Report Reveals Market’s Pain In First Half Of 2022 Some Crypto Ecosystems Continue To Thrive

Report Reveals Market’s Pain In First Half Of 2022. Some Crypto Ecosystems Continue To Thrive

The first half of 2022 was painful for the crypto market. This is mainly because of the events during the second quarter, such as Terra’s collapse and Three Arrows Capital’s insolvency. A recent report produced by the popular crypto price-tracking site Coin Gecko has examined precisely what happened during this chaotic second quarter and how it could affect cryptocurrency in the remaining half of this year. 

The following is some background about this report, summarizing what it says in simple terms and what it could mean for the crypto market going forward. 

The report begins with a note from Coin Geckos founders where they talked about how crypto lost more than half of its market cap during Q2 and how this was due to a combination of macro factors and Terra’s collapse. The founders also mention Three Arrows Capital and how its insolvency took down crypto platforms exposed to it, like Voyager Digital, and noted the gradual decline in the NFT market.

On a more positive note, the founders point out that many crypto ecosystems continue to thrive, despite the bear market. They note that most of the leverage has been flushed out by the recent crashes and that many crypto companies and projects, including Coin Gecko, continue to operate as usual. 

The Market Landscape

The first part of the report provides an overview of the crypto market. As mentioned in the report’s introduction, crypto lost nearly 56% of its market cap during the second quarter of this year and was 70% down from its November highs. Interestingly, trading volume during the second quarter was essentially the same as the first quarter, suggesting the same pool of traders and investors has stuck around since that time. 

The authors then turn to the market dominance of the top 30 cryptocurrencies. Market dominance refers to how much of the total market cap comes from a single cryptocurrency. BTC’s dominance remains the same, while Ethereum fell significantly in June. 

ETH’s decline may have something to do with the news that Ethereum developers had delayed Ethereum's “difficulty bomb,” which was interpreted by ETH investors as a sign that Ethereum’s merge to proof of stake was also delayed.

Another noteworthy thing in the report was that Bitfinex’s exchange token, Leo, was the only cryptocurrency that didn't end up in the red during the second quarter of this year. Some exchange tokens such as Binance have seen exponential growth, particularly in the last bull market. 

Because of token utility and perks that exchanges can offer traders, and because they use trading fees to buy back and burn their native tokens, often causing their prices to rise artificially, they’re holding their own in the current bear market. 

In the matter of the market cap of stablecoins, nearly $39 billion were lost as a result of Terra’s collapse. Tether’s USDT lost 20% of its market cap, with circle’s USDC picking up most of the slack. The report suggests that this is evidence that investors were cashing out of crypto completely during Q2. 

The analysts found that the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market cap strongly correlate to the S&P 500 stock index, stating that the correlation was high at 0.92, which increased from 0.72 in Q1 of 2021. They highlight that crypto assets’ correlation with traditional markets is not surprising given the perceived risky nature and suggest that stocks were the primary drivers of crypto prices in Q2. 

The authors provide an infographic of a timeline of the significant events in crypto during the second quarter of this year and include many important milestones for crypto. Such as Solana NFT launch, STEPN banned in China, Harmony Bridge hack, Grayscale’s ETF application denied by the SEC, Coinbase added to Fortune 500, and so on. 

Bitcoin Analysis

The second part of the report provides an analysis of Bitcoin that shows how BTC briefly fell below its previous bull market top of 20K in June. It recorded nine consecutive weeks of being in the red. Notably, the broader equity market also fell at the same time, which dragged Bitcoin along with it. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin's hash rate only continues to climb and even managed to set an all-time high on June 8th of this year, despite the downward trend. For those who don't know, Bitcoin’s hash rate measures how much computing power is connected to the Bitcoin blockchain. 

Bitcoin vs. Major Asset Classes

When comparing BTC to other major assets, the authors found that the only ones that saw any gains were oil and the US dollar. In comparison to the Q2 of 2021 return of oil at 22% and USD at -1% rose by 7% during Q2. The possible reasons are the current constricted oil supply and rising interest rates. It might also have something to do with the US dollar being backed by oil.

Interestingly, Bitcoin has simulated the behavior of US equities dipping in unison whenever the Federal Reserve announced a rate hike. The report states that the correlation between Bitcoin and other equities has been on an upward trend as the year progresses. Whether this trend will capitulate as we enter a recession has yet to be determined.

Ethereum Analysis

The third part of the report analyzes Ethereum and starts with an even scarier chart that shows how ETH fell by nearly 70% during Q2. The authors attribute this crash to Lido finance’s staked ETH token, notably its use in Terra’s now-defunct anchor protocol. Also, its use by alien crypto platforms like Celsius and its exposure to failed hedge funds, like Three Arrows Capital. 

Next, the authors provide an updated timeline for Ethereum, transitioning from proof of work to proof of stake, which is already a bit outdated but puts the merge in Q3 this year, which is technically correct. 

Interestingly, the authors found that the amount of ETH staked on Ethereum’s Beacon chain peaked at around 11% of ETH's total Supply. The authors also note that Lido Finance remains ETH's most significant single staker at over 32%. Then the authors show how much lido Finance’s staked ETH token deviated from its peg relative to ETH. But it's important to note that the peg was quickly restored after Ethereum developers confirmed a tentative date for the merge. 

The Aftermath Of Terra’s Collapse

The fourth part of the report provides some perspective on Terra’s collapse. It starts with UST’s disastrous de-pegging from $1 to $0. It had a $1.8 billion market cap at its peak and fell to a mere $807 million at the end of June. The de-pegging event resulted in a 99% drop in value, with UST hitting lows of $0.007 since rebounding to $0.05.  

The report referenced Jump Crypto, a crypto trading and VC firm heavily involved in the Terra ecosystem and rumored to have lost a lot of money defending UST’s peg. 

The UST de-pegging had a domino effect causing LUNA’s painful implosion from $120 down to zero. The authors also note that LUNA’s supply increased by a whopping 1.9 million% before Terra’s validators turned off the mint and burn mechanism.  

The report shows a detailed timeline of Terra’s collapse, but interestingly, it doesn’t mention the alleged attack on the 4pool on Curve Finance that occurred after the Terra team withdrew UST liquidity, the exact timing of which was not publicly known. 

Investigations by on-chain analytics platforms such as Chain Analysis suggest that this alleged attack caused UST's initial de-pegging. This is something that each subsequent investigation found was exacerbated by Celsius withdrawing massive amounts of UST from the Anchor Protocol out of caution. 

The authors of this crypto report seem to blame Terra’s collapse on the broader crypto market conditions, which also played a role. 

More Domino Effects 

The report displays an excellent infographic about the second-order effects of Terra’s collapse. On the left side, you have all the institutions which invested in Terra, including Jump Crypto. On the top left are the crypto projects and platforms exposed to Terra, such as Celsius. And on the bottom left are all the different stablecoins that were de-pegged. 

The right side shows Three Arrows Capital which was, of course, exposed to Terra, and on the top are all the different crypto projects and platforms exposed to 3AC. On the bottom right, you have all the crypto companies exposed to 3AC. The authors then provide more details about how Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager Digital were affected by Terra's collapse and 3AC’s insolvency. 


 

Defi Analysis

The fifth part of the report analyzes the decentralized finance ecosystem. It starts with another unsurprising chart showing how the total Defi market cap fell by nearly 75% during the second quarter of this year, a crash mainly caused by Terra’s collapse. 

However, they don’t state which cryptos they count as part of their Defi market cap measure, but the silver lining to this gloomy statistic is that Defi managed to retain most of its users, with a decline of only a third. It stated there were multiple instances in Q2 where the need for Defi truly shined. 

What's fascinating is that the authors found that users flocked to decentralized exchanges when centralized exchanges were having issues with LUNA and UST. And users flocked to Defi protocols after Celsius paused withdrawals. In both events, where centralized entities failed, users have converged to enjoy Defi’s permissionless nature. 

They then reveal the different Defi categories, their share of the Defi market, and how much they dropped during Q2. Unfortunately, the authors don't provide specifics about individual Defi projects. The main takeaway seems to be that DEX's are the most significant slice of the Defi pie at 44%. 

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Analysis 

The sixth part of the report provides an analysis of the NFT ecosystem, and it starts by shedding the spotlight on the massive decline in NFT trading volume since the start of the year.

The authors note that Solana, the latest contender to challenge Ethereum for the NFT crown, and BNB are becoming popular NFT chains because of STEPN; however, China’s ban on STEPN may put a dent into BNB’s numbers. 

The authors found that even though OpenSea is still the biggest NFT marketplace by trading volume, its dominance is declining due to new competitors like Magic Eden, an NFT marketplace on Solana. 

Some would argue that OpenSea’s decline is less due to competition and more due to the platform's controversial actions, such as freezing NFTs and blocking users in sanctioned countries. 

Regarding NFT trends, the authors believe that NFT investors are moving away from move-to-earn and silly NFTs with no utility and moving towards NFT profile pictures and NFTs that are actual art like those found on art blocks. 

This part of the report concludes by focusing on Solana's NFT ecosystem stating that OpenSea and Magic Eden have forged a gateway into the Solana ecosystem. They noted that despite the NFT market’s decline due to bearish macroeconomic conditions, Solana has been chipping away at Ethereum’s NFT Market share. 

Crypto Exchanges In A Sweet Spot

The seventh part of the report provides an analysis of cryptocurrency exchanges. It starts with a surprising statistic: trading volumes on centralized and decentralized exchanges only fell by 11% during Q2. The authors note that centralized exchanges are beginning to increase their dominance despite all the risks associated with centralized crypto platforms. 

This could be because traders and investors are using centralized exchanges to cash out. Alternatively, this increase in dominance could be coming from the fact that some exchanges like Binance recently slashed trading fees, which would explain why Binance's dominance increased significantly during Q2. 

FTX's dominance also doubled during this period, but the authors note that “no one can compete with Binance as they have grown their market share to capture almost 50% of the entire market.” 

By contrast, OKX and Crypto.com’s dominance decreased by 50% each. The authors note that Uniswap dominates the DEX market accounting for 60% of total DEX trading volume. They also note that Curve Finance’s trading volume increased significantly during Q2, likely due to both collapsed USTC pools and the flight to stablecoins. Curve Finance is a stablecoin DEX. 

Also, DEXs on Solana and BNB have increased or maintained their market share, signifying actual market activity on chains other than Ethereum. 

Traders’ Shy Away From Speculation

The authors examine derivatives such as Futures Trading, which involves speculating on the future price of a particular coin or token, often with leverage, in other words, debt. They look at funding rates which is how much money traders put down to cover their long or short positions. 

Interestingly, they note that crypto's recent choppy price action has put traders off from speculation, leading to more conservative stances on Bitcoin's direction, which is good news for crypto market volatility. 

The authors end the report by examining the assets under management for Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust and the Proshares Bitcoin Futures ETF, which was approved in October last year. 

The authors note that the assets under management for both institutional investment vehicles collapsed by more than 50% alongside BTC’s price, which isn't surprising. They also note that the GBTC discount fell below 30% after the SEC rejected Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF application. 

What Does This Mean For Crypto?

So the big question is, what do the findings of this report mean for the crypto market? If cryptos' current price action didn't make it clear enough, the massive purge we saw in Q2 has set the stage for a severe recovery rally, which we’re in, arguably. 

However, it's only a matter of time before the markets realize that all the macro factors which caused the recent crypto crashes haven't been resolved, and this could take crypto to new lows. 

You could argue that crypto hasn't seen peak capitulation, not just because many institutional investors like Kevin O'Leary believe that we haven't seen total panic yet. The millionaire investor says, “crypto markets need to hit total panic before revival.”

O'Leary thinks that the market bottom will be marked by “total panic,” at which point weak companies with “idiot managers” will be weeded out, and the industry can continue to grow. He added,

“It’s unfortunate that these companies have gone to zero, but you end up with much stronger species.”

It’s also indicated in the report that although crypto prices have taken a beating, the number of daily defi users has remained relatively stable by comparison. Also, trading volumes have barely budged, and Bitcoin’s hash rate continued to climb even while BTC’s price crashed. 

If what we saw over the last half year had indeed been the market bottom, then it stands to reason that all these metrics would have fallen by much more. For example, the Bitcoin hash rate fell by nearly 50% in previous bear markets but was only 10% off the most recent hash rate highs. 

Not only that, but consider that only two entities exposed to Terra and Three Arrows Capital have collapsed. As the infographic shows, there were nearly two dozen exposed entities, and we're still getting news about some of these running into serious trouble. And that’s apart from all the cryptos that 3AC could soon sell. 

If you're wondering when the current recovery rally could end, some posit mid to late September, when Ethereum’s merge is expected to occur. It’s also when the Federal Reserve will return from its summer holiday with what's likely to be a fresh rate hike to fight inflation. 

Cointelegraph points out that the current ETH rally could be a bull trap with the macroeconomic clouds darkening. A bull trap indicates that a declining trend in a crypto asset has reversed and is heading upward when it will actually continue downward.

With Autumn nearing in many parts of the world, people could start to face skyrocketing energy costs in anticipation of oil and gas shortages over the winter, something that would almost certainly damage assets across the board, such as oil, gas, and the US dollar. 

It’s still risky days ahead given the macroeconomic factors at play, so hang on to your hats and brave the storm. As the saying goes, “No pain, No gain.” The one constant is change, and I believe all these factors are contributing to a more robust, healthier cryptocurrency industry where genuine projects and communities will flourish. 

 

 

Editor and Chief Markethive: Deb Williams. (Australia) I thrive on progress and champion freedom of speech. I embrace "Change" with a passion, and my purpose in life is to enlighten people to accept and move forward with enthusiasm. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

This information is provided for informational purposes only. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice.

 

 

European Union And The Green Deal

European Union And The Green Deal –  A Tall Order

 

The European Green Deal, approved in 2020, is a set of policy initiatives by the European Commission with the overarching aim of making the European Union (EU) climate neutral in 2050. An impact assessed plan will also be presented to increase the EU's greenhouse gas emission reduction target for 2030 to at least 50% and towards 55% compared with 1990 levels. The plan is to review each existing law on its climate merits and also introduce new legislation on the circular economy, building renovation, biodiversity, farming, and innovation.

There has been criticism of the deal not doing enough but also of potentially being destructive to the European Union in its current state. Former Romanian president, Traian Băsescu, has warned that the deal could lead some EU members to push toward an exit from the union. 

While some European states are on their way to eliminating the use of coal as a source of energy, many others still rely heavily on it. This scenario demonstrates how the deal may appeal to some states more than others. The economic impact of the deal is likely to be unevenly spread among EU states.

In addition, many groups such as “Greenpeace,” “Friends of the Earth Europe,” and the “Institute for European Environmental Policy” have all analyzed the policy and believe it isn't “ambitious enough.

The European Union is committed to becoming the first climate-neutral bloc in the world by 2050. This requires significant investment from both the EU and the national public sector, as well as the private sector.

 

Green Deal and the new political situation

But when the armoured conflict between Ukraine and Russia started, the analysts warned that the green deal for Europe, or the green deal in its current form, was over. Decarbonization will continue but on a much more rational and pragmatic floor plan. According to analysts, the emphasis will be much more on the greater self-sufficiency of the European Union in energy.

The supporters of the ambitious transformation dream about changing the EU into a fair and prosperous society with a modern and competitive economy. 

However, realistic economic experts do not see the situation and possibilities of European states rosy; some consider the whole plan completely unfeasible.

Over the coming years, one-third of all EU investment, amounting to EUR 1.8 trillion, is to be directed towards emission-free alternatives and resource efficiency.

 

Opinions of non-governmental economists

Former president of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus, who is one of the leading economic experts, criticizes the goals of the green deal. An advisor from his institute says:

"To subordinate to it the social and economic life of today? And for the sacrifice, which will undoubtedly mean a significant reduction in the standard of living. And it will certainly mean poverty for a part of society. For a part of society, this will also mean that they will probably not buy a car quite soon.“

This senseless plan obliged all  27 member states of the union to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. An ambitious plan and package of measures, the Green Deal, or the Green agreement for Europe, is intended to help achieve this. 

The partial goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990. Both European citizens and experts think the green deal is a naive communist idea.

EU insists on its goals

When the Russia-Ukraine conflict started, some experts said that the Green Deal was dead, but the European Union still insists on continuing its ambitious goals.

And yet a global experiment to limit all emissions, an experiment called covid, when the use of cars was very limited and production reduced, showed us that it had zero effect on global emissions. The whole green doom is a completely useless farce that solves nothing at all. It's more of a sham.

Some citizens of central Europe remember the referendum on joining the EU. When they confessed to their friends and family members that they were voting against entry, they looked at them like they were weirdos. They're saying today what a visionary they were!

Now they wonder where in the green deal those convoys of LNG tankers, which are supposed to supply the whole of Europe with gas, will be classified. If you add up the amount, it's an epic environmental disaster.

 

Greenhouse gas emissions per EU countries

According to the European Environment Agency, the EU was the world's third-biggest greenhouse gas emitter after China and the US in 2015.

Under the Paris agreement, the EU committed in 2015 to cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the EU by at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. In 2021, the target was changed to at least a 55% reduction by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050.

The EU is also working on achieving a circular economy by 2050, creating a sustainable food system, and protecting biodiversity and pollinators.

Despite all the efforts of the official representatives of the European Union, many politicians and economists have a different opinion. They think that it is absolutely necessary to be careful in expectations on the issue of the Green Deal.

The current energy and economic crisis were dealt with long before the current situation in Ukraine. Green deal ideas are appealing. Who among reasonable people would want to destroy their environment? 

However, the implementation is completely out of control, and the economic impact is already large. The ecological revolution wanted to overtake natural evolution and the free development of things.

 

Alternative opinions of experts

Some economic experts warn that the decline in living standards is inevitable as the rise in electricity and fuel prices overwhelms us. We can characterize the current period as a time of great uncertainty, a decline in living standards, unsettled finances, the refugee crisis from Ukraine, ever-increasing inflation, and fear of skyrocketing energy and food prices.

It is in the interest of Europe to avoid social storms. If they stopped and closed the gas taps, only an idealist would imagine that this would not cause riots.

The course of events lately resembles a collapsing domino. The war in Ukraine, anti-Russian sanctions, the shortage of oil and gas, and the rise in prices triggered a chain reaction. Worryingly, some of the cubes with subsequent domino-effect, we pick ourselves, or we have arranged them so that as many as possible fall.

 

A moment to consider our options

Reasonable people cannot think that the way is to ban internal combustion engines, to order everyone to do what they are supposed to do and pay for it by printing new money – what was promoted in the union as the green deal. This means huge amounts of money again will pour into the economy. 

Because making people drive electric cars, but because they're expensive, we're going to subsidize them. And we're going to subsidize them by printing new money that we're going to put on the market, which is going to cause inflation again to rise — that's not the way to go.

No technology has been introduced in such a way that its predecessors have been banned: that the emperor ban the use of steam engines to promote electricity, it has not been; that fixed telephone lines have been banned to promote mobile operators, it has not been; that floppy disks or CDs have been banned, it has not been. This is an ideology that completely destroys any rationality.

At such a moment, it is necessary to stand firmly on the ground and forget for a moment the romantic idea of dancing on meadows strewn with flowers, among solar panels, in the background with graceful propellers of wind farms. The crisis has shown us the need to build self-sufficiency, including energy.

Green deal = a new left-wing ideology of other Paradise-Builders on earth, which will not help anything, but someone will make huge money from it. As usual, anyway.

The West began to devour itself, destroying the roots on which it grew as a civilization. Under the flag of the green religion.

 

Sources:

European parliament news

Politico EU

E15.cz

Novinky.cz

About: Markéta Hálová. (Czech Republic) A crypto enthusiast, keen online marketer and passion for photography. I love interacting with the community of Entrepreneurs at Markethive. I believe in free speech, liberty, sovereignty for all. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entrepreneur Spotlight – Using Politics To Your Advantage

Entrepreneur Spotlight – Using Politics To Your Advantage

Reading The Signs

We are midway through 2022. Dependant on your viewpoint and reflections of the last two years, and now that lockdowns and related restrictions have been removed,  you may be hoping that we have come through a ‘global pandemic’ and can now pick up the pieces of life with the intention of getting back to some sense of normality over time. 

If you were one of those who thought this was all about the money, mass surveillance and control, nothing which unfolded would have surprised you. You may have been observing this within the context of the World Economic Forum’s long held desire to perform a great global reset.

There were so many things that troubled me, particularly how critical thinking and debate were suppressed. No longer were the populace encouraged to think with an open and critical mind. We were told what to think. 

Dr Robert Malone and Dr Geert Van Bosche are two examples. Both are vaccine creators, not anti-vaxxers, yet they called for the immediate cessation of the experimental jabs pending further enquiry due to what their research uncovered. Significant suppression of the natural immune system was one of the findings.

They were ignored and vilified. This was a big indication of a nefarious agenda, because the nature of truth is that it always welcomes debate and enquiry. It does not hide. 

Incompetence or Beyond?

So what is the political weather forecast looking like today? What have we learned from the last two years?  Did the government act well in the interest of health?  Was error,  incompetence or corruption at play?  Is the war really about one country against another or is it something else?

It is difficult to make the case for incompetence when the same patterns of behavior keep repeating. For example, the CDC has just confirmed that they did not take into account VAERS [Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System] in their analysis! 

As I write this article many papers and conversations have been declassified over in the USA, and the process continues. It seems that history is repeating itself in certain ways.

In 2019 a tabletop simulation exercise around the release of a respiratory virus resulted in the ‘CV-19 pandemic’. In March 2021 a tabletop simulation exercise revolved around the monkeypox, and now we have the alleged occurrence of the monkeypox virus. [see page 8]

At the same time the BBC got caught out again resurrecting old photos of monkeypox and overlaying them in the main news, as if they were current. They also did this for the Ukraine-Russia conflict. 

 

Picture Source: BBC

That is the same BBC that was found guilty in court many years ago of misrepresenting certain facts, by reporting the collapse of the World Trade Center building 7, more than 20 minutes before it collapsed. Video evidence was produced by Tony Rooke. The video has been removed from YouTube.

CNN were caught on camera in an underground initiative by Project Veritas, acknowledging the deliberate exaggeration of covid case numbers as part of a fear and propaganda strategy to get more viewers, not to mention their paymasters. 

They added that the next target for fear and propaganda would be climate change. Yet the government and media project disinformation onto those who question them. It was just another example underlying that the media are not into independent journalism.

There is a report out directing that all UK airports should shut within 10 years, and the rationale given is climate change with none other than Neil Ferguson’s name popping up again.

True to form, in the UK Easyjet is canceling around 10,000 flights across the summer, Gatwick are canceling flights, and we are in the middle of major train strikes countrywide.

Several countries have triggered more emergency measures, among them are Italy, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands. Ecuador has recently declared a state of emergency, as the indigenous people rise in protest.

I would suggest that the real war seems to be the Global Elite versus We The People, rather than one country versus another. I would further suggest that it goes deep to the heart and soul of sentient beings, the war to stop you thinking for yourself, living from the heart in service to mankind.

Its roots go back a long way, and that is an article for another day. For now, how do you as individuals and entrepreneurs proceed moving forward? Let’s explore this.

Picture Credit: charlesdeluvio-OWkXt1ikC5g-unsplash

The Opportunity  

In a world where deception, destruction and coercion have become rife, I believe there is always opportunity in times of challenge and adversity,  to turn things around for the benefit of mankind. In doing so it can turn what appears to be a very rough storm into a perfect storm.

I would invite you to view current reality as a mirror and use it to mirror or reflect back the opposite of all that is not good being played out. I share some examples from my experience of what that might look like. Add or edit it for your situation.

Replace Blame With Responsibility

It's so easy to get stuck in blame mode, and while it may feel justified, what is more  important is to take responsibility in how you move forward with what you know. Focus on the solutions that you can be a part of.

Be A Force For Good | Innovate 

Instead of recycling the destructive forces at play out there, reflect peace and honor for what you believe. Show love and care in the way you go about your business, so that social distance can be replaced with heart and soul connection.

Image source: https://startups.co.uk/strategy/essential-start-up-tips-for-young-entrepreneurs/

If ever there was a time to innovate or bring radical change, it is now, and it needs brave and present entrepreneurs to do so, in order to build on different values. There are some great examples of this already going on, which you can be a part of.

Markethive of course, is one such example, creating an ecosystem for the entrepreneur that is safe and honoring of free speech, while combining a social network with an inbound marketing platform for you to develop and hone your marketing skills in business.

One Small Town is another example of a global movement to put new structures in place that are based on values of sharing, kindness and compassion, designed to make these nefarious structures obsolete.

The opportunity is there to become part of the solution, rather than waiting to be rescued. If innovation feels like a bridge too far, bring it back home to something more simple. Evaluate yourself and your business to see where you can reflect the changes you wish to see in the world.

Be Honest and Transparent

Where have you given your power away and compromised against your better judgment? Have you buried your head in the sand out of fear? Are there mistakes which need correcting?

Be willing to look with honesty at yourself and acknowledge where you may have fallen short of your own standards in business, and resolve to raise your game. Forgive yourself and resolve to be a better version of yourself.

Rebuild Trust

Trust toward government and businesses across were already hitting new lows before 2020 as indicated by the Edelman Trust Barometer Report in 2017. I wonder what the results would be today.

The advent of the blockchain will help to restore trust and transparency but on its own it is not enough. Learn to build trust again, not just in your abilities and expertise, but also in all your professional relationships, including how you conduct yourself in the process of business.

Look after Your Health

Health has been shoved in our faces in a ‘one size fits all’ manner. If your health is vulnerable right now, down tools and take the time to nurture it and strengthen your natural immune  system. It does not have to cost money. 

Learn to breathe slowly and deeply to oxygenate your system. Walk and be with nature,  expose yourself to some natural vitamin D. Keep yourself well hydrated. Dehydration is a common cause of fatigue.

Health is more than just the physical stuff. Learn to take inventory of your mind and emotions. Take time to feed your mind so it can support your health. I recently read Emile Coue’s book ‘Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion’. 

It is a simple and powerful read, especially when you apply it. Affirm that which you  wish to be true but learn to embody those positive affirmations in practice for them to take root and shape your life.

Evaluate Your Business

Be willing to take a step back and evaluate where you are in life and business, especially if you suffered losses in business. What have you achieved that you can be grateful for in spite of your losses?

If you need a structure for evaluation there are tools like a PESTLE. This looks at the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Financial factors which influence business.

Put one foot in front of the other with your action plan. It's better to do a few things well than a lot of things superficially. Restore depth of thinking and quality to become more  accomplished.

Informed Consent

Replace coercion with empowerment through informed consent. Where your products and services are concerned make sure you walk your prospects through the plus and minuses of what you have to offer.

Allow yourselves and others their freedom of thought and expression. Let others know they can speak freely in your presence without fear. Then they can make an informed decision, and determine if it is ‘the glove that fits the hand’ rather than to be subjected to an aggressive marketing campaign with no substance, with forced solutions thrust upon them.

Show Courage and Develop Inner Strength

Do not give into fear. Believe in your gifts and abilities, and dare to keep expressing them, no matter what. There is nothing to be gained by living below the level of what you are capable of. Mankind needs to be raised up by your gifts and abilities, not kept down.

These are some of the many things I have been cultivating further in response to what is going on in the world. It doesn’t necessarily need 7 billion people to bring about a massive change. It starts with you.

Even if a small percentage focuses on the change outlined above, we can restore our planet from a warring planet to a more peaceful and prosperous one. Instead of cowering in the face of global adversity we can use what we see to mirror the opposite and allow it to cause us to rise. It is time for the rise of the entrepreneur.

If not you, who?  If not now, when?

That is a narrative which we can create and a script that we can write.

 

About: Anita Narayan. (United Kingdom) My life's work is about helping individuals to greater freedom through joy and purpose without self-sabotage, so that inspirational legacy can serve generations to come. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analysts Predict Crypto To Go Mainstream

Analysts Predict Crypto To Go Mainstream

As cryptocurrencies continue to attract the attention of regulators and investors, some analysts have suggested that Bitcoin could become legal tender in many countries very soon. This proposal argues that Bitcoin is similar to traditional currencies such as US dollars or Euros. So it should be possible to enter the mainstream market as a means of payment and a store of value in the same way paper money does now.

However, several significant differences between the two types of assets make this an extremely complicated task, not least because they are subject to entirely different sets of rules (and their associated risks). In the UK and US, where Bitcoin is a form of payment, the government has been more cautious about regulating it than most other jurisdictions.

Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of Skybridge Capital, expects more countries to adopt bitcoin alongside national and international currencies.

He said:

"I think Bitcoin will be used by many Latin American countries as legal tender over time, not just El Salvador, but other countries,"

El Salvador introduced bitcoin as legal tender alongside the US dollar last September. In January, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele predicted that two more countries would adopt Bitcoin as the legal tender this year, Bitcoin.com reported. Devere Group CEO Nigel Green indicated that three countries would adopt bitcoin as legal tender this year in January.

Meanwhile, Alex Hoeptner, CEO of crypto derivatives trading platform Bitmex, said last October that five countries would accept bitcoin as legal tender by the end of 2022.


Image source: Reuters.com

Scaramucci also believes that Bitcoin could reach $500,000 per coin in the long run, according to Bitcoin.com. In addition, he expects that by the end of 2025, there will be more than 1 billion wallets containing Bitcoin, and the number of users will reach 250 to 3 billion in the next decade.

"If it gets there, then I think the maturing asset could be a conversation about whether it acts as an inflation hedge," he said.

A Brighter Future Awaits Cryptocurrency

The digital currency landscape is changing, according to a new research paper from Economist Impact commissioned by Crypto.com. The Economist Impact examines how much consumers trust digital payments and what barriers exist to digitalizing essential monetary functions.

Comparing consumer attitudes to similar surveys in 2020 and 2021, they found that cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are now at the crossroads of credit cards and payment apps.

Economist Impact shared its findings on July 6, 2022, in a PDF file titled Digimentality 2022 – Fear and Favoring of Digital Currency. They surveyed 3,000 people, half of whom came from developed economies such as the United States and the United Kingdom, and the other half from developing countries such as Brazil and the Philippines.

14% prefer CBDC, a significant increase from 4% in 2021. Interestingly, 37% of consumers expect their government or central bank to make cryptocurrencies legal tender within the next three years, and about one-third of consumers expect CBDC adoption.

Notably, more than 60 central banks are at various stages of CBDC development. China and Sweden have already launched live pilots, according to the 2021 CBDC Global Index by professional services firm PwC.

Skepticism Amidst the Unstable Market and Looming Recession

There is a great deal of skepticism about the future of cryptocurrencies amidst a bear market and looming recession. Some believe that cryptos are nothing more than an overvalued fancy that will eventually crash. In contrast, others remain convinced that they have the potential to revolutionize how we pay for goods and services. However, regardless of people’s individual opinions on cryptocurrency’s long-term prospects, it remains clear that this technology has captured the attention of many investors and enthusiasts across the globe.

In the current state of the market, there is a lot of speculation and few true believers. As a result, the price of most cryptos is in a downward trend, and this will likely continue into the future. Meanwhile, the economy is heading towards a significant recession, likely dampening interest in digital currencies even more.

In the long term, crypto may eventually succeed for several reasons, but it will happen much slower than many belief. First of all, even if the value of the cryptocurrency is rising fast, several factors limit its real value in the market. The value of Bitcoin depends on how many people use it as a currency.

The number of exchanges is limited, and they have to be closed down or bankrupted by regulators; governments can block access to their country, as has happened with China and Russia. Finally, the high volatility of the crypto market means that investors need to accept huge losses or gains; this could be enough to turn off potential customers.

Acceptance of Digital Money Despite Setbacks

Digital money is seen as a more secure and efficient way to conduct transactions. Consumers feel confident in using digital money because it eliminates the need for physical currency, which can be lost or stolen. Additionally, consumers believe digital currencies are protected from fraud and malicious activities. Although the current bear market may have impacted consumer confidence in digital currencies, this does not appear to have dampened their enthusiasm for them overall.

Soon, blockchain technology will be widely adopted by businesses of all sizes. They will increasingly rely on smart contracts to automate and streamline business processes such as: fulfilling customer orders and ensuring the timely delivery of products and services. It’s a significant development for the financial industry, which has been slow in adopting new technologies due to the complexity of legacy systems and the risk of disruption to existing revenue streams should the wrong changes occur during integration with new methods. Blockchain-based solutions will accelerate the adoption of new technologies across other industries, including the healthcare and insurance sectors and supply chain management.

In conclusion, the adoption of cryptocurrencies will continue to grow, and we expect to see more mainstream companies adopting blockchain solutions and services. This is a trend that will accelerate over the next few years as more industries adopt cryptocurrency-based technology for their operations and products, and more merchants accept cryptocurrencies on their websites and in stores using mobile apps or point-of-sale systems.

 

 

 

About: Prince Chinwendu. (Nigeria) Rapid and sustainable human growth is my passion, and getting a life-changing opportunity into the hands of people is my calling. Empowering entrepreneurs provides me with enormous gratification. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The BIS Vision: The Future Monetary System

The BIS Vision: The Future Monetary System

There are a few different visions for how the financial world should evolve. Most of us dream of a future where we can be independent and free. On the contrary, some institutions are vehemently opposed to such liberty. The 'powers that be' will never allow us to be free, as eliminating their control would mean cutting their puppet strings.

Central banks are among the most prominent financial puppeteers in the world. The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is like a member’s club for the central banks, and for the last two years, the BIS has been attacking all forms of cryptocurrency, trying to fault the decentralized system. 

However, the cronies at the BIS have been some of the greatest advocates for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). They have been planning their vision of a future that would radically alter the financial system, verging on the dystopian. Recently, they released their latest report on this vision for the future monetary system. 

There is a quote that seems to have become the narrative of the crypto industry;

‘First, they ignore you, 
then they laugh at you, 
then they fight you, 
and then you win.’ 

It could be that crypto has entered the 3rd phase of the quote and is blatantly obvious in the rhetoric of the anti-crypto institutions, like the BIS, detailed in its report of a dystopian vision of the future of finance. It also documents a flawed and somewhat naive view of the crypto industry.  

What is the BIS? 

The Bank for International Settlements or BIS is the self-described bank for central banks. The BIS is owned by the 63 central banks that make up its membership and is based in Basel, Switzerland. The BIS's job is to help Central banks coordinate their monetary policies. An informational video by the BIS revealed that all 63 Central Bankers recently met in Basel to discuss monetary policy. A sporadic occurrence that only happens during times of Crisis.

The BIS has been working closely with central banks to develop their CBDCs, and CBDCs will make it possible for them to have total control over the economies of their respective countries by determining how and when money can be spent. It’s important to note that CBDCs are being built from the ground up to maximize financial control. 

In contrast, most cryptocurrencies were created from the ground up to maximize financial freedom and, in some cases, financial privacy. It’s no surprise that the BIS is not a fan of cryptocurrency whatsoever and that the report summary in this article can be summarized in one sentence. According to the BIS, everything that cryptocurrency can do, CBDCs can do better. 


Image source: Decrypt

The report was formulated by Hyun Song Shin, the economic advisor and head of research. Hyun is as anti-crypto as they come and attended a media briefing about cryptocurrency for the BIS in 2018. He talked about why cryptocurrencies will never replace fiat currencies because they can't scale and don't guarantee transaction finality; the ‘laugh at you’ part of the quote mentioned above. 

He did another media briefing about cryptocurrency in early June 2022, specifically about this report. He talked about why CBDCs are better than cryptocurrencies, a considerable shift in tone from four years ago, and the ‘fight you’ part of the quote above. At the media briefing, Shin was asked some critical questions about CBDCs by reporters, to which he had no clear answer.  

One reporter asked why are CBDCs necessary when we have alternatives? A second asked about people's privacy concerns about CBDCs, given that the BIS had specified that privacy will not be possible with CBDCs and that the central bank will keep all user data. 

A third reporter asked whether CBDCs would see any adoption given their concerning characteristics. A fourth reporter asked whether someone would be blocked from buying the likes of alcohol and tobacco or entirely blocked if they speak out against their government. 

Even though he couldn’t answer the reporters’ questions, he clarified and applauded that CBDCs problematic programmability could theoretically be applied to any payment system, providing a government successfully rolls out a digital ID. 

BIS REPORT: The Future Monetary System

The BIS report begins with a brief introduction that describes the financial system as it functions today. In short, it states central banks issue the money and creates trust in it, whereas commercial banks make it possible for people to use that money to buy, sell and borrow. 

If the idea that it's the central bank that creates the trust in money wasn't bad enough, the authors claim that “private sector innovation benefits society, precisely because it is built on the strong foundations of the Central Bank.” 

To add insult to injury, the following sentence reads, “the monetary system with the central bank at its center has served society well.” This statement is highly debatable given that central bank money printing has made life even more unaffordable for the average person while enriching the 1%.  

After briefly describing cryptocurrencies, the authors turned to Terra’s recent collapse as evidence that crypto can't beat the central banks. They claimed that the crypto industry constantly needs a “nominal anchor” such as fiat-denominated stablecoins. 

They believe the only solution to this crypto dilemma is to switch everything over to permissioned blockchains run by central banks with CBDCs and so-called fast payment systems that commercial banks will leverage the same way they leverage the central banks today.

What Do We Want From A Monetary System?

The second part of the BIS report is titled, “What do we want from a monetary system?” It's important to remember that this report is intended to be read by powerful individuals and institutions, not the average person. So the authors aren't really asking what we want; they’re asking their wealthy and influential cronies.

Below is a table the authors provided that identifies eight monetary system goals. These are safety and stability, accountability, efficiency, inclusion, control over data, integrity, adaptability, and openness. It would seem that all eight of these can be rolled into one, and that's total control. 

These boxes explain how well these eight “wants” are satisfied by the current financial system, cryptocurrency, and the BIS’s dystopian vision of the future of finance. Given that the BIS is the author and creator of this table, it’s no surprise that crypto fails on almost all metrics, whereas the BIS’s future system succeeds on all eight. 


Image source: bis.org

This ties into the third part of the BIS report, which relates to cryptocurrency problems. Not surprisingly, the authors have no shortage of crypto criticisms, and they start with all the volatility in the crypto market and the fact that most cryptos are down more than 90% from their all-time highs. 

Of course, the authors don't explain the reason why crypto is so volatile and that its implicit goal is to replace the financial system, which is a massive undertaking. The authors also don't acknowledge that the volatility of most major cryptocurrencies has been on the decline over the years.

The authors seem to imply that crypto can't replace central banks because their blockchains are fragmented. Meaning they can't interoperate, which just isn't the case. Most crypto holders know the industry will be multi-chain, and interoperability innovation has been explosive. 

They highlight that new cryptocurrencies are pretty centralized, and many existing cryptocurrencies have started to centralize to increase their speed and competitiveness. The authors then turn to decentralized finance. Notably, there’s growing awareness that the central banks and commercial banks alike see Defi as the biggest threat because it has the potential to play both of their roles. 

Because centralized exchanges somehow fall under the umbrella of Defi, the authors list a few critiques of them, too, including the lack of transparency around crypto holdings, a lack of oversight compared to regular exchanges, and the fact that they let you withdraw your crypto.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), whose so-called recommendations aim to make self-custody next to impossible by labeling anyone who tries to hold their own crypto as high risk because they believe only the banks are allowed to preserve your assets, comes to mind. 

Regarding the “structural limitations of crypto,” the authors argue that cryptocurrencies are incentivized to keep their fees high because it's the only way they can adequately compensate miners and validators. This is an interesting albeit flawed argument. 

This is an argument that Hyun Song Shin made in his first media briefing about cryptocurrency in 2018. He and the authors of this report fail to realize that economic incentives and self-interest are why anyone does anything at all, ultimately.

While it's true that there are risks associated with securing a cryptocurrency blockchain, there are even more considerable risks related to giving control of the financial system to a small group of central bankers. And crypto’s inherent value is increasing as people start to realize this. 

In the graph below, the results of a crypto study conducted by the BIS found that “a rise in the price of Bitcoin is associated with a significant increase in new users, i.e., the entry of new investors, with a correlation coefficient of more than 0.9. It analyzes the age and gender of users, exogenous shocks, and risk factors, which could convince the reader that crypto is dangerous.    

The authors proclaim that “regulatory action is needed to address the immediate risks in the crypto monetary system and to support public policy goals.”  These regulations the authors want to see include;

  • Regulators to crack down on stablecoins, especially decentralized stablecoins, which is no coincidence, given that stablecoins compete directly with all kinds of fiat currencies as per the BIS’s own admissions. 
  • Cryptocurrency exchanges that hide transacting parties' identities and fail to follow basic know your customer (KYC) and other FATF requirements should be fined or shut down.
  • Regulators should consider restricting retail access to certain altcoins, banning Defi, and even crack down on crypto oracles like Chainlink for daring to provide data to decentralized applications without approval from the government.
  • Regulators should ensure that cryptocurrency doesn't become too big as it could compromise the integrity of the fiat financial system. To that end, the authors advised that regulators focus on the centralized entities in cryptocurrency, be they exchanges, custodians, or otherwise. 

Because crypto is global, the authors even call on governments to create a new international regulatory authority and present the BIS as the ideal institution to play this role. 

The authors also revealed that the BIS is developing a “cryptocurrency and defi analysis platform” that combines on-chain and off-chain data to produce vetted information on market capitalization, economic activity, and international flows. They concluded the crypto section of the report with; 

“Overall, the crypto sector provides a glimpse of promising technological possibilities, but it cannot fulfill all the high-level goals of a digital monetary system. Central Bankers can provide such foundations, and they are working actively to shape the future of the monetary system.” 

 

BIS Vision: Four Roles Of Central Banks

The report explains the central banks' four specific roles in the BIS's eyes. These are;

  1. Issue Money
  2. Provide Transaction Liquidity
  3. Ensure Liquidity (also known as money printing)
  4. Assist In Regulations

According to the BIS, the future of finance takes the four roles of the central bank to the next level by introducing Wholesale and Retail CBDCs. Select individuals and institutions will use the wholesale CBDCs, whereas the average person will use retail CBDCs. 

Essentially, we will have two systems, and the BIS is OK with that because, as far as it is concerned, “central banks are mandated to serve the public interest” and are totally not influenced by politics or influential individuals and institutions in the private sector. 


Image Source: Technode.global

The authors then outline the different components of their vision of the future of finance and highlight concepts like programmability, composability, tokenization, interoperability, instant payments, open platforms, and inclusive designs. Wait a minute… It sounds like they’re describing the future of cryptocurrency! 

The image below displays the metaphor they use to explain their vision of the future of finance. They paint a picture of trees with central banks as the trunk, showing how all the different central banks will lock branches, calling it the Forest of the Global system. 

It seems a bit ironic as the report simultaneously claims that a fragmented financial system of this kind would never work. The authors also commented that putting central banks at the center of the financial equation is a “prerequisite for private innovation that serves the public interest,” which seems to imply that private innovation is incapable of serving the public interest in the absence of central banks.

Wholesale CBDCs

Regarding wholesale CBDCs, the authors note that they can be used to govern the inner workings of the financial system and promise their audience, which is again primarily powerful individuals and institutions, that their privacy will be protected, thanks to zero-knowledge proof—also used in the cryptocurrency industry. 

The authors also described how a wholesale CBDC would be used to settle a digital currency transaction that’s not done in a retail CBDC. They gave someone buying a house with privately issued eMoney with the deed automatically transferred as an example. They suggested that “the same system could also allow for digital representations of stocks and bonds.” 

In other words, they would be tokenizing all real-world assets on their permission blockchains. Some would argue that if this happens, the central bank and, by extension, the government would own your assets. They would be able to revoke your ownership of anything and everything. And if you don't have physical evidence that it was once yours, you will have no way of proving to anyone that it ever was. 

People in crypto communities that understand crypto know that buying and holding cryptocurrency in your own wallet is the way to circumvent this, as no one can take it away from you.  

Retail CBDCs

There’s no need to worry just yet because the next section of the BIS report talks about the real problem for us; the retail CBDC. It points out the mass adoption of Brazil's fast payment system as proof that the average person will voluntarily adopt a retail CBDC, even though the BIS’s own research shows that only 4-12% of adults in developed countries would voluntarily adopt a retail CBDC.

The authors also applaud the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's milestone of reaching 1.7 million transactions per second in its CBDC trials, noting that this is faster than payment networks like Visa and cryptocurrency blockchains. 

It seems the authors conveniently forgot about Bitcoins Lightning Network, which can process an estimated 40 million transactions per second.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, if you're wondering, how will the central banks convince anyone to adopt this? The authors clearly state that by allowing non-bank entities to offer CBDC wallets, they can also overcome the lack of trust in financial institutions that holds back many individuals in today's system.

In other words, central banks will use private companies that people trust to roll out their retail CBDCs. This is funny, considering the authors spent the earlier part of the report trying to convince the reader that the central banks and their financial systems are the pinnacles of trust. 

What's even funnier is that the BIS actually reported on how much people trust the financial system. The figure is only around 60% in developed countries and possibly even lower now. 

The authors then reiterate what's been said in other BIS reports about the privacy of retail CBDCs, stating that “central banks have no commercial interest in personal data and can thus credibly design systems in the public interest.” Put simply, privacy for them but not for us. They also quote that transactions would not be recorded on a public blockchain visible to all. 

If all of this wasn't bad enough, the authors discuss a global “multi CBDC platform” that the world's central banks will govern in the following subsection. And the cherry on top is that the privacy of these entities will be insured, so the public will have no idea who controls this powerful system. 

Although these statements are made in the context of a wholesale CBDC, the authors make sure that the reader knows that the same global platform could be put in place for retail CBDCs and similar types of digital currencies. 

BIS Report Conclusion

The authors conclude by briefly commenting on the progress being made on the BIS’s explicitly stated goals and list the following statistics, 

  • 90% of central banks are exploring CBDCs. 
  • Three retail CBDCs are currently live
  • 28 CBDCs in development
  • Sixty countries are working on Fast Retail Payments.

This list includes the United States Federal Reserve’s plans to roll out the “FED NOW” fast payment system in 2023. It will have many of the same qualities as a retail CBDC, especially if the US government manages to roll out a digital ID system as per Shin’s remarks in his media briefing. 

Meanwhile, France and Switzerland are working on a multi-CBDC platform, as are Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Thailand, China, and the United Arab Emirates. 

“In sum, central banks are working together to advance domestic policy goals and to support a seamlessly integrated global monetary system with concrete benefits for their economies and end-users.” 

And because the authors still need to bash crypto and drive home the conclusion,

“Instead of serving society, crypto and defi are plagued by congestion fragmentation and high rents, in addition to the immediate concerns about the risks of losses and financial instability.” 

This statement might be the most hypocritical of the report because many central banks are testing their CBDCs using cryptocurrency blockchains. 

What Does This Mean for Crypto?

So, the big question is, what does all this mean for the crypto market? Many believe this news is insanely bullish for crypto because nobody is buying into the BIS’s “BS” except the central bankers. 

Other previous BIS reports could be considered shamelessly evil, and the average individual and institution would not adopt this technology voluntarily. The only way you could convince the average individual and, or institution to adopt this technology would be through force or a crisis, and, conveniently, there's no shortage of those these days. 

It's also fascinating how the authors hold up the central banks as the center of the universe and how they are willingly or unwillingly unable to acknowledge just how fast innovation in crypto has been. Four years ago, the BIS laughed at crypto. Now, it's starting to fight it. Does this mean that crypto will win in four years' time? 

Let's just say that it's interesting that this is around the time we would see the next crypto bull market top. This obviously doesn't mean that fiat currencies will be defeated in four years, but it could mark the tipping point where crypto adoption becomes so widespread that it genuinely can't be stopped. 

References:
Bis.org
Coinbureau

 

 

Editor and Chief Markethive: Deb Williams. (Australia) I thrive on progress and champion freedom of speech. I embrace "Change" with a passion, and my purpose in life is to enlighten people to accept and move forward with enthusiasm. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

This information is provided for informational purposes only. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice.

Also published @ BeforeIt’sNews.com 

 

From Economic Depression To Economic Hope

From Economic Depression To Economic Hope

Economic Depression

As we progress in 2022, many commentators suggest we are entering into a deep depression which will surpass the Great Depression of the 1930’s.  If you look at the statistical picture below, it tells its own story over time about the declining value of the dollar. This is not just something which happened in the last two years alone.

With travel being curtailed in the wake of high inflation, hikes in energy prices,  gas prices, not to mention the travel disruption across airports and trains, it seems that mankind is being backed into a corner via government policies that don’t make sense.

How things fare in the long run is largely going to be determined by the capacity to see opportunity and revive business in a way that brings greater value.

Many brick and mortar businesses are operating work from home policies. With more people having to work from home, the opportunity to work online is becoming more apparent. You may be seeking alternative income to supplement your job, or to replace it for a different lifestyle.

If you have never run your own business, or even if you are having to start again from scratch, the proposition of online working may feel scary. You may even be wondering if it is worth making money when your hard earned money is effectively being zeroed out.

 

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Economic Hope

The good news is that money never disappears in a downturn. It simply transfers from one place to another. 

An example in kind is that while the economy crashed, those who had invested in vaccines made a lot of money because the vaccines were deemed to be the answer to a health crisis en masse.  I will not comment further on the politics and ethics of this subject here.

However the point is there is always opportunity if you are prepared to take a step back, do some research and adjust your path moving forward. Here are some suggestions to move you toward economic hope.

Start With You | Create Your own Away Day

Start with yourself and take some time out uninterrupted whether at home or away. Do  a brain dump on every gift and ability. What skills do you possess? What do you feel passionate about? What lifestyle would you like to create going forward? 

If you could do something in life that would combine your abilities, yet give you a sense of purpose in life, what would that look like? Do not answer according to your circumstance or that of the economy for now. Just let your creativity and imagination flow for now

Lifestyle Design | How Money Works

On the note of lifestyle you may want to get conversant with how money works,  because money and business go hand in hand when devising a plan. You could use something like Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki as a framework to aid your thinking.

Image source: Robert Kiyosaki The Rich Dad Channel

Financial Literacy is important because this is an area where many rank low. It concerns the basics of how money works, and if you don’t have a fundamental grasp of this it is difficult to make money work to support your lifestyle aspirations.

Kiyosaki proposed four areas of money flow, employed, self-employed, business owner and investor. The difference between the left and right hand side of the quadrants is that on the left hand side you are the one working for money. The opposite applies on the right hand side.

How does this apply to offline and online  business?

Employee 

So this is where your ability to earn money is dependent on your presence and input of work. As a general rule, if you don’t show up, you don’t earn money. In this scenario you are trading time for money unless you have performance related pay or bonuses.

It’s important to do what you love, and for some that will be in the form of employment, whether that be in a service or a business working for someone else. 

One point to note is that if you have a job you love, you can still become wealthy. I made a mistake in my thinking on this because while I was still nursing the opposite was emphasized, that to become financially independent and free I needed to start my own business. 

I wanted to do that, so it was not a problem. But I could have become wealthy sooner while in employment had I learned about investing. This takes me back to financial literacy and its importance, and I will expand on this point under investment shortly.

Self-Employed

This is where you are in business as an entrepreneur. It's not quite the same as the Business Owner category above because you are the boss and also the employee in your own business. This makes you more of a solopreneur until you start building a team around you that you can outsource your non core competencies if you choose. 

When starting out in self employment it is important to establish the product or service you will supply, to whom and where. It must solve a problem or meet a significant desire in your prospects. So some research is important.

The simplest thing is to start having conversations with people about their needs and wants to get a sense of what might work. Often this is glossed over but is crucial if you want to set yourself up for success.

You can use online surveys such as MonkeySurvey, or if you want to go deeper there are some good courses built around various aspects of business including this type of research. Ryan Levesque built a whole course around the theme of asking. You can check his course called The Ask Method.

This will give you a solid marketing foundation from which you can build a product or service. Bear in mind that with a product it is easier to scale.

Affiliate Income

If you are not able or willing to create your own product or service you may wish to consider the affiliate model of income. This is where you market an already existing product created by someone else in exchange for a percentage of the sale in commissions. 

The benefit of this is that everything is supplied for you, leaving you to focus on marketing the product. The more a product solves a critical problem, the better the chance of making a sale.

For example if there was a product which plugged the gap in the declining value of the dollar,  do you think people might be interested.

Gold is real money, and inflation proof, and there are affiliate businesses based round this. While many deem this to be a long term investment, solutions are arising to allow you to make purchases in gold.

Kinesis is one such example where they tackled the problem of Gresham’s Law, which states that the current system means that people spend ‘bad’ money [fiat money ] while saving ‘good’ money [ gold ].

They have now made it possible not only to purchase gold [ and silver ], but are coming out with a debit card which will allow you to spend that physically allocated gold you have purchased, while getting yields for saving, spending and referring.

With this solution you can take remedial action to stop the rot of economic depression by plugging the gap of the declining value of your money, while earning money from helping others at the same time.

Business Owner

This is on the right hand side of the quadrant where money is working for you. It is often referred to as passive income. This is where you set something up, and with a little work up front, it pays you over and over again. 

Network marketing is an example of a model some companies use. There is a main company and there is a product which you can purchase on a subscription basis. You can then build an organization of distributors and get paid a percentage of their results. This type of income is referred to as passive income. 

You can be on holiday and make money from the efforts of your team. Rather like the affiliate model, you get to own a business without having to set up a brick and mortar structure and all the tools are provided, so you can work from home or anywhere there is an internet connection, hence the term, the laptop lifestyle.

A key difference is that network marketing income relies heavily on the recruitment of others. Affiliate marketing does not require that.

You may decide to create a traditional local business where you provide employment in the process. You are not an employee in this scenario but oversee the team of workers. The success of your business will depend on a lot of factors beyond the product or service itself.

I recommend Marc Allen’s book called The Millionaire Course published in 2003. In this book he not only describes how to become wealthy, but shares how he built a publishing business with spiritual principles, and put an infrastructure in place that made it difficult for his employees to want to leave as they felt so well cared for. 

This included generous pension plans and profit share bonuses as well as an environment where everyone could be creative and contribute to the company growth

If you don’t wish to deal with people trading the stock markets is another area where you can operate set and forget strategies for passive income, although you can work it manually too if you prefer.

Investor

You can also invest in a company’s growth and get paid dividends over time as it profits. If you choose this path, do learn how investments work, otherwise all you will be doing is speculating and hoping for the best, without proper strategy.

I was quite frugal in my upbringing and my mum taught me about the importance of saving money. I knew nothing about investments though. Let me ask you something. If you took $10 per month and put it into a ‘vehicle’ that returned 8% per month, with compound interest how long would it take to become a millionaire?

I thought it would be over 30 years and when I worked out the answer manually, then in a spreadsheet, I was shocked, and then I cried, because even I could have invested $10 per month as a nurse. 

I have since corrected that and planted investment seeds. This is a longer term strategy but an example of how you can work the left and right hand side of the quadrant above

Markethive is an example of an opportunity to invest in the growth of the company. Currently you can buy something called an ILP or an initial loan procurement and get paid as the company makes profits. 

Robert Kiyosaki is famous for his book Rich Dad Poor Dad, and teaches financial literacy and wealth so you can thrive rather than just survive. You can read more about the above model in his book Cashflow Quadrant available on Amazon.
 

 

 

 

About: Anita Narayan. (United Kingdom) My life's work is about helping individuals to greater freedom through joy and purpose without self-sabotage, so that inspirational legacy can serve generations to come. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Aren’t Guns Banned in America?

Shared from Quora by Don Kepple

7/19/22

I get this question quite often from folks in other countries, and this is the most thorough answer, and best explanation I've found to date. 

A little history lesson. 

Written by:

Andrew T. Post Updated 2 years ago

gun owner and 2nd Amendment supporter

Why aren’t guns banned in America?

I’m going to answer this question literally.

See this dude?

His name’s John Locke.

Born 1632, died 1704. English physician and political theorist. One of the most prominent thinkers of the Enlightenment. Considered “the founder of liberalism.”

America’s Founding Fathers, people like Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, cribbed heavily from Locke’s work when they were building the moral and philosophical basis for the United States of America and writing the Declaration of Independence and The Federalist Papers and the Constitution and whatnot. And so did the 1st United States Congress when they were ratifying the Bill of Rights.

Locke wrote extensively on the topics of natural rights, the balance of power, and the origin and purpose of government. His liberal ideas were used as building blocks by America’s Founding Fathers to craft their new nation—the freest, purest, and most just republic the world had ever seen.

How did Locke come into these revolutionary ideas?

He built upon the work of philosophers who had gone before him, of course. Hobbes and Machiavelli and the like.

But in addition, some interesting things happened during Locke’s lifetime.

One of these was the English Civil War (1642–1651).

This was a war between the king of England (Charles I) and his royalist supporters (“Cavaliers”) vs. the English Parliament and their supporters (“Roundheads”). Charlie wasn’t a very good king, you see, and Parliament became unhappy with his repeated abuses of his royal powers.

Back in those days, Parliament didn’t really have the powers it has now. It was basically a cabinet the king convened at his sole discretion. But it did have the power to levy taxes, which came in handy for a total spendthrift like Charles I.

But anyway, Charlie got to feeling a bit too free and easy for Parliament’s liking. He went and married a French (and Roman Catholic) princess named Henrietta Maria in 1625. Then Charlie decided to send an expeditionary force to France to relieve the French Huguenots besieged at La Rochelle in 1627. Parliament began to breathe easy—despite marrying a Catholic, the king was showing support for the Protestant Huguenots. Then Charlie went and ruined everything by giving command of the expedition to the hugely unpopular Duke of Buckingham. The expedition was a complete shambles. Parliament opened impeachment procedures against Buckingham. King Charles responded by dissolving Parliament—which was the king’s prerogative at the time.

But now Charlie was in a bind—Parliament was the only way he could raise taxes to support his extravagant lifestyle. So he went ahead and convened a new Parliament. This new bunch (which included Oliver Cromwell) drew up a Petition of Right, which was basically a list of rights the king was forbidden from infringing upon.

Sound familiar, my fellow Americans?

Parliament submitted the Petition of Right for Chuckie’s approval. Chuckie approved it, but only so Parliament would give him his royal subsidy. Then he dissolved Parliament.

Chaz avoided calling a Parliament for the next eleven years. He practically bent over backward to make sure he didn’t have to reconvene it, in fact. He went so far as to make peace with France and Spain so he wouldn’t have an expensive war on his hands. He also resorted to some fairly tricky means to raise money for himself. He started fining people who failed to show up at his coronation and receive a knighthood. “Ship money” was a tax traditionally levied against English citizens in coastal districts, and which funded the Royal Navy’s anti-piracy efforts. Chuck started charging inland English counties for anti-piracy and anti-privateering measures. Naturally, this illegal and arbitrary tax made a lot of people angry, and some of them refused to pay it.

Once again, my fellow Americans—doesn’t this sound familiar?

There was also some religious crap that went down, as usual, but neither you nor I care about that.

For these and various other reasons, those eleven Parliament-less years were called “the personal rule of Charles I” or more bluntly, the “Eleven Years’ Tyranny.”

An emergency in Scotland caused Charles to reconvene Parliament in 1640. A majority of this new body decided to use Charles I’s desperate need for money against him. They pressured him to redress Parliament’s grievances against him and to abandon the war in Scotland. Charles, outraged, again dissolved Parliament. It had lasted only a few weeks. It came to be known as “the Short Parliament.”

Without Parliament’s approval, Charles I attacked Scotland. He suffered an embarrassing defeat. The Scots turned right around and invaded England, eventually occupying almost the entire northern region. Charles was soon forced to pay the Scots £850 a day to keep them from advancing further.

Well, this put ol’ Chuckie back in desperate financial straits, so he had no choice but to reconvene Parliament. As you may imagine, this new Parliament—the Long Parliament, as it came to be known—was even more hostile to him than the Short Parliament had been. And this time, they really had him over a barrel. They forced the king to agree to all kinds of demands. A raft of new laws was passed. Henceforth, Parliament would convene at least once every three years—whether or not the king had summoned them. The king could no longer impose taxes without Parliament’s express consent. Parliament could now review and censure the conduct of the king’s ministers. Oh, and here’s the kicker: the king could no longer dissolve Parliament without its consent, even after the three years were up.

My fellow Americans, does this sound familiar yet?

(I’ll give you a hint: the phrase “checks and balances” should be running through your head right about now.)

Anyway, tensions between Charles I and Parliament eventually reached their breaking point. Charles resented all the concessions he’d been forced to make to Parliament, and the Long Parliament suspected Charles of wanting to shut Parliament down and rule by military force. (They were also worried that he wanted to reintroduce Catholicism—okay, more like episcopalian Anglicanism, but close enough—to England.)

So the English Civil War broke out.

The outcome was pretty interesting. The Parliamentarians won. King Charles was put on trial and executed and his son Charles II exiled. England ceased to be a monarchy and became the Commonwealth of England, and then the Protectorate (ruled over by Cromwell as “Lord Protector”—essentially a military dictator). Then, finally, the monarchy was restored in 1660 when Charles II returned from exile. But it was restored only with Parliament’s consent. Constitutionally, a new day had dawned for England. Monarchs could only rule if Parliament gave ’em the green light. Britain was now on course to become the constitutional monarchy it is today.

The English Civil War, its causes, and its outcome were all extremely interesting to John Locke, that gaunt and mournful-looking fellow whose image adorns the top of this increasingly long-winded Quora answer.

Locke’s most influential work, perhaps, was his First and Second Treatise of Civil Government. The treatises were written in 1689, in defense of the Glorious Revolution the year prior, during which Mary II and her Dutch husband William of Orange deposed Mary’s father King James II and VII of England, Scotland, and Ireland (that’s, uh, just one guy, by the way—yeah, I know it’s confusing). William and Mary then turned right around and accepted Parliament’s invitation to become joint sovereigns of England and gave their royal assent to the English Bill of Rights, which finally established the authority of Parliament over the Crown.

(If you’ve ever wondered why Queen Elizabeth II doesn’t actually rule the United Kingdom, and Parliament and the prime minister are the ones who make all the important decisions, the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution are the reasons.)

Contained within the English Bill of Rights were a couple of things that Americans might find hauntingly familiar—the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, the banning of taxation without Parliament’s assent (taxation without representation, in other words), and the right of Protestants to keep and bear arms for their defense.

You’re beginning to see where I’m going with this, aren’t you?

In his defense of the Glorious Revolution, John Locke philosophized that men and women, back in the savage days, had the anarchistic freedom to pursue their own interests, which resulted in violent and brutal warfare. To put a stop to this chaos and protect people’s inalienable rights, governments were established to keep the peace. This peace was maintained by laws. This principle is something Locke referred to as the “social compact”—governments are established by mutual agreement of individuals for the purposes of protection and the security of their individual liberty.

The so-called first principle of the social compact is this: since governments are instituted by the people, governments necessarily derive their power from the consent of the governed. Since the government’s purpose is to protect people’s inalienable rights, a government has no power beyond what’s necessary to protect those rights. A just government is, therefore, a limited government.

Locke argued that the definition of liberty is freedom from restraint or violence by other people, and this cannot be accomplished without laws. Anarchy repulsed him. But tyranny repulsed him even more. A just government, in Locke’s view, was one with checks and balances—where the legislative branch of government had the power to check the executive, and the people were armed and ready to defend themselves against tyranny from either the legislative or executive branches. Or both.

I’m currently reading a book called The Philosopher’s Handbook (edited by Stanley Rosen). In his introduction to Part One (Social and Political Philosophy), Paul Rahe wrote something about Locke that I found rather interesting. (Emphasis mine.)

Locke was perfectly prepared to acknowledge the horrors of anarchy, but he doubted very much that they so exceeded those of tyranny that human beings could be persuaded to give up the right to organized self-defense. A well-ordered government would include a monarchical executive armed with a prerogative enabling him to execute the laws, defend the realm, and respond to emergencies; it would include a representative assembly empowered to lay taxes, make laws, and examine the conduct of the executive's ministers. But it would rest ultimately on an enlightened citizenry prepared, in the face of executive and legislative abuse, to take up arms in defense of the right to life, liberty, and property.

MY FELLOW AMERICANS, DOES THIS SOUND FAMILIAR YET?

Like I said, America’s Founding Fathers stole a hell of a lot of Locke’s ideas. They used Locke’s principles of the social compact, consent of the governed, and the right to keep and bear arms to form a near-perfect union—to shape (and philosophically defend) the fledgling United States of America. The Declaration of Independence says “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” It also says that “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

And the Second Amendment, which is part of the Bill of Rights (the first ten amendments to the Constitution), says “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

That’s not something the 1st United States Congress pulled out of thin air. It comes straight from Locke.

And at long last, ladies and gentlemen—that is why America “allows the general public to keep guns.” Because the right to keep and bear arms was seen as being necessary to the security of the free state envisioned by John Locke, and early American statesmen, heavily influenced by Locke’s writings and philosophy, saw fit to enshrine the inalienable right to keep and bear arms in the Bill of Rights.

QED.

Sources:

Social Compact Theory

John Locke and the founding fathers

Does gun control violate the 2nd Amendment? - Quora

 

 

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

Dispute Over The Kazakh Oil Pipeline

Dispute Over The Kazakh Oil Pipeline

Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental landlocked country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe.

The country dominates Central Asia economically and politically, generating 60 percent of the region's GDP, primarily through its oil and gas industry

Kazakhstan holds about 4 billion tonnes (3.9 billion long tons; 4.4 billion short tons) of proven recoverable oil reserves and 2,000 cubic kilometers (480 cubic miles) of gas. Kazakhstan is the 19th largest oil-producing nation in the world.

The economy of Kazakhstan is the largest in Central Asia in both absolute and per capita terms. Kazakhstan has attracted more than $370 billion of foreign investments since becoming an independent republic after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

 

Large energy companies such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and Eni own since the 90th  rights for oil and gas production in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan has a customs union with Russia and Belarus and is also a member of the Eurasian Economic Union. Yet, for example, in 2017, the European Union was Kazakhstan's most important trading partner, with a share of 38.7% in foreign trade. Kazakhstan has the potential to be a world-class oil exporter in the medium term. 

Kazakhstan has the largest and most powerful economy in Central Asia. The economy of Kazakhstan, supported by rising oil production and prices, grew by an average of 8% per year until 2013, before slowing down between 2014 and 2015. It was thus the most dynamic world economy of the early 21st century after China and Qatar.

 

Problems of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium

Beginning of July a Russian court ordered that the Caspian pipeline consortium  (CPC) must suspend operations for 30 days. The court justified the decision by the possibility of environmental damage. The report adds to global concerns about oil supplies, Reuters warned.

 

The capacity of the Caspian pipeline

CPC brings oil from Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea coast and is one of the largest oil pipelines in the world. It transports about one percent of the world's oil.

The consortium that owns the pipeline said that it must abide by the decision, but intends to appeal against it. At the same time, it refused to comment on its activities. A Russian court on Monday 11th July overturned the ruling against CPC and instead fined it 200,000 roubles ($3,300). 

 

Kazakhstan – Caspian pipeline

The CPC pipeline has been in the spotlight since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has curtailed Russian exports and caused a sharp rise in oil prices. The United States imposed sanctions on Russian oil but said that flows from Kazakhstan through Russia can continue to operate without interruption.

According to the CPC, deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation Viktoria Abramchenkova ordered the regulatory authorities, including the Rostechnadzor technical supervision authority, to inspect the facilities in the Russian part. The inspection allegedly found discrepancies in documents relating to oil spill management plans. Oil leaked from the terminal last year. CPC originally received a deadline of 30. November, but eventually the authorities changed the decision and the court gave them the truth.

CPC is the only oil export pipeline on Russian territory that is not fully owned by the Russian company Transneft which owns a 24 percent stake in the consortium. Other shareholders include Kazakh company KazMunayGas and American companies Chevron and Exxon. Its length is over 1500 km.

According to Interfax, the explosion of the pipeline occurred on Wednesday 6th July at the Tengiz field, whose reserves are estimated at 3.2 billion tons. The causes of the explosion, in which, according to Nexta, two people were killed and three others were injured, are unknown.

The site in the west of Kazakhstan is managed by Tengizchevroil, which is 50% owned by the American Chevron and another 25% by ExxonMobil. In Tengiz, a $ 45.2 billion mining expansion project has now been launched, which was to be completed in 2023. Kazakhstan is in terms of oil production with 1.7 million barrels per day at 11. place in the world, reports the Moscow Times.

The shareholders of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium are:

  • Transneft – 24%

  • KazMunaiGaz – 19%

  • Chevron Caspian Pipeline Consortium Co. – 15%

  • LukArco B.V. – 12.5%

  • Mobil Caspian Pipeline Co. – 7.5%

  • Rosneft – Shell Caspian Ventures Ltd. – 7.5%

  • CPC Company – 7%

  • BG Overseas Holdings Ltd. – 2%

  • Eni International (N.A.) N.V. S.ar.l – 2%

  • Kazakhstan Pipeline Ventures LLC – 1.75%

  • Oryx Caspian Pipeline LLC – 1.75%

Disputes between Russia and Kazakhstan

Between Russia and Kazakhstan there have recently been disagreements over the war in Ukraine, the agency DPA warned. Kazakhstan recently offered the EU to supply more oil and gas to Europe and did not recognize the independence of the separatist republics in eastern Ukraine.

Through the CPC pipeline, 54 million tons, or 1.2 million barrels per day, of Kazakh CPC Blend light sour crude oil were exported last year. Through the terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk flows 80 percent of oil exported from Kazakhstan. The handling capacity of the pipeline is 67 million tons per year. Its operation has already been interrupted once this year due to damage to the equipment of the Black Sea terminal.

Kazakhstan's key oil pipeline is back up and running since 13th July again. But Russia wants to push to stop it and according to sources from three Western companies operating in Kazakhstan, it is likely that a long-term shutdown of CPC operations may still occur. Kazakhstan does not have access to the sea and thus has very limited alternative transport options. A failure of the CPC would mean a drop in exports of up to 50 million tons of oil per year.

In spite of all the complications, the president of Kazakhstan Tokaev thinks that his country could create a kind of "buffer zone" to compensate for the imbalance in the distribution of energy between East and West and North and south, he said. In this context, Tokayev called on the EU to expand alternative transport corridors, including across the Caspian Sea. This would make it possible to supply raw materials to Europe outside of Russia.

Many Western companies have exited operations in Russia, with oil majors among the first to leave in the days after the conflict began. Western sanctions have disrupted Russian exports and pushed up energy prices.

In response, Russia made steps towards seizing oil and gas projects Sakhalin 1 and 2, where Shell and Exxon have stakes. A Western executive familiar with CPC operations said Sakhalin was "a definite sign of things to come for CPC".

Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, international oil prices spiked to their highest levels since the records of 2008.

They have since eased to just above $100 a barrel as the market anticipates economic weakness will lower demand, although selling has been limited by concerns of tight supplies that would be exacerbated by a cut in CPC output.

"Losing one million barrels per day in an already tight environment can lead to an unsolvable problem for the oil market," Amrita Sen from Energy Aspects in London said.

JP Morgan analysts predicted last week that oil prices could jump to an all-time high of $190 per barrel if a combined 3 million BPD of output from Russia and Kazakhstan was hit by sanctions and related issues.

Lack of Alternatives

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told his government to diversify oil supply routes. All alternatives are challenging, for instance, shipments over the Caspian sea face tanker shortages and have little capacity to take more oil.

The United States imposed sanctions on Russian oil but said that flows from Kazakhstan through Russia can continue to operate without interruption. Now, however, this possibility is under threat, and it is not certain that Russia will not take further action against the functionality of this pipeline.

Relationship between Russia and Kazakhstan

This was the third time in recent months that the CPC has run into trouble.

The freeze on activities stood to cost Kazakhstan hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. 

The reality is that Kazakhstani-Russian relations have been less than ideal for weeks, not to say months or even years.

The depth of Kazakhstan’s economic ties with Russia cannot be underestimated. Of the $101.5 billion of trade that the country did in 2021, around one-quarter was with Russia, a country with which Kazakhstan shares more than 7,600 kilometers of the border. The regimes of the two countries are bound also in other ways. Kazakhstan is a member of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation defense bloc.

 

Sources:

Themoscowtimes.com

Reuters.com

Eurasianet.org

Echo24.cz

Ceskenoviny.cz

byznys.hn.cz
 

 

 

Bitcoin Holds 2022 Lows as Inflation Soars and More Troubled Crypto Companies Emerge

Bitcoin Holds 2022 Lows as Inflation Soars and More Troubled Crypto Companies Emerge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another month, another red-hot inflation data. As of Wednesday 13th, July, the consumer price index (CPI, a key measure of U.S. inflation) was up 9.1% from a year earlier. Meaning shoppers are paying significantly more for everything from groceries, gasoline and rent. The higher-than-expected reading immediately spooked cryptocurrencies and stocks, as Bitcoin plunged 5% and the S&P 500 opened by 1%. The liquidity crisis plaguing crypto firms; Three Arrows Capital and Celsius continued to spread across the market. Well, it hasn't been all bad news for the crypto sector. Let's dive into the water.

Four decades of high inflation and the Fed's efforts to combat it are weighing on stocks and crypto markets and sparking fears of a recession. Consumer prices rose 9.1% in June from a year earlier, beating Dow Jones's 8.8% forecast. The most significant inversion of the yield curve between 10-year and 2-year Treasury bills (a key indicator of a recession) occurred since 2000. The latest inflation report could mean another rate hike is on the horizon for the Federal Reserve, which has accelerated efforts to unwind pandemic-era stimulus. Riskier assets such as cryptocurrencies and tech stocks have benefited from excess consumer cash in the past, but have since suffered some of the sharpest losses.

Two months after the Terra/Luna debacle, liquidity and credit issues continue to plague overstretched crypto firms like Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Celsius, Voyager, and more. A legal battle has erupted between the founders and liquidators of 3AC, which manages $10 billion, after it filed for bankruptcy on July 1.

The fallout from 3AC affects Blockchain.com. (3AC lost $270 million on loans), Voyager Digital (filed for bankruptcy after 3AC failed to repay $670 million), and BlockFi. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has since "bailed out" the latter two. Meanwhile, Celsius, one of the first companies to suspend withdrawals due to liquidity issues paid off a huge Defi loan ahead of its bankruptcy filing Wednesday night.

Bitcoin mining companies are also feeling the pinch.

Despite the fall in cryptocurrency prices, global mining output has remained near all-time highs over the past month. Meaning mining energy costs are high even as the value of cryptocurrency block rewards falls. As a result, some miners are selling their cryptocurrency to pay fees.

Core Scientific, one of the largest miners in the world, sold $167 million worth of BTC (over 75% of its BTC) to pay off servers and other debts. Canadian miner Bitfarms sold $62 million worth of BTC (more than 75% of its BTC) to improve liquidity, and Argo Blockchain liquidated $15.6 million to repay Galaxy Digital's loan.

What's the good news?

Regarding global adoption, Italy subsidizes Internet blockchain projects with $46 million. The Central African Republic has announced a new national cryptocurrency, Sango Coin, whose president says it will be "a gateway to the country's natural resources." portal." Meanwhile, $5.5 billion in venture capital flowed into crypto projects in the year's first half. Most recently, Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis raised $150 million for blockchain gaming, and Layer 1 protocol Rubix raised $100 million from a company specializing in cross-border transactions.

It's also important to note that Ethereum successfully launched proof-of-stake on its Sepolia test net, the second of three milestones ahead of a blockchain energy-efficient upgrade known as Merge.

Why this matters

Months into the crypto winter of Bitcoin's 70% drop from its November all-time high, a big question is permeating: Are we near a bottom? While some analysts claim that macro factors are crucial like the Fed slowing rate hikes or cutting stock earnings forecasts, others think we're close to a bottom. While no one can predict how the crypto market will move, finding a bottom is more than just price levels. As one cryptocurrency trader told CoinDesk:

"The bottom is as much a product of time as the price…Cynical sentiment must die down and give way to optimism."

The price of crypto has been steadily declining since the beginning of the year. This is a common market trend and seems to be generally accepted. The fall in price is not only concerning for those who invested a considerable amount of money in crypto, but it also affects people who are just curious about it. Although the fall in price may be seen as a negative trend, it also has its own set of benefits.

 

 

 

 

What’s Wrong With News And Social Media Today?

What’s Wrong With News And Social Media Today? 

A democratic society values a free-flowing media ecosystem. A healthy media ecosystem is one of the characteristics of a democratic society. Mass media outlets such as newspapers and cable TV networks were prominent in the past. Today, the internet and social media platforms allow for greater communication across society. 

Journalism, investigative correspondents, and even freelance writers are essential to that ecosystem. High-quality reporting revealing brutal truths and users' scope and exposure on social media to either create or access information are forces that can drive genuine societal change. And even keep the power structures in check. 

Despite the positive aspects mentioned above, harmful practices and negative external forces related to the media ecosystem often eclipse them. These issues are usually easy to recognize once they’re identified. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge them and spread awareness about their potential risks. 

Doing so will help you make informed decisions about how you use media and how it can impact your life and the lives of others. The following are a few issues pervasive in many digital news sites, forums, and social media platforms. 

 

Image source: VisualCapitalist

Implicit Bias vs. Explicit Bias
An explicit bias in media has two types: explicit and implicit. It is possible for publishers with explicit biases to control the framing of stories in their publications by overtly dictating the types of stories that are covered. They push their agenda by using narrative fallacies or false balance. 

Implicit bias refers to unintentional filtering or skewing of information. This can occur by turning a blind eye to specific topics or issues because they would tarnish an advertiser's image. These are known as no-fly zones, and because the news industry is financially troubled, these zones are becoming increasingly dangerous. 

Difference between Misinformation and Disinformation
Inaccurate information is known as either misinformation or disinformation. While misinformation is unintentionally disseminated due to a lack of knowledge or truth on the topic, disinformation is purposely designed to mislead people. For example, a deepfake image, video, fake news story, or concept is considered disinformation. 

The term 'fake news' is frequently used to describe poorly written news content or inaccurate news reporting, as well as conspiracy theories and poorly written or incorrect tweets by politicians. Fake news might refer more broadly to information that an individual disagrees with.

Context Stripping
Through social media, stories are shared widely by many participants, and the most compelling framing usually wins out. More often than not, the truncated, provocative posts spread the furthest. The process of stripping context away from an idea may distort its meaning.

Sharing video clips on social platforms is a perfect example of this context-stripping process. Despite the absence of context, much discussion occurs around the video, especially if it’s controversial or shocking. As a result, viewers are unintentionally encouraged to stereotype the individuals in the video and to bring their own preconceived notions to the discussion table, helping fill the gaps. 

Cherry Picking 
Media contributors search for attention-grabbing story angles to make their point in an article. This may result in cherry-picking information and ideas. Because the content is usually accurate, it makes sense on the surface, but it is missing critical context. 

So cherrypicking can be questionable and compromising. It is tempting to create simplistic narratives that are compelling such as good-vs-evil, but real-world situations are often much more complicated than they appear. 

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures
Journalism is experiencing difficult times. Newsrooms are working with less staff and budgets, and 'churnalism' is one outcome. This term describes the act of publishing articles directly from wire services and PR releases. Even if it isn't widely known, 'churnalism' replaces more rigorous reporting. It is also an avenue for advertising and propaganda and harder to recognize as news. 

 

Image source: VisualCapitalist

Paywalls
The drive to generate revenue is leading to other issues as well. Quality content is increasingly being restricted to subscribers only, otherwise called paywalls. This has resulted in a two-class system, with subscribers receiving in-depth, well-researched news and everyone else having access to trivial or sensationalized content only. 

It’s not only about people with limited incomes; young people are also widely included. The average age of a paid news subscriber is 50 years old, raising concerns about the future of the subscription business model. 

Advertisement Clutter
Desperate times have led to desperate measures for advertising-reliant outlets. User experience has taken a backseat to ad impressions, with ad clutter (e.g., auto-play videos, pop-ups, and prompts) constantly interrupting content. One or two ads on a web page are manageable, but when ads overrun the site, it's distracting and disorienting. 

Surveillance Capitalism
In surveillance capitalism, organizations collect large amounts of data about their customers, employees, and other groups that are viewed as valuable sources of information. This information can be used for various purposes, such as generating revenue by selling data or predicting consumer behavior and targeting them with highly personalized advertising campaigns to increase their profits.

Some organizations capture and profit from individual information utilizing browser fingerprinting. When you visit certain websites, third-party companies scan your device and browser settings to track you online. Despite all the opt-in privacy prompts, these third-party trackers can still watch your every move digitally. Most people are not aware of this process.
 

Deplatforming
Many individuals and communities have been banned from social and publishing platforms for various reasons. While harassment and violence, fake accounts, and bots are obvious reasons to remove the offenders’ accounts, many would argue the rules are inconsistently enforced. Users are falling victim to being suspended or deleted from a platform for having a different point of view than the mediators of the platform. 

While we all are responsible for our online behavior as individuals, platform owners must also be careful to preserve the value of their platforms by avoiding over-zealous enforcement tactics that could lead to deplatforming. Invariably this causes irrefutable damage to the individual or company with a loss of followers and content. 

In many cases, this behavior from specific platforms is seen as a structural bias and agenda-setting from the top down by placing importance on selected topics and is very quick to censor legitimate political discourse or other forms of honest expression. A problem that seems ingrained with legacy social media and a battle we can’t win. 

 

Image source: VisualCapitalist

Argument Culture
It’s ultimately deviating to an adversarial approach when encountering people with an opposing worldview. Two examples of this are Twitter flame wars and broadcasts where hyperpartisan critics argue. While these are fun for some people, these activities do not require critical thinking or problem solving and are not helpful for the overall health of our society. 

A flame war is created when multiple users engage in inflammatory responses to an original post, sometimes flamebait. Flame wars often draw in many users, including those trying to defuse the flame war, and can quickly become a mass flame war that overshadows regular forum discussion.

When engaging in argument culture, people will often cherry-pick facts to strengthen their argument, ignore facts that weaken their argument and dismiss facts that reinforce the opposing argument. This approach to facts is often referred to as post-factual. Similarly, people often use hyperbolic language when arguing with others.

Brigading & Social Bots
Social media companies can be powerful enablers and disrupters where users can communicate in new and meaningful ways to help foster community engagement. On the other hand, they can also pose some unique challenges. They are driven by algorithms that privilege engagement with certain kinds of content over others. 

There are autonomous or human-run accounts on certain social media platforms that manipulate discussions and boost specific messages. This alters the tone of online discourse and artificially inflates the spread of messages. These accounts often promote particular agendas, benefit specific groups, or spread misinformation. This type of social media manipulation is referred to as brigading.

Some websites use bots to delete specific comments that they feel do not fit into the narrative of their website and promote what they consider “positive” comments instead. The potential consequences of using bots to promote or suppress specific comments will negatively impact the website and be perceived as one with an agenda that does not allow open discussion. 

 

Who Can You Trust? 
The issues mentioned above have led to a significant decline in confidence and trust across the various media outlets. A study of news media perception from 40 nations revealed that trust varied widely around the world, with European media trusted the most. Western Europeans trusted their media more than those in other parts of the world, and the Finnish were the most trusting, with 65%. The United States and Slovakia scored near the bottom regarding how much consumers trusted their news media at 26%.

The source is one factor that plays a significant role in whether or not an individual trusts news. On a global level, social media was the least trusted news medium, with Europe and North America leading this sentiment. A survey of U.S. adults found that most news on social media was regarded as biased.

Young people worldwide find it difficult to rely on mass media due to its current climate of polarizing political events and fake news. Older generations also share this viewpoint, and one of the top reasons for avoiding news was the inability to rely on its truthfulness.

Alternative Conservative Platforms Stand Up
Participants who lack trust in these disingenuous and agenda-driven platforms or feel their voice is not heard are migrating to other websites where they can be heard. More alternative media are popping up, Conservative-based, bi-partisan, and some are even non-partisan, with their only agenda being freedom of speech, liberty, and sovereignty. 

Conservatives are expanding their media outlets, aggressively building a conservative ecosystem with their own apps, cryptocurrencies, social media, and publishing houses. It includes Trump’s Truth Social and Gettr, launched by ex-Trump aide Jason Miller, with Rumble, the conservative alternative to YouTube, driving the news.

It is their effort to counter the perceived escalating liberal internet and media institutions and stand up against the developing cancel culture and censorship rife in legacy media. That is very commendable; however, it may well be perceived as still having a right-wing agenda that has the potential to stifle the platform’s ability to proliferate. 

 

An Alternative To The Alternative
Where can the people go who have no agenda, are critical thinkers, and have a completely unbiased worldview? People with an entrepreneurial spirit and a “live and let live” attitude that can rise above the injustices, evil trickery, and pettiness of the world. 

Today, the Markethive Social Market Broadcasting Network is growing in prominence as the ecosystem for entrepreneurs with a non-adversarial, bipartisan free speech ethic and a collaborative culture. It is a system of all things media, including a video platform and news broadcasting. It is a culmination of several distinct mechanisms that will harmonize, delivering the resources we need for everything we do online in a decentralized sovereign environment. 

Markethive Media has embraced blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, building an ecosystem that belongs to “we the people,” eliminating many of the issues plagued by media outlets today. With its meritocratic culture, dynamic social media interface, and growing community, Markethive is enhancing and bringing the platform into the future internet with new technology and interfaces, but still in keeping with the human touch.

There is no simple solution to the current problems facing news and social media. However, suppose we are more media literate and aware of what’s happening. In that case, we are better equipped to circumvent or even help fix these broken systems by encouraging honesty and transparency in communication channels that bond society, given that these mediums have become the primary source of information and interaction in the current dystopian climate.  

Reference
Visual Capitalist