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HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS

March 31, 2022

"It turns out that advancing equal opportunity and economic empowerment is both morally right and good economics, because discrimination, poverty and ignorance restrict growth, while investments in education, infrastructure and scientific and technological research increase it, creating more good jobs and new wealth for all of us."

- William J. Clinton

4 Misconceptions About PoS vs PoW (Bankless): We've been telling you about the planned upgrade to Ethereum in July -- a.k.a. "The Merge" -- but this slightly technical article unpacks why it's an upgrade for ETH investors as well.

Investor takeaway: Currently Ethereum uses Proof of Stake (PoS) technology, but the upgrade moves it to Proof of Work (PoW). This article explains that not only will The Merge be more energy efficient; it may make ETH a better financial asset to hold as well.

In other words, it's not just Ethereum that gets an upgrade: your ETH does, too.

You can stake ETH 2.0 right now, even before The Merge. Think of this like holding money in a savings account, but with 75x more interest:

Investor takeaway: For people with the interest and tech-savvy to stake Ethereum, the new Proof of Stake technology is offering massive benefits over traditional banks. Follow the money.

Many of you will recall, as I do, following every update in the news surrounding QuadrigaCX, Canada's biggest cryptocurrency trading platform, which mysteriously imploded with the alleged death of its founder and CEO Gerald Cotten.

Even though I knew the story quite well already, there was a lot of additional context and insight to be gleaned from this thriller. 

Without giving any spoilers, I do want to express my disappointment with the film's creators in not articulating the most basic lesson that should be learned from this saga, a lesson that Canada as a whole still seems to be struggling with, as has become clear during the recent trucker protest...not your keys, not your coins.

The title of the film, "Trust No One," sounds like perfectly reasonable advice, but the point of bitcoin is that it's a trustless system.

There's even one character in the film who talks about operations security, and he even hides his face behind an overelaborate fox mask, he but fails to mention that his funds would have been completely safe had he not left them on the exchange in the first place.

Green peace

More mainstream problems are hitting the news and even though Alexandre Lores covered them in yesterday's BMJ Newsletter, these things bear repeating.

Here we can see the activist organization Greenpeace USA throwing in their lot with Ripple Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen, who is putting up $5 million worth of ad slots in to a campaign that advocates for a change to bitcoin's code. 

Although I am of the opinion that an open conversation is always welcome, especially when it comes to improving things, this attempt immediately falls under suspicion due to the person spearheading the campaign.

Even though Larsen is adamant that the effort is his own and not connected with Ripple labs, it's not the first time Ripple execs have lobbed attacks against bitcoin.

If you haven't seen it yet, The Crypto Couple have put out a really great tongue in cheek remake of the Greenpeace video pointing out the obvious flaws in its logic.

Feel free to watch the two aforementioned videos back-to-back to understand how the bitcoin community deals with misinformation.

An even better way to combat bad information is with good information.

A solid example is the latest research piece created by analyst Jason Deane, titled Why Bitcoin Mining Is Great for The Planet, which was serendipitously published on the same day that the Greenpeace campaign was announced.

It's difficult to argue with facts when they're presented this effectively. 

Technically speaking

Really sorry to say that even though I did manage to predict bitcoin's most recent breakout, I actually don't trust this current rally.

The mini channel that we looked at within the wedge did in fact test, and eventually create a forceful break of, the upper resistance level at $45,000. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, check the link above.

At the moment, the big hurdle lies at the psychological resistance level of $50,000. It's not an easy walnut to crack, and with the current volumes, it seems nearly impossible.

Here we can see Messari's real-volume indicator in blue, which shows bitcoin's estimated volumes across the major crypto exchanges. In white is the price, timidly approaching $50,000. 

Unfortunately, the more likely scenario seems to be a pullback and then a test of the support level at $45,000 that was recently broken to much fanfare.

Unless the volumes pick up significantly from here, I wouldn't expect that support level to hold up very well at all. However, you never really know.

Past performance is not an indication of future results, and bitcoin is an extremely scarce asset where occasionally even a very small amount of buying pressure can lead to drastic price movements.

Last but not least, we want to wish a very happy birthday to John Hargrave, the CEO of Media Shower, who will be writing to you tomorrow. Look at the date carefully, and don't believe a word he says. 😅😅😅

Wishing you all an awesome weekend!

Mati Greenspan

Analysis, Advisory, Money Management

Slow and steady wins the race.

Bitcoin Market Journal is a daily newsletter that makes you a better crypto investor. It is created by Evamarie Augustine, Charles Bovaird, Mati Greenspan, John Hargrave, and Alexandre Lores.

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