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

Is Bitcoin Ready to Surge Again? Two Possible Scenarios

MY THOUGHTS ON TWO POSSIBILITIES ON THE NEXT BTC BULL RUN

The action in the cryptocurrency market is heating up again. The market cap is on the rise, and all indications are present that the next bull run is here. But when will it happen, and how long will the run continue before it takes a break?

Many of the crypto prognosticators are calling for a Bitcoin run right now. But as we all know, the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile and quite unpredictable. Over the long term, I still firmly believe that the market will continue to rise as cryptocurrency is adopted worldwide. But what will happen in the immediate future?

I'd like to present two simple possibilities and give my reasoning why my gut feeling tells me that Scenario 2 is what we will see. And I also firmly believe that the real bull run is going to happen in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Let's start by looking at the first scenario, which seems to be the most commonly held  belief.

In this scenario, many believe that we have ended the bear market with the low point of around $6400 USD. Looking at the low of $5800 this year, we see a double bottom ending with the  higher bottom at $6400. This could be a good indication that we have seen the lowest Bitcoin trading price that we will ever see.

But has the market allowed enough time for this to be the final correction? It certainly could be. I am more convinced of this possibility considering the double bottom and higher low that has occurred. But the next chart presents a clear possibility of one more final correction before the next true run.

If BTC does not continue with an absolute breakout of the 4-hour candles on the upper trend line, a final short correction could occur before the bull run. And this looks like more of a possibility to me because it would allow for an absolute consolidation of this formation.

Judging from prior years action, I believe this to be true. It's not the popular belief, but there are a few market analysts that are considering this scenario. The clue will be what happens with the breaking of the upper trend line in the next few days.

If we close above the trend line and hold, forming a base at $9800, the run is on. Time will tell. But for those playing the market for the long term, it will not matter. Those looking to enter the market or mildly trade the action for the best possible return might benefit from waiting for this final clue to occur.

Either way, we now see institutional investing on the rise. And we also see the hedge fund investors losing a lot of ground that are still hanging on to short positions since the previous low. That is a very telling clue.

The safest way to enter into the market at this time is to wait for the confirmation of breaking the upper trend line, especially for those who do not have the capital to invest large amounts of money.

My advice at this point, which is not professional advice, is to play it as safe as possible and invest responsibly. But overall, I think there is a lot to gain by jumping in to the cryptocurrency market while we are still in the "early adoption" phase.

It's a tricky situation, and we all don't want to end up wishing we had entered into the market before the final bull run takes place during 2018, which I believe will happen during the 4th quarter.

This time last year, BTC was trading at around $1000 USD. Anyone who would have predicted a run to $20,000 would have probably been told they were being ridiculous. But if BTC continues to move as it has up until now, we could see $150,000 by the end of the year.

I'll be getting back into the swing of reporting on the cryptocurrency market now that we have had several significant developments, and I'll be keeping a close eye and reporting on the altcoins too. I'd love to hear your thoughts and analysis!

Carlton Flowers
The CryptoPro

Are We On The Verge Of The Next Cryptocurrency Bull Market?

CLUES THAT THE CRYPTO RUSH COULD BE AROUND THE CORNER

From the looks of it, the next bull market could be right around the corner for cryptocurrency trading. While nobody can be 100% sure of it, all indications are pointing in that direction.

After Bitcoin went completely bananas, exploding to nearly $20,000 in early December after a frenzied run, it has been a long and arduous ride down the  the slopes during a market correction that lasted nearly two and a half months.

I got into the crypto game in late November, and made some decent gains during the end of the last bull market. Fortunately, I ended up ahead of the profit curve after the correction finalized. Honestly, I was convinced that Bitcoin would correct to less than the $5,000 level before the bear market was complete.

But it appears that lots of institutional buyers were ready with automated purchase orders at the $6,000 support level, and the big dip that took it down below that point did not last long. Still not convinced, I waited on the sidelines until there was enough evidence that we had reached the bottom.

At this point, most of the top prognosticators believe that we have completed the correction, and the top cryptocurrencies have consolidated nicely forming a strong base. The market has been propagating sideways since the big dip in January, and this has been encouraging.

The news on the developments of the major coins and even the altcoins has been strong since the dip. I truly believe that the world is headed towards adoption of cryptocurrency as a standard of trade and exchange. But we are still in the early stages of the process.

I am still cautious, because we have seen the cryptocurrency market drag through distribution phases for upwards of a year at a time. The previous bear market only lasted two or three months. But it appears that the overall upward trend is still in tact.

Make no mistake about it, the "smart money" of the world knows that this paradigm shift is real, and an enormous amount of wealth will be transferred into the cryptocurrency market in the next few years.

A significant development occurred in February that is one of the biggest indicators that we are on the edge of a rising bull market. Credit card companies have halted the ability to buy cryptocurrencies on Coinbase via credit. There is a reason behind this.

It's called the "leverage loop", and it threatens the stability of the credit card companies. If credit card companies continue to allow purchasing during a rising market, their customers can leverage gains on cryptocurrencies in short order, and pay off their balances. Credit card companies need to keep customers in a reasonable amount of debt in order to make money on high interest rates that they charge.

That's why they put the kibosh on allowing people to buy cryptos on credit. If we weren't on the edge of a bull market, you better believe that these companies would continue encouraging their users to increase their debts, thus facilitating more profit through interest charges.

Another strong indication of a pending bull market? The action of the Digital Currency Group. This is one of the major players in future investments in the world. They are the company behind MasterCard. They are making plans now to update credit card terminals to allow cryptocurrency payments. That's major news.

Lastly, we have to consider what is going on with the stock market. We have every indication that the stock market might be in the midst of a major correction. They aren't going to sit back and watch this happen without taking action. Proof? The NASDAQ company is one of the companies behind Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, and the only on-ramp to converting fiat currency to cryptocurrency.

Coinbase is already making developments to integrate a plugin that will allow businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments. The biggest potential customer is the biggest retailer in the world: Amazon.com.

Coinbase is positioned to be able to snatch a significant amount of money from the banking institution, because they will make it cheaper for regular every-day businesses to process payments using crypto. This represents a major threat to the future of banks.

All of these developments have a significant impact on cutting the bear market to a close, and opening up the gates for the next bull run. While we can't be solidly sure when the market will start the next major uptrend, there isn't a question about "IF" it will happen... the question is WHEN.

Keep your eyes on the markets, and invest responsibly. There is definite risk in getting involved in what we call the "early adoption stage", but with great risk comes great reward. My advice to everyone is to invest only what you can afford to lose. Be careful, but pay close attention to what is going on in the coming months. It will be exciting to watch!

Carlton Flowers
The CryptoPro

The CZ Crypto Blog - Learn the Basics of Cryptocurrency Investing Along With Me!

THE JOURNEY TO CRYPTOCURRENCY MASTERY BEGINS NOW

Welcome to my mini blog site for learning about cryptocurrency! As I learn how to enter into this new age, I want you to follow along and learn with me. This will be our resource to exchange knowledge and ideas.

Cryptocurrency is the future, folks. Whether you understand it or not, it's going to be the biggest fundamental change in finance that you will see in your lifetime. Now is the opportunity for you to learn, and to benefit in order to secure your financial future.

What is cryptocurrency, exactly? It's simply a digital payment system that does not require the involvement of banks, governments, or regulatory agencies. It's just a medium of exchange. It was invented by an unknown person or group of people under the name "Satoshi Nakamoto".

It was released in the year 2009 as an open source software system that runs on a peer-to-peer network where transactions take place directly from the people involved in trading, without a bank or other intermediary.

Any time two individuals make a transaction of currency, it is verified by network nodes, and recorded in a public distributed ledger called the "blockchain". It is open for anyone to view, and every single transaction that occurs is public knowledge.

The first "cryptocurrency" was Bitcoin. Bitcoins can be traded for products, services, or traded for worldwide currencies like the US dollar. As of February of 2015, there were over 100,000 merchants and vendors in the world accepting Bitcoins as a method of payment.

Whenever a transaction is made, it is verified by thousands of "auditors" out on the node. This keeps every transaction safe, and prevents anyone from duplicating their Bitcoins or making fraudulent trades. It makes the system impossible to hack, unlike regular money that you can counterfeit.

The process of auditing Bitcoin transactions is called "mining", because auditors are rewarded with tiny amounts of Bitcoin currency for performing a service. But there is a finite amount of Bitcoin currency that will be allowed to be created, and once that's done, mining will cease. At that point, auditors will be paid by charging a small fee to verify transactions.

Bitcoins can also be bought, and just sat on, as an investment. The more people pile on and buy Bitcoins, the higher the demand becomes. That means the value of each Bitcoin rises over time. I have a friend who bought five Bitcoins back in 2013 for around $400 per coin. Each of those coins is now worth nearly $10,000. That makes it an attractive investment.

Since Bitcoin was invented, there are several other cryptocurrencies that have hit the scene such as Ethereum and Litecoin. There are probably over 100 different cryptocurrencies that are being bought and sold as of this day, and the majority of them are increasing in value.

The benefit of cryptocurrency is that it removes the banks from the equation when two individuals seek to transact business or trade. It puts the power into the hands of the people, and the banks don't make any money. That's why it represents a threat to the current monetary system of the governments in the world.

That is the most basic level explanation of what Bitcoin and cryptocurrency is, and we'll get into much more detail as time goes on. This is a good starting point, and you'll want to continue to learn so you will be able to plan for investing. And you better have a sense of urgency about it. Why?

It is due to the fact that we are in the stage of change that is called the "Early Adopters". At this stage of change, this is where innovation hits critical mass and we experience massive growth. A good example would be the arrival of the first iPhone.

You can probably remember when you first heard about the development of Apple's first smartphone, but you had no idea it would change the world. Within a few months after the first iPhone was released, we hit critical mass. Years later, the majority of everyone in the world, regardless of their socioeconomic level, carries a smartphone.

This is exactly the point we are at right now regarding cryptocurrency. If you ask your friends about it, it is possible that 9 out of 10 have heard about Bitcoin but have not had any experience buying or trading with it. That will rapidly change.

Getting on the band wagon now could mean the difference between living at your current financial level, or living in a wealthy state beyond your wildest dreams. But if you wait to enter the market along with the majority of people, you won't be able to capitalize on the explosive growth from a financial standpoint.

Carlton Flowers
The Crypto Keeper