In the last two and a half years, perhaps, each of us experienced a surge of fear and did not escape the anxiety of a completely new situation that gripped the whole world. This is quite natural; the events touched the entire civilized world.
However, it is difficult to say what the given level and frequency of experiencing fear, apprehension, and anxiety is. Each will always be a unique cocktail in which they will most likely be mixed early, even prenatal experiences and personal settings, degree of sensitivity, genetic make-up, fulfillment or non-fulfillment of basic emotional needs in childhood, and others.
In addition, during our life, sometimes there comes a period of crises, rebirths, and changes when deep forces forcefully and without question penetrate through the shell of our consciousness. These periods can be accompanied by extreme experiences of fear, anxiety, and even terror.
"There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”
— Epictetus
According to one medieval story, a pilgrim was walking along the road to the city and met Death. Recognizing her, he asks: "Where are you going and why?" "I am going to the city to kill a thousand people with the plague." "Well, if you have to, go," the pilgrim replies, slowly heading to the same city. When he arrives at his destination, he finds a dead city, tens of thousands dead, not a single living being anywhere. He goes back the same way and meets Death again. "You lied to me, Death. You killed all the people with the plague." "I didn't lie,” answers the Death “exactly one thousand inhabitants of the city died of the plague. Everyone else was killed by the fear of the plague."
This horrible story illustrates well the destructive nature of fear if we are overwhelmed by it and give up the fight. The instinctive reaction to a threat is not only an attack or escape, but if we evaluate the situation as hopeless, then also paralysis and surrender to a higher power.
This instinctive reaction is exploited by populist leaders – saviors who can frighten a crowd to the point that it gives up its own chances of solving the urgent sense of threat by its own forces and passively places power and salvation in the hands of a manipulative higher power.
Guidelines for Manipulators and Crowd Leaders:
A manipulator will systematically present people with messages, stories, and images that will create and spread a sense of threat, anxiety, and fear in society.
A larger part of society will stop verifying ghostly information, confronting it with a different point of view. They begin to have a great need to clarify and simplify the whole problem. It is enough to help them with the right stickers and directions, which will be simple and logically comprehensible.
Put more pressure on the saw and try to create the feeling that the situation has no solution. After the initial resistance, anxiety, and then resignation to one's own activity will probably come, but there remains hope for salvation from above.
Give them such salvation with a simple instruction – explain to the crowd (yes, at that point, society is mostly behaving like a crowd) that others are incapable, look where they got us, while you are not afraid and have a solution. In doing so, you will only be repeating ideas that you have already pushed on people before. This way, your ideas will seem familiar, logical, and therefore believable to them.
How to deal with the amount of information thrown at a person?
Restrict message viewing?
Certainly yes, and watch the news only at certain times and only from specific sources.
Adequacy, not absence of concern. Realize that worry and fear are natural emotions that have an essential function. They mobilize us, orient our attention and show what we should change to prevent the possible negative consequences of what threatens us. It's not about not having such emotions at all but *keeping them within limits where they don't harm us*.
Mental hygiene is essential! Introduce (and if you do, intensify) important psycho hygiene exercises – intensive movement, physical exercises, physical relaxation (autogenic training, etc.), yoga, meditation, mindfulness exercises, walks in nature, etc.
You can prepare crisis scenarios – and then put them away. If you are overly worried about the possible practical consequences of the current situation for your concrete, everyday life (energy crisis, job loss, financial matters, etc.), do not avoid these considerations, but go through them thoroughly once and conclude.
Specifically: calmly (alone or with another person who is a reasonable advisor) discuss these concerns and devote yourself primarily to planning activities and measures that (then, if they arise) you can take. Think through contingency plans ("what would I do if") and alternatives.
Do it once, thoroughly, when you are in a stable mood. For example, write down all the points on paper. And then hide it somewhere and close everything, both realistically and symbolically. Don't come back to it. If needed, you have plans made.
Remember – feeling afraid, nervous, and upset is normal in times of uncertainty.
The way people react to the news can be influenced by how it's presented. While you want to stay informed from credible news sources, you might need to set limits on your daily media consumption.
Fears from the point of view of human biology
Fear actually has a central location in our brain. The area is called the amygdala, and it is located deep on the sides of our head in a place called the temporal lobe. It gets its name from being almond-shaped. The amygdala serves us well and helps us to avoid fearful and anxious situations in our past, so we don’t continue to make the same mistakes or subject ourselves to dangerous situations. It keeps us on alert when we must be careful.
Your amygdala fires the stress/anxiety/fear warnings based on how you see the world. It is complicated because our brain is complicated, but imagine your eyes see a threat, and messages go throughout your brain telling you to run, fight, flee, or whatever response you might take.
Part of the message goes to your amygdala for many reasons, including the emotional component. The more your amygdala is stimulated, the more easily it can get triggered. When a pandemic has a child or adult in fear all day, the amygdala repeatedly uses minimal stimulus to fire. Everything becomes a threat – and fear and anxiety are everywhere.
First things first, do not let any kind of negativity and hopelessness stop you from taking the necessary actions to care for yourself. Mild anxiety can be beneficial to boosting efforts and achieving a favorable outcome. Excessive anxiety can make it difficult to reason and cause extreme stress. It is helpful to understand what kind of behavior and emotions are normal and which should raise a red flag.
“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows but only empties today of its strength.” — Charles Spurgeon
About: Markéta Halova. (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.
Web 3.0 – The Era of Decentralization, Autonomy and Influence?
The Evolution of The Internet
In simple terms Web 3.0 refers to a third major iteration of the world wide web or internet as we know it, and in many ways it is still unfolding. But what is it and what does this mean for the individual and entrepreneur? To give proper context to its evolution let’s loop back and take a look at Web version one and two.
Web 1.0
Web 1.0 saw the inception of the world wide web which emerged in 1989 out of the shadows of Arpanet and Milnet, via the innovative influence of Tim- Berners Lee. You could connect to the internet, browse websites and access information in either ‘read only’ format, or downloadable format in many cases. It was a start of a proliferation of information, yet quite passive and static in nature.
Web 2.0
2004 saw an iteration of the internet, which Tim O’Reily supposedly coined. Web 2.0 saw a more interactive version of the internet whereby users could create content, meaning two way engagement.
The main shift was a relational one rather than a technical one per se. More web applications emerged and this is where big tech companies such as social media giants, Facebook and Google took center stage.
YouTube arose, Wikipedia and wikileaks also emerged with editable functions as new information replaced old information. Website architecture such as WordPress came into being, with its drag and drop features, making it simple to create websites without needing to know code in detail. Communication was more interactive and applications such as direct messaging apps increased connectivity. For many it became the prime choice for communication over email.
Web 3.0
If Web 2.0 was all about interactivity, collaboration and engagement, Web 3.0 marks an even greater shift, and it seems to have emerged off the back of the last recession in 2008.
Web 3.0 is more than just an iteration, and is still unfolding. It denotes a major structural shift toward the decentralization of money and data. Most importantly It seems to be heralding an age beyond information to one of autonomy and influence.
Concepts like the blockchain, cryptocurrency, DeFi, Smart Contracts, DAO and NFT are part of the landscape of Web 3.0. Embodied in these concepts are the themes of user control over money, and data, as well the ability to influence their livelihoods and the construction of community projects designed to answer some of the most pressing issues of our times.
It seems like the debacle of the Northern Rock bank run here in the UK back in 2007 has jolted people into realizing that their assets can effectively be stripped in a time of economic slump without their permission. That is grand theft. Are we witnessing a return of power to the people and a leveling of the economic playing field? Time will tell.
What is Decentralization and DEFI?
Decentralization is all about moving the power of influence, control and consumerism away from a central source of control. To make it easier to understand, think of AirBNB and Uber.
AirBNB is an example of the decentralization of vacation accommodation, and the removal of huge overhead costs. It came to prominence in 2008. AirBNB is like a brokerage for homeowners across the globe, who choose to rent their homes out for vacation stays. It offers an attractive alternative experience to the traditional hotel stays.
At around the same time in 2009, Uber saw the decentralization of the transport industry, specifically taxis. In this example Uber acts as a brokerage between vehicle owners and users who need to book transport, as an alternative to the traditional taxi firms. Both are like consumer to consumer models of approach, providing more income opportunities for consumers minus a broker commission in the process.
DeFi stands for decentralized finance. It's all about the decentralization of money into the hands of the community and consumer. Related to that is that, not only does it give control of money and financial data back to the consumer, but the power to influence and contribute to the building of new community structures, according to their white papers.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency represents digital currency and is to be distinguished from CBDCs, which are digital currencies which are under central bank ownership. Whereas In a bank run such as the Northern Rock event of 2007 you can be denied access to your money, the opposite is true with cryptocurrency.
In 2009 the largest cryptocurrency to date, Bitcoin came into being. Now you can own and control bitcoin through your private wallet, and not be denied access unless you lose your private security keys. You can send bitcoin peer to peer from wallet to wallet, and buy more everyday items via debit cards as mass adoption increases.
Over 10,000 cryptocurrencies have spawned the exchanges since bitcoin took stage, and you can see their status and key metrics in places like nomics and coinmarketcap. Not all coins and tokens are equal, and not all fare well for a variety of reasons.
Many are seen as dud tokens or coins, here today and gone tomorrow. So due diligence is also important if you are looking to build any sort of digital portfolio. In all cases, for transactions to take place it needs an underpinning structure. Enter the blockchain.
An important aspect of the decentralization of money and transactions is something called the Blockchain. This is like a huge digital ledger which is publicly available for all to see, use and verify transactions. This is where you see the description, ‘trustless’, which is the ability to verify without needing trust.
Its transparency and verification features mark a huge development in the area of money. Whenever you buy cryptocurrency at an exchange, and send money peer to peer from your digital wallet all transactions can be tracked on the blockchain. Speed of transaction and fees vary from blockchain to blockchain. Bitcoin transactions can be viewed on the bitcoin blockchain.
Ethereum came into being as a blockchain in 2013 and also has its own token. One of its unique aspects is the ability for a developer to build applications such as smart contracts on its blockchain.
This is basically an executable piece of code that gets activated when the criteria of that contract is met. It effectively takes out the middleman and removes lag time often seen in the manual process of bank or legal contracts, for example. The removal of a lot of bureaucracy may be eliminated in the future with SMART contracts.
Technological advances means that a developer can build their own blockchain as well if they have the technical expertise. You can put your website on the blockchain too. The possibilities are endless with the blockchain infrastructure.
The recent proliferation of DAOs and NFTs and Artificial Intelligence are further signs of a new way of relating to technological advances which puts more autonomy and control in the hands of the user. NFT stands for non fungible tokens, meaning each token cannot be duplicated, and are being used in a number of ways in business. The advert from Budweiser at the recent Superbowl is an example of this. DAO stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization which involves voting and co- ownership of that particular community project. It gives more say and influence to its participants.
Artificial Intelligence is streamlining and compressing a lot of manual activities, which has implications for productivity and innovation. Of course, with autonomy comes the need for greater responsibility and wisdom where technology is concerned and this applies to life in general. The more power you have, the more responsibility and wisdom is implied.
Is Web 3.0 and DeFi here to stay? The volatile nature of cryptocurrency makes it difficult to make a statement one way or the other. Also the various governmental regulations touted add to that uncertainty, such as ISO 20022. Some predict that with the new ISO 20022 standard most cryptocurrencies will be wiped out.
What is ISO 20022?
To keep it simple ISO 20022 is an algorithmic standard, a bit like SWIFT in the banking structures, which validates financial transactions and data across the globe. It is the proposed shift from SWIFT to ISO 20022 that has caused concern about the future of cryptocurrency because only a handful of cryptocurrencies are compliant with this standard.
Ripple, Algorand, Stellar Lumens, Iota, XinFin, Hedera and Quant are the confirmed ones. Regulations in general can be a double edged sword as Ripple [ XRP ] found out, even with its ISO 20022 status, as it does battle with the Securities Exchange Commission.
Summary
Whilst the volatility of cryptocurrencies makes its course less predictable, and regulations such as ISO 20022 and SEC may throw a spanner in the works, there are a lot of moving factors beyond this that can support or derail a cryptocurrency.
Standards of good practice are essential. Yet many see regulations as a kickback from central authorities who do not wish to lose their power and status over the people, hence giving crypto users a hard time in terms of operating freely.
What is clear is that people are fed up of the old erroneous, incompetent and corrupted structures. Bitcoin continues to lead the way in gathering pace in mass adoption in the arena of supply and demand. Markethive is also an example of an ecosystem which is navigating the obstacles through its credits system.
The regulators may view bitcoin as a commodity but the issuance of debit cards to translate bitcoin into spendable money for everyday items suggests a more powerful use value.
Expenditure in relation to supply and demand may be a more predictive indicator. Billions are being poured into blockchain solutions, and businesses are expected to increase expenditure into blockchain technology significantly, suggesting that blockchain will be a central part of business moving forward.
Web 3.0 is continuing to be shaped by these new structures and concepts of decentralized finance, which means more autonomy and responsibility for the user and entrepreneur. Like AirBNB and Uber it seems to be part of a wider trend that is here to stay as it looks to shape a new economy.
Now more than ever the opportunity exists for the entrepreneur to shape the destiny of their business with enabling technology. If privacy, autonomy and freedom of speech are important to you then you now have the possibility to move your website to the blockchain.
The shackles of constraint can come off your mind as you seek to evaluate how your business can benefit you and your audience with these new possibilities. I look forward to establishing my website on the blockchain for peace of mind. That’s just for starters.
If it all feels new and overwhelming, know that there are academies and education hubs like Bankless and Moralis Academy that are designed to walk you through and empower you with the necessary education to enable your business to operate with greater autonomy and influence as a force for good.
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.
Solana Premier NFT Marketplace: Magic Eden Launches a Web3 Gaming Investment Arm
Magic Eden, the most significant non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on the Solana Blockchain, has launched an investment arm to support the Web3 gaming industry. The new entity, Magic Ventures, will invest in Web3 game developers and infrastructure builders, Magic Eden said in announcing the news on Tuesday 12th July. The company believes that gaming has the potential to bring millions of users to the blockchain. Tony Zhao, a former key member of Tencent Games, has been appointed as the head of game investment.
Jack Lu, co-founder, and CEO of Magic Eden said in the statement:
"The gaming world is a massive market that has just started to venture into the world of Web 3. We intend to deepen our relationships with both gamers and game developers alike to champion the future of games on the blockchain."
The company said that the creation of Magic Ventures and the appointment of Tony Zhao as head of gaming investments would enable Magic Eden to invest in promising games and gaming infrastructure that will fuel the growth of Web 3 gaming.
Tony Zhao will also be joined by Yoonsup Choi, Harrison Chang, and Matt Biamonte. They all deeply understand Web 3 gaming from their respective professional gaming and esports backgrounds. Yoonsup Choi and Harrison Chang are former League of Legends and Fortnite players, while Biamonte both launched NFT projects individually.
"By hiring Tony, Harrison, Yoon, and Matt, we are building a solid foundation on which we can continue to work with exciting innovators in the Web 3 gaming ecosystem. Eden Games is a rapidly growing company in our company sector. We look forward to continuing its growth," added Jack Lu, commenting on the new addition to the Magic Ventures team.
Magic Ventures has already made some investments and is planning more, Zhao said, but would not disclose which projects or startups it has invested in. He added that there is no set number in terms of the total dollar amount invested in projects, and the typical investment size is "pretty small" given the strategic nature.
"We're not here to fund the entire development [of games]," he said. "Our value-add is not capital—it's all of these infrastructure solutions and an NFT experience that no one else in the market can provide."
Web3 and Game Innovator Joins Together
Along with the venture capital arm, Magic Eden's Eden Games division announced that it has entered into agreements with the makers of several Solana games, including Aurory, Mini Royale: Nations, and Genopets, to operate an in-game NFT marketplace. Once launched, players will be able to buy and sell NFTs in any game without having to travel to an external marketplace. It is designed to provide a seamless process for gamers, especially those unfamiliar with crypto wallets and self-custody assets. Zhao said that the infrastructure is available to developers, so they don't have to build integrations from scratch.
NFTs are blockchain tokens representing ownership of items such as art, collectibles, and interactive video game items. In games, NFTs can represent things like unique weapon designs, character avatars, and customizable virtual lots. As mentioned earlier, Magic Eden recently became a crypto unicorn with a valuation of over $1 billion. The company raised $130 million last month at a $1.6 billion valuation just nine months after the startup was founded.
The NFT marketplace plans to support more blockchain platforms beyond Solana in the future, although no specific chains have been announced.
Magic Eden's growing focus on Web3 gaming puts it in direct competition with Fractal, Solana's gaming-centric NFT marketplace co-founded by Justin Kan and co-founder of video game streaming platform Twitch. Fractal only focuses on interactive game assets, while Magic Eden also supports avatars and other types of NFT assets.
Zhao said that both Magic Eden and Fractal are focused on growing the Web3 gaming space. However, he believes Magic Eden offers a broader suite of solutions to launch and support Solana-based games and says the results boost his confidence.
He said,
"We all want to expand the ecosystem. For game developers, we show them the data, right? It's up to them to decide who ends up choosing. The results tell developers that there are good reasons to work with us instead of Fractal."
Benefits of Launching NFT Marketplace on Solana
Solana is an open source decentralized blockchain that uses an innovative hybrid consensus model that enables swift transactions. Many digital content creators, investors, and entrepreneurs flock to Solana to create and showcase NFTs. The Solana blockchain enables a fully decentralized on-chain experience, while the Solana NFT standard and minting process provide creators with the highest level of customizability. Let's take a look at some of the business benefits of launching an NFT Marketplace on Solana.
Transactions per Second
The Solana blockchain is an ultra-fast blockchain that can process 710,000 transactions in 400 milliseconds and help transactions go through the market without delay. The average network latency for a bitcoin transaction today is between 12 to 15 seconds and takes about 10 minutes to verify on Ethereum.
Solana's block time is less than 1 second, which makes it one of the fastest decentralized networks available today! With the rapid increase in blockchain adoption and usage over the past few years, the need for faster and more efficient blockchain solutions is growing exponentially. It will continue to do so in the future as blockchain technology continues to mature and become increasingly mainstream.
Cost per Transaction
The Solana blockchain's high throughput and low transaction fees of $0.00025 make it the perfect solution for developing NFTs and NFT marketplaces of all shapes and sizes. The cost to create an item is also lower than other blockchains, making it a viable platform for developers needing quick and cheap development solutions while being able to scale easily with the platform's rising popularity.
No Memory Issues
Solana blockchain does not have mempool issues. The mempool is the waiting area for processed transactions waiting to be accepted. The result is an instant trade on the market. Solana does not have any of these problems that affect others who use Ethereum and are experiencing delays and high fees from the blockchains' inability to process the large volume of transactions in a short amount of time.
Expand the Ecosystem
The Solana ecosystem is expanding, which helps to handle large numbers of dapps and smart contracts and support more coins without network congestion. To do this, Solana added a second pool to handle all transactions, with an extra layer of security and redundancy for when the first pool goes down for maintenance or other reasons, which can happen very frequently during normal operation. This will also allow them to scale up further in the future as the community needs, without worrying about running out of capacity in the system as it grows each year exponentially!
Easy to Program
Solana blockchain is based on Rust software, which is easier to program and build different applications. This makes Solana a flexible platform for building NFT marketplaces, dapps, and more. Build your own preferred NFT marketplace on Solana and start earning with exemplary Solana NFT development services from the industry-leading Solana NFT marketplace development company.
Conclusion
The Solana NFT market is booming. The NFT marketplace and Solana blockchain impact today with their evolving advanced features and capabilities. From concept to design to delivery, Solana and the NFT market have seen significant growth in the market. The Solana network has been tested and debugged. It has grown from a prototype of an idea into a fully functional product used by hundreds of businesses worldwide today. Delivering on its promises of the best experience for all users across every device, platform, and browser, all in one place, and most importantly, on-chain! Solana will continue to focus on building the most extraordinary ecosystem on the planet as we look ahead to future releases.
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.
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.
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.
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 BÄsescu, 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 committedto 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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;
Issue Money
Provide Transaction Liquidity
Ensure Liquidity (also known as money printing)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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