Almost February Update
February 1 2024 is quite an achievement. Rare solar eclipse ahead in April, my return to a single stock, and more.
The 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs cleared for trading in the United States, and some faring quite well (BlackRock and Fidelity each boasting more than $2 billion of bitcoin held for their respective ETFs), already feel like yesterday’s success.
Ma and Pa, Main Street, computer illiterates now have complete legal, sweat-free access to (more or less) real Bitcoin spot exposure.
Where to from here?
Now that BlackRock’s spot iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) and Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) are both pulling in billions of US dollars of real bitcoin, on behalf of shareholders of the respective ETFs, the “crypto” argument is now settled science.
Bitcoin is the ultimate gold, more gold than gold ever could be — because we used a physical element to approximate the ideal money for centuries, pre-CPU; whereas Bitcoin was coded to be the ideal money from day one, with a hard cap and password protection as core features. Gold is just a metal produced by dying stars. One of several with similar properties, making it not very unique.
I’m in my backyard — beautiful day for still being solidly in winter — this is one of many recent reprieves the weather gods have served us after the heinous sub-zero temperatures of the ‘arctic blast’ that ripped through earlier in the new year.
Life is good.
We come from a place of strength and familiarity with the community as we delve deeper into money matters.
I like making money. Lately, I’ve been quite good at it. I see stocks as a step down from pure currency and commodity (ETFs / land exploration / speculation etc.) - such a severe step down, like a champion boxer or renowned violinist being reduced to cleaning bathrooms at McDonald’s - yet in such a flawed category, I watch a few companies.
As with crypto, I want all or nothing bets. One company services an industry I’m absolutely fascinated with, and have spent personally tens of thousands of dollars on their products to date — and have referred countless other consumers to the genre/industry.
Humans get 70 to 100 years of life on the curious ball sustained by the sun — heathen and Christian good man alike — and at least here in America, and in most of Europe, India, China, we have pretty strong guardrails and legal precedents that protect speculators and investors in good faith in new industries.
The protections are provided so that we may risk our capital in the first place.
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