3/ When the white paper came out in July 2016, it got fanfare from the #cryptocommunity, but many from #WallSt dismissed it b/c the aggregate network value of #cryptoassets was $10.5B at the time. Asset classes store trillions, #crypto would never get there...
4/ Structure of the asset class WP:
-Investability
-Politico-Economic Features
-Correlation of Returns
-Risk-Reward Profile
Which is also how I structured the @coindesk prezo
5/ First bar an asset class has to clear is being sufficiently liquid so as to be relevant, measured here in #bitcoin’s daily trading volumes. For the last 50 days straight, $BTC has traded > $1B, and the 2017 average is $1.4B+.
6/ Note that the chart showed was only for #bitcoin. #Cryptoassets as a whole regularly trade north of $10B in daily volume.
7/ #Bitcoin is often compared to gold, but gold’s supply = slightly inflationary, bitcoin’s supply = disinflationary going on deflationary. $BTC better set up as a store of value.
8/ In other words, #bitcoin's mathematically metered supply schedule is superior to the whims of man controlling gold & fiat supply (graph from original white paper)
9/ *transaction* value per min:
2017: $513,647
2016: $109,910
2015: $50,770
2014: $43,478
2013: $28,368
2012: $1,149
2011: $821 #bitcoin as a means of exchange.
(graph is log scale)
10/ In other words, #bitcoin moves a half a million dollars worth of value around the world per minute, and that’s up 5x from 2016, which was up 2x from 2015.
11/ If you're still stuck on #bitcoin only being used for nefarious activity, then you should update your views as that's an overplayed & outdated story: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…
12/ Ratio of trading to transacting can reveal which asset is being speculated upon more on a relative basis. Global FX volumes are 10x greater (~$750T/yr) than global GDP (~$80T in 2017), while global bitcoin trading (~$1.4B/day) is only 2x > transaction volume (~$750B/day).
13/ While some may want to debate the assumptions that go into calculating this ratio, it reveals to me that fiat currencies are more actively speculated upon *on a relative basis* than #bitcoin.
14/ A giveaway for #cryptoassets representing an emerging asset class (unlike any existing asset class) are the correlations. #Bitcoin near zero correlated with all others. Graph from the book: amazon.com/Cryptoassets-I…
15/ One year rolling average correlations show the same pattern of #bitcoin being indifferent to the movement of traditional asset classes. research.ark-invest.com/bitcoin-asset-… (graph from original asset class white paper)
16/ Turning to risk-reward ratios, we first have volatility, which as I’ve discussed before shows a nice long-term downtrend as the liquidity deepens in the #bitcoin markets. While 2017 has been more volatile than 2016…
17/ 2016 was an example of how much #bitcoin’s volatility has dropped, as it was less volatile than @twitter stock & on par with oil (as represented by $USO)
19/ Dividing reward by risk, we get the #SharpeRatio or "risk-adjusted returns," for which #bitcoin has consistently outperformed the other asset classes.
20/ #Cryptoassets are akin to equities as a new way to organize & incentivize human activity... except equities are 400+ years old, while #crypto is a 21st century creation that is native to information networks.
21/ All mainstream media wants to talk about these days is whether or not #crypto is in a bubble 🙄
22/ Each successive #crypto "bubble" will dwarf the prior "bubble," until people realize the illusion of value is the bubble that never pops.
23/ We're ~5% of the way to where the tech & telecom frenzy peaked in 2000 (inflation adjusted). Successive J-curves will lead #crypto to an inflection that takes our collective breath away.
1/ A PoS industry is rapidly emerging that will someday rival PoW in profits and wealth creation.
2/ That's billions in profit and tens of billions in wealth creation for PoS providers (at current PoW levels), with at least an order of magnitude of headroom.
3/ This is despite PoW & PoS having a shared destiny as commodity industries with thin margins.
PoW will converge on the cost of electricity and PoS on the cost of crypto-capital (?).
1/ While new crypto value capture mechanisms can rise to prominence in bull markets, they are tested, hardened and de-risked by bear markets.
2/ Only those that survive multiple crypto bear markets establish themselves as reliable “value capture mechanisms.”
3/ Store of value (SoV) = only crypto value capture mechanism that's significantly de-risked, but that doesn’t mean SoV is the only one that will ever work.
1/ Many tokens currently face stagnant cryptoeconomies, as supply was never spent or earned, but instead brought into existence via balance sheet swaps.
2/ “Balance sheet swaps”= investors in ICOs swapping assets with the issuer, giving birth to a native token without it ever having to go into *circulation.*
3/ Most ICO investors then held the token on their balance sheets, as they never planned to be on the supply-side or demand-side of the network.
1/ When studying non-fungible #cryptoassets, I'm seeing two types discussed: "functionals" and "investment instruments."
2/ "Functionals" are non-fungibles that are meant to be used, a means to access services like ticketing, voting, payment, and more. Best existing examples?
3/ "Investment instrument" non-fungibles are held for their store of value characteristics, be they solely digital things, or derivations of meatspace assets (real estate, art, cars, etc).
1/ Get ready for a predictable #crypto pattern: in the coming months, we will see an increasing number of #Bitcoin maximalists tormenting “altcoin investors” for straying from the mother ship.
2/ The maximalist drum will get louder as we go deeper into the bear market, with #bitcoin falling less than most other coins, and its dominance index growing. coinmarketcap.com/charts/#domina…
3/ #Bitcoin is the benchmark after all, the market beta of crypto, with most everything oscillating at a higher amplitude than $BTC.