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Wall Street Veteran Howard Marks Reconsiders Bitcoin Stance Amid Bullish Run

Despite a few setbacks, it’s safe to say that Bitcoin is continuing its forward trajectory. At the same time, several skeptics are starting to change their tone concerning the leading cryptocurrency.

The latest skeptic-turned-enthusiast is Howard Marks, the co-founder, and co-chairman of asset management giant Oaktree Capital Management.

Son Convinces Daddy

Oaktree is the largest investor of distressed securities in the world. Based in Los Angeles, the company holds about $140 billion in asset management. 

In an investor memo shared earlier this week, Marks explained that he was beginning to change his skeptical views on Bitcoin, with the asset showing considerable maturity over the past few years.

Marks was a staunch critic of Bitcoin in the 2017 bull run. 

At the time, the investment guru warned that Bitcoin was no more than a fad, and that investors would eventually lose a fortune when its bubble popped. In his memo, Marks explained that Bitcoin was essentially a pyramid scheme, with enthusiasts ascribing it a value based on peoples’ willingness to pay for it.

The value investor turned out to be right as Bitcoin plunged after reaching almost $20,000 per token. 

However, with Bitcoin now leaving its previous all-time high in the dust, even Marks has alluded that he could have been wrong.

In his recent memo, the investor explained that he had been talking with his son, Andrew Marks, about cryptocurrencies. He added that Andrew was a strong Bitcoin enthusiast and had “thankfully” bought up a few on behalf of the family. Apparently, Andrew had been able to convince him.

As Marks explained, he had not been fully pro-Bitcoin. However, he acknowledged that he would need to at least examine the asset and its potential.

“When innovations work, it’s only later that what first seemed crazy becomes consensus. Without attaining real knowledge of what’s going on and attempting to fully understand the positive case, it’s impossible to have a sufficiently informed view to warrant the dismissiveness that many of us exhibit in the face of innovation,” the value investor said.

Wall Street Loves Crypto

Marks is just the latest Wall Street giant who appears to be warming up to crypto. 

Last month, Ray Dalio, the founder of hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates, explained in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session that gold and Bitcoin provided the best alternative investment for people looking to divest from stocks and cash.

The billionaire hedge fund manager has previously criticized Bitcoin for its volatility and other failures as a currency.

With Wall Street stalwarts interested in crypto, there is hope that they will back some of that interest with investments. Institutional investment helped the crypto space grow last year, and with retail looking strong again, a push from top firms could take the leading cryptocurrency to unprecedented heights.

Wall Street Veteran Howard Marks Reconsiders Bitcoin Stance Amid Bullish Run

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Paybito Announces Plans to Double Workforce During 2021’s First Quarter

U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange PayBito recently announced it plans to double its workforce across multiple locations worldwide, with the hiring to take place throughout the first quarter of 2021. PayBito reported that it is expanding its operations and intending to employ professionals with strong knowledge and background to fit in numerous job roles.

“PayBito focuses on aligning clients with their latest technological innovations to help develop a foundation for smart business, thereby seeking highly knowledgeable professionals to help them achieve the same.”

PayBito also noted that with multiple exclusive features for traders to experience digital assets trading, it has consistently expanded its portfolio and diversified trading options to drive crypto adoption worldwide.

“PayBito has also recently experienced a prompt the rise in its number of franchise owners worldwide in the last quarter of this year. The exchange has plans to add at least 5 emerging coins in the first quarter of 2021. It is this collaborative approach towards promoting emerging crypto assets that adds impetus to the mainstream adoption of crypto.”

Founded in 2017,  PayBito reported its platform is designed by a team with rich experience in Banking security systems, Cryptocurrency trading, and Blockchain technology. PayBito notably offers the cryptocurrency exchange interface that functions under the brand name of the company participating in the affiliate program. The exchange order book has all the offers that are visible on the PayBito platform, including offers from other global trading platforms and other PayBito affiliates.

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Cosmos and Blockstack hackathons offer glimpse into DeFi’s future

On Friday, blockchain projects Cosmos and Blockstack both announced winners of their respective HackAtom V and HackDeFi hackathons, each offering a glimpse into the coming wave of DeFi development — a vision including marked advances in tooling, interoperability, and composability. 

While the overwhelming majority of decentralized finance (DeFi) development remains concentrated on Ethereum, where over $16 billion in digital assets are currently locked by various DeFi Protocols, Cosmos and STX are currently the #25 and #59 ranked projects by marketcap and look to be fast risers eager to take a slice of Ethereum’s DeFi pie.

On the Cosmos side, the interoperability and scalability focused blockchain awarded HackAtom V prizes to competitors offering cross-chain staking, as well as a timelocked “clawback account.”

Awarded to Tomas Tauber, who is one of the engineers working on Crypto.com’s forthcoming blockchain, the Clawback Account is a smartcontract-linked pair of accounts that offers a secondary access to funds for a certain period of time. Possible use cases for the linked accounts include cryptocurrency exchange wallet management, as well as programmed “cashback” and other digital asset reward programs.

Another promising DeFi submission is Osmosis, which pitched itself as “Balancer meets Interchain Staking.” An automated market maker similar to Balancer, the key feature for Osmosis is its “custom staking token design tool,” one which allows users to create tokens than can be staked on multiple chains — potentially offering developers access to liquidity across multiple ecosystems.

For Blockstack, a project aiming to bring Bitcoin as collateral to decentralized application (Dapp) development, the first-place prizewinner was DualX, a project that allows users to preprogram certain trading logic into normally locked staking funds.

DualX pitches itself as a new kind of exchange that “provides the opportunity for an investor‘s capital (denominated in BTC) to earn a yield on their funds while passively waiting to buy an investment asset (say STX).” The BTC depositor would earn yield until STX reached a certain price, whereupon the depositor would have the option of purchasing the STX.

These possible innovations come during an especially promising time for DeFi’s growth. While the figure is disputed, some analysts have claimed that DeFi has passed 1 million users, and there has been a boom in products that might help stabilize the space.

Cosmos and Blockstack hackathons offer glimpse into DeFi’s future

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Chinese President Encourages ASEAN Countries to Join the ‘Digital Silk Road’

China’s vision for trade and economic development is part of what caused the government to turn bullish on blockchain and a potential Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

However, the Xi administration now seems poised to apply the same technology to one of its most ambitious projects – the Belt and Road initiative.

Strengthening Trade in the Asia-Pacific

Earlier this week, President Xi Jinping told representatives from several top Asian economies to join it in developing the “digital Silk Road.”

According to a report from the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the president made the speech at the China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning. He highlighted that Beijing takes the ASEAN countries seriously and hopes to partner on a more fruitful economic future.  

In a recorded message, Xi assured the Asian leaders that as the only high-performing economy in the 10-country economic bloc, China will continue opening up to them. With everyone looking to build their economies following the coronavirus pandemic, Xi assured help with trade.

“China will unswervingly expand its opening up to the outside world, enhancing its domestic and international economic linkages, and driving the world’s common recovery through its recovery, from which all countries in the world, including Asean, will benefit. Looking to the future, there will be even more room for cooperation between China and Asean,” the president said.

A Set of Ambitious, Controversial Projects

The speech appeared to have mentioned China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative, which began in 2013. The project is described by many as the 21st century Silk Road, mirroring the old trade routes that traversed much of the developed world.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative reportedly plans to connect trade routes in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The project consists of a “belt” of overland corridors and a “road” of shipping lanes. It includes over 70 countries, all accounting for about half of the world’s population and 25 percent of global GDP.

Estimates from Morgan Stanley show that the initiative could cost over $1 trillion. The Chinese government has reportedly invested over $210 billion into it already, with most of the money being spent in Asia.

Although Xi didn’t highlight what the “digital Silk Road” meant, China has been bullish on technological innovations for trade in the past few years. Part of that has been its fixation on the blockchain, with patents related to the technology exploding. A report highlighted that Chinese companies have applied for 4,435 blockchain patents since the government endorsed the technology.

The government has also made significant progress with its digital yuan, with some believing that the asset could launch in 2022. Like the BRI, the digital yuan has also been the subject of significant controversy. Some think that it will challenge the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency, essentially making China the world’s sole superpower.

Chinese President Encourages ASEAN Countries to Join the ‘Digital Silk Road’

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Report States that US Intelligence is Worried About China’s Involvement in Cryptocurrency

A report claims that the US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe has contacted SEC Chairman Jay Clayton regarding China’s influence in the crypto market including mining.

According to the Washington Examiner, the DNI is worried that China has too much control when it comes to crypto.  Reportedly, a senior intelligence official told the publication the following:

“There are serious national security concerns about China’s control over Bitcoin and Ether … The president’s recent executive order made abundantly clear the threat posed by securities investments that finance Communist Chinese military companies. Digital currency controlled by the CCP could certainly fall into that category, but the bottom line is that we cannot allow China to dominate the technologies and innovations that are going to decide who runs the world for decades to come — from artificial intelligence to digital currency, and everything in between.”

The same report pointed to recent tweets by Ripple’s General Counsel – commenting on China’s influence in the crypto markets:

The relationship between the Trump administration and China has been fractious at best. In fact, China is frequently criticized by the current President regarding an ongoing trade dispute. Some people anticipate that once the Biden administration moves into power the rhetoric directed at China may be toned down as public officials change policy direction.

While the DNI may have sent a letter to the SEC regarding their concerns pertaining to crypto, expect little action to take place as the current Chairman has already announced his departure from the agency at the end of the year.

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