Our Seventh Year Anniversary

Happy Birthday to Us

CMC is excited to announce that we are celebrating our seventh birthday today! 

While quarantine birthdays are being celebrated around the world with Zoom parties, virtual cake and off-sync “Happy Birthday to you’s,” we here at CMC are celebrating by sharing with you all the things we’re most proud of accomplishing this past year.

In its seventh year, CoinMarketCap has continued on its mission of making crypto discoverable by empowering users with unbiased, high quality and accurate information for drawing their own informed conclusions. After being founded by Brandon Chez in 2013, the site has quickly grown to be one of the most trusted sources today for users, institutions, media outlets and more for comparing thousands of cryptoassets all in one place.

Announcements

Our biggest milestone in CMC’s seventh-year was, of course, our acquisition by Binance Capital Mgmt. 

Binance — the global blockchain company behind the world’s largest digital asset exchange by both trading volume and users — shares CMC’s vision of making crypto accessible and important to millions of people all over the world. CoinMarketCap has remained independent following the acquisition, and we believe that our common vision of furthering the crypto revolution will only be strengthened by the joining of our forces.

But the acquisition is only the latest in a series of accomplishments from CoinMarketCap.

In November 2019, CMC launched its first ever conference, The Capital, held in Singapore at the Victoria Theatre. Attended by thousands of guests, the conference featured speakers including Circle’s Jeremy Allaire, BlockStream’s Samson Mow and of course, Binance’s CZ.

And once we had gathered crypto influencers and connoisseurs from all over the world in one place, we took the opportunity to announce the launch of CMC’s new Liquidity Metric, a way of tracking how easily a user can transact in an asset on an exchange (as opposed to ranking by volumes, which are prone to manipulation).

CMC also launched a series of other products in the past year designed to further educate crypto users, including listing derivatives markets and creating a platform for comparing how your crypto can yield interest, as well as adding filters to our site so that you can see only the cryptoassets you are really interested in.

We also briefly “released” an April Fool’s day crypto — Toilet Paper Token, which we like to believe brought a little comedic relief to the crypto space during the uncertain times of the start of 2020.

Looking to the future, CoinMarketCap plans on continuing to develop products and finetune our site to create the optimal user experience for anyone looking to understand more about cryptoassets. For example, the highly-anticipated Bitcoin halving set to take place in mid-May is now being counted down by CMC’s very own Bitcoin halving clock, which informs our users when exactly this historic event will happen. 

Have any ideas for what we should put on our CoinMarketCap bucket list before our next birthday? Or, conversely, are you a little ticked off by some of the things that we’ve done while we’re still just seven years old? If so, the anniversary celebration we’ve planned is looking for people like you to join in: read on below!

It’s Our Birthday, We’re Having a Roast, and You’re Invited

We’ve compiled another list here to showcase a different type of CMC “accomplishments” over the years. As a top-of-the-line data aggregator in the crypto world (and the whole financial sector), we’re not tone deaf to the sometimes not-so-favorable opinions the public has of our offerings. For example, that CMC, the absolute best data site, allows users to see cryptoasset prices in almost real-time…but not quite. 

Why CMC Is So Bad, It’s Good

For starters, our website occasionally loads like it’s 1999. Don’t you love feeling that blast from the internet past whenever you want to check Bitcoin’s price?

It takes a grand total of three clicks to view the market pairs on any given cryptoasset. CMC clearly wants you to exercise your finger muscles for certain strenuous activities (*ahem* We were referring to gaming and push ups). And we hide our new features so well so that only the truly hardcore will discover them! It’s called user segmentation.

It’s also sometimes a fun little surprise when you look at prices on our site, and at then the prices on exchanges when you go to trade. The power of information aggregation!

Then you have the option of tracking prices across 300+ trading venues on our site, because everyone obviously uses more than the 30 top exchanges, right?

Don’t even get us started on transparency. CMC clearly walks the walk in this front. After all, our founder gave his speech while wearing a mask and cape while behind a screen while holding a voice-changing microphone during our inaugural CMC conference.

We also know a thing or two about driving engagement and racking up those page views by giving projects a reason to quibble about their “’erroneous” data. Newsflash — It’s a feature, not a bug.

Then, we “forgot” to list the exchanges that Toilet Paper Token was traded on despite it being the top ranked coin on April 1, 2020. Was it an egregious oversight, or a valorous attempt to shield the public from a shitcoin?

Our free premium advertisements can sometimes distract you from checking on the info you are looking to find, but at least they provide you with the most latest and greatest “investment” opportunities. (As a disclaimer, we do indeed vet companies prior to signing advertising agreements, to ensure they’re registered and are not a Ponzi scheme.)

And now, at the culmination of this announcement, we’d like to commemorate and immortalize our seventh birthday by hosting a “Roast.” And we’re inviting everyone in the crypto space to partake in it!

A roast is an internet trend that calls members of a community to dish out their wittiest complaint, insult, or frustration, and hurl it at a target. This year, CMC is that target, and we’re challenging you to bring your best attempt to roast us. Think about what we might have done to offend you or a niche group in the crypto space.

Our goal for this roast is to enjoy the day with the online crypto community, while infusing humor into the space during this unprecedented time. Look for our roast tweet that will be shared from our account and throw us some bait. Or, send out a standalone tweet, mentioning @CoinMarketCap, and use the hashtag #RoastCMC so we can see it! 

Oh, one more thing: We’ll be featuring the top roasts on our website. We hope you take partake in this medium-rare opportunity and join our party very soon. Happy roasting!

The post Our Seventh Year Anniversary appeared first on CoinMarketCap Blog.

source https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/2020/05/01/our-seventh-year-anniversary/

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Crypto Market Trends & User Trends, According to CoinMarketCap (Q1 2020 Edition)

According to CoinMarketCap

As the world’s #1 price-tracking, rankings and market data website for cryptoassets, CoinMarketCap is known for many of its contributions to the ever-growing crypto industry. In this “According to CoinMarketCap” (Q1 2020 edition) report, we present you with our unique insights on how the crypto market has performed and what the notable trends are for Quarter 1 2020 — all through the lens of our proprietary market capitalization data and user insights from our massive user base!

Below is an executive summary of our key findings. If you’re one for the details, download our full report for deeper insights, breakdown by user region and country and more charts!

Q1 at a Glance

As many of you may know, Q1 was a turbulent period for participants in the crypto industry. The start of the year saw a strong demand for crypto, with Bitcoin reaching a high of $10,500 and total market cap hitting $305 billion in February. 

However, as the number of COVID-19 cases skyrocketed and spread around the world, leading the World Health Organization to categorize the virus as a global pandemic, all markets — including traditional safe havens like gold — plummeted before going on to recover in the following days.

• The price of Bitcoin fell a whopping 43% on March 12, touching a low of $3,900.
• On the same day, the total crypto market cap hit a low of $150 billion, 57% lower than the previous month.

While Bitcoin is oft-touted as “digital-gold,” it sold off the hardest, which caused people to question its status as a purported safe-haven asset.

That said, in Q1, both Bitcoin and the crypto market in general have outperformed global benchmarks for equities, like the MSCI World Index and S&P 500.

Today, crypto markets have regained a good portion of their March losses, but they still have some ways to go before they recover to the price levels we saw early in the quarter. 

Within the Crypto Market, It Was a Mixed Bag

In Q1, Bitcoin suffered greater relative losses in market cap (-9.78%) compared to most of the top 10 other cryptoassets as well as the rest of the other cryptoassets as a whole.

However, there were several cryptoassets that gained significant momentum in this grim quarter. By market capitalization, BCH (+10.48%), BSV (+76.0%), XTZ (+20%), LINK (+25.4%) and LEO (+26.83%) were able to come out of Q1 better than they started.

Bonus insight:
Notably, BSV and BCH received a sudden surge in attention; the former shot up 29 spots to become the seventh most viewed cryptoasset on CoinMarketCap, and the latter rose 14 spots to become the 10th. 

Something interesting we noted was a drastic drop in user traffic from China that coincided with the beginning of the COVID-19 global pandemic, also timed with speculations around the Great Firewall and China’s suppression of online citizen reports concerning the pandemic that might have affected access to internet services (see Section 3 in the detailed report for more information).

Amid the mixed landscape in crypto, two other trends seemed promising.

43.24% Growth Among Female Users

Within the female user segment, the Americas and European regions grew more than 50% in users. An exceptional growth of more than 80% in female users was led by countries including Colombia, Venezuela, Romania, Greece and several others. (See Section 5 in the detailed report for a full list of countries).

Growth in Female Users
(Data from CoinMarketCap.com)

46.04% Growth Among Youth Users

In relation to the youth user segment (aged 18-24), the continent of Oceania saw the biggest percentage jump of 151.95%, followed by Africa with 91.47%. Section 6 in the detailed report lists the countries that saw exceptional growth of more than 80% in young users; these include India, the UK, Spain and Mexico among others.

Growth in Users Aged 18-24
(Data from CoinMarketCap.com)

Report Conclusion

It is telling that our data shows how the crypto industry is still nascent and continuing to evolve.

Q1 showed us that the opportunities for crypto market growth do not rest solely on Bitcoin. While Bitcoin dominance holds strong, other cryptoassets such as BSV and BCH have displayed abilities to outperform Bitcoin and global asset benchmarks like the S&P 500 Index.

Seemingly diminishing is the hype around crypto as a fund raising mechanism. From the 2017 boom of initial coin offerings (ICOs) to exchange-led fundraising in initial exchange offerings (IEOs), the viability of raising capital via the issuance of tokens is now at a trough. That said, there is much untapped potential in the blockchain revolution. We for one at CoinMarketCap are in high anticipation of new, innovative solutions that the industry will bring.

It is still too early to foretell the role and fate of crypto, as it could hold different meaning to different groups of people, depending on the economic and social climates in which they live. As shown by our user data, crypto continues to garner more attention from different corners of the world, especially with the growing interest from young (and baby boomer) demographics. As the crypto evolution unfolds, let’s continue to keep an active pulse on it.

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Full Report Download

For more details and charts on the market performance, as well as the breakdown by region and country that spotted immense female and youth user growth in Q1, download the full report!

Here is an outline of the key contents in the report

• Intro: 2020 — A Strong Start, Followed by Massive Selling of Assets for Cash
• Section 2: Focusing on the Recovery
• Section 3: Bitcoin Suffered, But Six Other Cryptoassets Gained
• Section 4: How China’s Drop in CMC User Geography Relates to COVID-19
• Section 5: Strong Female User Growth by Geography
• Section 6: Strong Youth User Growth by Geography

If you like our “According to CoinMarketCap” reports, check out the past editions here!

The post Crypto Market Trends & User Trends, According to CoinMarketCap (Q1 2020 Edition) appeared first on CoinMarketCap Blog.

source https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/2020/05/01/crypto-market-trends-user-trends-according-to-coinmarketcap-q1-2020-edition/

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Blockchain Technology: Government Use Cases

A lot has been said about the possibilities of blockchain technology helping governments and people, but are there any real use cases? Let’s go over some examples that will help you understand how blockchain technology can actually increase efficiency for governments and help citizens in many different ways.

When it comes to traceability, blockchain technology can mitigate risks by identifying and avoiding counterfeit products and supplies. In times of coronavirus, it is of paramount importance to aid through a system that can quickly generate and verify digital identities, so that assistance through cash incentives or food programs can be delivered. The Building Blocks project from the World Food Programme is a prime example of how biometrics and blockchain technology can be combined to assist people. Moreover, digital identities based on blockchain technology enable greater levels of financial inclusion, as there are billions of people that don’t have an official form of ID, nor any kind of access to the legacy financial system.

When it comes to medical supplies and food traceability, blockchain enables citizens to track the provenance of a product during each step of the supply chain. There are many projects using blockchain technology for traceability purposes, and many retailers are implementing permissioned or public blockchain technology, as well as end-to-end traceability. This not only increases consumer trust but also enables wholesalers and retailers to track and quickly identify issues in any part of the production process. 

When it comes to renewable energies, blockchain technology also enables green energy producers to access funding resources in order to deploy their projects. Traditionally, green energy producers have found many restrictions for credit access. By using blockchain technology and collective funding, green energy producers could incorporate green energy to power grids. This would enable token holders to purchase clean energy at below-the-market prices while at the same time providing governments with ways to reduce electricity production costs. Estonia and WePower are good examples of how governments can cooperate to bring renewable energies to a nation-wide electricity grid. In the same spirit, gas regulators can benefit from blockchain implementations by mitigating counterfeit risks from home gas installers. As an example, Argentina’s national gas regulator has given Gasnor, a natural gas distributor for two million residents, approval to pilot a smart contract-based certification platform. Using RSK, a smart contract platform on top of Bitcoin, both the certification and setup process of home gas installations will be much faster and reliable as each step of the process will be deployed through smart contracts. 

City-level governments can also benefit from blockchain technology by mitigating corruption and increasing transparency on the hiring process of contractors and third party suppliers. Additionally, through blockchain technology, citizens could analyze how their taxes are being used on a local level. OS City is an example of how one can make this happen.

Last but not least, central banks can also greatly benefit from blockchain technology. CBDCs would enable central banks to speed up monetary policy transmissions, though there could be concerns related to privacy, confiscation, and negative interest rates. Simply put, many people would still prefer to have paper money. However, CBCDs are just one use case of blockchain technology for central banks. Another interesting (and less controversial) option is using blockchain technology as a mechanism for central and commercial banks to increase the efficiency of internal communications. In this aspect, RSK is also contributing by working on implementation with the Central Bank of Argentina. 

So as we can see, there are multiple ways on which governments can benefit from blockchain technology: green energy incorporation to energy grids, traceability on the supply chain, and the mitigation of typical organization-related issues such as corruption, fake information, and poor auditing tools for taxpayers. 

The post Blockchain Technology: Government Use Cases appeared first on CoinMarketCap Blog.

source https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/2020/04/30/blockchain-technology-government-use-cases/

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How to Buy BTC Before the Halving

How to Buy BTC Before the Halving

Buzz is a-building around Bitcoin right now. Why? Because we’re about to witness an event that only happens once every four years — and something that’s only taken place twice since the world’s biggest cryptoasset was born in 2009.

As rare as an eclipse, a World Cup and your best friend buying you a drink, the Bitcoin halving generates a lot of excitement in crypto circles. It also seems you guys at home are a lot more curious about it. Google Trends data shows how waaaaay more people have been searching for info about this since the middle of March.

Here, we’re going to explain what the Bitcoin halving actually is (you can actually see the countdown ticking away if you click right here)  — and, if you’ve never dabbled in crypto before, take a look at how and where you can buy it… and why some think now is a good time to do so.

Key Takeaways:

• You can often buy Bitcoin using debit cards, your bank account or PayPal
• Bitcoin is fairly easy to buy in the U.S. and the U.K., but there are exceptions
• Watch out for big fees when you’re converting cash into cryptoassets

What Is the Bitcoin Halving?

Let’s rewind a sec and look at how the Bitcoin halving works. In all their infinite wisdom, its anonymous inventor Satoshi Nakamoto decided that only 21 million BTC would ever exist. 

Under Bitcoin’s rules, new coins are gradually released into the market as they are mined, and those mining these new coins get rewards. However, in order to keep the release of new coins slow and steady, the miners’ reward is cut by 50% every 210,000 blocks.

Why Halvings Are Exciting

Okay. At this point you’re probably nodding along, and perhaps you’re tempted to shrug a little. That’s because we haven’t gotten to the most interesting part yet.

The first-ever Bitcoin halving took place on November 28, 2012 — slashing rewards to just 25 BTC at $12 each. But just look at where it was a year later. Dusting off the CMC archives, we can see that prices stood at $1,031.95 on that date in 2013. That’s an annual rise of 8,500%, the types of returns that would cause most Wall Street investors to faint.

A fluke! You say. A one-off! You protest.

Let’s travel in time to the next halving in 2016, when rewards were about to tumble once again, this time to 12.5 BTC. On the date Bitcoin hit 420,000 blocks — July 9, to be exact — one coin cost $650.96. A year later, I hear you ask? $2,518.44. The real yeast in the numbers was just around the corner. On Dec. 17, 2017, Bitcoin ballooned to its all-time high of $20,089. It took just 526 days for growth of 2,990% to be realized.

The next halving in May 2020 is looming large, and the question on everybody’s lips is whether Bitcoin will pull it off for the third time in a row.

It’s fair to say the jury’s out on this one. You’ve got hardcore crypto advocates who say there’s no question BTC will achieve similar growth to the first two halvings. (According to Rekt Capital, that could put us at a ballpark of $385,000 to $400,000 in the short to medium-term.) Others insist the Bitcoin market has matured, that past halvings had one-off factors such as a rise in the popularity of initial coin offerings, and that the cryptoasset’s recent close correlation to the stock markets is a worry.

Either way, it’ll take 12 to 18 months to know who is right.

How to Buy Bitcoin

With the stock markets taking a hammering of late, you might be thinking about diversifying your portfolio to bring in other asset classes. Bitcoin could be an option — but as we’ve seen, it’s not without risks. Prices can reach for the moon and crash back down to Earth… sometimes in the same week.

If you’re looking to get your hands on Bitcoin, remember that you don’t need to mine it yourself. Mining takes advanced equipment and extraordinarily high levels of energy consumption — and in any case, by May, just 2.625 million of BTC’s 21 million supply will be left out there to discover.

Especially over the past few years, Bitcoin has become a lot easier to purchase with your dollars and pounds. Some exchanges can link up with your bank account for speedy deposits. Trading platforms focus on helping newcomers by accepting debit and credit cards as a payment method, not to mention PayPal. On some peer-to-peer sites, it’s even possible to buy BTC using iTunes gift cards. What crazy times we live in!

A Few Things to Remember Before Using Fiat Currencies to Buy Cryptoassets

First up, the fees can be a little nasty, meaning some exchanges could end up taking a sizable chunk of your capital. Sure, trading platforms will be treating some of this as their commission — but more often than not, it’s because they need to cover high processing fees from credit card companies and banks.

Another hurdle to be aware of? Know Your Customer (KYC) checks. These are now increasingly being enforced at the insistence of financial regulators, some of whom are worried that cryptoassets could be used for nefarious means. You might need to provide photographic ID before you’re able to get your hands on Bitcoin — such as a driver’s license or passport — and without hitting certain levels of verification, the amount of crypto you can buy on a weekly or monthly basis may be limited.

Where to Buy Bitcoin (If You’re an American or a Brit)

Exchange	Methods of Payment	Where It’s Not Available	Cryptoassets Offered
Coinbase	Bank account, debit and credit cards, PayPal	Hawaii	Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and others
Binance	Debit and credit cards	Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Georgia, Vermont, Washington	Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and others
eToro	Credit card, PayPal, Neteller, Skrill, wire transfer	U.S. residents who live outside America	Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin and others

If you live elsewhere, localized platforms can also enable you to snap up cryptoassets in your native fiat currency. 

Some of the Most Popular Options

Well-known brands include Coinbase and Binance (disclosure: Binance Capital Mgmt now owns this website, CoinMarketCap). Both of these companies have licenses to operate in the whole of the U.K., and large parts of the U.S. and Europe.

Hawaiians who are hoping to get their hands on some crypto will have a tough time on Coinbase, but the platform is available in all other states. Binance, which recently launched a specific website for the U.S. markets, is currently unavailable in about a dozen states, including Hawaii, Alabama, Florida, New York, Texas and North Carolina.

Binance offers specific websites that are tailored to U.S. and U.K. audiences. While the Binance.us site is designed for American users, Binance Jersey (Binance.je) site is tailored to British and European users. (Note: this refers to Jersey in the Channel Islands… not the state of New Jersey!)

Other well-known services include the likes of eToro. While British users shouldn’t face any restrictions in buying and selling Bitcoin, there are some nuances that Americans might need to get used to. EToro is available there, but U.S. residents who live abroad will be unable to use the service. 

Why is it so hard for Americans to get their hands on crypto? Well, in part, this is because each state can throw up their own regulatory hurdles.

If you’re outside of the U.S. and U.K., don’t worry — it’s still possible to buy crypto. It’s perfectly legal to do so in Canada, most European countries, and in most major Asian economies such as Japan and Singapore. 

Cryptocurrencies are illegal in some countries, so do check before you buy. By and large, you’ll find it challenging to use one of these exchanges if you’re based in Iran, North Korea and Syria, for example.

Buying Bitcoin in 15 Minutes or Less: A Step-By-Step Guide

So… here is a step-by-step guide to buying Bitcoin on the Coinbase app (disclaimer: Coinbase was chosen because the writer of the piece is himself a Coinbase user.) 

The process will be similar on other exchanges such as Binance and eToro. I made my girlfriend, who is also new to crypto, follow the steps below. All in all, it took her about 20 minutes. (Note: this was done in the U.K., so there might be some teensy differences where you are.)

1. Download the app. Make sure you’re getting the actual Coinbase app and not one impersonating it. Check the reviews and rankings to see it’s legit. It takes about 30 seconds to download.

2. Create an account. Type in your name, email and a nice, strong password. You’ll need to verify you’re over 18 and read some privacy notices. If you’re a speedy typist, this’ll take another 30 seconds.

3. Verification time. You’ll then need to verify your email address by clicking on a button that’s messaged to you. After this, a code will be sent to your phone in a text message, and you’ll need to type this into the app. These emails and texts will normally reach you immediately. Two minutes tops for this step.

4. Answer some questions. Financial regulations mean exchanges need to know who you are. You’ll be asked for your date of birth and postal address, and asked a few questions about why you’re using Coinbase and the source of the funds you’re using. This process is straightforward and takes a minute or two.

5. Upload your ID. Next, you need to provide a picture of your passport, driver’s license or national ID. This photo can be taken directly from the app. You’ll get an email when this process is complete, but often it only takes five minutes.

6. Add a payment method. From here, you can add your chosen funding method by pressing the green “Get Started” button. Bank accounts are recommended for large investments, while credit and debit cards are suitable for smaller purchases. If you’re adding a bank account, you’ll be asked to send a small amount of cash (about $2/$2.50) to Coinbase — including a reference number that’s linked to your account. (It’s quite long so make sure you double-check it’s right!) You’ll then get an email once your bank account has been linked, and this can happen immediately. Adding a credit card is nice and straightforward, and just like using a normal online shopping site. Allow five to ten minutes here.

7. Buy Bitcoin. And now, the moment of truth… buying your crypto! Hit the blue button at the bottom of the screen, and hit “Buy.” Choose Bitcoin, and type in how much you want to purchase (remember… you don’t have to buy a whole one). You can make a one-off purchase or buy more Bitcoin on a recurring basis every week, two weeks or month. Select your chosen payment method. Lastly, you’ll be able to review how much Bitcoin you’re buying, and the fees you’re being charged. Click “Buy Now” to confirm the purchase. This final flourish can take 60 seconds, although it might take a few minutes for the BTC to hit your account as the transactions are confirmed.

Ta da! If you sail through all of these steps, you’ll have Bitcoin in your wallet in just 15 minutes. 

Bitcoin: Things to Remember

When you’re scooting across the market for an exchange, there are a few top tips you’ll want to bear in mind.

First off, you’ll want to check out their security standards, as some have faced a few nasty hack attacks in recent years. News coverage from trusted sources can help here. Next, check out whether your chosen exchange offers any resources that’ll help you make the most out of the platform. Step-by-step guides, complete with screenshots, can be invaluable when you’re making your maiden purchase.

Don’t be afraid to compare impartial ratings for ease of use and customer service, and be sure to use CoinMarketCap’s rankings to assess exchanges based on their trading volumes and liquidity. This second metric is particularly important, as it may determine how easily you’re able to convert your crypto into other cryptoassets, stablecoins or back into cash.

Don’t forget that cryptoassets are volatile and can carry some risk. Make sure that you only invest what you can afford to lose. There are differing opinions on how much of your portfolio should be devoted to Bitcoin — anywhere from 1% for a casual investor to 10% for an aficionado. And lastly, remember that you’re liable to be taxed on any gains you make from cryptoassets. With agencies in both Britain and America clamping down on investors, it’s crucial to know your obligations.

This article is intended to be used and must be used for informational purposes only. It is important to do your own research and analysis before making any material decisions related to any of the products or services described. This article is not intended as, and shall not be construed as, financial advice. 

The views and opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinMarketCap.

The post How to Buy BTC Before the Halving appeared first on CoinMarketCap Blog.

source https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/2020/04/28/how-to-buy-btc-before-the-halving/

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La misteriosa “producción” de oro de Curazao

Por Alex Vallenilla / @alexvallenilla

En Efectivo. Desde Curazao a Suiza están saliendo importantes envíos de oro. Se trata de oro fundido, no bancario o monetario. Oro que nadie sabe de donde la isla produce y que el oficioso gobierno de Estados Unidos, que asegura vigilar todo, pareciera pasar por alto.

Los suizos alegan que su operación es legal, porque compran oro a un país que no es Venezuela, sobre el cual hay la advertencia de la procedencia del oro del Arco Minero.

También alegan que el oro no es monetario, así que no hay sanciones que violen. Se trata de oro que terminará en refinerías de los suizos.

Aunque no hay datos precisos, se estima que el oro que está enviando Curazao a Suiza, proceda de Venezuela, una isla en la que por cierto se regula la entrada de venezolanos. La isla de Curazao no ha recibido sanciones de EEUU por tal actividad.

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El laberinto en el que se encuentra Maduro

Por Alex Vallenilla / @alexvallenilla

En Efectivo. Ha sido un proceso muy largo, pero sigue su rumbo. El colapso general del país ahoga al régimen de Nicolás Maduro, quien se va quedando sin opciones para mantener el funcionamiento del Estado.

La caída de la producción petrolera, que comenzó con la debacle de Pdvsa, bajo el control del chavismo es la principal causa. El altísimo endeudamiento que dejó Hugo Chávez, la peor corrupción jamás vista, dejaron a Maduro sin ingresos petroleros.

A lo anterior hay que sumar la imposibilidad de reiniciar, debido a las sanciones de EEUU contra Pdvsa, contra actores del régimen, instituciones públicas, militares, bonos de deuda y demás medidas restrictivas.

Sin producción

El proceso de estatizaciones de Chávez, hunde también al madurismo. Un país con apenas 20% de su capacidad instalada funcionando, no genera ingresos suficientes.

Las pocas exportaciones que existen, no cubren los gastos que requiere toda Venezuela.

Sin impuestos

La hiperinflación ha destruido la moneda nacional, el ingreso por la vía de impuestos que cobra el SENIAT se diluye a cada alza del dólar.

Sin remesas

De manera vergonzosa, el principal ingreso de Venezuela han sido las remesas. Unos cinco millones de venezolanos tuvieron que huir del país debido a la peor crisis económica nunca vivida. Estos ciudadanos han enviado a sus familiares al menos unos 4,5 mil millones de dólares al año. Dinero que no controla el régimen de manera directa.

Con la crisis del coronavirus en el mundo, muchos venezolanos están ahora desempleados en esos países, lo que repercute en una caída del envío de dólares a Venezuela, lo que disminuye la oferta de dólares en el país, ayudando al alza del precio de la divisa.

Sin gasolina

En  la gasolina, Maduro pudo haber encontrado un ingreso importante, para ello debía llevar los precios a tasas reales, cuando lo intentó, el entorno militar que controla el contrabando de combustible, hizo estallar un drone en la avenida Bolívar en Caracas, como una advertencia de no tocar el combustible.

Acabada la gasolina y su producción, con sanciones, sin inversionistas y sin poder emitir deuda, no puede reactivar este sector para evitar que la crisis avance.

Qué le queda

Dos recursos tiene todavía para resistir. El primero es la emisión de dinero, que le permite mantener algunas operaciones estatales en precario funcionamiento, aunque este recurso distorsiona y destruye la economía. La emisión de dinero en este contexto, no puede usarla mucho, por los efectos inflacionarios. Ya es un recurso limitado.

El segundo es el de privatizar empresas estatales, pero en el contexto político que existe, es posible que no consiga mucho apoyo financiero o actores importantes para las inversiones. Necesita de  la Asamblea Nacional para que los inversores sientan seguridad y confianza, lo que implica negociaciones.

Las empresas más estratégicas y más costosas están bajo control de Miraflores, pero no funcionan en toda su capacidad. Maduro podría entregarlas a capitales privados, con ello obtener algunos recursos y permitir que estas empresas motoricen buena parte de una recuperación económica.

En este punto tendría obstáculos que el propio régimen tendría muy difícil de superar. Las sanciones de EEUU evitarían que empresarios extranjeros entren en inversiones de ese tipo. En el chavismo radical las diferencias y enfrentamientos contra el madurismo recrudecerían, luego de la liberación del dólar y de los precios en bolívares ocurridos en el año anterior.

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“What You Said” (Apr. 27), a Weekly Round-Up of Sentiments From the Community

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Control de precios en dólares no funcionará en el tiempo

Por Alex Vallenilla / @alexvallenilla

En Efectivo.- El nuevo control de precios en dólares aplicado por el régimen de Nicolás Maduro, revela la incertidumbre que hay en su gobierno. Maduro no se atreve a implementar un nuevo control de precios en bolívares, porque en sólo días el país quedaría desabastecido totalmente.

Un desabastecimiento crónico, junto con los efectos de la cuarentena y el racionamiento extremo de la gasolina, serían un incentivo para desatar una rebelión popular de gran escala.

Presión radical y social

Maduro compra un poco de tiempo. Aunque en la medida inciden los factores radicales del régimen, al implementar un control de precios en dólares, dejará que los productos en bolívares sigan indexados al precio del dólar del BCV, el cual seguirá subiendo inevitablemente.

Necesita mostrarse fuerte, ante la ola de eventos violentos en pueblos del interior, con saqueos y escaramuzas entre civiles y militares de la GNB. Maduro toma varias empresas y aplica la medida, para enviar el mensaje que aún tiene todo bajo control. La presión social lo ha obligado.

No funcionará en el tiempo

El control de precios en dólares tendrá el mismo efecto en el tiempo. Funcionará parcialmente mientras los precios de las materias primas y de productos terminados en el extranjero no aumenten. Los asesores del régimen le han vendido la idea de la recesión global y se apoyan en la caída del precio del petróleo para tal argumento.

En EEUU, la Reserva Federal emite 6 billones de dólares, lo que corresponde a casi 840 dólares a cada habitante en el planeta. Una mega emisión de proporciones gigantescas. Este dinero creará inflación global y una muestra de ello es lo que está ocurriendo ya en Ecuador, con el alza de precios en dólares.

Al mismo tiempo, hay escasez de bienes y servicios por la cuarentena mundial, al emitir dinero, los rubros pueden subir mucho, aunque los efectos de la recesión, por ahora atenúan cualquier disparada de precios.

Medida de corto plazo

Cuando los importadores venezolanos, que han acordado con Maduro los precios en dólares, no puedan pagar los aumentos de los bienes importados, es cuando comenzará a verse el efecto de la escasez. El que importa rubros en 1 dólar y lo vende a precio controlado, ya no podrá mantener el mismo precio si el rubro se lo suben a 2 dólares.

Pasos hacia la dolarización

Maduro da otro paso en el sentido de la dolarización, iniciada desde finales de 2018, la cual le ha servido para que los anaqueles de los comercios venezolanos se recuperaran y la hiperinflación se desacelerara de 825.000% a 6.500% entre 2018 y 2019.

Tal medida de control, no podrá prolongarla más allá de que la crisis del Covid-19 vaya atenuando o Venezuela volverá a la escasez crónica, si es que todavía se mantiene en el poder. Apostar por la dolarización luego de la crisis del Covid-19, por el caos económico, es otra medida que traerá otros problemas.

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Why ‘Ok Boomer’ May Not Apply to the Cryptocurrency Industry

The fall of 2019 leading up until today has seen the rise of an incredibly popular meme among millennials: “ok boomer.” The catchphrase can be used as a response to any situation when a “boomer” — the generation born between about 1946 and 1965 — is perceived as so unable to understand millennial anxieties and concerns due to their out-of-date sensibilities that the only response to an argument with them is a dismissive (yet aggressive), “Ok boomer.”

@its_j_dog

that’s on karma #fyp #foryou #foryourpage #foryoupage #viral

♬ Congratulations – quaintcraig

On the surface, the crypto world is the exact opposite to old-fashioned “boomer” ideas about the way that the financial world should work. It’s based on anarchist principles at heart, decentralized, often anti-government, anti-establishment, anti-anything mainstream. But for some reason, the 65+ age group (literally the aforementioned “boomers,” just listen to the first lyrics of this TikTok song) showed a 41% increase in site visits on CoinMarketCap this quarter, which was close behind the 18-24 age group’s 46.04%. 

This contradicts the news headlines like “Millennials Would Rather Cop Bitcoin Than Disney and Netflix Stocks: Boomers Don’t Care for Any of These,” and “Surprise! Millennials Embrace Bitcoin While Boomers, Gen-Xers Hold Traditional Wealth” — both copped from a fall 2019 Charles Schwab report that ranked the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as a top place that millennials stored their assets, an equity not appearing in the boomers’ top list.

While on-site visits on CoinMarketCap do not directly equal investments in crypto (we are, after all, an independent ranking site, not an exchange), this rising interest in crypto prices from baby boomers must mean something, right?

And it’s not just the CoinMarketCap site. Our CMC daily newsletter regularly receives comments from the 70+ subset on how they read our crypto roundups daily over their morning coffee.

It’s no coincidence that Bitcoin was created by its ever-mysterious founder Satoshi Nakamoto after the 2008 global financial crisis: it’s meant to be a safe haven for investors in times of economic disaster. And, as we all quite well know, this coronavirus pandemic is currently causing one hell of an economic disaster. 

— An aside: the 2008 financial crisis is also incidentally tied up in the anger behind “ok boomer.” Today, (temporarily ignoring the ongoing economic meltdown caused by COVID-19), millennials are widely unable to achieve the same financial stability their parents had at their age. Some aggression behind “Ok boomer” is due to this undercurrent of resentment today’s younger generation feels towards these “boomers” for their alleged role in creating the financial circumstances that prevent them from, say, owning a house.

Perhaps boomers’ piquing interest in crypto prices is their way of exploring options to avoid yet another financial crisis. Perhaps they, too, are concerned about the US Federal Reserve’s ability to print an endless amount of money. Perhaps their daughter (me) convinced them to write an article for their old job and paid them in Ethereum and they want to see how it’s doing. Perhaps they have so much free time on their hands now that googling crypto prices is that last new thing to do that they haven’t done before in their entire lives. Perhaps their grandchildren are on their computers and skewing the data. Only time will tell.

While no one is saying that boomers — angered by their portrayal in popular memes and songs across the world — have risen up and turned to crypto as a way to prove how hip they are and stop the “ok boomer’s” aimed at them daily through cyberspace, it’s worth noting that the millennials’ comedic dismissal of this older generation as completely out of touch with their own interests is not what CMC data shows.

What we found actually paints a different picture: a changing world, economically and socially wracked by a global pandemic that has forced families to shelter in place and multiple generations to spend more time with each other than ever before, piquing a rising interest in an alternative economic model — crypto.

While we don’t know what these kids’ parents are doing (24-65 year olds, you’re missing the bus!), it’s clear these younger millennials and their grandparents have more in common than youth meme culture would make you think.

The post Why ‘Ok Boomer’ May Not Apply to the Cryptocurrency Industry appeared first on CoinMarketCap Blog.

source https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/2020/04/26/why-ok-boomer-may-not-apply-to-the-cryptocurrency-industry-anymore/

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Meltem Demirors on Leaving a Corporate Career for Bitcoin: ‘I Don’t Want to Be a Rat!’

“Crypto Titans” is a series of personal interviews conducted by CoinMarketCap with prominent and forward-thinking minds tinkering on and behind the scenes of the cryptocurrency landscape. Click here to see all the Crypto Titan interviews up to today!

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Meltem Demirors heard about cryptocurrency back in 2012, which isn’t surprising given she told me that she sometimes checks 4chan right when she wakes up. According to Demirors, it’s a site “for my people, the freaks and the weirdos.”

She’s interested in the rabbit holes that random content can lead her down, just like how she and her brother used to explore as “internet children” of the 1990s. (She did add that she gives no credence to the non-PC aspects and conspiracy theories that live on 4chan).

Demirors is currently the chief strategy officer of Coinshares, a digital asset investment firm that has over $750 million in assets. Before joining the company, she helped found the Digital Currency Group and is also a founding member of the World Economic Forum Blockchain Council.

With this resume of interests, you may or may not be surprised the Demirors spent the first part of our talk speaking about the flaws in the current financial system, then waxed lyrical about the best sci-fi books to read in quarantine, and ended with a highly practical and slightly explicit diatribe about the importance of doing your own research.

What was your initial reason for getting into cryptocurrency?

Demirors

I feel like this is the proverbial rabbit hole story that everyone has, like a rite of passage in the crypto space.

I got exposed to Bitcoin in 2012. My brother and I both are children of the internet. We came of age in the 90s, spent a lot of time in online chat rooms, online forums, playing video games. He had talked to me about Bitcoin before, I’d seen it but didn’t pay attention to it, and he started sending me more stuff about Bitcoin. I went on the internet, I went to Reddit and all of these online forums.

My initial interaction with the Bitcoin community — and at that point you have to remember, 2012, really small, still really, really oriented around these principles of self sovereignty. There was a strong overlap with the anarchy community, kinda like a free society community. 

That’s when I started getting interested in it, I started reading more and more about it and did what everyone does, whether they got into it 10 years ago or just getting into it now.

The more I learned about it, the more I realized I had never really been a political person, and I didn’t think of myself as a political person. But I started to question and just think about it, what is the point of all of these things that we’re doing? I had come of age during the financial crisis. I worked on a trading desk all through university and then went into the financial sector after, so I had seen it firsthand. 

I was the person, I was the rat on the wheel chasing the piece of cheese. 

The thing that really struck me when I left that corporate career, I went to grad school, it was just a great quote. “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.” And I was like, “I don’t want to be a rat!” These ideals, this path I’m on, that’s not how I want to define my life. So OK, let’s do this Bitcoin thing. Let’s go. Here we are six years later. It’s weird. It’s great.

I’ve been following some of your tweets about the first US coronavirus-related bailout. Has the sheer amount of money involved in these bailouts changed or solidified your views about the traditional financial system and how it works as compared to cryptocurrencies?

Demirors

As I look at the last two weeks, there’s two things that really stand out to me.

The first is if you look at all the language, we don’t live in a democratic society. We don’t live in a capitalist system. 

We live in an inverted socialist system where taxpayers are bailing out hedge fund managers, bank CEOs and other executives. This isn’t capitalism, it is an absolute perversion of what Marx wanted.

It’s been happening for almost two decades now. It’s complete and utter bullshit. 

What I think has been really interesting is everything that’s coming out of the Fed. Even [Fed chairman] Jerome Powell, he’s on The Today Show. When in human history has the chairman of the Fed gone on a morning talk show? Clearly, these people are very concerned. It’s funny because the host of The Today Show, this woman asked him, “Some people on the Internet say that the Fed has a magic wand and just can print infinite amounts of money, conjure money out of thin air. Is that true?” And he says no, does this little raisin face.

But eight minutes into the interview, what he basically says is that we will never run out of ammunition. The federal government will backstop debt and we will pour capital into the system as much as is needed, where he basically confirms infinite quantitative easing. 

What I’m hearing from our federal government is infinite, unlimited, unbridled. You look at Bitcoin…Finite. Capped. There is such a fundamental difference between the way that the US government treats its debt, just print, print, print, and the way that Bitcoin works.

How does Bitcoin fit in to solving our current economic problems?

Demirors

Bitcoin is not the answer to the economic crisis we’re in. Let’s be very clear. Bitcoin does not fix this. For most people, they cannot afford to buy groceries, pay their rent, let alone buy Bitcoin. Buy Bitcoin is not an answer to the economic challenges we’re facing. But the properties of Bitcoin are being highlighted here the same way that the properties of gold have been highlighted for a long time in times of economic crisis. 

Bitcoin is so unique in that it has its properties of being scarce, of having value due to its scarcity and only the demand for that scarcity. 

The second thing that’s really interesting is just watching this breakdown of the system, where parts of the system that are not yet digitized, that are still living in the 1980s and operating on old systems, are fundamentally incapable of dealing with this crisis in a modern, interconnected world.

A great example here is when they announced the passage of this bill in Congress. It’s going to provide relief to taxpayers, and there’s going to be a certain amount of money that’s given to each family as a result. Now, it’s going to take four months on average for checks, physical paper checks to reach people who need them.

And that, to me, is just an example of where the systems we rely on are fundamentally incapable.
This is a really big lag we’ve had, where information infrastructure has been revolutionized, and you and I are having this video conference, no problem. We have this amazing connectivity and compute capacity, but the ability to move money instantly doesn’t exist yet. The ability to transfer money digitally doesn’t exist yet.

You have a whole section of your website dedicated to a science fiction novel reading list. Do you have any recommendations specifically to be read in coronavirus quarantine?

Demirors

I was actually thinking about this the other day.

There are two books that really stand out to me. One gets cited so often, but I think it’s still super relevant, is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

It’s about a world of the future where people congregate in virtual reality in this thing called the Metaverse. What’s really interesting about it, basically, is that there’s one person who owns all of the computing and connectivity. They own and control the underlying networks that people are utilizing to communicate and hang out in the Metaverse. 

It just raises interesting questions as we move to this digital future. What are the implications for human freedom? What are the implications for our self sovereignty? There are a lot of interesting questions there. I recently reread it. I read it once a year or so along with Dune. That’s another one I like to read at least once a year. You just find little takeaways each time. 

Then the other one that’s less popular, but I think is a really phenomenal book, is by Charlie Stross.  He wrote this book called Accelerando: I highly recommend it, it’s a really weird book, Charlie’s a weird dude. I follow him on Twitter. He’s hilarious. 

He wrote this book that is basically about this crazy future where everything is a financial asset, including your reputation. There’s something like the equivalent of Twitter, where people have futures of themselves that are trading: every person’s reputation, or every person, has sort of a credibility score that’s tradable.

There’s three eras that the book covers. The first era where everything’s financialized, and everyone’s pricing their reputations. There’s a second era where we’ve now expanded into outer space. There are these lobsters that have AI — it gets very weird — but it’s basically an encapsulation of the paperclip issue.

What’s the paperclip issue?

Demirors

It’s this idea that we create an AI and we give it the mission of, “Hey, make as many paperclips as you can.” First, it’s going to start by making paper clips out of scrap metal, then will start making paper clips out of useful things. Eventually, what we’ll have is a world that’s filled with paper clips. This AI will travel to distant universes, take over distant galaxies and just keep making paper clips because that’s its mission and its purpose.

It’s this really interesting analogy, because a lot of it is about what happens as we become increasingly digital, increasingly interconnected. The asset that we deal in is information and data. 

Information and data has mass. It has to live somewhere. It requires physicality, which is something people don’t appreciate. 

Me sitting here in my house, my phones and my routers and my Wi-Fi, my computers — that is supported by a lot of physical infrastructure that makes that possible. Somewhere there’s electricity being consumed, silicon and there’s copper wiring, right. That never changes.

It’s just a really interesting novel about inherent capacity constraints, inherent limitations and why purpose is so important in how we design systems, particularly technology systems and particularly those that are no longer driven by human pursuit. 

Sorry, I went on a little philosophical rant there. I believe the question is what is the point of all of this? It goes back to why I got into Bitcoin. If the point is money, fame and power, we might as well just give up now because those are hollow pursuits.

Have you run into a common myth in cryptocurrency that you could debunk for us?

Demirors

Crypto is the Wild West. It’s unregulated. I’m like….first of all, no.

Having spent the last five years of my career in regulated businesses, regulated firms that are overseen by FINRA, the SEC, that pay taxes to the IRS, that deal with the Department of Labor, that deal with the Treasury and FinCEN, OFAC rules and the BSA— crypto is not the Wild West. Crypto is not unregulated. 

There are parts of the industry and markets that are in jurisdictions that have less securities laws and less regulation. But this concept that people have that crypto is this crazy market where there are no rules, and people are just doing all sorts of crazy stuff…I find this so misleading because that’s the opposite of what’s happening. 

Yes, inherently, inevitably there are bad players. Technology is a tool. I can’t dictate to someone how they use it. The beautiful thing about Bitcoin is it’s open and permissionless. I don’t have the ability to tell you what you can or can’t do with the open source code. I cannot censor who joins the network. That’s the whole point of an open, permissionless network. 

Inevitably, there are gonna be people who use this technology to serve their end goal, and that end goal may not be something that our government finds palatable. And I won’t even go into the question of what’s legal and illegal, because I think that’s a whole other can of worms.

But I think a lot of what’s happening in the crypto space, and where the volume is and where people are aggregating, is primarily in more regulated, more structured markets, markets with rules. 

I’ve been in this community professionally since 2015. We all talk to one another. We work really hard on trying to make the crypto ecosystem more resilient, more transparent, more secure, and to avoid the types of structural issues that we see in other markets, to avoid causing any end users and end holders of digital currencies pain.

There has been a lot of market reform that’s been led internally by participants in the industry. 

When people say, “Oh, it’s a wild west, it’s unregulated,” I think that’s a huge disservice to all of the firms in this industry who’ve been working really, really hard to try to minimize the amount of pain that traders and market participants and industries experienced.

Do you have any “favorite” failures that set you up for better decision-making later on?

Demirors

I don’t have a favorite one because I fail all the time.

What I go back to is…there’s this investor, Howard Marks, who has this great quote. He says, “There are two types of investors who lose money. People who know nothing and people who know everything.” 

When I first got into Bitcoin, Eric Lombrozo, who was a Bitcoin Core dev, drew me this great chart. I think we were at a conference or something — the block size wars are going on and things are really heated — and we’re sitting in a corner laughing. 

He drew me a normal distribution chart where the x axis is time, right? Basically, where you start is you know nothing. 

At the beginning of your Bitcoin journey, you know nothing. And then as you go along your Bitcoin journey, you get to this peak and you get a little bit arrogant. You’re like, “I know everything. I understand everything about Bitcoin, monetary philosophy, I know everything.” You can see it in people. They get really arrogant, maybe a little bit of hubris. Then as time goes on, you go back to your original state and you’re like, “Wow, I know nothing.” 

What this to me really emphasizes is the need for humility, and the need to just always remind yourself that you are learning and nobody is an expert in everything.

Because I fail constantly and because I accept my failures and my flaws as a human, I am perfectly able and perfectly happy with failing all the time, learning and having people tell me I’m wrong. People are like, “Oh, you’re wrong.” I’m like, “Great. Tell me why. Help me be smarter.”

I think it’s reprehensible to know nothing and to be willfully ignorant, but I also think that it’s extremely arrogant to presume that you know everything, because we’re constantly learning. No one human possesses all of the knowledge in the universe and is capable of knowing everything. You have to constantly challenge yourself, and you also have to face the truth about yourself. 

I try to live up to the values of the Bitcoin community, but there are times I’m an asshole, maybe I am part of the problem. It’s important to have those conversations with yourself, and to hold yourself to the same standard that you hold other people, because if you don’t, there’s no way that you’re ever going to improve or become more self-aware. Just maintaining that humility through constant failure is really important.

Do you have advice for people looking to get into cryptocurrency now?

Demirors

Do your own research.

I think this goes back to the point around failure. A big reason we’re in the situation we’re in in our financial markets is because people don’t want to do the work.

Yes, the world is overwhelming, Yes, there’s a lot of information. Yes, some of it is scary. But fear is the path to growth. I think a lot of people avoid having to learn or understand things because they don’t want to.

People always ask me, “What coins should I buy? I want to make 10x my money. What coin should I buy?” And I say, “None, absolutely none.”

Please educate yourself, number one, and do your own research.

Number two, there is a lot of risk involved in cryptocurrency. There is technology risk in using the platforms, in holding these assets, custodying them yourself. There is the risk that you could lose your private key and forever lose access to your digital assets. There’s a market risk. These exchanges — again, some of them are regulated, some of them are more resilient — but a lot of the newer platforms or even some older platforms have had hacks that had issues with securities.

There’s platform risk, there’s counterparty risk, there’s market level risk, there’s asset level risk, there’s all the regulatory risk: there is a lot of risk in this space. This is a new space. It’s highly volatile, as we saw with the price [of BTC] going from $8,500 to $4,500 in the span of twelve hours on one day [in March].

What I was told was, “Look, do your own research and don’t be an idiot. Don’t mortgage your house and put all your money into Ripple. Don’t do stupid s***. Just be practical.”

Treat this as any other risky asset in your portfolio, and if you want to put money in, don’t put in more than you can lose. Do not make financially reckless decisions because even if they work out well, you are going to deplete your emotional and mental energy just constantly worrying. Manage your own mental state. 

Don’t go on f****** Twitter and follow some crypto trader handle and try to do what that person is doing: it is not going to work for you because every person’s risk tolerance is very different. 

When you do get comfortable with it, size it appropriately: if $100 feels like a lot of money to you, then start with $10, if $1,000 feels right to you, if you have $10,000 and that feels right to you, do that.

At CoinShares, we have exchange-traded products where you basically type in the ticker, you click and you buy Bitcoin exposure through our product. That’s a really easy, low touch, idiot-proof way to get exposure to Bitcoin. That’s the start of the journey. Then all the way at the other end is having, for example, a Casa account, using a key manager, having your own hardware wallet or having a non-custodial software wallet. 

There’s this whole spectrum. You don’t have to start all the way at the cypherpunks end of the spectrum. It’s totally okay to start over here with just holding some Bitcoin via structured products in your brokerage account. Then slowly, as you get more comfortable, try out new and different ways of getting exposure. You don’t have to start over here at level ten thousand, start at level one and take the steps. 

That’s my only advice. Maybe it’s not very helpful, but it’s very practical.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Enjoyed reading our Crypto Titan series? Check out our last interview with the industry’s Charlie Shrem, where he tells you what book helped get him through prison (and quarantine)! Or check out the full list of interviews here.

The post Meltem Demirors on Leaving a Corporate Career for Bitcoin: ‘I Don’t Want to Be a Rat!’ appeared first on CoinMarketCap Blog.

source https://blog.coinmarketcap.com/2020/04/25/meltem-demirors-on-leaving-a-corporate-career-for-bitcoin-i-dont-want-to-be-a-rat/

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