First I have some thoughts for you on CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) – the fancy name for crypto issued by government central banks. I always felt there was significant privacy risk there, but thought perhaps there are some advantages. After reviewing the progress worldwide and on Project Hamilton – the US exploration into CBDC I now think there are advantages – but only for governments, not the average citizen. If the above links are TLDR, here’s the short version “Good for dictatorships, totalitarians, and nanny state governments, not for the people who care about their independence and privacy.” For those who like the video version, watch Neel Kashkari, President / CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis say just that during the Annual Conference of the Journal of Financial Regulation at Columbia Law School in New York (Aug 3)
Next, on tigers. I was quite pleased to have been invited to deliver guest lectures on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency to two Money and Banking classes at Lafayette College. Actually, their mascot is Leopards, not tigers – I think Princeton has tigers, but that’s as close as I got. As a follow up, I was also requested to deliver guest lectures to two Intermediate Macro classes at St. Lawrence University. At all four lectures I was impressed with the interest shown by the students and the intelligent questions asked. There was a very wide range on how much they knew about Bitcoin going in, but I have them thinking about it now. There were even some follow up questions from students after the class completed that the professors forwarded to me. A good sign I think. I have no intention of becoming a professor, but it was great doing the guest lectures. If you are a college professor with interest or know of one that might be interested in having a guest lecturer, let me know – it might be fun to do this again. My lecture would be appropriate for Economics or Business classes, and with a change of focus, even some Math courses.
Finally, as I write this, the bears are back in town. The stock market has dropped again and BTC is now trading less than $20,000, (with a dip under $18,500). As I write this email, it is now just barely over $19,000. I’m not panicking, continuing to dollar cost average to increase my Bitcoin position, but you need to do your own research and make your own decisions. Ethereum has dropped post merge and is now just over $1,300. The fork created when some supporters did not agree with the merge created a new coin – ETHW, which is now trading about $12 each. If you held your ETH in your own wallet, you now also have the same amount of ETHW. If your ETH was held by a custodian (e.g. on Coinbase or other exchange), they now have the new ETHW, and may grant you access to it depending on their terms and conditions. Will ETHW go up or down from here? Should you buy? Sell? hold for the big pump? I don’t have the crystal ball and I don’t give financial advice. Personally I’m holding steady on ETH (and other alt coins). I think there is more potential downside coming, but there is a reasonable chance for price recovery and I’m looking to catch the next bounce up to close out most of those positions. As I’ve said before, I view Bitcoin as my long term hold and think there are only a limited number of other cryptos that will survive in the long run…
Regardless of the investment aspect, now is a great time to actually learn about and use this technology. If you have started – wonderful. If not, try it out. If you need help, I’m here. I have a dedicated email just for answering crypto questions. Email me at Questions@YourPersonalCryptoAssistant.com any question you have, I’ll answer it. Personal instruction and assistance is my specialty – if you or anyone you know is looking for more than an email response to a question I provide one on one consulting and have a number of classes / consulting packages. This email is strictly for your education and entertainment, I don’t offer financial, legal or tax advice. You need to evaluate your own situation and risk tolerance and DYOR (Do Your Own Research). Do not put any money into crypto that you are not willing to lose. I hope these emails help you in your journey to become educated and participate more fully. If you ever want to stop receiving them, just email me and let me know – I’ll take you off my list.
