Bitcoin Ben on the G20, ETFs, BTC, and Hyperinflation Control

EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS KEY TO NEXT BTC RUN, SAYS BITCOIN BEN

The July 24th edition of the Bitcoin Ben VLOG is worthy of discussion, as Ben delves into the details of what he thinks will cause the next major launch of Bitcoin.

At the G20 meeting, Bitcoin Ben states that the group did not disclose the portion of the discussion where they agreed that the member countries would not have a deflationary conflict with their currencies.

The week before, he claims they were talking about how horrible cryptocurrencies are, and how they need to be banned. However, he goes on to explain that they aren’t going to do anything about cryptocurrencies because they don’t see them as a threat. Now they see them as a tool. This is quite a change in attitude.

The "global elites", as he calls them, don’t “invent” anything as it relates to true wealth. They don’t create anything of substance. Rather, they leach off of the inventions of others. He thinks what they have decided and recognized that they’ve found a new valve for deflation. They want to capture the wealth that they’ve "printed" into inflation. He explains that they can’t put it into shares of stock or currency anymore, because the stock market has been made too top-heavy. If they add anything more to it, he claims it will "fall over".

BTC surpassed 8,000 in July, which was a major psychological marker. However, he states there isn’t that much buying pressure. Bitcoin Ben believes that someone with a lot of money had to push through that 8,000 barrier. He thinks that the elites are now getting involved, buying as much bitcoin as they can. I do believe that there is some amount of validity to this belief, because we see that the market has continued to slide since the brief run to 8,000 BTC.

Before the announcement of the "ETF", or "Exchange-Traded Funds", he believes the elites are going to buy as much BTC as they can because they know what he (Ben) is saying to be true. The ETF, as Ben states, is going to be the tool or the "valve" for the inflation that the G20 has been printing in currency.

He believes that the people who are getting into the market now are the small players. The big players are starting to enter now, and that’s why we have had the recent growth. Between now and the launch of the ETF, Bitcoin is going to continuously go up. There will be dips, and Ben recommends that everyone buy on those dips. Last year, BTC jumped from $6,000 to $20,000 in three weeks flat. This is possible again, as he states.

"Once the inflation valve, the ETF, is turned on, that’s when the inflation pours in. As soon as the valve is turned on, the elites will already be holding positions. Once they launch one ETF, the price will skyrocket. Not all ETFs will play by the rules. There will eventually be a lot of ETFs based on LTC, ETH, ETC, and more", as Ben explains.

"There are two things that the elites must insure. They have to control inflation without raising interest rates as much as possible. They also have to keep the inflation away from commodities like bread, food, and silver. Silver is too important to industry to let the price rise. If silver were allowed to skyrocket, the solar panel market and the smartphone market would be destroyed, along with several other markets."

Ben believes that the global elites need a commodity that is structurally fundamental to the marketplace for their manipulative inflationary purposes. Once the inflation tap is turned on, it will make the Bitcoin market run. Bitcoin will continue to move up from here. "We will see a run that makes last year’s action look like a practice run."

Time will tell if Bitcoin Ben's commentary is accurate, and comes to pass. I do believe that his comments have validity, and it will probably be revealed in early September when the final decision is announced concerning the approval of Exchange-Traded Funds. Until then, it looks like the bear market will continue.

I do believe that the news of ETFs will at least push the market into an accumulation/consolidation phase, even though several prognosticators believe it will launch us into the bull market. But as I have always said, we have never seen the stock market or the cryptocurrency market skip the vital developmental stages of distribution (bear market), accumulation, and then consolidation before the final markup phase (bull run)

Keep your eyes on the charts, and we will see!

Carlton Flowers
CrytpoPro

Should We Prepare for an Extended Crypto Bear Market?

WHY PLAYING IT "SAFE" COULD BE THE BEST STRATEGY

It's June 2018 and BTC continues its bear trend despite multiple incorrect predictions over the past few months from several noteworthy forecasters who thought the bull market should have already started.

The most common belief among the prognosticators was that $6,200 BTC was a big support level that would be a pivot point. As we now know, that prediction failed miserably.

The entire alt-coin market has also mirrored Bitcoin. None of the alts have broken free from the overall downtrend since the December 2017 all-time high. All of the alt coins appear to be in lock-step with big brother Bitcoin, and it is safe to assume that none of them have matured to the point that they can bust loose and deviate from its path.

The big question looming in everyone's mind is, "has Bitcoin hit rock-bottom?" But the question shoulnd't center around figuring out Bitcoin's "rock-bottom" price. It should be understanding what happens overall, based on how price activity develops.

When you look at the big picture, you can decide if you're the type of person who would feel more comfortable holding a position for several years through the ups and downs, or if you prefer to take a break in the short-term until the market turns around.

My advice to everyone is to play it safe and look at the worst-case scenario, despite all of the talk about an immediate reversal. In order to do this, we must look at the 1-week chart dating back as far as possible to get a birds-eye view.

In this analysis, we'll take a look at the overall action on the 1-week candles for Bitcoin dating back to 2016. It's necessary to zoom out as far as possible in order to get an idea of what the worst-case scenario could be.

Let's begin by identifying the current trend. In Figure 1, we can clearly see that the current downtrend is not your average correction in the midst of a rising market. After the peak in December 2017, we see lower highs and higher lows for 6 straight months.

The last time we saw an extended bear market like this was from November of 2013 all the way to January of 2015. That was a bit more than one solid year of a downtrend. But what we need to pay the most close attention to is what happened at the end of that extended bear market, which I notated in Figure 2 below.

Before the 2013 bull run spike, we saw smaller breakouts and corrections that did not span the time of what we saw in this overall picture from 2013 to 2015. This is key.

In January of 2015, a quiet accumulation period of 9 months developed before the the market ticked up to the next accumulation level in June of 2016. That next level of accumulation lasted through April of 2017. We could actually call this a period of "consolidation".

In April of 2017 the bulls took full control and the charge started. It took us all the way to Bitcoin's peak of over $19,000 before getting swatted down despite all of the hype and anticipation of breaking the $20,000 barrier. The bear market officially started, and continues on through today.

The biggest point that I want to make is this: we have yet to see a bull run jump right out of a bear market without a period of quiet accumulation followed by a consolidation phase.

It just doesn't happen! Trend reversals take time to develop, and you can't short-cut the process. That's why it is best to turn a deaf ear to all of the ridiculous bull market predictions that we have been seeing week in and week out since the all-time high.

Going back to Figure 1, I believe that the worst-case scenario that we all have to take into consideration is the trading zone delineated by the red box. I don't base this solely on the history of BTC, but by the age-old rule of the four phases of market action which are as follows:

• Accumulation
• Consolidation
• Markup
• Distribution

This is how the stock market has traded in all of history, and the only difference between the stock market and the cryptocurrency market is the time it takes to move through all four of these phases. The cryptocurrency market cuts the overall time down from 13 year cycles to a year or two.

After the all-time high in December of 2017, we have a period of "distribution", or an extended selloff. Before we can see the next BTC moon-shot, we have to see an accumulation and consolidation phase. It won't happen overnight.

While I am not a financial advisor or a professional who gives investment advice, I think everyone can learn from what history has taught us. And for those of us who are not able to invest a Brinks truck full of cash into the crypto market, it's best to play it safe and take the most conservative approach to investing.

Time will only tell. I could be dead-wrong. But taking this approach to predicting the next BTC movement will certainly prevent me from losing the last bit of change jingling in my pockets.

Carlton Flowers
The CryptoPro

Is Bitcoin Really "Rat Poison Squared", as Warren Buffet Suggests?

IS CRYPTOCURRENCY A FAD, OR HAS WARREN BUFFET LOST HIS MARBLES?

At the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway on Saturday, May 5th 2018, Warren Buffet stated that he believes cryptocurrencies will come to a “bad ending” after the “euphoria wears off”. Additionally, he claimed Bitcoin (BTC) is “probably rat poison squared”, stating that he does not believe that Bitcoin is a “productive asset, unlike land or corporate shares”. He called it “a handy tool for charlatans”.

Berkshire Hathaway vice president Charlie Monger echoed Buffet’s sentiment by adding harsh criticism including a statement that “someone else is trading turds and you decide I can’t be left out”. Munger previously called Bitcoin “totally asinine”, based on the belief that everyone involved just “wants easy money”.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is too risky for Warren Buffet, and he has no reason to buy in to the philosophy and future of the cryptocurrency market. It bears no significance on the future of crypto as a whole, considering the fact that Buffet does not own a smartphone and rarely uses a computer in his corporate office.

There are several reasons why I do not believe that their public statements will harm Bitcoin and its future.

The value of cryptocurrency and the trend towards decentralization is happening with or without them. It will more than likely surpass the size and strength of the stock market, world markets, and real estate market. The fact is, all of these markets will more than likely become integrated into the cryptocurrency market.

There is probably no chance that Warren Buffet or Charlie Monger will get involved in shorting Bitcoin, and that is significant. They are basically taking a “hands-off” approach to the entire cryptocurrency market, and at their age, they have no reason to secure themselves ahead of it.

The banking systems of the world view cryptocurrency as a threat, and there isn’t much they can do to stop the momentum. The more that cryptocurrency gains in total market capitalization, the less power the banking system will have in keeping control of the world’s currency.

There has been talk of the government of the United States creating a “crypto dollar”, and this is a real possibility. But will it bear any significance? I think not. It is only a move that could be created to keep the general population confused and using the US Dollar as a base of trade.

But a cryptocurrency version of the US Dollar has no real use. It goes against the reason that Bitcoin and other altcoins were created. The Dollar is a centralized currency, meaning the government and central bank has total control of its volume. If a “Dollar Coin” is created, it does not mean that the government and banks will turn over control to the general population.

The government will continue to work with the banking system in “printing” dollars for its own use. The government does not create any value as a producer of sorts. But the ability to print money allows it to stay in complete control of the population.

For example, if there is a war to be funded, the government can print all of the money necessary to cover the cost of manufacturing munitions and mobilizing an army. But this devalues the dollar, and leaves the general public holding the bag. We pay for it by holding a dollar that is weaker, with less buying power. The end result is that the people must work harder to keep the same level of living.

The government creating a cryptocurrency version of the US Dollar defeats the purpose of its use. The volume of a cryptocurrency is accounted for by the unmovable Blockchain network. If the US Dollar were to be moved to the blockchain, the government and central banks would lose their ability to control the volume.

The creation of a cryptocurrency “US Dollar coin” would be meaningless. The only way it would succeed would be by the ignorance of the public in believing that its use and accounting is regulated by the Blockchain’s permanent records. Without the Blockchain, a US Dollar coin would be no different than the paper version or the electronic money that comprises of 90% of its volume.

This is why I don’t believe the attitudes held by Warren Buffet and Charlie Monger have any impact on the future of cryptocurrency. They are the last of the generation that grew up with fiat currency, and they have no reason to participate in its adoption. As the richest men in the entire world, they don’t have a reason to pay any attention to it.

A significant point to consider is the fact that Warren Buffet and Charlie Monger have no interest in shorting Bitcoin. They are taking no position one way or the other. That alone is enough proof to me that their age and generational mindset is the primary reason for their negative view of the cryptocurrency market.

As time goes on, the central banks of the world will continue to realize that cryptocurrency is a real threat to their ability to remain in control of the world population and the monetary system. Without the ability to make decisions without the agreement of the public regarding the supply of money, they will become obsolete.

Time will tell. And it will be an exciting, tumultuous process that will be unfolding. Until then, I’ll be sitting back watching, and placing my bets on the future of cryptocurrency as the next evolutionary step for world trade and commerce.

Carlton Flowers
The CryptoPro