Blockchain and cryptocurrency news and analysis by David Gerard
NiceHash say they’ll pay back hacked users some time or another, and will announce just when by 31 January 2018 — note that this is the announcement date, not the reimbursement date.
What a fun week it’s been in the land of Bitcoin!
KYC/AML regulations are an endless source of woe for the Bitcoin trader. Why don’t banks want to go near Bitcoin? It’s not fear of competition.
A slightly longer version of me being interviewed by the BBC for Wednesday’s News at Ten. This time the book title’s on the screen!
Filmed yesterday, should be live tonight, cross fingers.
The most important news, of course, is that you still have time to get that relative who’s telling you about Bitcoin that paperback of Attack Of The 50 Foot Blockchain for Christmas!
Public discussion and media coverage of Bitcoin assumes certain things about Bitcoin:
• Bitcoin has a price, that you could expect to buy or sell it around.
• Bitcoin is like buying a share in a company, or a commodity like gold — the market works the same way.
• Bitcoin is liquid — you can easily convert your money to Bitcoin, and your Bitcoin to money.
None of these are true.
“Bitcoin is finance, distilled … There are no fundamentals, no cash flows or price-earnings ratios, to evaluate. It is pure speculation about speculation, a Keynesian beauty contest where all the pictures are blank.”
I tweeted about the Lightning Network, and someone posted it to Reddit /r/btc as “Some old dude raising good questions about LN.” Of course, /r/buttcoin took its turn …
One billion Tethers! Each and every one backed by a redeemable US dollar, of course, as they state. 800 million of those being loaned out on Bitfinex for margin trading.