Bitcoin
Trump and the Future of Bitcoin
Published
2 months agoon
By
adminIf you weren’t there in person, it would be hard to accurately describe how long and winding the line was to see Donald Trump speak at the Bitcoin conference. The wait to even pass through security and find a seat in the auditorium was hours long and thousands of folks were scrambling to find seats at the Nakamoto Stage early in the day. As the line snaked through the expo hall, it was easy to find an even distribution of Bitcoiners and Trump supporters (some were both) all eager to hear Trump speak. There was an excitement in the atmosphere, and while I didn’t share in the excitement, it did permeate the air in Nashville. Uber drivers were quick to point out that Trump was speaking at the conference. Around the city were large images of Trump’s face next to Bitcoin symbols advertising the conference. Trump-mania surely had taken over the conference, but it also seemed to take over the city of Nashville, too.
I can’t deny that getting Donald Trump to speak at the Bitcoin Conference during an election year is a huge “get.” It is an important moment for Bitcoin and we should all appreciate this development, in some sense, as a milestone that we can all be proud of as Bitcoiners. Trump’s speech promised to lunge Bitcoin into the mainstream political conversation and thereby normalize an up and coming digital currency that most people still dismiss as “fake internet money”. It was a moment we were all supposed to remember for the rest of our lives; this was Bitcoin’s chance to be included in serious conversations held by serious people.
If Trump had shown up for his speech on time, we would have known an hour earlier that this wasn’t going to happen. Instead, we waited. Once Trump did start his speech, it didn’t take long to realize that the folks waiting for hours all day were sold a bill of goods. Trump’s speech was a rambling, at times incoherent, stump speech with a few little nods toward crypto, and… I guess… Bitcoin thrown in for good measure. The first mention of Bitcoin came about six and a half minutes into his remarks. I don’t blame Trump for speaking about crypto more than Bitcoin; most politicians do. But while he was speaking at the Bitcoin conference, I was expecting him to spend more time discussing Bitcoin than his genius uncle who used to work at MIT. Alas, sometimes you just can’t set the bar low enough.
The most concrete take away from hearing Trump speak about Bitcoin was the not-so-shocking realization that Robert Kennedy Jr. thinks more deeply about Bitcoin while he has his first cup of coffee each morning than Donald Trump has thought about Bitcoin during his entire life. All of Trump’s best moments during his speech (and there were some) were lifted, whole cloth, from RFK Jr’s keynote address the day prior. The parts of the speech he didn’t copy from RFK Jr were dismissive, arrogant, pandering and ill informed. The value in watching the speech at all is that the single issue Bitcoin voters I keep hearing about now have an easy decision to make.
No doubt, there are plenty of Bitcoiners who love Trump and loved his speech. But there are also a surprising number of folks that see all this for what it is: a politician pandering for money and votes and an insecure Bitcoin community pandering for some borrowed legitimacy. Having a leading presidential candidate discuss Bitcoin has some positive effects, but the most serious people I know in the space also recognize there are some risks and dangers involved, too. Chief among these dangers is that by cozying up to Trump, the Bitcoin community risks alienating itself from pre-coiner audiences for the foreseeable future. This seems to be a point, I think, that is hard to comprehend if you already like Bitcoin or already like Trump. Try to remember, most people don’t fit into either category.
I’ve publicly been in the Bitcoin space long enough to appreciate the massive cognitive dissonance that exists among many Bitcoiners. Some of these people are Libertarians who are fully committed to individual freedom, but are unwilling to respect a person’s gender identity. Some of these people are Conservatives who want to see the government get smaller while that same government polices what books get banned and what healthcare people are allowed to receive. Some of these people are Bitcoiners who want to see the government disintermediated from the financial system while they cheer uproariously for a politician promising to buy Bitcoin on behalf of the United States Government. If I can see the cognitive dissonance, why is it so hard for a community that prides itself on being heterodox, skeptical and don’t-trust-verify?
I consider it a personal responsibility to orange pill as many people as I can, and I have been serious about doing that. This means, I want to expose the 57% of Americans that don’t like Trump to Bitcoin as a force for good in this world; my job is hard and since Nashville, it just got harder. Let’s be real: Bitcoin is the perfect combination of “internet” and “money” that should make anyone skeptical. There is no shortage of FUD dismissing Bitcoin as pretend money or a scam or a ponzi scheme or money for criminals. Experienced Bitcoiners may not be worried about any of that, but the pre-coiners I know certainly are hyper aware of the reputation. If my job is to convince them to take a second look, that gets harder when Bitcoiners are falling over themselves to align with a known con artist, philanderer, fraud, and convicted felon.
To be sure, Bitcoin will attract its share of con artists, philanderers, frauds and felons. Bitcoin is for them, too. But we shouldn’t capitulate and rebrand Bitcoin as something Trumpian. This is simply bad marketing. The most compelling argument I’ve heard in support of seeking out Trump’s approval is that it will force other politicians to support Bitcoin and his policies would force other nations to take Bitcoin seriously. This could prove to be true, but it is just as likely that the opposite will happen. Normie pre-coiners, if they are paying attention at all, will so easily be able to hold up the “scam” Bitcoin next to the “scam” Trump and walk away from the whole thing and sleep easily. Meanwhile, Trump will have no genuine affinity toward Bitcoin after the votes are counted.
After so much effort going toward ensuring Bitcoin is non-partisan, bi-partisan and non-political, it was our community (really a handful of influential and connected Bitcoiners) that sought out an alliance with the most polarizing political figure in generations. It would be one thing if Trump found Bitcoin on his own, but that’s not the case. We committed this unforced error ourselves, or more accurately, we allowed the leaders in our leaderless movement to err on our behalf.
I can hear you screaming “Well, what’s your solution? Vote for the other guys?!” Fair question. Here’s my solution: Walk away from politicians and walk towards voters. Meet them where they are and educate them about the ways Bitcoin solves the problems they care about. That’s really it. The rest will take care of itself. Take a low time preference and it will happen from the ground up, without having to sacrifice your principles. This is the best way to promote Bitcoin adoption, protect the marginalized people Bitcoin can help, and attract policy makers who truly and deeply care about Bitcoin and eschew “crypto”. If you do get to interact with politicians, advocate for protections for self custody, de minimis tax treatment so Bitcoin can be easily spent, and consumer protections imposed on exchanges and brokerages.
For those that think Trump is now one of us, he isn’t. He will drop our community the moment it serves him, and we will be worse off for it. Zoom out. One week after Trump appeared in Nashville, he sat for a disastrous interview with the National Association of Black Journalists. This, it turns out, did not make him a Black journalist. Nor did showing up in Nashville make him a Bitcoiner. We would, all of us, be well served to remember that.
This is a guest post by Jason Maier. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
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Bitcoin on the Cusp of Breakout Into Parabolic Phase, Says Crypto Analyst – Here’s the Timeline
Published
11 hours agoon
September 19, 2024By
adminA cryptocurrency analyst and trader is saying Bitcoin (BTC) is on the verge of entering a bullish phase over the coming weeks and months.
The analyst pseudonymously known as Rekt Capital tells his 88,100 YouTube subscribers that Bitcoin is “on the cusp of a breakout into the parabolic phase” after spending the past few months in a re-accumulation phase.
According to Rekt Capital, Bitcoin’s parabolic phase lasts a predictable amount of time in every cycle.
“So if we just see that 160 days after the halving is how long this re-accumulation phase lasts and we tend to see a bull market peak 550 days after the halving, then this parabolic phase should last 390 days or so, 400 days or so.
So it is roughly a year of parabolic upside that we see going into the bull market peak. And if that continues, indeed mid-September 2025, mid-October 2025 is when we would see a bull market peak occur for Bitcoin.”
Bitcoin is trading at $59,958 at time of writing, about 19% below the all-time high of approximately $73,800.
The pseudonymous analyst says that based on historical precedent, Bitcoin could hit a new all-time high over the coming days.
“…but we will reverse towards the upside at some point. And that point is coming quite soon because 160 days after halving is when we see a breakout to new highs.”
The Bitcoin halving occurred around 151 days ago on April 20th.
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Bitcoin
Hut 8 deepens Bitmain partnership with launch of new ASIC miner in 2025
Published
12 hours agoon
September 19, 2024By
adminBitcoin miner Hut 8 is expanding its partnership with Bitmain to introduce a new ASIC miner with direct liquid-to-chip cooling, set to deploy in Q2 2025.
Miami-headquartered crypto mining firm Hut 8 has expanded its partnership with Bitmain, announcing the upcoming launch of the U3S21EXPH, a next-generation ASIC miner capable of reaching up to 860 TH/s.
In a Sept. 19 press release, the company the miner, which is scheduled for deployment in Q2 2025, is the first mass-commercialized ASIC model to feature direct liquid-to-chip cooling in a U-form factor.
“We believe this model represents a more thoughtful approach to capturing the lucrative economics offered by next-generation machines, reducing upfront capital requirements while we continue to pursue growth initiatives in AI infrastructure.”
Asher Genoot, Hut8 chief executive officer
Under the hosting agreement, Hut 8 has the option to purchase all or a portion of the hosted miners in up to three tranches at a fixed price within six months of deployment. If Hut 8 exercises the option in full, the company’s self-mining hashrate is expected to increase from 5.6 EH/s to 20.6 EH/s, the press release reads.
The agreement is designed to minimize upfront capital expenditures and provide flexibility for future purchases, allowing Hut 8 to assess market conditions “before committing additional capital,” per the document.
The news comes after Hut 8 secured a $150 million investment in June from Coatue Management to accelerate its artificial intelligence infrastructure development. At the time, Hut 8 said the investment was made as “many traditional data center operators are failing to meet the surging demand for AI compute capacity due to power shortages.”
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Bitcoin
Louisiana State Government Now Accepts Bitcoin Lightning As Payment
Published
19 hours agoon
September 19, 2024By
adminLouisiana State Treasurer, John Fleming, M.D. has announced that the state government will now accept Bitcoin, Bitcoin Lightning Network, and USD Coin, as a valid form of payment for state services. The first cryptocurrency payment was made to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries today.
Dr. Fleming, described this initiative as a crucial step in modernizing government operations, stating, “In today’s digital age, government systems must evolve and embrace new technologies. By introducing cryptocurrency as a payment option, we’re not just innovating; we’re providing our citizens with flexibility and freedom in interacting with state services.”
The Bitcoin payments will be converted into U.S. dollars by Bead Pay, a provider specializing in cryptocurrency conversion for government transactions. “The State of Louisiana will not handle cryptocurrency,” clarified the announcement. This system aims to ensure that the state is protected from the volatility commonly associated with digital currencies. The conversion process mirrors that of credit or debit card payments, minimizing risks while offering secure, efficient transactions.
Louisiana’s shift to accepting Bitcoin is a part of a broader effort to integrate new technologies into public services. “I have been proud to author several bills related to digital assets and to Chair the State Treasurer’s task force in 2022,” said Louisiana State Representative Mark Wright. “I’m excited to see Louisiana further expanding its payment options under Treasurer Fleming. I look forward to working with him and others so that Louisiana will continue to be a leader in accepting digital payments.”
Louisiana expects the new payment options to reduce fraud and enhance overall transaction security. Residents can now use their private Bitcoin wallets to pay for services, while the state continues to receive payments in U.S. dollars.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries was the first state agency to adopt the new payment system, with more departments expected to follow. “Offering our sportsmen more ways to interact with our department allows for us to enhance our customer service,” stated Secretary Madison Sheahan of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “This is another step towards our goal of creating a modern and professional organization that better serves the sportsmen of the state.”
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