The Death of Bitcoin
This post The Death of Bitcoin appeared first on Daily Reckoning.
Warning.
What you’re about to read is wildly opinionated.
But hey, it’s Friday. And it’s time to get a MASSIVE market forecast in front of you. After all, I want YOU to be ahead of the big story before it shows up on the nightly news.
My publisher, Matt Insley — who rarely writes his own articles these days — felt that this story was too important not to be heard.
This is a story the mainstream media isn’t covering.
And millennials aren’t going to get the memo either, before it’s too late.
But, mark my words…
This is the death of Bitcoin…
The Coming Deathblow…For Bitcoin
Over the weekend we saw a random “pop culture”/news story hit the wire…
The world’s foremost TV/movie streaming company, Netflix, was hacked. And the trail of breadcrumbs leading away from the crime scene leads me to a shocking conclusion.
The hack was simple and deliberate. A hacker by the name of “thedarkoverlord” gained access to the upcoming season of a popular Netflix original series “Orange Is the New Black.”
Long story short, the hacker stole TV content and threatened to give it away online before Netflix’s intended release date. Unless Netflix paid a “modest” ransom of around $50,000.
Another ho-hum hacking story, right? Not so fast. This is where the story takes a turn.
Any good movie-watcher knows that when a ransom is demanded, it’s not the money that matters… it’s the getaway.
After all, how are you supposed to ransom $1 Million (or in this case $50k) pick it up from a gas station trash can and actually GET AWAY with it?
Ah ha! That’s the hard part.
You see, the Netflix ransom was demanded in mysterious and untraceable Bitcoin.
And it’s becoming more common practice to demand ransom in Bitcoin, too. This from the NYT:
“Those threats have increased with the advent of ransomware, malicious software that encrypts victims’ data and prevents them from accessing it until they pay a ransom, often hundreds or thousands of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency.”
If you don’t know the story about Bitcoin I’ll get you caught up.
With my opinion of course…
The “cryptocurrency” holds a lot of technology. And to really understand it, you need to know about “blockchain.” (Keep up here. Times are changing and knowing about things like blockchain matter in today’s market, as you’ll see…)
Blockchain is a “distributed database” that continuously evolves. Think of it as a growing list of records that can’t be tampered with. Or for a real world example, pretend for a second that every single U.S. dollar bill in America was catalogued electronically in an online database by serial number. From the second it comes off the printing press the bill’s “history” is on record. Every transaction, continuously updated.
Importantly, blockchain doesn’t require anyone’s legal name or actual address, either – in that sense it’s anonymous.
Okay. So that’s what blockchain brings to the table… solid technology that can track transactions and keep tabs on digital currency.
And over the years the popularity of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin has gone through the roof…
All said, Bitcoin is impressively-encrypted, money-transferring technology. From my perch, calling it a “currency” is a little generous.
Looking through the lens of a technology, that’s where things get interesting with this Netflix/Bitcoin story.
History shows that with great technology comes great responsibility.
The revolver and semi-automatic weapons…
Automobiles…
Military weaponry…
Even the advent of the internet…
With each of these impressive technologies came a sinister downside…
Bitcoin is no different. If you look under the hood you’ll see that what really makes Bitcoin tick is less-talked-about, more sinister transaction record. Oh if that blockchain could talk!
Money laundering. Illegal transfers. Moving money outside of U.S. sanctions. Funding offshore accounts. Funding illegal online gambling… are just a few of the HUGE black-market forces that underpin bitcoin.
So, the Silicon Valley logic that bitcoin is free market technology and you can use it to protect against inflation… invest… pay friends… shop… etc… is NOT the whole picture. It’s also why I’m all puffed-up about Bitcoin.
And mark my words, coming soon the script on Bitcoin is going to flip…
Similar to the disruptive technologies I listed above, Bitcoin will undergo the standard lifecycle of development… and I believe that will include swift, sweeping government regulation. Similar to gun control, car insurance, cyber regulation and more…
However, unlike most of those other technologies, I don’t think Bitcoin will survive this deathblow of regulation.
Here’s an example of what I mean…
The Netflix example above was, for all intents and purposes, harmless. Yes, hacking and demanding a ransom is illegal. But, the large scale ramifications aren’t that big.
That’s all going to change when the bad guys up the game.
For instance, what if someone hacks a more important/vital piece of U.S. infrastructure? Instead of the latest season of “Orange Is The New Black”?
Or, worse…
What if American lives are at stake. What if ransoms for high-value kidnappings come tethered to one nasty little reoccurring detail… “pay us in Bitcoin.”
That’s when the encrypted emperor will be stripped naked. Bitcoin will bear the full brunt of a media and government onslaught. It won’t be pretty.
Mind you, this could happen overnight. Just like the Netflix news a few days ago.
All it takes is large-scale ransom disaster… and swift action by congress. And that $30B in crypto-cash market cap could be wiped out.
After all, we’ve seen this exact type of action before. Much like the sanctions against countries like Russia or Iran… or the financial regulation changes for say, online gambling.
You see, right now you can transfer money directly from U.S. bank accounts, through a third party, into Bitcoin.
But, like a sock puppet, the U.S. Government controls the banking system — as well as the credit system.
Add it all up and one single emotional, urgent, media-driven government regulation could destroy the financial transaction that funds cryptocurrency.
It’ll be the death blow to Bitcoin. And it’s not just me saying it either…
I just heard an interview from Agora Financial’s Chief Technology Officer, Ray Blanco, who shares my same concerns about Bitcoin:
“I look at bitcoin right now, I see huge risk. Blockchain advances all get figured out in the years ahead regardless. Bitcoin itself, it’s doomed. The end is near. Soon as Congress has a reason, they figure out how to shut it down. You mark my words. Too many banks have too much to lose. And if we know one thing, it’s that big banks and Congress are part of the same beast.”
Just wait until the next hack comes to light — and the victim is a bit more important than a Netflix series.
This is a story you won’t find in the mainstream. And if you or any loved ones are playing around with Bitcoin accounts, this is your fair warning. This Bitcoin disaster could happen overnight. Any day.
I bet it’s only a matter of time.
Have a good weekend,
Matt Insley
Publisher, The Daily Edge
[email protected]
The post The Death of Bitcoin appeared first on Daily Reckoning.
This story originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning
Source: https://dailyreckoning.com/the-death-of-bitcoin/
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Whistler Blowers, Insiders
Bitcoin was the most moronic idea ever.
All of its value came from criminals and suckers.
They created a currency, who’s value, is based on rarity, and the rarity is simply generated by a computer algorithm, and is gathered by people who filter through the junk files the algorithm creates, to “find” the bit coins.
It’s as if they assigned dollar values to ultra rare Pokemon in a video game, and tricked businesses into accepting those Pokemon as currency.
Exact same thing.
Up till now, I wish I had invested more in Bitcoin. However the internet is its first achilles heal. No internet, no bitcoin. The Rothschilds and psychopaths who control the world can survive without internet just fine. Also maybe quantum computers will be able to crack the codes, and that would also doom Bitcoin.
i wouldnt invest any of my cash into digital currency just in case the internet isnt available
If you don’t hold it ain’t yours folks. It’s that simple… Remember that old adage: “Possession is 9/10ths of the law”? Well, it was true back then, as it is true today.
If it is not in your hand; then it is in the possession of another man.
well… before we had bitcoin there was rly no alternative to rothchild-fiat-money.. bitcoin may not be perfect, but i say it’s a step forward, and bitcoin isnt the only cryptocurrency out there, there’s already hundreds and hundreds of others, so 1 might fail but other carry on.. bitcoin might not be 100% safe (what is 100% safe,… that cant be ever achieved right?), but unless u want to go all in gold /silver, bitcoin is a better and more easy to use alternative imo. Dont like bitcoin? well there’s already been developed hundreds of 2nd generation cryptos and even 3rd generation crypto “HEAT” is on its way…
It’s pretty funny to see the comments here. Bitcoin is replacing gold, in case you didn’t notice. Yes, if the internet is down, it’s worthless and yes they may try to create a false flag event using ransomware to impose “gun control” for crypto. You can’t send gold around the world. Look at North Korea, with the crisis there, people didn’t buy bitcoins, they bought Etherium, a leading crypto coin.
It’s completely fabricated though.
It’s nothing.
It’s valuable because someone said it should be.
If anyone replaced their gold with bit coin, they got scammed hard.
No Gold still moves and its not the same market here
Elvis living on the moon i bet is also buying these “Etherium” coins but i cannot ring him to ask if it’s true.
Very few computers in North Korea, they don’t like being spyed on by microsoft virusware but keep spinning the wheel but don’t fool yourself that you have found a way to make easy money and you need to keep the day job
It’s true. I live on the moon at the top of a mountain of Etherium coins.
Yes i know your on the moon but you never gave me your phone number did you now and that physical money is no good on moon because it all floats away.
For one I dont trust Agora financial or the political spam they send.
For two this is baseless speculation, especially since the big banks are all enamored with blockchain technology.
Thirdly, I invested $250 into Bitcoin last July. I flip it when I’m bored during the work day. I now have about $5,000 in BTC and ETH. Sitting on $768 in cash from the original investment.
Fourthly, its not tied to price of a barrel of oil. It’s value is based on supply and demand, with a limited number of coins that will only increase its price over time.
I can put a billion dollars worth of bitcoin on a USB drive and carry it in my pocket and nobody would be the wiser. I can convert it to any currency, nearly instantaneously, or use it to automate payments (like rents, mortgages, etc). It has a bunch of utility in today’s world.
This story is half-informed, but fully-sensationalized.
Looks good now, but when total chaos strikes, you may end up holding nothing.
Thousands of years of recorded history tells us only two things matter regarding storage of real actual wealth.
One has been precious metals, the other ownership and physical occupancy of land.
There are obvious advantages and disadvantages of both, but both are real tangible indestructible things.
Pieces of paper, blips on a screen, or some contractual promise to pay, are all things that can disappear in an instant.
An Indian drunk once told the me that the way to win at a casino is never to gamble with scared money.
The rich view it as an abstraction, and not as a gamble. There is no question of a work ethic, because it’s worthless. They will not take credit for ownership of anything.
It’s a medium of exchange, with no inherent value, folks. If your Mom’s surgery, your mortgage, groceries, or kneecaps are resting on it, don’t put it there.
Please read the Featured article “The Global Currency Reset Begins”,
and my comment there.
Money is nothing but an idea backed by confidence.
So based on that, and other data, like the FRED
(FRED you know, Federal Reserve Economic Data)
graph of the Velocity of Money chart putting the US
back in the 30′s leading to the end of the world scenario
by Planet X, etc. the idea of a “Hierarchy of Money”
occurred to me Christmas 2016.
See, when FPL (Florida Power & Light) would NOT
take my ViSA card to pay the monthly electric bill,
and the laws changed so I could not pay the monthly
auto loan payment on the credit card, it became to
dawn on me that not ALL money is created equally.
In the history of money Haiti stands out as a good
example. When the slaves revolted, they took over
a country with no money. The leaders then declared
all the gourds on the gourd trees property of the
gov, and NOW MONEY. The currency of Haiti is
now properly denominated in digital, coin and paper
GOURDS!!!
So let’s examine the hierarchy of money, and see
where Bitcoin fits into the scheme of things.
So the lowest form of money, (a medium of exchange)
is any form of physical items. This is not easy to use,
etc. as if I have eggs, the fellow with the steak may not
want them, but perhaps he wants chickens for a change.
So, with a high level of confidence, but low workability,
PHYSICAL ASSETS are the lowest form of money.
Gold, silver and other commodities fit here.
So, higher up we have alll kinds of paper, and digital,
substitutes for the physical item, or services. Car titles,
stocks, notes, and….ah ah….bitcoin. Wall Street fits
in this category, despite all their claims of value worth
the next higher level of money. These forms of money
make it easier to trade and exchange for what people
need, or want.
Now we get to the third highest form of money,
what people ordinarily mean when they say the
word. That is a really high level of confidence,
interchangeability, and ease of use is money that
is GOVERNMENT BACKED. Note that it is not
bank backed, but it has the approval of a
government. So this is what is in your account,
widely accepted, fought over and such.
SO now what could be better than the third
level? There is a fourth level, of the highest
confidence, fairly easy to use, of high value,
widely recognized. That form of money is
GOVERNMENT APPROVED PHYSICAL ASSETS,
or plainly put, Gold, Silver and Platinum COINS.
This is the highest form of money.
So where does this place Bitcoin?
It may not be the death of Bitcoin,
but the Birth of Bitcoin. When governments
decide that it is valuable enough for the
criminals to demand ransom, they will want it.
Just get one government to make it that
country’s official currency, and Bingo,
it spreads like wildfire, a true digital virus!!!
Yes
““Those threats have increased with the advent of ransomware, malicious software that encrypts victims’ data and prevents them from accessing it until they pay a ransom,”
And the virus is not coming from the Browser but from the Tor client software, seen it myself
Also note that add-servers are selling contracts on the dark-net to fake click pay per click (PPC) links and payment is made in Bitcoins, again see with my own eyes
Was a big fan of Tor but not anymore and when it comes to BTC the bankers can pump and dump coins so your not out side the control of the jewish banking system at all
what do you think the human traffickers and drug barons , aka government ngo’s use for transactions on the dAr.k wE.b ,, if the governments intervened they would be restricting their own cut/involvement $$ of the international money laundering programs via the top tier baNking cabal , nice effort idea /research tho , keep it up