@markets 1/ "The internet is at a fork in the road: Do we want a future on Mark Zuckerberg's servers, or do we want to build on top of networks with data we own and identities that we control? Because that is precisely what's at stake here."
@markets 2/ "Imagine never having to come up with a username or password ever again. Your crypto wallet *is* your sign-in."
@markets 3/ "Could bad actors use the technology? Sure. But that's the case with any technology. The opportunity now is for the U.S. government to embrace it!"
@markets 4/ "The huge energy consumption of crypto is undoubtedly a problem. But some networks are using something called proof-of-stake, which requires much less electricity. And Ethereum plans to transition to that eventually."
@markets 5/ "Memetic reproduction has always been the essence of culture. NFTs simply make this more explicit."
@markets 6/ "It's all about the Elon Markets Hypothesis. If Elon tweets about it, it's valuable."
@markets 7/ "Sorry, but there's only one coin that's actually doing what it's set out to accomplish and that's Bitcoin. Millions around the world are using it as a decentralized store of value, while political dissidents across the globe see it as a tool to escape authoritarianism."
@markets 8/ "The fees are high, because space on the blockchain is valuable and worth paying up for."
@markets 9/ "Owning your own vault is cool. Owning your own liquidity is cooler."
@markets 10/ And then finally, if none of that works, you gotta go with this strategy...
@markets Hopefully this helps you survive, thrive, and WIN tomorrow.
Please sign up for the newsletter here. I think I might write something else crypto related for Friday bloomberg.com/account/newsle…
Oh and always thanks to @Freddygray31 for the format inspiration. His Bluffer's Guides are always some of the best stuff online.
Just from the perspective of a crypto fund manager, it seems really dangerous to bet too heavily on the large caps. For a long term investor, blue chips might make a lot sense, but in any given year within a bull market it seems like a sure way to underperform and not attract AUM
2021. Great for year for crypto. Anyone with a heavy ETH bet did fine. But also got crushed by funds betting on higher beta plays, alt L-1s. Etc. Probably similar dynamics with Bitcoin in 2017
To some extent this might be true for stocks. But I’m not sure if the dynamics are extreme. For basically any year in the last decade, an all FANG+ approach has been a true winner. Yes always some small cos. that outperform.
@crmiller1 So the first thing is definitely this answer from Chris to @tracyalloway about ASML's competitive edge. The story is really their incredible supply chain, and being able to manage 4000 suppliers.
@crmiller1@tracyalloway Right now, ASML's most advanced EUV lithography machines are not exported to China, and for the time being (and likely the next several years) this represents a hard constraint on Beijing's efforts at building up its own domestic chip industry.
After teasing it as part of our chip series for months, @tracyalloway and I finally did an episode on $ASML, the Dutch powerhouse in advanced lithography
@tracyalloway@crmiller1 As our guest notes, $ASML has zero competition at its level of its sophistication. None. Nobody else can achieve the scale it can, with its reliability. So if you want to make the most cutting edge chips, you are an ASML customer.
@tracyalloway@crmiller1 As I wrote about on Friday, what's impossible for competitors to replicate is not its technological knowledge per se, but its supply chain mastery, dealing with at least 4000 distinct independent suppliers
2) Extreme partisan polarization on all things economy
2a) The surging quits rate affecting Republican small business owners specifically.
The big question is now whether these sentiment readings actually translate into a slower economy. It's one thing to be upset. It's another thing to pull back on investment and consumption. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
@tracyalloway I keep going back to @hassankhan point. Politicians love to fetishize R&D and science. But for some of the most cutting edge technologies, what's unique is not the scientific breakthrough per se, but simply the ability to coordinate supply chains and manufacturing ops at scale.
This is also something that @danwwang talks a lot about, the unduplicable, tacit knowledge that can only come about from doing something and getting better at doing it over and over and over again
I know we're never supposed to admit when we're wrong or that we've changed our minds. But I agree now, after much twitter banter, that asset holders have been among the huge winners over the last year. So I agree it's time to start taxing capital gains the same as normal income.
We should also seriously consider getting rid of 401Ks, 529 and related plans. If you're fortunate enough to have money to spare and invest in the stock market, why should you be then further rewarded with a reduction of your tax bill?
Obviously, none of this will solve the problem entirely. The wealthy can still generate income by borrowing against assets (as opposed to selling them) so in those instances, we should go with @interfluidity plan of taxing such loans as normal income.