Free Republic

Bitcoin’s “halving” is expected to happen soon. But its potential impact depends on your relationship to the coin; it’s likely to affect miners and investors differently. “To the people who own bitcoin because they think it’s a good store of value, this halving is not that big of a deal. But to the miners, it’s a huge deal,” Omid Malekan, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and author of “Re-Architecting Trust: The Curse of History and the Crypto Cure for Money, Markets, and Platforms,” tells CNBC Make It. Miners receive bitcoins, known as block rewards, for verifying and validating...

Hi Ho Silver (and Gold)! Gold futures prices are soaring and are at $2,422.00. Gold futures prices are up 19.61% over the past year. Silver futures prices are also soaring and are at $29.64. Silver futures prices are up 16.40% over the past year. Bitcoin is almost at $70,000 and is up 133.44% over the past year. Returning to gold, we are seeing another gold breakout, like the breakout in 2008. Even central banks are loading up on gold, silver, and cryptos. Why? Primarily fear of US reckless budgets and exploding debts/deficits (don’t listen to Biden talk about how “he”...

Across my career at the intersection of national security and our economy, I have witnessed firsthand several game-changing technological revolutions. From GPS to the internet and from smartphones to artificial intelligence, our nation’s unmatched capacity to innovate has created unprecedented benefits for the economy and security. Another wave is upon us: Blockchain and crypto offer America the chance to lead another generation of critical innovation, but policymakers must do their part, or this opportunity will slip away. If the Biden White House and Congress don’t provide the support and regulatory certainty this burgeoning industry requires, there is little doubt it...

The world's largest pension fund managing over $1.5 trillion in assets has announced it will explore diversifying a portion of its portfolio into Bitcoin.Japan's Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world's largest pension fund managing over $1.5 trillion in assets, has announced it will explore diversifying a portion of its portfolio into Bitcoin. According to the announcement, the GPIF will solicit information on illiquid alternative assets like Bitcoin, gold, forests, and farmland as part of its diversification efforts. While not currently invested in these assets, the move signals that the mega-fund is actively researching options beyond stocks and bonds. The...

Moscow has been on a drive to replace the use of the US dollar in international trade, but there are barrels of Russian oil stuck at sea due to issues with paying in alternative currencies. Shipments of Russian Sokol grade crude oil to state-owned Indian Oil Corp, or IOC, have been delayed by payment issues, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two sources familiar with the matter. The seller is the state-owned Russian oil company Rosneft. The problem arose because Rosneft unit selling the oil hasn't been able to open a bank account in the United Arab Emirates to receive payments...

Bitcoin surpasses silver to become the 8th largest asset in the world. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1767141335910257021 Here is a link of 18,000 Assets ranked by Market Caphttps://www.8marketcap.com/

The Financial Times, perhaps THE arch-critic of cryptocurrencies over the past decade, has conceded that Bitcoin might just have a purpose. It’s just the latest data point that there is a great shift happening in how people view crypto, from ex-President Donald Trump to Larry Fink. They may not fully grasp what’s going on (who does?), but they sense it’s important. “The bitcoin bulls have been proved mostly right about its prospects as a long-term investment,” Rockefeller International Chair Ruchir Sharma wrote in an opinion piece titled “Once dismissed as fanatics, the bitcoin bulls must be feeling vindicated.” Noting that...

Two crypto influencers on X have called on their followers to snap up Bitcoin BTC, gold and silver, citing the risk of rising national debt in the United States. In an X post on March 11, entrepreneur and angel investor Balaji Srinivasan argued that Bitcoin is the only realistic solution to escape the inevitability of unsustainable government spending and potential asset confiscation. “We’re in the looting-the-treasury phase of imperial collapse,” the former Coinbase chief technology officer told his 994,000 followers. Srinivasan argued that government debt and wasteful spending continue to grow rapidly at unsustainable levels. U.S. national debt is currently...

As technology gets more sophisticated, so do scammers. As bad actors adapt to the times, cryptocurrency scams are becoming a bigger problem, duping Americans out of huge sums, the Better Business Bureau said. In its annual Scam Tracker report, the BBB said investment and cryptocurrency scams were the “riskiest” type of scam in 2023. Scammers are using people’s general lack of understanding about cryptocurrency to their advantage, the Bureau said, promising huge returns on investment for purchasing Bitcoin. One victim, who shared her story, said she came upon a cryptocurrency scam while watching a YouTube video about Bitcoin investments. People...

BREAKING: #Bitcoin reaches new all-time high of $69,420 https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1766123788553404744 Crypto Priceshttps://www.coingecko.com/

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have been a smash hit, helping feed into a frenzy that has sent the cryptocurrency’s price to a record high. Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have been a smash hit, helping feed into a frenzy that has sent the cryptocurrency's price to a record high. Investors have piled into the funds at a historic clip since their Jan. 11 launch, with total assets in the 10 U.S. spot bitcoin funds on the market swelling to nearly $50 billion. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust eclipsed $10 billion in assets Thursday, the fastest a new ETF has ever reached that milestone. Fidelity's...

<p>The twin peaks for the cryptocurrency and the precious metal mark the first simultaneous records for the two since Bitcoin emerged from the shadows more than a decade ago. Yet markedly different drivers are typically thought to move each asset — gold has acted as a haven store of value for millennia, while any Bitcoin role beyond pure speculation is hotly contested.</p>

Bitcoin’s recent rally has sparked renewed warnings from Chinese state media about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies, as interest around digital assets remains strong in the country despite a sweeping ban on crypto mining and trading. A rebound in bitcoin prices cannot “hide” the underlying risks of the digital asset, state-owned newspaper Economic Daily said on Sunday. Wild fluctuations in bitcoin value remain the norm, and cryptocurrencies have yet to enter the mainstream, the article said, adding that regulatory scrutiny of the market remains tight. Investors should maintain a “clear and rational” mindset, it said. The caution comes after...

I was asked a lot of questions by people on FR about what BTC is or ways to learn more about it. I have provided the Source URL above for such a video. Michael Sailor gave slide briefing that essentially started out covering the tope of Money over the past and into the future. Fiat Currencies of the US have depriciated by 7% per year for the past 100 years. 100 years from now a million dollars in a safe will have a purchasing power of only $977, if you put it in the S&P 500, it would still be...

After Jan. 10, when the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first bitcoin exchange-traded investment products, the biggest investment firms jumped into the pool with both feet, jostling one another to offer their clients, big or small, access to bitcoin funds. All, that is, except the second-biggest private investment management fund on the planet, Vanguard Group. The firm has made clear, most recently in a Jan. 24 message to its clients, that it has no plans to offer a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) or any other cryptocurrency-related products. Nor will it allow any such products from other firms to be...

Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch and Wells Fargo’s wealth management arm have reportedly begun offering some clients access to spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Other investment platforms that offer some clients access to spot bitcoin ETFs include Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Robinhood Markets, and UBS. Major Banks Embrace Bitcoin ETFs Bank of America’s investment arm, Merrill Lynch, and Wells Fargo’s wealth management unit have begun offering some clients access to SEC-approved spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. Clients must have brokerage accounts and specifically request the bitcoin ETFs. A representative for Wells Fargo...

Welcome to the Blockchain

Bitcoin blew past $60,000 for the first time in more than two years on Wednesday as the popularity of spot ETFs drove a renewed trading frenzy for volatile cryptocurrencies — and crashed popular crypto exchange Coinbase. The price of bitcoin soared to nearly $64,000 in the early afternoon, nearing it’s all-time high of $$68,789 in November 2021, before falling to around $61,000 by 6 p.m. That marked an 18% increase in the leading digital currency compared to one week ago and 40% bump compared to a month ago. In the midst of Wednesday’s rally, Coinbase, one of the largest digital...

Bitcoin breaks $60.000.00

At a recent special event hosted by BlackRock, high-profile clients and industry participants were invited to discuss the future of Bitcoin. Bitcoin company Swan, one of the participants of the event, shared some important takeaways with its private customers. The event was significant as it marked BlackRock's attempt to promote its Bitcoin ETF among its top clients. The move aligns with the view that BlackRock is preparing to leverage its marketing and sales skills to promote Bitcoin and its ETF product. Senior officials at BlackRock have revealed that they have received calls from unexpected quarters expressing interest in purchasing Bitcoin....