Casey believes that Bitcoin should matter to everyone as it could be a very profitable asset, as well as an excellent hedge against inflation. Experts Douglas Opton and Bobby Esnard said no one could censor BTC or prevent someone from sending or receiving transactions with it.

Mark Casey, Capital Group equity portfolio manager, recently said that Bitcoin had become an alternative to cash. He also noted that he sees it as an option for bonds that provide negative returns.

Capital Group is an American investment and financial services company that has joined others in adopting Bitcoin. For example, the Bank of America stated that cryptocurrencies had grown so much that they could not go unnoticed.

Starwood Capital Group CEO Barry Sternlicht commented that Bitcoin and Ethereum offer significant advantages over their competitors. However, critics of Bitcoin consider that the instability of its value makes it a poor alternative to preserve value in the short term.

Mark Casey Sees Bitcoin as an Alternative Asset

Casey believes that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are profitable, as their supply is limited and they lack a mechanism that controls them. He added that the cryptocurrency could be helpful in countries where there are restrictions on currency exchange and the value of their local currency is unstable.

Similarly, Casey supported people who use Bitcoin as a means of hedging against inflation. He explained that a small investment of money in Bitcoin would continue to generate profits over time.

The manager also indicated that Bitcoin should matter to anyone who deals with money, as the cryptocurrency could be very profitable. Furthermore, he reiterated that its limited supply and independence from central bank control make it an excellent hedge against inflation.

Casey compared Bitcoin to gold as it is not sovereign and it is scarce and hard to find, so it serves as a store of value. Likewise, he said that the crypto asset has anti-inflationary properties, unlike fiat money, which loses its value due to its unlimited printing.

Other Experts Give their Opinion on the Pioneering Cryptocurrency

Stock investment analyst Douglas Opton and emerging markets technology analyst Bobby Esnard said Bitcoin was too big to ignore. The experts argued that Bitcoin allows having money that nobody can print, highlighting that it makes it maintain its value over time.

The experts from Capital Group added that Bitcoin has potential value as it is the only digital money that no one can censor. In addition, they commented that no government or authority could prevent someone from sending or receiving a transaction with the crypto asset.

The comments from Casey, Opton, and Esnard come after the price of Bitcoin hit an all-time high near USD 67,000. The cryptocurrency is trading at around USD 62,000 while its market capitalization is approximately 1.16 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

Bitcoin plays an increasingly important role in the world economy, which financial companies cannot help but realize. For that reason, a growing number of large institutional investors, such as Tesla and MicroStrategy, buy the crypto asset as a store of value.

By Alexander Salazar

The electric car company highlights that Bitcoin is a highly liquid but volatile asset. Tesla warns that BTC may cause impairment losses due to a drop in its value.

Tesla told the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) its opinion on Bitcoin (BTC). Elon Musk’s company said it intends to keep the cryptocurrency in its investment portfolio in the long term.

Tesla’s first-quarter earnings and performance prospectus provides that information, according to the SEC’s website.

The electric car company has been one of the most closely related to cryptocurrencies, more precisely Bitcoin. It has even become one of the institutional investors that have most influenced its price, with 43,200 BTC in its treasury.

In January, they made their first investment in BTC for USD 1,500, which they paid to update Tesla’s investment policy. This action plan sought to diversify and maximize returns on cash not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity.

They said that allowed them to invest in reserve assets like cryptocurrencies, gold, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). From there, they also began to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for some products, subject to applicable laws.

In April, BTC exceeded USD 64,000 for the first time thanks to Tesla’s multi-million dollar investment and its acceptance of Bitcoin as a form of payment.

Tesla Believes that Bitcoin is a Highly Liquid Asset

In its prospectus, the company states that it liquidated part of its reserves in Bitcoin in April. They sold USD 272 million worth of Bitcoin out of a total holding of USD 2.48 billion worth of BTC.

Tesla thus proved that Bitcoin is highly liquid, for each it insisted on keeping it in its investment portfolio in the long term. However, they warn that the volatility of the asset can be unfavorable when they want to liquidate.

They also point out that they made a net profit of USD 101 million from their cryptocurrency holdings. Tesla clarified that the only crypto asset in which they have invested is precisely the pioneering cryptocurrency.

In May, Musk tweeted that his company would no longer accept BTC as a form of payment. The billionaire businessman claimed that the CO2 emissions generated by Bitcoin mining were damaging the environment. That led the price of the cryptocurrency to plummet below USD 50,000.

However, they did not put the investment aside but reaffirmed that they still had their Bitcoin holdings. Tesla revealed that they kept a USD 1.311 million investment in BTC.

Tesla Unequivocally but Cautiously Supports Bitcoin

In its report to the SEC, Tesla endorses Bitcoin and presents it as a store of value. However, the company remains cautious about the pioneering cryptocurrency, as a drop in its value can cause impairment losses.

Tesla considers Bitcoin an intangible asset with an indefinite life, so a fall in its values would be an impairment loss. However, those are nothing more than the reduction in the recoverable value of a fixed asset.

The company notes that these losses can negatively affect its profitability in periods in which those impairments occur. They say that would be the case, even if the overall market values of Bitcoin rise.

By Alexander Salazar

The second country with the highest Bitcoin mining hash rate in the world is Kazakhstan. The Eurasian country is putting limits on electricity consumption by mining facilities.

Kazakhstan received Bitcoin miners fleeing from neighboring China but will restrict the rate of energy consumption by their business.

The draft regulation of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan is dated October 1^st. However, the authorities closed the period of discussion around the proposed law on October 18^th.

They decided that each licensed mining farm could receive up to 1 megawatt of electrical power for two years. In addition, they established that that activity should not receive more than 100 MW of electrical energy in Kazakhstan.

No one knows whether the authorities would lift the restriction after those two years, but it will be in force around December 16^th.

A translation of the announcement indicates that the Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company received instructions to initiate an audit. They seek to evaluate the technical conditions of cryptocurrency mining farms with a consumption capacity greater than 5 MW. Their purpose is to verify how they connect to the national and regional electrical grid.

Several Countries Seek to Use Their Energy Resources to Balance Bitcoin Mining

The restrictions on the use of electric power come after cryptocurrency mining grew exponentially in Kazakhstan this year. According to the Cambridge Center for Financial Alternative, it is the second country that hosts the highest Bitcoin hash rate worldwide (18%).

The United States, Argentina, Canada, and Kazakhstan, among other nations, have hosted Bitcoin miners fleeing the bans by China. They have also been interested in those countries because of the prices and nature of energy production. For example, the US has reserves of residual natural gas, Kazakhstan has mines of mineral coal, and Argentina generates hydroelectric power.

Iran had restricted cryptocurrency mining due to energy stability but later lifted the bans. The authorities stated their decision responded to the impact of the activity on the electricity consumption in the country. Furthermore, they said that many unlicensed miners have illegally profited from the power grid, causing major power outages in the country.

Bitcoin miners authorized to operate in Iran reactivated their farms after the four-month hiatus. The government lifted the ban that restricted the operations of those businesses due to increased energy consumption during the summer.

Russia also plans to apply measures to cryptocurrency mining in terms of the use of electrical energy. The head of the Russian Energy Ministry, Nikolai Shulginov, said that such activity could be subject to special rates.

The same is happening in Kazakhstan, where they received and encouraged cryptocurrency mining. However, they later adjusted the regulation to decrease consumption and its impact on their energy resources.

Some countries do not have electrical services that work well and tend to depend on the seasons or the availability of energy resources. For that reason, a wave of Bitcoin miners like those coming from China could cause the capacity of the systems to collapse.

By Alexander Salazar

VanEck’s exchange-traded fund, related to Bitcoin futures, will start trading on the NYSE after October 23. The first ETF, which got launched recently, barely reaches a billion dollars in trade volume.

A second Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) is about to hit the US market next week. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), VanEck received regulatory approval to launch its Bitcoin Strategy ETF.

The New York-based asset management company is the latest to join the ETF race. Now the company would add ProShares, which was the first to acquire regulatory approval, and launched its Bitcoin futures ETF this week.

According to the report, VanEck’s fund would start trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after October 23. The negotiation will begin “as soon as possible after the effective date,” the SEC document details, suggesting that the launch will occur on Monday, October 25.

VanEck ETF is About to Arrive on October 25

Similar to the ProShares ETF, the VanEck exchange-traded fund will get linked to Bitcoin futures. This link means that it would not receive back-up from physical Bitcoin but by derivative contracts.

On Friday, ProShares filed a post-effective prospectus with the SEC, indicating the Commission’s go-ahead to achieve the launch of the first Bitcoin futures ETF. VanEck filed the same type of document on Wednesday, meaning the regulator has also given the company the green light to launch its fund.

On the other hand, the SEC had already postponed the verdict date for the VanEck product multiple times.

Both announcements represent an important milestone for the cryptocurrency industry in the US. For a long time, companies in the sector have been applying for ETFs backed by digital assets, but, until now, no investment product of its kind has received approval from the regulatory agency.

The success of the First Bitcoin ETF will set the Tone

The first Bitcoin futures ETF, from ProShares, began trading Tuesday on the NYSE, immediately becoming one of the most relevant ETF debuts in US history. After a day of its release, the ETF has already approached a trading volume of almost one million US dollars.

Each share in the fund is currently trading for USD 43.42, at least 8.55% above the opening price of USD 40 on Tuesday. The total volume traded is 20 million shares, or almost $ 900 million.

The ProShares and VanEck approvals mark the first time US investors can buy and trade shares of an ETF directly linked to Bitcoin. Although the United States of America is not the first country to create something like that, it still lags behind many countries in the race for Bitcoin.

On the other hand, Canadian regulators allowed several physically-backed Bitcoin ETFs, while other publicly traded products are available in certain European nations.

Even though the US does not yet have an ETF backed by physical Bitcoin, various experts have highlighted that the move represents a crucial step towards greater institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The five senators signing the letter to Facebook are Brian Schatz, Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith, Richard Blumenthal, and Sherrod Brown.

Facebook announced yesterday the launch of a pilot of its Novi digital wallet, where the Paxos stable coin will get activated, and it will receive a backup from Coinbase.

Said pilot starts in the United States of America, Guatemala, and will first be with Paxos Pax Dollar, although it might continue with its stable coin: Diem.

As has happened since the social media company first reported its intentions for crypto of its own in 2019 (at that time called Libra), opposition from members of the North American legislature was once again present. And more prominently.

Five US Democratic senators signed a letter asking Facebook to suspend its Novi wallet and Diem stable coin projects. Senators wrote a letter for CEO Mark Zuckerberg just hours after releasing its Novi digital wallet in parallel efforts with Coinbase.

Senators expressed strong opposition to the bill because Facebook cannot receive trust to manage a payment system or digital currency.

The letter came from Senator Brian Schatz’s office and got signed by him and four other lawmakers: Elizabeth Warren, Tina Smith, Richard Blumenthal, and Sherrod Brown.

Senators Reasons

In their letter, the senators highlighted several reasons why the company should stop crypto projects. First of all, there is the fact that Facebook doesn’t care about the damage its products might cause to users.

They also referred to 2019, when the company’s Libra project got questioned and eventually stopped. In October 2019, Senators Schatz and Brown spoke to the Diem Association’s predecessor, the Libra Association.

Both representatives had shown deep concern regarding the risks the project posed to consumers and the financial system.

Facebook subsequently shelved Libra amid regulatory scrutiny but did not address our concerns before resuming this effort.

In addition, Facebook pointed out through a series of comments that Facebook’s head of Payments and Financial Services, David Marcus, made on the Twitter thread that the company plans to release Novi with Diem once it receives regulatory approval.

A Total distrust on Facebook

The representative also added very harsh words about the company. He expressed that Facebook’s decision to create a digital currency and payment network is one more example of the company moving fast and breaking things.

 Facebook has done business with conscious decisions to keep applying actions that have caused damage to its users and society in general.

It is worth saying that the senators, in the letter, cited a comment Zuckerberg himself made in 2019 before the House Financial Services Committee. The chairman guaranteed that Facebook would not launch a payment system anywhere in the world unless US regulators approve.

The CEO talked about Libra, not Diem, a later project (a name change of the same project called Libra).

By: Jenson Nuñez

According to JPMorgan analysts, the Bitcoin price race happens due to high inflation rates and not futures EFT. They think that BTC is a better hedge than gold.

The cryptocurrency price craze got unleashed right after Bitcoin reached a new price record, above $ 66,000, just a day after the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) of Bitcoin futures got released.

The strategists leading the investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co commented on something that the public opinion did not expect from such a company.

The entity assured that the new high peak is happened due to high inflation rates rather than the launch of the first futures ETF that drives the cryptocurrency to all-time highs.

Bitcoin and not Gold Against Inflation

The news agency added that growing concerns about inflation restored investors’ interests in assets that can act as hedges; Bitcoin got included in the list.

The media outlets highlighted that gold has not responded, in recent weeks, to growing concerns about mounting cost pressures. The shift from gold ETFs to Bitcoin funds has experienced a considerable acceleration.

Strategists at JPMorgan said that this change in flow remains intact, supporting a bullish outlook for Bitcoin through the end of the year.

These strategists pointed out that, with the $ 56 billion SPDR Gold Shares gold-based ETF, ticker GLD, which is on track to see its fourth consecutive month of exits that, so far, total more than $ 3.6 billion in that span, according to data gathered by Bloomberg.

Won’t the ETF fanaticism last long?

Although Bitcoin investors already have a lot of investment options, JPMorgan said, that at the same time, he believes this is not the great price driver.

The bank’s strategists recalled that the launch of the proposal for Bitcoin ETF (BTCC ticker) in Canada had a good reception but then slowly started to decline. The first wave of hype with BITO would tend to fade after a week.

ProShares’s BITO debuted Tuesday as the second-most-traded fund on record. The fund continued its hot streak on its second day live. BITO registered a trading volume of more than 29 million shares, representing more than USD 1.2 billion.

The fund now has assets of $ 1.1 billion, according to the company. That’s the fastest an ETF has reached the $ 1 billion mark, according to Bloomberg.

Bitcoin is frequently referred to as “digital gold” to highlight its advantages as a store of value.

Although institutional investment funds have traditionally favored the precious metal as a hedge against inflation; The situation is now showing several signs of change.

The Bank of New York Mellon, the oldest in the United States of America, led a retrospective study at the end of April of one of its funds, which had had exposure to gold. The bank’s analysis concluded that “weak gold prices” hampered the fund’s performance.

By: Jenson Nuñez