranch. A one of a kind NFT was given to all who came to the event. It is in experiments like this NFT that gives us the knowledge to bring crypto further forward. If we aren’t willing to take the time to understand this tech then who will? Someone has to be there to pass the knowledge on and explain these systems. If we, as a community, aren’t willing to come together and understand each other, the space can only move so far forward.

The clarity brought to an idea from participants standing at all different perspectives is something special to tap into. To sit down with your CT family and explain your understanding gives the space a greater understanding as a whole. That person can then take that understanding you’ve given them and add it to their skillset, to their perspective and more readily move this space forward. Each of us goes out into the world and explores it within our own way, but its the communities like the Midwest Adoption Team that then comes together and shares those unique experiences. This is why communities are important and why they are so momentous. The many separate parts of the family walking their own individual paths, but coming together and crossing those paths for the love of everyone involved. This then leads to greater innovation and expansion of the space. This is why you should find your crypto family. This is why fellowship and community are the momentum truly moving all endeavors exponentially forward. I am so grateful for Westwood 2020. We are stronger together, friends. Love one another.

Welcome to the land of QE4EVER. Where the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. The wealth transfer, the inequality has only increased over these last few months. Let’s take a look at where we are, where we’ve been, and how this rickety money driven machine is falling apart before our eyes. The State of the Momentum is swinging ever further.

The year is 2020. The year has been full of volatility and change. The Corona Virus swept its way around the world, and broke further the already failing monetary system within its wake. Countries around the globe frantically reacted to COVID-19. China being ground zero for the virus, they swiftly began lockdowns of major cities and travel. Most countries soon adopted the same strategy. With stay-at-home orders issued for non-essential workers across the globe, the productivity of the global economy all but came to a halt. What answer did politicians and chairpersons of central banks have to combat this virus? They printed a ton of money to throw at the economic stagnation and a crashing stock market.

Do you remember when we were worried about the Federal Reserve lending money to banks overnight through the Repo markets? Do you remember how flabbergasted we were to learn they were throwing billions on the balance sheet to continue bailing these bankers out? Well, billions turned to trillions, and it all fell under the same umbrella of Quantitative Easing. Call it TARP, call it Repo, call it Quantitative Easing, its all the same. The Federal Reserve is printing money faster ever faster, and their corporate buddies reap the rewards from the value they are stealing from you.

The Federal Reserve within the United States alone printed $3 trillion. Yes, trillions. This quickly sent the stock market into a rally like we had never seen. But is money all that’s needed to make an economy go around? Of course not. As soon as the Federal Reserve stimulus topped out and its balance sheet began retracting, the stock market, too, began retracting its massive gains. With the stimulus being injected by the FED going directly into the hands of corporations, this “stimulus” had a rhyme to it all too similar to the bailouts of the last financial crisis of 2008. Except this time, everybody gets a bailout.

With the price of stocks only rising because of the money thrown at them by bonus hungry CEO’s, are the values of these assets actually going up, or is it merely that the dollar is being devalued so quickly that the amount of dollars to buy that same asset increases? When one looks past the FED money printer BRRRRing away before our eyes, one can see that no matter the liquidity, if the cash doesn’t flow out of the US economy then the momentum of the QE is lack luster, and the economy returns to its stagnant complacent self. So what did the FED do? They began directly purchasing assets to add to their balance sheets, and thus the market further detached itself from reality.

A free market determines the price or value of an asset, but if you have an institution buying the assets regardless of their product or performance eventually you have a degrading of the product because the company offering the product seeks to cut costs to make profit. They also become reliant on the institution continually buying their product, rather than focusing on the satisfaction the product brings their consumer base. When the institution, the FED, stops printing, the company suffers and so does the market. Bailouts for everyone!

At this point, there is only so many assets the FED can buy to prop up markets, but they have began bending the rules. They can buy US treasury bonds, mortgage-backed securities, and now corporate bonds via a special purpose vehicle the FED created. So the FED isn’t buying these corporate bonds directly. This special purpose vehicle is which makes it legal. The FED traditionally doesn’t create fiscal stimulus either, but with the addition of extra unemployment benefits, stimulus checks for all, Paycheck Protection Program loans, and bailouts for corporate entities on a mass scale they are entering new territory. Traditionally they would’ve created treasury bonds which are then bought by pensions or countries outside the US, and that money from these buyers is then distributed throughout the economy. Currently the FED is essentially creating dollars out of nothing and distributing them through these fiscal policies or its special purpose vehicle. In this manner, the FED becomes the financer and the US Treasury becomes the allocator or spender.

With debt levels on balance sheets across the globe at such high levels, the traditional means for putting dollars into the financial system is no longer effective because there is not as much capital to spend on the treasury bonds. Everyone’s balance sheets are weighed down by debt. Its taking most of the buyers capital just to service their debts. This is why the FED is having to resort to these new means.

The US consumes more than it produces which causes trade deficits to rise. Traditionally we would really on foreign buyers to pick up the treasury bonds to place within their reserves and as a safe haven investment, but again, balance sheets across the board are strapped with debt, So we don’t have the foreign buyers to resort to. The FED begins to monetize debt to then buy treasury bonds to then issue more dollars.

Since 2008, the FED has not turned off the money printer. Essentially, because it had to allocate capital to banks to keep them solvent. Banks are required to keep a minimum amount of cash reserves. This is where the 2008 bailouts went, the Repos of late 2019, and now we are already seeing signs that again the banks reserves are beginning to run low. With all this creation of wealth, one would think there would be plenty to go around for everyone, but the wealth/income gap only seems to grow greater. The rich continue to grow richer because of this top-down system. The banks lending the money cheaply to the corporations who then buy back their own stock to boost market prices. Thus padding the CEO’s own pockets with bonuses because of their companies stock gains. Essentially, Universal Basic Income for the wealthiest, as they are able to take advantage of the situation, the current crisis. The rich grow richer. The poor grow poorer, as there is less and less purchasing power within their dollar. The current situation is illustrated well within this quote by Frederic Bastiat, “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”

Within the current environment, as you can see, big business thrives, as they continue getting FED handouts. At this same time, small businesses are forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In many cases, the PPP loans were not allocated to those that needed them the most, and again, big business gets a leg up on small business. There has been record unemployment and less incentive to find new work, as many are making more with their unemployment benefits than they were at their job. Many small businesses will be forced to close. They don’t have the demand for their services. Their workers aren’t going to want to return to a job they will be making less than if they sat at home. With less demand within these sectors of the economy, there simply won’t be as many jobs to return to, as the small businesses will have to make cuts to staff just to stay open.

With this reverse Robin Hood game the FED is playing, lower income households didn’t have money for an emergency before this current pandemic. The $1200 stimulus money has already ran out. The extra unemployment benefits are scheduled to end at the end of July 2020. So what is the FED to do, but print more money.

We can call this whole process the Japanification of the United States. For years the Bank of Japan has involved itself within their own stock market much like the US FED is doing currently. The Bank of Japan is more than 100% of the nations GDP, and the US seems to be heading in that same direction. We have seen the effects this has on the Japanese economy and nation. Japan’s economic growth has slowed. Their asset values have inflated giving the appearance of a healthy stock market, but the real market value of these assets has been degraded. You can see this degradation by pricing the market in gold or Bitcoin, rather than in dollars or Yen. In this manner, the stock market topped in 2018, and has since been on a steady decline. The older generations are able to grow their wealth, as the younger generations with less money are having their purchasing power inflated away. A country’s younger generation is the productive part of their economy, but because their money is becoming less valuable they are increasingly becoming less interested in marriage, having kids, and being social. These activities cost money, and they simply cannot afford these kinds of lifestyle choices. The nation as a whole then degrades.

A quick “V” shaped economic recovery should then not be expected. As this kind of recovery is accompanied by a boom in productivity, but with mass amounts of unemployment, small business forced to close, and fewer people seeking employment this idea of a quick recovery is just not feasible. There is a glimpse of light on the other side of our current situation. Productivity generally accompanies innovation which we are seeing the beginnings of in many sectors.

This concludes section 1 of State of the Momentum: A World Market Briefing. There will be more to be released soon on the state of the energy sector, China’s continued growth and assertion of dominance, digital currencies, as well as, the ever higher place gold and Bitcoin are currently being ushered into. Thank you so much for making time for the State of the Momentum. Have a blessed day.

ASCENDING TRIANGLES

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Descending Channel

This is our current channel pattern for comparison.

There are no time indications as to how long price moves within a channel.

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Any further questions or thoughts?? Follow me on Twitter over @Soul070_

This is the channel I referred to. The two parallel blue lines represent the channel, and I believe we will test the bottom of that channel. That bottom line is around $8.4-8.6k right now. As I’ve said, we are at a critical point, and we should wait to see which way the volatility swings. That direction we will more than likely see continuation, but I am waiting for confirmation.

This is not investment advice. This is intended for education and informational purposes only. Only you can make your investment decisions. Only you are responsible for your investment decisions.

Any further questions?? Follow me on Twitter over @Soul070_