What if bitcoin could be used to buy planets or even entire star systems? The CEO of Kraken, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, certainly believes this may indeed become the case. In the future bitcoin may replace fiat and become the most commonly used currency, after which its price could soar to the point of buying galaxies rather than luxury cars.
Of course, a future like this requires some developmental steps which are at least not happening immediately. To begin with, we should probably improve ourselves as a species by not wasting so many resources to find new ways of bombing the planet to oblivion. But maybe in the distant future humanity will be on its way toward a Space Age utopia.
Aside from this daring prediction, we will take a look at ever-growing hodling, lost bitcoins, Dogecoin rally cars and India’s alleged crypto ban.
Last week’s news can be read here.
Kraken CEO: Bitcoin can buy planets in the future
Cryptocurrency exchange giant Kraken’s CEO Jesse Powell has unleashed a hefty futuristic prediction. According to him, bitcoin will not only replace gold as a global store of value, but also become a world currency replacing all traditional money.
Powell believes bitcoin’s price will rise to infinity counted in dollars, and the whole comparison will become obsolete in the future. In turn bitcoin can be valued based on what it can buy. In Powell’s vision this future purchasing power includes even planets and star systems.
“If you look at the ten-year chart, bitcoin has outperformed everything in the universe,” Powell stated.
Powell’s sci-fi utopia is naturally quite a distant goal for a species that hasn’t even made it to Mars yet. Despite this, bitcoin has demonstrated clear potential and gained credibility both among tech-savvy young people and growing mainstream audiences.
Bitcoin hodling continues growing
The number of bitcoins stored in exchanges and similar services has decreased by roughly a fifth in the past 12 months. Crypto analysis firm Glassnode reports that the number of bitcoins stored in exchange services has dropped approximately 20%.
Bitcoins are usually kept in centralized exchanges when there is intention of using them for trading. In contrast, long-term investors typically transfer significant BTC holdings to their own private wallets.
According to Glassnode’s findings, around 57% of all BTC have remained unmoved over the past year. Around a third of these coins have been idle for at least five years, whereby at least a part of them can be assumed permanently lost.
In conclusion, Glassnode’s data suggests the number of long-term bitcoin hodlers is growing in relation to daily traders and short-term investors. This can have an impact on the price, as it further limits the number of bitcoins available on the open markets.
Crypto ban in India unlikely
A supposed cryptocurrency ban earlier proposed by the Central Bank of India has turned out to be exaggerated FUD news. Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told CNBC news that the alleged general ban was overstated by the media and the final form of regulation will be much more moderate.
“Obviously the Reserve Bank will be taking a quorum on how, what kind of unofficial currency, cryptocurrency will have to be planned, and how it has to be regulated. But also, we want to make sure that there’s a window available for all kinds of experiments which will have to take place in the crypto world,” minister Sitharaman commented.
According to Sitharaman, the world’s technological advancement is fast and India cannot just sit on the sidelines. The country is therefore exploring different options which could allow it to be a part of this future.
BTC extortions on the rise in Finland
The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom has received several reports about extortion messages demanding bitcoins. In the messages the extortionist threatens to reveal embarrassing and sensitive secrets about the target unless they pay a ransom sum in BTC.
The extortion messages seem to be written in fluent Finnish, which is quite atypical for such cases often relying on poor automatic translations. Additionally the messages appear to originate from the target’s own email address.
The blackmail scheme demands a ransom worth roughly €1450 euros in bitcoins. The perpetrator claims to have acquired video content in which the target masturbates while watching adult entertainment. Based on blockchain data, the extortionist has already managed to coerce at least €55 70 euros worth of BTC.
Much like in other similar cases, it is very likely the blackmailer has none of the claimed content. Instead the whole scheme is based on fear and the target’s inadequate knowledge of information technology. It is natural to conclude that blackmailers should never be paid a single cent – or satoshi.
Dogecar is back on the tracks
Dogecar, a NASCAR vehicle sponsored and decorated by doge-themed content, has made its return to the race tracks. NASCAR driver Stefan Parsons took the wheel of Dogecar in NASCAR’s recent Xinifinity Series race.
The original Dogecar was born in 2014 as a result of a humorous meme spread by the Dogecoin community. Dogecoin users gathered a total of about 67.8 billion dogecoins (worth roughly $55 000 dollars at the time) to sponsor NASCAR driver Josh Wise. His car was then decorated with Dogecoin patterns and the famous Shiba Inu representing the doge meme.
This time Dogecoin joined the ride thanks to Springrates, who functions as Parson’s main sponsor.
“Lately, I have been obsessed with learning more about blockchain and the future of decentralized currency. I had the idea of including Dogecoin on the car for this race while chatting with Stefan following the season opener in Daytona. It was ironic because at the time, I wasn’t aware his dad’s team previously ran the Dogecoin car in 2014,” said Sean Taylor, CEO of Springrates.
As a sidenote, it is worth pointing out that the word Dogecar backwards spells “Race God”.
