Serious Question: Is Cryptocurrency the Future?

Let’s start this issue with something from the lighter side, as means of understanding the motivations of a guy who, it seems, just can’t stop moving cryptocurrency markets.

“Marge vs. the Monorail” is the iconic 12th episode of the fourth season of the long-running sitcom “The Simpsons.” Sprinkled with cultural references, the main plot is a spoof of “The Music Man,” a stage musical with a con man at the center of the action.

Now, I’m not suggesting Elon Musk is a con man. But Eddy Elfenbein is …

Here’s a synopsis of “Marge vs. the Monorail” via Wikipedia:

When the Environmental Protection Agency fines Mr. Burns $3 million for dumping nuclear waste in a Springfield park, a town meeting is held on how to spend the money. Following a few suggestions — including a proposal from a poorly-disguised Burns to invest the money back into his power plant — Marge nearly succeeds in advocating for the repair of the town's rundown roads, but a fast-talking salesman named Lyle Lanley leads a song-and-dance routine that convinces the townspeople to instead build a monorail. After running a questionable training program, Lanley randomly selects Homer to be the monorail's conductor. Doubtful about Lanley, Marge visits his office and discovers his intention to run off with money skimmed from the project while the townspeople fall victim to a faulty train.

 And here’s what Eddy, who writes the Crossing Wall Street blog, tweeted last Wednesday:

Yes, that’s Lyle Lanley …

OK, Elon has accomplished some real things. Reusable rockets are a huge advance in space transportation. But his cars are looking a little lemony lately. Better, maybe, that he stays in his lane(s), or, at least, that we not give him the attention he requires.

Here’s how Sam Blumenfeld covered the action for Weiss Crypto Alert readers:

Bitcoin (BTC) fell sharply following Tesla, Inc.’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) announcement to stop accepting BTC as payment. CEO Elon Musk has a considerable influence on the crypto market, and his reasoning of environmentalism was widely criticized.

The King of Crypto has failed to hold above its 21-day moving average and has yet to truly confirm downside support, meaning it’s unclear whether the worst is over for Bitcoin.

We could see a bounce above the support level just below $50,000, or it could face more short-term headwinds before resuming its bull-market ascent.

Here’s Bitcoin’s price in U.S. dollars via Coinbase:

Meanwhile, one of the most successful investors of all time also has thoughts on currency and crypto, the U.S. dollar and Bitcoin:   

Jim Bianco of Bianco Research is also thinking about Bitcoin and the bigger picture:

The history of modern finance has seen several monetary orders, from the gold standard of the 19th century to the current fiat-based era starting in 1971. Each period had its dominant reserve currency, starting with gold and then moving to the British pound and U.S. dollar. The current system is 50 years old, about the average length of previous monetary orders.

The lesson is that nothing lasts forever. The prudent should be preparing for the next monetary order, with all signs pointing to decentralized finance (DeFi) using a stablecoin as its reserve currency. How regulators and Wall Street handle this transition will significantly impact the global economy, as it seems destined to happen with or without their blessing.

Finally, here’s Sam with closing thoughts, expressed last Friday:

The timing of these headlines wasn’t ideal, but none of them change the long-term viability of Bitcoin or the other promising crypto projects primed to carve their place in the industry.

Altseason always brings wild storylines — including multi-bagger gains or the explosion of dog-themed cryptocurrencies. But behind the scenes, institutional adoption and macroeconomic factors are still slowly pushing the industry to new heights.

While the crypto market may get choppy and experience volatility in the short term, its fundamentals look stronger than ever.

Click here to follow Weiss Crypto Alert for daily updates on and real analysis of Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin, “altseason” and the rapidly unfolding decentralized finance revolution.

Best,

David Dittman