Bitcoin bounced back above $9,000 as debates heat up over its future. John Pfeffer predicts $700K, Tim Draper says $250K, while an MIT proposal to centralize Bitcoin and Bill Harris's criticism raise questions about whether it can stay decentralized.
Questions this video answers
January 3, 2009.
The 17 millionth Bitcoin had been mined (about 80% of the 21 million cap).
21 million BTC (max possible supply).
May 17, 2011 — a claimed block reward of 49.9999999 BTC instead of 50 BTC.
Approximately 1%.
Chapters
The Independent predicted a bitcoin price crash. Reports abounded of a 9 million Kanye West Twitter follower crash. No signs of either. It was all FUD. Kanye west still has 27 million followers and Bitcoin is back over 9,000 following a minor dip after a two week run of uninterrupted gains. Here is your overview of the week. MIT wrote a plan to destroy Bitcoin and it's pretty dystopian. First, a government takeover of Bitcoin, the creation of a Federal Reserve backed coin, AKA fedcoin, and a new blockchain, ahem, Big Brother. It would have financial institutions as the nodes, not P2P networks. Second, a Facebook stealth takeover. Third, make Bitcoin irrelevant by drowning it in a sea of other coins. Facebook coin, Instagram coin, McDonald's coin. You get the picture. So how do we defend Satoshi's dream? Capitalize on its advantage. Bitcoin transactions are anonymous and impossible to censor. But the NSA is already attacking to link people with their Bitcoin addresses. MIT concludes the fight for decentralization was never going to be easy. Investor John Pfeffer goes beyond Tim draper's prediction of 250k saying that bitcoin could hit 700k. But he only gives it a 1% chance of happening. And he doesn't say when. As an investor, what interests us most at this point is that Bitcoin might become the dominant non sovereign currency. So what's his argument? Bitcoin can replace all of the $1.6 trillion of gold and become a more reliable store of value. But Pfeffer has bigger dreams for bitcoin. It could displace the 12.7 trillion in foreign reserves. He calculates that this would eventually lead to Bitcoin hitting 700k. So take his advice and don't be a no coiner. Buy the ticket. Take the ride. Get in. By the time you hear this, the 17 millionth Bitcoin has been mined. A major milestone for the cryptocurrency. This means that about 80% of the total supply has already been mined. Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin on January 3, 2009 and the first million was mined in 2016. Only 21 million Bitcoin can ever be mined, creating digital scarcity. But it will never actually reach 21 million units. Because on May 17, 2011, maverick miner Midnight Magic inexplicably claimed a 49.9999999 block reward and not a full 50. Although the future isn't certain, it's still a worthwhile celebration in the words of one developer. Another million down, four more to go. Bill Harris, the short lived CEO of PayPal, claims crypto is a scam, a colossal pump and dump scheme the likes of which the world has never seen, useless as a means of payment, extremely volatile and has no intrinsic value. Well Bill, we know what you are, but what is Bitcoin? He also emphasized the criminal exploitation of resource hungry mining and ICO scams, etc. Alright, we get it Bill. Being fired sucks. What has Bitcoin ever done to you? I already fired you. Why are you still here? Harris then asserted that even average Joe bitcoiners are basically breaking the law, not paying capital gains tax. Through his rage, dear old Bill seems to be mixing Bitcoin up with other crypto assets and completely ignores the reason for Bitcoin's existence, that is the goddamn 2008 financ crash. Harris was only in the position for a month at PayPal, so it seems reasonable to assume that he doesn't really understand the Internet, nevermind the Internet of money. His successor, Peter Thiel, lasted a bit longer as CEO of PayPal. Thiel is famously a bitcoin bull, not a no coin fudmeister like Harris. If you're watching this Bill, please feel free to watch our explainer videos. Don't be shy. Help is at hand. Crypto exchanges have found paradise Malta, to be exact. The majority of cryptocurrency trading now happens on the Mediterranean island nation. Malta wants to boost its economy by becoming one of the world's most crypto friendly places. Recently, the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, said that it was moving to Malta. According to Morgan Stanley, many exchanges may have users in a certain country, but this is often not where the company is chosen to legally register. While lots of exchanges are moving to Malta, most of them are still based in the us, Hong Kong and the uk. Zhao Changpeng, founder and CEO of Binance, has been on the COVID of Forbes and is worth an estimated $2 billion. But now he's being sued by top VC firm Sequoia over a funding deal gone bad. According to court filings, Zhao and Sequoia entered negotiations regarding a deal for an 11% stake for $80 million. The deal broke down when Bitcoin's price soared last December. Another VC firm, IDG Capital, then approached Zhao with a higher offer. Did Zhao cheat on Sequoia with IDG Capital? Binance, which trades in around $2.5 billion a day, doesn't need the money. What they want from VC firms is help working with regulators to secure operating licenses. Thanks for watching. If you like Kanye West, Press, subscribe. If you don't like Kanye West, Press subscribe anyway. And remember to Hodge.
