Financial, Economic and Social Mood Update (June 1, 2021)
Bitcoin BTC is the oldest and biggest cryptocurrency. Its market dominance has fallen back to just 42.3 percent of total cryptocurrency market capitalization, but it already has a very impressive rank among all global currencies: https://coinmarketcap.com/fiat-currencies/. The current cryptocurrency market correction since April 14, 2021 sent total market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies down by 47.12 percent by May 23, 2021, and the market has been recovering since then (down 34.93 percent since April 14, 2021). What investor activity has this translated into? Simply put, small retail investors and new investors have bailed out at lower prices – a very big mistake on their part. On the other hand, large investor entities (banks, funds, governments, billionaires and whales) have been cornering what is left of the market with a voracious appetite. As of April 7, 2021 fully 73 percent of the world’s billionaires (often referred to as the “Forbes List”) are cryptocurrency billionaires. When one adds other high technology, nanotechnology and biotechnology billionaires to this, the proportion of high technology billionaires out of all Billionaires likely rises to an incredible 80 to 90 percent of the world’s billionaires – and this before the bulk of the hyperinflationary crash and following deflationary collapse has hit global markets. After the dust settles, old industries, old companies, old technologies and old families will be all but gone forever. Traditional commercial and investment banks are dying out very rapidly. One can now deposit US Dollars into Gemini Dollars, which maintain a constant face value and which pay an annual yield of 7.40 percent – 5.92 times more than the highest paying US commercial bank deposit today, and an incredible 105 times more than the average Money Market Account.
The US Federal Government under President Joe Biden is proposing a mind-boggling USD $6 TRILLION budget, most of which is new debt and the rest of which is to be funded with gargantuan tax increases. Biden says that inflation is not a problem, which in simple English means that we are upon the edge of a precipice. One news journal already forecasts that Mainland China will surpass the USA as the world’s number one military power in 2021. As I mentioned in a previous monthly blog, the discussion about the reserve currency status of the US Dollar is already a moot point – the Chinese Yuan is already the world’s number one currency by a very big margin.
Why would one say that Bitcoin BTC is such a good store of wealth and that it remains severely and profoundly undervalued even at USD $36,500 for just one coin? If you view the list of the largest 101 global currencies at the above link, notice the “maximum supply” seen in the far right hand column. Most of the currencies, and even many cryptocurrencies, have an “unlimited” supply. That is a very bad thing, which when not controlled, can lead to hyperinflation which can be seen in the US Dollar today. Bitcoin BTC has a limited supply of just 21 million coins – a very low number which by definition is deflationary. The only other currencies on this top list with volume limits are the cryptocurrencies Binance Coin, Cardano, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Uniswap, Chainlink, Stellar, VeChain, Ethereum Classic and THETA. Notice that all of the national fiat currencies have no volume limit. The record high price for a Bitcoin Internet domain name reached USD $11,020,050.00 as of May 26, 2021.
I have seen credible forecasts from some analysts, large cryptocurrency investors (whales, millionaires, billionaires, fund managers) who believe that Bitcoin BTC alone will reach USD $100,000.00 within a month or 2 from today, and between USD $200,000.00 and USD $500,000.00 by year end 2021. One report said that if Bitcoin BTC were to replace the US Dollar as the world’s number one currency (it already ranks number 16 in the world, much larger than most countries), one Bitcoin BTC would be worth USD $10 million. And this forecast failed to take into account the value of the world’s derivative financial instruments, which far surpass the value of all real physical and monetary assets. If one were to add this into the equation (entirely reasonable), then one Bitcoin BTC would potentially be worth USD $209,710,960.00 – this is not a typo. Of course, there are now more than 10,470 currencies in the world and most of them will not survive. I believe that Bitcoin BTC and a number of other cryptocurrencies plus national currencies will eventually survive – perhaps no fewer than 80 currencies at the end of the day. Bitcoin BTC is already the 16th largest currency on earth – more valuable than the currencies of 94 percent of the world’s independent countries and dependent territories. Ethereum ETH ranks number 32 in the world, immediately ahead of number 33 the Philippine Peso. Tether, Cardano and Binance Coin rank number 52, 53 and 54 in the world, immediately ahead of number 55 the Jordanian Dinar. XRP (owned by Ripple) ranks number 57 in the world, right ahead of number 58 the Sri Lankan Rupee.
Autonomous Driving
Volkswagen AG plans to release its ID. Buzz Microbus with Level 4 Autonomy in 2025. The all-electric ID. Buzz will be released in 2022 and will be manufactured in the Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. “Autonomy Levels” are ranked from zero to 5, with zero meaning no autonomy whatsoever (most older vehicles are in this category) and 5 meaning complete autonomy. An example of Level One 1 Autonomy is adaptive cruise control. Level 2 Partial Automation already exists in some Audi, Cadillac, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo cars: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15079828/autonomous-self-driving-car-levels-car-levels/.
Level 3 Conditional Automation is something already used by some new Audi vehicles (Audi is entirely owned by Volkswagen AG). Level 4 and Level 5 cars are not yet on the road for regular use. Level 4 High Automation is in the prototype stages with both Google and Volkswagen and Level 5 Full Automation with Google.
