Bitcoin for safety
To our investors and friends,
Bitcoin has had a fairly typical, volatile week, falling into the $9,100’s before rallying to a high of $9,568 🚀. Our outlook before the halving (expected late April 2020) remains unchanged and we expect volatility to increase as we get closer.
That said, I’d like to zoom out and focus on the larger thesis for Bitcoin, as articulated by Bitcoin developer James O’Beirne. He wrote an article called “Bitcoin for safety” that recaps the macroeconomic environment of the past decade and the implications of negative interest rates. Here are a couple of highlights, but I encourage you to read the entire article.
“Starting in 2008, central banks injected an unprecedented amount of new money into the global financial system. Along with big gaps in wealth distribution, this has created profound systemic risk. The last few months have shown indications that this risk is starting to come to the surface.”
News Highlights
Use Your Debit Card to Pay with Bitcoin with Strike'
Zap wallet launches “Strike”, a feature that lets anyone pay an invoice on the Lightning network with Bitcoin using funds loaded from a debit card. This feature should make it easier for people to use the Lightning network for the first time, helping onboard users to Bitcoin. As Zap founder Jack Mallers says, “The barrier to entry to this new economy has never been lower, all you need is a debit card.”
Congress Takes a Step Toward a De Minimis Tax Exemption for Bitcoin
A bipartisan group of representatives introduced the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act of 2020 in Congress this month, which would exempt every day, small-value cryptocurrency transactions like buying a cup of coffee from generating a taxable event. Coin Center has been advocating for a solution like this for years as it would reduce the friction associated with using Bitcoin for regular commerce.
The US Marshals Service is Auctioning $37m of BTC
The US Marshals Service announced they’ll be auctioning off 4,040 BTC (worth roughly $37m at today’s price) that they’ve confiscated as a result of law enforcement investigations. To bid on the lots of BTC, you must pre-register and pay a $200,000 deposit.