SI
SI
discoversearch

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor.  We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community.  If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.
Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Julius Wong who wrote (164500)10/30/2020 4:25:10 PM
From: TobagoJack  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 217798
 
<<Wall Street is spooked>>

We need to pay attention to what Wall Street might get spooked about, and I admit I have no plucking idea of what the below article is talking about, i am aware enough to just-buy-to-be-case that Wall Street might pay more attention

bloomberg.com

Bitcoin Rally Gets Added Boost From ‘Wrapped’ Crypto Tokens
Olga Kharif
October 29, 2020, 10:10 PM GMT+8

As Bitcoin rallied to its highest level in almost three years, it was getting some unlikely support from advocates of its biggest rival.

Fans of decentralized finance, or DeFi applications, which strive to let people lend and borrow without intermediaries, are using Bitcoin as collateral on the Ethereum blockchain. In so-called Wrapped Bitcoin, or WBTC, transactions users are placing the coin into popular apps like Compound that are generating returns even greater than the almost 90% gains posted this year by Bitcoin.

To get WBTC, an investor deposits Bitcoin with custodian BitGo Inc., which keeps them in a central depository as they are used to invest in DeFi apps. About 0.6% of all minted Bitcoin is already “wrapped” this way, and in two years, the amount could reach 10%, according to Chen Fang, chief product officer at BitGo, which helped launch the product in early 2019 as part of a consortium of crypto firms.

“WBTC has meant there’s more flow-through from the DeFi boom to BTC’s price,” said Sam Bankman-Fried, chief executive officer of Alameda Research, one of the largest providers of WBTC to traders. “It also means that BTC still has a place in a possible DeFi centric future,” where many crypto diehards believe that DeFi apps will eventually displace centralized intermediaries like banks.

Alameda went from providing 26 WBTCs in July to more than 28,400 WBTCs in September, Bankman-Fried said. On Oct. 15, the digital-asset exchange Coinbase Pro listed WBTC, making it easier for people to access.



WBTC's Market Cap BalloonsIn U.S. dollars

Source: CoinMarketCap.com

“DeFi turned Bitcoin into some of the world’s best collateral,” said Bill Noble, chief technical analyst at crypto researcher Token Metrics. “Now you have something else to do with your Bitcoin other than sell it.”

WBTC’s market capitalization has swelled to about $1.5 billion, up from $12.5 million at the beginning of June, according to CoinMarketCap.com. Bitcoin’s price rose about 35% during that period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The growing popularity of WBTC and similar coins could eventually impact security of the Bitcoin network, said Nic Carter, co-founder of researcher Coin Metrics.

Miners who ensure the network’s security get paid for posting transactions to the Bitcoin digital ledger. If an increasing pool of Bitcoin just sits there, while WBTC is issued and used on the Ethereum network, Bitcoin miners will earn fewer fees, he said. That could push some of them to switch to supporting Ethereum or another network, instead.

There are plenty of risks with WBTC as well. If a centralized depository like BitGo gets hacked or loses funds, “you are left with that sort of monopoly money,” Noble said. Even more importantly, regulators may not take kindly to wrapped coins, whose use in transactions can’t be traced as easily as Bitcoin, he said.

BitGo’s Fang defended the depository’s safeguards and services, saying it was “was built to eliminate single points of failure and to ensure an independent market structure.”

“Bitcoin is a highly surveilled blockchain,” Noble said. “Everybody and their brother knows what’s going on. This wrapped coin just gives regulators a little bit less transparency. It is a risk to consider.”

(Adds comment from BitGo in the penultimate paragraph.)

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.
LEARN MORE

Sent from my iPad



To: Julius Wong who wrote (164500)10/30/2020 4:54:46 PM
From: TobagoJack  Respond to of 217798
 
<<Should have seen ... coming>>

TSLA down a lot, so the fall in concert of its shorted naked calls enhancing TikTok time-decay caused my portfolio to rise overnight, in contra-direction of the market.

The interrupted rally in GBTC and QBTC, is unfortunate but not yet material, because am still comfortably up for the days I have been venturing in crypto-land, and actually hoping for a sharper correction so I can get more, by shorting still more TSLA calls, the go-to funding currency. Let’s see what Monday brings.

The idea of using TSLA to fund BTC, and then using BTC to buy DRD / Gold may have merit. Let’s see whether BTC-loitering is better-than-cash.

It would be ideal if TSLA rises or sharply rises, to allow shorting at higher ledge.





bloomberg.com

Bitcoin Falls the Most in a Month Following Red-Hot Rally

Bitcoin’s scorching rally lost steam on Wednesday amid widespread risk aversion, falling the most in a month.

The world’s biggest cryptocurrency by market value slumped 3.1% to $13,201 as of 2:40 p.m. in New York. Alternative coins including Litecoin and Monero also posted declines, while the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index dropped 3.7%.

“This broad, risk-aversion-trading session is triggering widespread panic selling, which is seeing every risky asset, like gold and Bitcoin, really start to plummet,” said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at Oanda Corp.



Wednesday’s high of $13,857 only narrowly exceeded Bitcoin’s most recent peak, set in June 2019. While some chartists say Bitcoin could be forming a bearish double-top pattern, it also could be taking a breather after its 14-day relative strength index reading passed 70, signifying the coin was overbought.

“I think that $14,000 is a very key threshold,” said Moya. “Once that level is taken out, there is going to be a lot more upside here.”

Before Wednesday’s pause, Bitcoin had gained roughly 15% since an announcement last week by PayPal Holdings Inc. that it will allow customers to use cryptocurrencies.

But Bitcoin advocates say the coin’s decline may not be cause for concern. Many argue cryptocurrencies -- and Bitcoin in particular -- could eventually stand to benefit in an era of rampant central-bank money printing and the potential for an inflationary spike.

“The way we see it, something unexpected has to reverse increasing adoption of Bitcoin as digital store-of-value such as gold, or the price has few options but to rise,” Mike McGlone, a strategist with Bloomberg Intelligence, wrote in a note.

— With assistance by Kenneth Sexton

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.
LEARN MORE



To: Julius Wong who wrote (164500)10/30/2020 5:09:19 PM
From: TobagoJack  Respond to of 217798
 
Another ‘cheaper bargain’ EV competitor of some merit

Sticking electric motors to a car frame enclosing batteries does not appear to be rocket science to electrical engineers. The self-drive vapor-ware is an unnecessary complication, a distraction that enables a car assembler pretend to be a high-tech startup, much as WeWork was a dressed-up real estate holding company, and NKLA is a YouTube video outfit.

Am going to guess that TSLA might have to exit China market at some juncture and leave behind the human capital, and the customers. Let’s see if AAPL does so.

bloomberg.com

Volvo-Backed Polestar in Talks to Raise $500 Million

Gillian Tan



Polestar’s second vehicle, the Polestar 2, its first all-electric car, started production in March at Zhejiang Geely’s plant in Luqiao, China.

Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg
LISTEN TO ARTICLE
Polestar, the electric-car maker controlled by Volvo Car ABand its owner Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., is in talks with investors to raise at least $500 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The automaker is seeking a valuation of about $6 billion, said one of the people, who requested anonymity because the discussions are private. A funding round hasn’t been finalized, and terms could still change.

A representative for Geely in China wasn’t immediately able to comment. A China-based Polestar spokesman declined to comment, as did a Volvo China-based representative. Volvo representatives in Europe and the U.S. weren’t immediately responsive outside of regular business hours.

Gothenburg, Sweden-based Polestar, led by Chief Executive Officer Thomas Ingenlath, has been touted as a potentially fierce rival to Tesla Inc., currently the world’s No. 1 manufacturer of electric vehicles. Sales of the cleaner, more intelligent cars have been soaring in Europe and recovering in China as consumers opt for vehicles that are better for the environment.

Volvo Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said last year that Volvo is seeking a valuation for Polestar that’s comparable with peers NIO Inc. of China and Tesla.

For more:
Volvo Targets Tesla’s Model 3 With $45,400 Polestar Fastback
First Drive: Don’t Buy a Tesla Without Driving The Polestar 2

Polestar’s second vehicle, the Polestar 2, its first all-electric car, startedproduction in March at Zhejiang Geely’s plant in Luqiao, China. In September, the automaker said it would put another car, the Polestar Precept, into production. That vehicle’s interiors will be made out of recycled PET bottles and cork vinyl as well as reclaimed fishing nets.

Safety RecallElectric cars release about 40% less carbon dioxide than an average internal combustion engine during operation, according to analysis by BloombergNEF.

Separately, Polestar said in a statement dated Oct. 29 on its website that it has initiated a voluntary safety recall for some of its Polestar 2 cars. An official communication will be sent to affected customers from Nov. 2.

The recall involves the replacement of faulty inverters, and some 4,586 vehicles are impacted. The inverters transform the stored energy in the battery into the power required by the electric motors.

A second service campaign, also outlined in the Oct. 29 notice, relates to the car’s high voltage coolant heater, which needs to be replaced in some early production models. The affected vehicles that involves number 3,150.

Volvo Cars and Geely both form part of the stable of Chinese billionaire Li Shufu, who has a net worth of about $20.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Li, who also is also Daimler AG’s largest shareholder, has championed consolidation as a way for automakers to pool resources for initiatives like self-driving cars and electrification. He’s built a global carmaking empire over the past two decades, securing stakes in European legacy brands such as Lotus as well as investing in Malaysian auto company Proton.

— With assistance by Ying Tian, and Gabrielle Coppola

(Updates with recall statement from 8th paragraph.)

Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal.
LEARN MORE



To: Julius Wong who wrote (164500)10/30/2020 7:57:03 PM
From: TobagoJack  Respond to of 217798
 
bitcoin ...

officialdom interest in bitcoin increases, thus making bitcoin still more interesting

themarketperiodical.com

Iran Legalises Use of Cryptocurrencies for Imports

Sivaram Sundar

Bitso intends to provide its customers with several alternative services that could be engaged with several individualsBitso is planning to establish the next expansion steps in different Latin American marketsBitso is the first crypto exchange in Mexico and is among the most prominent players of the crypto exchange arena in Latin America. Earlier this month, the exchange expanded into Argentina. However, the manager of Bitso in Argentina, Andrés Ondarra, had an interview with BNamericas, and Ondarra negotiated about several topics in that interview.

Recipe of Bitso’s Success?According to Ondarra, they give importance to identifying their failures and needs of the market and managing to foresee the intense attention received in Latin America by cryptos. Bitso significantly pursues to provide a delightful experience to its customers by offering products that meet their customers’ different needs. Bitso intends to provide its customers with several alternative services that could be engaged with several individuals.

Ondarra also highlighted that, by providing access to global markets with local currency and bridging the gap to the new digital economy, Bitso had simplified the way of crypto trading.

Argentina has one of the Essential Crypto CommunityAccording to Ondarra, at the local level, Argentina is one of the most developed countries. According to LaBITconf, from 2018 to 2019, 55 companies in Argentina grew by 10%. It is estimated that Argentina’s national community of Bitcoin users have exceeded 4,00,000 approximately. According to Andreas Antonopoulos, Latin America’s suitable assets are Bitcoin. So, Argentina stands out with various factors to have such a crypto community, like macroeconomic policies and shortcomings of the banking system.

RelatedPosts

PayPal’s Incorporation into the Crypto Space can have a Positive ImpactAccording to Ondarra, the incorporation of such massive players as PayPal in the crypto industry is exciting. PayPal can bring positive impacts on the adoption rates and could give greater maturity to the crypto community. However, on one side, PayPal is focussing on Bitcoin, and on the other, it is not offering the option of trading. If we observe the official announcement of PayPal states that their users can only transact with fiat money, not with cryptocurrencies.

Bitso has Some Growth EstimatesAccording to Ondarra, Bitso is planning to establish the next expansion steps in different Latin American markets. Bitso aims to develop more products with several alternatives for using virtual currencies on its platform. The firm will continue to improve user experiences and focus on spotlighting how to access their products. With all that, they will continue to promote financial involvement and enlighten the benefits of savings and investments and continue to expand their presence in Argentina by hiring more talents and promoting the association of their brand.



To: Julius Wong who wrote (164500)10/31/2020 6:01:02 AM
From: TobagoJack  Respond to of 217798
 
Been doing work, half-heartedly, because prospective losses / gains-not-made on portfolio can easily overpower any active-income not-made especially since prospective active-income is either zero or long way away and therefore highly speculative, whereas shorting Tesla is so for-sure and now, as in almost immediate, and bitcoin is outperforming everything (RE, gold, cash, general equities) but not Tesla-short

Off on the side of the big work screen is one iPad showing portfolio and another iPad showing streaming videos on macro / investment world

The overall portfolio is up reasonable amount as the the diversified holdings (RE, gold, cash, equities) are in the aggregate doing well enough, and the most exciting parts are in Tesla short and gold / bitcoin / DRD longs

Need to ponder leveraging up RE at some juncture, when it is safer, to get more of something else

But am high cash because of the Tesla short, and the cash is an issue as it wastes away

There is little point in shorting TSLA and then hold the resultant cash. TSLA must be shorted against either GBTC / QBTC or GLD / gold.

But of course the planet is facing a prospective insolvency situation, and insolvency counteraction should be cash.

I think the folks at RealVision are doing a good public service, and a subscriber, but here is a free end-of-week dialogue

I need to devote more time to what obviously work best

Recommend a view zerohedge.com