Facebook has unveiled plans for its new “cryptocurrency”… How it sparks widespread adoption for bitcoin… In the mailbag: “Making these drugs mainstream is a perfect way to usher in a true 1984”…
Bitcoin has ripped higher this year.
After a crippling bear market last year (aka “Crypto Winter”), the world’s most popular cryptocurrency is up 143% so far this year.
And it’s up $2,000 – or 28% – over the past month alone.
The rest of the crypto market has followed suit. The total crypto market capitalization has shot up 123% so far this year.
And as you’ll learn in today’s dispatch, that wild ride is about to get even wilder.
As we’ve been showing you, the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, isn’t happy with running the world’s largest social network.
He also wants to run the world’s largest currency.
And today, Facebook confirmed this in a white paper. It will launch its new cryptocurrency – called Libra – next year.
This new currency will be backed by a basket of fiat currencies to avoid the fluctuations of other cryptocurrencies.
And its aim is to provide a fast and easy way for people to transfer money around the world. It will do this using the company’s messaging apps – Facebook Messenger, Instagram Messenger, and WhatsApp.
All told, that’s close to 3 billion users – more than the entire populations of the U.S. and China combined. This gives Libra a real shot at becoming the world’s biggest single currency… almost overnight.
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You may be skeptical that a digital currency, created by a private corporation, could reach that kind of level of adoption.
But look at what’s happened in China. If you go there, you’ll see it’s almost cashless… and credit card-less.
Almost all payments happen by way of two mobile app payment services, WeChat and Alipay.
They’re run by China’s top two tech companies, Tencent and Alibaba. And they allow you to pay for anything, anywhere, by scanning a “QR code” (see below) with your WeChat or Alipay app.
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The kind of “QR code” you can use to pay for anything, anywhere in China
They also allow you to send and receive money from friends, as easily as sending a text message.
It’s why, in 2017, payments via mobile apps in China topped a staggering $18 trillion.
The social media giant has proven itself to be one of the most aggressive user acquisition machines in history.
A decade ago, Facebook had about 100 million users. Today, it has about 2.4 billion. That’s a 2,300% increase.
In other words, if there’s one thing Facebook knows how to do… it’s grow. And with Libra, it has similar ambitions.
According to its white paper, Libra’s mission is to “enable a simple global currency and financial infrastructure that empowers billions of people.”
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It’s not every day one of the world’s biggest corporations launches a bid to become the world’s biggest currency player.
It’s going to take time to explore all the implications… especially when it comes to your financial privacy.
But with crypto prices on the rise, the question on the table today: What does Libra mean for crypto investors?
You may know Teeka Tiwari from our Palm Beach Confidential advisory. He’s a former hedge fund manager and world-renowned crypto investing expert.
Teeka has been recommending cryptos to his readers since early 2016.
And since the start of the year, he’s been pounding the table on how 2019 is shaping up to be a watershed year for corporations and institutions adopting crypto.
In other words, this year, big institutional players will start getting into crypto… and drive mainstream adoption.
Facebook isn’t the only blue-chip corporation out with a new cryptocurrency.
JPMorgan Chase is the biggest bank in the U.S. and the sixth largest in the world. And in February, it launched a cryptocurrency, JPM Coin.
JPMorgan’s goal is to use it to settle payments between client accounts around the world.
It’s another sign that mainstream financial institutions are finally starting to embrace cryptos and the blockchain technology they’re built around.
For starters, they’re backed by fiat currencies… which means they have all the problems fiat currencies have. (They’re susceptible to inflation, central bank meddling, and so on.)
Second, the whole point of bitcoin was to take power out of the hands of giant corporations and governments by using a truly decentralized network (one that no single party could control).
Facebook’s and JPMorgan’s coins do just the opposite. But they still represent a tipping point in the wider adoption of bitcoin and other cryptos. Teeka…
Facebook has nearly 3 billion subscribers that it’ll now have to train on how to use its crypto coin. Like JPM Coin, Libra is not a decentralized cryptocurrency. It will be under Facebook’s control. But that these two mainstream businesses are embracing this technology’s terminology – and riding the coattails of the interest around blockchain – is very bullish for the crypto economy.
Facebook will be bringing crypto to mom and pop – a huge global audience that ordinarily wouldn’t be exposed to it. You’ve got adoption of crypto by mainstream institutions and corporations ramping up… while bitcoin emerges from a bear market. It’s a wildly bullish setup, in my view.
That’s why, if you haven’t yet, Teeka says it’s not too late to dip your toe into cryptos.
It’s the reserve currency of the crypto world.
To buy bitcoin, check out this simple, one-page guide Teeka’s team at Palm Beach Research Group put together.
It shows you the three exchanges they recommend to buy bitcoin… four secure digital “wallets” you can use to store your bitcoin… and where you can trade it for other cryptos.
Just don’t forget that, like all cryptocurrencies, bitcoin is highly speculative. So make sure to keep your position size small. And be mentally prepared to see big swings in price over short periods of time.
If you do that, you can limit your downside… but still have the chance to capture gains as the bull powers ahead.
We’ll be telling you about a new industry Teeka says can make you crypto-like gains.
It’s something he’ll be sharing the full details on at his Pocket Change Millionaire Summit next Wednesday, June 26.
In the meantime, you can read more – and reserve your spot for Teeka’s Summit – right here.
Switching gears…
It’s been one of the hottest debates in the Daily Cut mailbags this year – the wave of cannabis legalization spreading around the world.
But after we put it back on your radar in last Monday’s Cut, one of your fellow readers is concerned…
I have been working with those who are victims of illicit drug use, marijuana included, for 24 years. The one point that is not discussed is the effects of these drugs on the mind. It is proven that these drugs create mood swings and also lower awareness and ability, and make it harder to reason.
Making these drugs mainstream and easy to obtain is a perfect way to control populations and usher in a true 1984. Making them legal gives them a stamp of approval that kids and even adults then consider OK to try or use. This leads to addiction and, at the very least, mental and emotional trouble. They should not be legalized.
– Daniel W.
Pivoting to yesterday’s Cut, a dedicated reader shares his relief about our old friend and Palm Beach Research Group cofounder Tom Dyson…
I’ve been quite concerned over the past year or so about Tom’s whereabouts. Great to get an update, and even better to hear about Tom & Co.’s family expedition [in Bill Bonner’s Diary on Saturday]. I wish you all the very best on your trip, and congratulations on making the education a family event to start every day!
– Clive D.
While another reader turns back to the debate around political corruption that’s been heating up in recent mailbags…
Unfortunately, the elitist attitude appears to have affected not only the politicians, but the bureaucrats as well. One only has to look at land and forest management. These managers continually say, “We are managing these lands for this nebulous entity we call “The American People.” But do the common people get to use them? No.
These bureaucrats seem to think that these lands which they are charged to “manage” are their own private playgrounds that only they can use and enjoy. Just another example of parasitism.
To my mind, their inept philosophies and policies have done more damage than good. One has only to look at the widespread fires in California. They seem to ignore the dictum of “less fuel on the forest floor equals less fire.”
– Chris Z.
Is the wave of drug legalization just another way for the government to control people? Is Facebook trying to do the same thing with its new coin? Write us at [email protected].
Regards,
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Chris Lowe
June 18, 2019
Lisbon, Portugal
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
Today is your last chance to see tech expert Jeff Brown’s “Early Stage Tech Summit.”
Last week, Jeff made four massive tech predictions. And he detailed four small-cap stocks involved in these new technologies. These four stocks could return 10x, or more, each…
As a Daily Cut reader, you can still watch Jeff’s presentation until midnight tonight. Find out how you could potentially make a small fortune right here.
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