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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (171020)	4/26/2021 8:24:37 AM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 217750

Here is a bit of bitgold analysis, that China & JPM agree that bitgold is good for 1% or more benzinga.com China Calls Bitcoin An 'Investment Alternative' — Why The Move Is Significant zerohedge.com JP Morgan Launches Bitcoin Fund For Rich Clients After Years Of Bashing Crypto Ever since JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon first denounced bitcoin waaaaay back during the heady crypto-rally of 2017 (shortly before we revealed that JP Morgan's asset-management arm was seemingly buying the dip on behalf of its wealthy clients via a Scandinavian ETN), teams of strategists employed by the bank have produced a steady stream of bearish reports warning its clients about the risks of investing in bitcoin. But in a sudden reversal, JPMorgan's traders - once threatened with firing should they dare touch bitcoin - will soon get their chance to trade the pioneering cryptocurrency on the bank's behalf. In news that's hitting just as bitcoin prices climb back from a Sunday dip, CoinDesk reported Monday morning that JP Morgan Chase will soon launch its own actively managed bitcoin fund, making JPM the latest US megabank to embrace hawking crypto assets (rather than struggling to co-opt blockchain technology for its own purposes). JPMORGAN TO OFFER ACTIVELY MANAGED BITCOIN FUND: COINDESK Oh so THAT'S WHY JPMorgan was talking down bitcoin for the past 3 months — zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 26, 2021 The fund, which could launch as soon as this summer, will reportedly involve institutional ship NYDIG, which will serve as JPM's bitcoin custody provider. In a notable break from other passively managed bitcoin funds offered by Galaxy Digital and Grayscale, JPM's crypto fund will be "actively managed" (allowing the bank to charge higher fees). Like those other funds, the JP Morgan fund will allow institutions and wealthy clients to buy exposure to bitcoin without actually having to buy, store and secure their own coins. The fund will be offered to the bank's "private wealth" clients, which mostly caters to wealthy individuals and family offices. JPM has come close to offering bitcoin-linked products before. Back in March, its investment bank issued its first crypto-adjacent investment product, a structured note tied to the performance of bitcoin proxy stocks like MicroStrategy and Riot Blockchain. Now that the bank has been exposed for quietly accumulating its own bitcoin position, we couldn't help but notice that JPM - which was bashing bitcoin as recently on Friday - hasn't published a new note arguing that downward momentum might reemerge. Dimon infamously warned that he would "fire in a second" any JPM trader who touched bitcoin. "If you’re stupid enough to buy it, you’ll pay the price for it one day," he said at the time. Though Dimon quickly walked back these comments at the time, we would love to hear JPM explain away these comments while pitching its new bitcoin product to some of its most lucrative private clients. We're also curious to see what fees JPM charges clients for this new actively managed product, which we imagine will put Coinbase's commissions to shame. Sent from my iPad

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (171020)	4/27/2021 5:45:57 AM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 217750

Bitcoin + Tesla => whoa! (27 Apr Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc. made $101 million selling Bitcoin in the first quarter, on top of raw automotive profits and regulatory credits. The company spent $1.2 billion on the digital currency in the quarter. CEO Elon Musk had disclosed the crypto investment, helping fuel a massive Bitcoin rally, and now it has helped his company’s performance. Regulatory credits accounted for $518 million in the first quarter, the company said -- up from $401 million in the fourth. Tesla’s 1Q21 deliveries hit an all time high and were well above Bloomberg/FactSet consensus estimates of ~170k when the company announced preliminary deliveries on 4/4/2021. Total vehicle deliveries in the quarter were about 185k (+2% qoq and +109% yoy). Model 3/Y deliveries in the quarter were about 183k (+13% qoq and +140% yoy), and Model S/X deliveries were about 2k (-89% qoq and -83% yoy). Tesla produced about 180k vehicles (flat qoq and up 76% yoy), all of which were Model 3/Y (+10% qoq and +107% yoy) given the product changeover of the new versions of the Models X and S. Tesla added that its order rate was the strongest in company history and that it is adding production capacity as quickly as possible. Tesla stated that ASPs were down 13% yoy as its product mix continued to shift from the Models S and X to the more affordable Models 3 and Y, and lower ASP China-made vehicles represented a larger percentage of its mix. We had expected its ASP to be down 15% yoy driven in part by these mix shifts. Tesla has raised prices for select vehicle models recently (per the company website and media reports). However, Tesla commented that costs fell faster than price, allowing it to expand margins. Tesla reported non-GAAP automotive gross margins (including SBC and excluding the revenue from regulatory credits) of 22.0%, which compares to GS at 20.0%. Sales of regulatory credits were $518 mn in the quarter vs. our estimate of $300 mn. This contributed to the GAAP gross margin in automotive of 26.5%. Non-GAAP diluted EPS (excluding stock based compensation or SBC) was $0.93, $0.23 above GS at $0.70 and $0.18 above the Street at $0.75. Including SBC, we estimate that diluted EPS was $0.39 vs. GS at $0.14. While revenue (5% above GSe) and auto gross margin ex. regulatory credits (about 200 bps above GSe) were above our forecast, operating expenses were also higher (although some of this may be due to the supply chain constraints and extra qualification expense for alternative parts), and the company benefited from regulatory credit sales ($218 mn higher than GSe) and the sale of digital currency (net $101 mn). Excluding the impact of regulatory credits and digital currency sales, we estimate that EPS would have been about in line with our forecast.

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (171020)	4/28/2021 7:57:28 AM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 217750

This below sort of cases should keep lots of people occupied for some time decrypt.co Alleged Operator of $336 Million Bitcoin Mixing Service Arrested in US US law enforcement agents arrested Roman Sterlingov for allegedly running cryptocurrency mixing service Bitcoin Fog. By Liam Frost Bitcoin is the world's largest cryptocurrency. Image: Shutterstock In briefRussian and Swedish citizen Roman Sterlingov was arrested in the US as the alleged operator of crypto mixer Bitcoin Fog.The service was used to launder $336 million worth of BTC over the past 10 years, said investigators. US law enforcement officers have arrested Roman Sterlingov, an alleged operator of a crypto mixing service that was reportedly used to launder about $336 million in BTC over the past 10 years. According to a successfully executed arrest warrant published yesterday, Sterlingov, a Russian and Swedish citizen, was arrested in Los Angeles yesterday for “Unlicensed Money Transmission,” “Money Laundering,” and “Money Transmission without a License," in connection with crypto mixing service Bitcoin Fog. What is a crypto mixer?Crypto mixing services allow users to conceal the origins of their cryptocurrencies by pooling significant amounts of coins in a single pool and “mixing” them, as the name implies. Among other things, mixers can be used to attempt to launder illicitly acquired tokens. “Using our service you mix up your bitcoins in our own pool with other users' bitcoins, and get paid back to other addresses from our mixed pool, which, if properly done by you can eliminate any chance of finding your payments and making it impossible to prove any connection between a deposit and a withdraw inside our service,” explained Bitcoin Fog’s website. While the world of cryptocurrencies is pseudonymous by nature, numerous pieces of evidence suggested that Sterlingov was the one operating Bitcoin Fog, according to an affidavit filed by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on April 26. “Analysis of bitcoin transactions, financial records, Internet service provider records, e-mail records, and additional investigative information, identifies Roman Sterlingov as the principal operator of Bitcoin Fog,” said the IRS’s Criminal Investigation special agent Devon Beckett in the document. Launched in 2011, Bitcoin Fog was allegedly used to transfer around 1.2 million BTC, worth roughly $335.8 million at the time (and $65 billion at today's rates). The investigators also said that among other sources, the mixer also processed funds from various darknet platforms such as Silk Road, Evolution, AlphaBay, Agora, and Silk Road 2.0. Additionally, investigators also discovered Sterlingov’s connection to accounts on now-defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox, which he allegedly logged into from the same IP addresses that were used to pay for the Bitcoin Fog domain. Ironically, the mixer’s FAQ section says “we can ensure you that the service will continue to operate, simply because of all the time and effort we put into building it.” But if Sterlingov is indeed the operator of Bitcoin Fog, this may no longer be the case. decrypt.co Read on the Decrypt App for the best experience. For the best experience, top crypto news at your fingertips and exclusive features download now.