6 criteria to recognize dubious business models

6 criteria to recognize dubious business models

They show pictures of dream beaches, dream houses and dream cars. For those you can catch in your nets, a euphoric time follows – everything seems possible. At some point, the crash comes – and in addition to money and time, many lose their friends, families and acquaintances in the process. We are not talking about cults here. We are talking about dubious business models. These dubious business models can often be recognized by their sales structures.

It is very likely that you will also be recruited as a salesperson for such a company at some point. If you are not a salesman type – please keep your hands off all these systems anyway. These systems are all about hardcore sales (and here the distinction between serious and unserious doesn't even matter – if you don't want to do sales, all these systems are not for you).

Of course, nobody admits to working in such a dubious business model. I even believe that many of them do not even understand what they are doing. What makes it difficult is that there are also serious companies that work with these systems. We are talking about systems that often call themselves as follows:

– MLM systems (MLM = Multi Level Marketing).
– Network marketing or network marketing
– Referral marketing
– Structural marketing
As I said, there are both serious and dubious companies that use these forms of distribution. In this article I show different criteria, on the basis of which everyone can subject the enterprises to an evaluation. I write this in the hope that I can save one or the other person from the dubious systems. I cannot and will not provide a list of what I consider to be dubious companies – firstly, that would be quite an effort, and secondly, it would increase the risk of legal disputes with me, which I have neither the desire nor the time for. If you ask me personally, you might get an estimation – but most of the things you should be able to estimate yourself with the criteria mentioned below.

Before that, a little detour to the legality of such systems. It is important to note: Legal is not the same as serious.

The law says that it must not be the goal to bring as many people as possible into the system. If a profit can only be made by recruiting more and more people, then the system is not legal, because it is then a snowball or pyramid scheme. Ponzi schemes are dangerous because they require infinite growth in a finite world to be successful in the long run. All those who enter after a certain level are the losers (the last one bites the dog). Statistically, 10% of the participants manage to earn more than you pay in. 10% get out approximately what they paid in. And 80% lose money. This means:

1.there is a very high probability that you will lose money.
2.the moral question is: can you justify that 80%-100% of the people recruited by you or under you will lose money (time, friends, family) with it? Every participant of such a system carries this responsibility as a co-debtor.
The problem in recognizing such systems is that many of the typical mechanisms can be disguised. I will go into this in more detail in the criteria – close scrutiny is the key to recognition here. 

There is one argumentation that I find remarkable in this context: The law contains the word "consumer". Someone who registers a trade is no longer a consumer, but a trader. This undermines the law – because a trader has a higher level of personal responsibility than a consumer and is free to choose to be ripped off.

Criteria for recognizing dubious systems
These criteria are all clues that should be taken into account during an audit. As soon as something seems strange to you, leave it alone.  Unfortunately, these criteria are sometimes not clear enough to come to a clear conclusion. It is more about tendencies. Depending on the person, a less strong tendency will be enough to not fall for a system. Some will only distance themselves from stronger tendencies. For me, it's about raising awareness and giving the right questions to ask. It is always important to ask a lot of questions. Do a lot of research. A mnemonic:

The closer you are to the person you are addressing, the more research you should do. If you don't know the person at all, put at least 1 day of research into the topic before you agree or even sign anything. Multiply this time the closer you are to the person 🙂

1.Spend money to get started
If the new participant has to pay money (often over a thousand euros) to join, this is a strong criterion for a dubious system. Creative people have come up with various tactics to justify your investment with a seemingly worthwhile or seemingly logical return:
– Buy product – buy a product here to get started. Travel vouchers, watches, nutritional supplements and many other high-value product lines (luxury items) are popular. Research exactly what the products are worth here. A branded watch is worthless if no one knows the brand. Run with it to a watch salesman and try to sell him the watch. The question is not whether the movement is as high quality as that of, say, a Rolex. The question is whether someone is willing to pay a lot of money for an unknown brand.
– disguised product purchase – in this system there is a theoretical possibility to be in it without prior product purchase, but then at a worse level with much lower earning potential. So you can be there without entry money, but your commissions will be even lower as a result.
In practice, they will then try to convince you (and all other newbies) that it doesn't make sense to miss out on future profits. So in the argumentation there is the theoretical possibility to join without entry fee, but in practice most of them pay their entry fee.
So here, pressure is built up on you via the argumentation of lower commissions and that it would be intelligent to join with a payment.
– Previous purchase of goods / product range – here the product range must be purchased with your own money. In the perfume sector, you often have to pay for entire perfume boxes with your own money.
– Training / Seminars / Training – here you have to pay for trainings you have to attend before you can join the system.
– License fees – self-explanatory?
 
In order to finance the entry fee, the distributors sometimes arrange loans, suggest to sell something or even build up pressure until you ask your family and friends for the money. By the unseriöse promise that you swim anyway soon in the money, believe the credits fast to repay to be able. It becomes still worse then (and these cases exist) if one pays then still the entrance fees for the persons recruited by it.
If you should be asked to pay in advance for the entry into a distribution system, then please be very careful.

2.Primary goal: Recruitment of new persons
This is stated in the law quoted above, that it must not be solely or primarily about introducing more participants to the system. Again, the problem is that this is obscured in many current systems. There are, as already written above, any products that serve as a pretext. Ask how many products are sold in the system per person on average (for example per month). You will get either no answer from dubious systems (we don't know) or even a lie. Probably the number of sold products is equal to the number of newly recruited distributors or at least not much higher. And thus newly recruited participants finance the whole system – which is unfair from the wording of the law. A serious company (which wants to sell products) promotes good distributors with high sales rates, and not a large structure without sales rates.

3.The products
Often the products are only mentioned in passing, while being praised to the skies. The best trip (with many hidden pitfalls), the best watch (whose brand has never been heard of outside the system) and so on. Upon closer inspection and research, you find that much of it is, to put it positively, "blatantly exaggerated marketing," to put it negatively, "lies."
A good question to ask yourself is: would I buy the product even if there was no promise of earnings behind it? If the answer is no, then don't buy!
The price question should also be clarified: Is the product overpriced? (e.g. cleaning agent: This is a concentrate, if you dilute it, it lasts 10 times longer and is only 4 times more expensive than the one from the supermarket). A serious system has about market prices. An unseriöses tries here to get more money out and overprices the products (extremely high margin). To evaluate the products according to their real value is not easy – ask enstprechende industry specialists from your circle of acquaintances. You can also ask in a specialty store, call a company or look in internet forums.
 
4.Complicated compensation systems
In the system is often worked with any complicated compensation systems (binary plan, matrix plan, and many others). There is a simple rule: the more complicated, the less reliable. Do not participate in any system that you do not fully understand within 20 minutes.

5.Dream promise
Now a salesman sits with you and tries to recruit you. Pay close attention to what the salesperson is talking about.
– Is it about the products? Why were they brought to market? What are the target groups? 
– Or does he start with dream promises? "You can get rich this fast". Pictures of dream beaches, dream cars and dream houses.
If the focus is on dream promises, then be careful. This sounds very much like a dubious business model.
A reputable company introduces the products to such people who are already convinced of one or more of the company's products. Then, based on actual experience and without exaggeration, a reputable company presents the earning potential (what did the entrants of the last 6 months earn on average last month?). 
A unserious company presents dreams and pretends they are within reach. The dubious company does not go into detail about the products and asks which friends and acquaintances should be approached about this great earning opportunity.

6.Dubious business addresses
You can research international business addresses relatively easily today – we found out once with a system that all official addresses of the company run on mailbox providers. You can always recognize this by the fact that it is a business center or two hundred other companies operate at the same address. And since you are already researching, look for the names of the CEOs, former companies of those involved, pending lawsuits and bans in other countries, criticism of the respective system and so on. Be aware that the systems always have an explanation for everything, of course. The most horrible and common explanation for critics: "He used to be with us, he didn't make it, now he's pissed and trying to disrupt our system." Do a lot of research and also talk to dropouts!

These were six characteristics that already bring you very far in the evaluation of a system. You can define more for yourself. There are also a bunch of other possible questions.

– Has the company been on the market for at least 10 years?
– Am I advised to start with family and friends?
– Am I allowed to have one-on-one conversations with participants who have been with the company for a while? Are they as rich as promised? Do you have good excuses for not being yet?
– Do I get all my questions answered, even the difficult ones?
– Is there a proper training concept for the products to be sold afterwards?
– How is the "last one to bite the dog" problem explained in the system? (Note: The number of people on the planet is finite. Calculate how many stages are possible in the binary plan, for example, before all the people on Earth are participants in the system. I was surprised!)
– If you work for yourself, you need a trade. Have you been educated about this? Is there any help with the registration? Are there other legal obligations? (Taxes!)
– What about product liability?
– Is it advertised that the system is so "new" and "innovative"? In most cases it is not!
– Calculate everything exactly – how high are the commissions? (Less than 10%? That is bad! What are the current commission levels of comparable products?) How many products do you need to sell to reach your goals?  Calculate everything to the cent. Also who earns how much (upwards in the structure, manufacturer, and so on).
– Look at the products very closely – with travel vouchers there are often blatant restrictions, co-payments and so on. Also read travel reviews with the vouchers if you can find any. If you can't find any, why is that? And if someone praises too much – is it in the system?

 

So, I hope to have given you some good clues for evaluation. One question I keep hearing is, "Why do so many people get into this kind of system?" This has nothing (!) to do with stupidity. But if someone credibly promises you quick riches and can somehow present that as realistic, then people quickly fall for it. Mostly, these are people who want to achieve something in life, i.e. highly motivated people. 

Finally, it remains to be said that a Ponzi scheme is something different from the Ponzi schemes described here. The terms are often used synonymously, but this is not correct. And again:

If it seems strange to you , then leave it alone

 

 

Tim Moseley

Fauci Just Threw in the Towel

Fauci Just Threw in the Towel

by Jeff Brown, editor, The Bleeding Edge

Fauci Just Threw in the Towel

 

After all we’ve been through… After all the restrictions that we’ve had to endure – that we now know have been ineffective… After the lies that we now know we were told, here is what he had to say about the virus:

This is not going to be eradicated and it’s not going to be eliminated.

These are the words of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who in the past told us that wearing masks and taking the COVID-19 “vaccines” would stop us from getting COVID-19 and spreading COVID-19. This is quite the reversal of position… again.

He went further, saying:

And what’s going to happen is that we’re going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation of the amount of risk that they want to take.

Even better, he delivered this one:

We’re at the point where in many respects… we’re going to have to live with some degree of virus in the community.

Remarkable.

 

 

More than two years later, having suffered through a seemingly endless string of completely ineffective pandemic policies, that’s what he has to say to us? After criticizing the policies of states like South Dakota, Texas, and Florida – which we now know to have outperformed those states with the most restrictive policies – that’s his message?

Ironically, some of the most well-known and respected epidemiologists and virologists have been saying the same things throughout the pandemic… And their positions were based on scientific research. 

Their recommendations were focused on far more pragmatic and effective policies, centered around early treatment, and protecting those who are most at risk from severe illness. These are approaches that we now know to be effective.

Yet those same physicians and scientists were censored, banned, and de-platformed. Many had their careers ruined for being truthful about the science behind our immune systems, an aerosolized virus, how it spreads, and putting relative risk into context.

What Fauci and his ilk should be saying right now is “I’m sorry. We apologize, we were wrong.” And everything should be done to restore the reputations of those who were right all along and worked tirelessly to affect a better outcome for all.

Of course, we know that won’t happen. The mainstream media will conveniently forget and focus on something else. Worse yet, I expect that they’ll keep doing more of the same.

Just today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it is extending the federal mandate to wear masks on public transportation for at least another two weeks. To what end? For what purpose? 

These arbitrary policies are not based on any scientific research. The fact that the CDC continues down this nonsensical path tells us that they are preparing us for a return of restrictions in the fall.

The BA.2 variant is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the U.S. It is less dangerous than Omicron, which was/is less dangerous than a strain of influenza. In the fall, there will be another variant spreading that will be even weaker than BA.2. It’s endless.

Enough is enough. Fauci just threw the towel in the ring. The game is over… We all should do the same.

 


New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

Nexo Partners With Mastercard and DiPocket For Bitcoin-Backed Credit Card

Nexo Partners With Mastercard and DiPocket For Bitcoin-Backed Credit Card

by Shawn Amick 

 

Nexo, a lending services provider, has partnered with Mastercard and DiPocket to offer Nexo Card, a credit card backed by bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

  • Nexo, a lending services provider for digital finance, has partnered with Mastercard and DiPocket to launch a crypto-backed credit card allowing users to collateralize bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
  • The card allows users to collateralize bitcoin with 0% APR, no minimum payments, no monthly fees, and earn up to 2% back on qualifying purchases to be paid out in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency.
  • The network and infrastructure available to Nexo through the partnerships with Mastercard and DiPocket give Nexo Card users access to 92 million merchants worldwide.

Nexo, a leading provider for lending services in the digital finance industry, has launched the Nexo Card for select European markets. Backed by Mastercard, customers of Nexo will be able to collateralize their cards with bitcoin or another cryptocurrency without needing to spend their assets, per a press release.

Nexo has partnered with Mastercard and DiPocket in order to launch the product on an at scale. DiPocket will be the card issuer for Europe, and Mastercard will serve as infrastructure and payment processor for the venture. The Nexo Card offers zero fees, 2% rewards, and seamless accessibility.

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

“Launching the Nexo Card in Europe in partnership with Mastercard and DiPocket is a big milestone for us and the latest proof of the immense synergy between the existing financial network and digital assets,” said Antoni Trenchev, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Nexo.

“This unique product will allow millions of people, first in Europe and then worldwide, to spend instantly without having to give up the potential of their cryptocurrencies, thus offering unprecedented everyday utility for the emerging asset class,” Trenchev continued.

The network and infrastructure provided through Nexo’s partners allows access to 92 merchants worldwide, where Mastercard is accepted, allowing users to spend up to 90% of their fiat value instantly without needing to spend a single sat.

“Mastercard believes that digital assets are revolutionizing the financial landscape and we are leading in innovation with programs like our partnership with Nexo to deliver people new and one-of-a-kind choices in how they pay and activate their crypto holdings,” said Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard’s Head of Crypto and Blockchain Products and Partnerships.

ecosystem for entrepreneurs

“We’re excited to continue to innovate in payments by making digital assets more accessible across the ecosystem,” Dhamodharan continued.

Nexo completed a partial roll-out of the card with a targeted audience in select European countries which generated a large interest and caused high transaction volume showcasing a clear demand for the product. The company intends to add debit-card functionality to the Nexo card and they also have international expansion plans with other product upgrades in the pipeline. DiPocket is set to be part of the continued expansion.

“DiPocket is delighted to have been selected as the issuer of the Nexo Card, a truly innovative solution designed to fulfill the needs of millions of investors in digital assets,” Said Fedele Di Maggio, Co-founder and CEO at DiPocket.

“Our partnership in this project with Nexo and Mastercard is a distinctive example of how DiPocket’s embedded finance technology enables visionary companies to deliver value and convenience to their customers,” Maggio concluded. 

Tim Moseley

Bitcoin Is The Safe Asset With Consumer Price Index At 85

Bitcoin Is The Safe Asset With Consumer Price Index At 8.5%

by Dylan Leclair And Sam Rule 

 

The Consumer Price Index hit an elevated rate of 8.5%. The addressable market for an immutable asset like bitcoin with its limited supply is above $100 trillion.

The below is from a recent edition of Bitcoin Magazine Pro, Bitcoin Magazine's premium markets newsletter. To be among the first to receive these insights and other on-chain bitcoin market analysis straight to your inbox, subscribe now.

Inflation Versus 10-Year Treasury Yields

We recently received the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation data for the month of March, which came in at a red hot 8.56% year-over-year (marginally above the 8.4% consensus). As what seems to be in direct response to higher inflation and negative real yields, treasury markets continue to sell off with the 10-year rising to over 2.7%, up from 1.5% at the start of the year.

Together, the increasing inflation rate and the 10-year treasury yields create what we think is the most important macroeconomic chart right now. We continue to see a period of financial repression play out as inflation is magnitudes above bond yields, which produces guaranteed losses for investors who rely on these risk-free rates.

Even if we were to see CPI peak this month or in the coming months, we still expect an elevated level of inflation for all of 2022 and into 2023, well above the 2% inflation target and above the 10-year treasury yield.

CPI is well above the 2% inflation target and above the 10-year treasury yield.

On a month-over-month basis, total CPI reached its highest acceleration since 2005. Core CPI, which removes energy and food and is more closely watched by the Federal Reserve and markets, shows a month-over-month deceleration indicating that some inflation components could be turning over. With Core CPI coming in at 0.32% month-over-month, below the consensus of 0.5%, the bond market saw a small rally.

Ultimately, the cure to higher prices is higher prices. Eventually persistent inflation overwhelms consumers and their wallets which can lead to a much stronger deflationary impact playing out. 

CPI year-over-year and monthly rate of change

CPI year-over-year and monthly rate of change without food and energy calculatedActionable Info

While this is not a research product that gives explicit trading signals, we do frequently present our data-driven outlook across timeframes. Over the coming quarters, the chances of a recession in the U.S. as well as other areas of the globe look increasingly likely.

The Following Statements Are Not Investment Advice

The world is in dire need of neutral, apolitical, programmatic money. The negative real-yield environment the economic system finds itself in today is an inescapable reality that comes in the late stages of a long-term debt cycle. Financial repression (negative real yields) is a way to (attempt to) erode the real value of the debts, at creditors’ (bond holders’) expense.

This is among the biggest reasons for our persistent uber-bullishness on bitcoin. The total addressable market for something like bitcoin (of which bitcoin is the only viable option because of node decentralization, immutability, hard-capped supply, immaculate conception and proof-of-work mining) is above $100 trillion ($100,000,000,000,000).

Bitcoin has a diminishing inflation rate programmed into its issuance

 

Tim Moseley

Inflation spirals to 85 no surprise according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Inflation spirals to 8.5%, no surprise according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

Today the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) released its CPI inflation report for March 2022. The report showed that inflation had risen to 8.5% when compared to the inflation level in March 2021. When compared to month-over-month levels, inflation rose 0.6% as February's level of inflation came in at 7.9%. However, this news was no surprise as it had been released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland on March 30.

As we said in our letter published on March 30, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland released its estimates and forecasts for both the PCE and CPI index. Their forecast indicates an increase in the PCE of 0.62% year-over-year. They also have made a prediction on the CPI index for March, which will be released next month. Their forecast is based upon data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Energy Information Administration, Financial Times, and Haver Analytics. Based on their analysis, they forecasted that the CPI index for March would come in at 8.41% year-over-year and that the March PCE would increase by 0.75% month over month.

Since the Federal Reserve has access to the same government bureaus that produce the report, they are privy to this information long before it is released to the public. It is for that reason that the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland was able to correctly forecast the CPI report for March before the month had concluded. Their forecast was off by only 0.09% from the actual number released today. They also forecasted that the level of inflation for the first quarter of 2022 would come in at 9.01% when compared to the first quarter of 2021.

Forecasts by the Federal Reserve braced the investment community for this extreme acceleration in inflationary pressures, and today's report verified that inflationary pressures continued to grow in March. This sent ripples through financial assets resulting in rising yields in U.S. treasuries and a strong uptick in safe havens such as gold and the dollar.

The 10-year Treasury note settled at 2.724%, according to information on TradeWeb. The Wall Street Journal reported that "The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note settled at 2.724%, compared with 2.779% Monday, its highest close since early 2019. The yield is up from 1.496% at the end of 2021."

The U.S. dollar also strengthened with the dollar index breaking above 100 after factoring in today's gain of 0.39% which took the index to 100.315.

As of 4:50 PM EDT both gold and silver had substantial gains. The most active June 2022 gold futures contract is currently trading up $20.80 or 1.07% and fixed at $1969 per ounce. Silver futures gained 2.33% or $0.58 with the most active contract currently fixed at $25.57.

While there was certainly a warning by the forecast released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland at the end of March, it was not until verification by the BLS in today's report that market participants fully factored this uptick in inflationary pressures into market pricing. Although the Federal Reserve is planning an aggressive and hawkish monetary policy to curtail the spiraling level of inflationary pressures, it will be difficult at best to have any real impact. This is because inflationary pressures continue to be in goods and services in which demand cannot diminish as they are essential to day-to-day life. The primary goods and services hit with increased inflation in March were food, energy, automotive purchases, and rental prices.

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

Tim Moseley

Twitter Tried the Oldest Trick in the Book

Twitter Tried the Oldest Trick in the Book

by Jeff Brown, editor, The Bleeding Edge

Twitter Tried the Oldest Trick in the Book

 

The battle for Twitter

Whether or not freedom of speech will be allowed again on Twitter's platform, just got a lot more interesting. Last week brought news that none other than Elon Musk himself acquired 9.2% of the company. The move followed a series of tweets from Musk last month concerning whether or not a new, open, and censorship-free social media platform should be built.

After the news of Musk’s stake broke, it was immediately expected that Musk would join the board of Twitter. In fact, Twitter did offer him a seat, but the offer came with a major stipulation: As a board member, Musk would not be able to own more than 14.9% of the company’s stock.

Musk declined.

 

 

Twitter was a bargain when Musk started buying, and from my perspective, Twitter is worth a whole lot more than where it trades today. And if the platform returns back to its original ethos rather than trying to impose itself as a false arbiter of truth, the sky will be the limit.

But that’s not why Musk is buying in…

He knows Twitter is broken in its current form. And he knows that when scientists, scientific researchers, and other experts in their respective fields are censored, banned, or de-platformed because the information that they share doesn’t fit a political narrative, a breakdown of society will follow in the absence of free, open, and healthy discourse.

Musk came out of nowhere

Twitter’s board was caught off guard. They couldn’t change that, so they tried one of the oldest tricks in the book. They tried to pigeonhole Musk and limit his influence. But it didn’t work. 

Musk is too busy building what no one in the automotive industry has ever been able to do. He’s too busy democratizing access to space. He’s too busy working on enabling the human race to eventually become a multi-planetary species.

Do we think he wants to screw around fighting for control of the board vote by vote? Heck no. He’ll just buy the company and do it right… Problem solved.

There is no need to build from scratch when the infrastructure is in place right now. He can pay cash if he wants to, but he won’t need to. There’s plenty of private equity that will support the acquisition. 

Game on!

 


New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

THE 1 Marketing System Designed To Grow Your iHUBGLOBAL Business

For those marketers who dream of building a large iHub.Global business, this blog post is for you. 

You may not realize it but there is a professionally built marketing system completely designed just for the iHub.Global business and it is just waiting for you to plug into it.

There are “seven” different capture pages for iHub.Global, and each one is designed to get you more optins and to get those optins over to a series of incredible landing pages – also designed top to bottom to get you more signups at iHub.Global.

Additionally, you may not realize it but this same system is also designed to rapidly build you a massive email list, which you can then promote "to"  because there are 24 other businesses you can promote, using other capture pages and other landing pages that were created for those companies as well.  Truly an incredible way to grow your business AND your email list simultaneously!
 

Imagine having hundreds or even thousands of iHub members that you sponsored, and where you are making 20% of all the HNT that runs through their hotspots!  That’s where the real money is!  Do you think you can do that on your own?  If not, then you need this system!; designed from scratch so you can build a massive iHub.Global business!

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As part of that same system you’ll be able to buy 100, 200, or 300 clicks weekly at a highly discounted price.  Your price will be at the same rate as someone who is purchasing 10,000 clicks!  That’s unheard of!  And these are top quality clicks.  Expect high optin rates and high signup rates.  These are truly high quality clicks.
 

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Sincerely,

Tim Moseley

 

Tim Moseley

What is happiness? There are two kinds – do you know them?

Everyone wishes for it, but very few claim to really have it: Happiness. Yet it is often only a question of perception.

The master question: What is HAPPINESS?
There are instructions for happiness, some people claim to have it, others wish they had it. But basically, one question must first be answered in order to get to the bottom of the phenomenon: What is happiness?

"Happiness is basically nothing other than the courageous will to live by accepting the conditions of life," is how the French writer Maurice Barrès (1862 – 1923) once defined the term "happiness". In Buthan, happiness was even appointed the most important state goal. Thus, in the 1970s, Buthan's king said, "Gross national happiness is more important than gross domestic product."

What is happiness?
To describe happiness, which can be subjectively influenced and perceived, in a definition as an objective thing is almost impossible. But even in ancient times people tried to grasp "happiness" and its background.

Aristotle, for example, wrote a book dealing with happiness, the "Eudaimonia". In it he wrote: Bliss is "the perfect and self-sufficient good and the ultimate goal of (human) action." Previously, Plato claimed that man can only be happy when the three parts of the human soul, reason, will and desire are in balance.

Today, the general view is that one is "the architect of one's own happiness" and that happiness is the interaction of consciously made decisions and coincidences.

Not all happiness is the same
In today's happiness research, a distinction is made between two types of happiness: happiness in life and happiness by chance.

Happiness in life is influenced by factors such as family, love, career, finances and leisure time. These are aspects that you can partly influence yourself and partly depend on society.

But happiness in life can also be a kind of well-being that gives you a happy feeling. For example, when you really feel at home, have a great circle of friends or live carefree with your family.

Another approach: personality-psychological concepts of happiness describe happiness in life as the "harmonious interaction of all the feelings of a well-organised personality". This means that even if life circumstances (family, work, etc.) change, personal happiness remains relatively unchanged. Happiness in life is thus seen here as a stable personality trait.

Chance happiness, as the name suggests, cannot be influenced. Chance happiness is important throughout life and comes suddenly and unexpectedly. Heinrich Heine wrote the following line about chance luck: "It kisses you quickly and flutters away."

Some luck factors
In general, luck factors influence personal happiness in life. Three of these factors are:

Finances
All over the world, people believe that they become happier when their income increases. And there is indeed no denying that money can make some of the worries you have in everyday life disappear into thin air. The rent can be debited, the insurance paid and the fridge filled – consequently, Maslow's bodily and security needs are met. But what remains unsatisfied by money are the social needs. As the saying goes, "You can't buy friends." – and so money alone certainly does not make people happy.

Work
In today's world of work, demands are increasing, and at the same time working conditions are deteriorating. Work generally means security. But in part, giving up security can also mean freedom. Important: Communicate needs honestly to the environment: You only want to work 32 hours a week? Then ask your boss if it's possible. In principle, he can't say more than "no". And quite honestly: Do you want to work in a company that immediately dismisses you for communicating a need? Probably not. But one thing is important: stay fair and realistic!

Personal freedom
Personal freedom is strongly influenced by social obligations, but you don't have to let them steer you. Whether you start a family at 30, build your first house at 35 and buy your second car at 40 is up to you. If you want to turn your hobby into a profession at 45, then do it. If you want to sell your house at 60 and sail around the world in a boat, no one can stop you. Only you determine your life – but all too often we forget that.

Other happiness factors can be the social environment, family conditions and health

 

Tim Moseley

Bitcoin Recovers 40000 Amid Wider Crypto Market Slump

Bitcoin Recovers $40,000 Amid Wider Crypto Market Slump

Bitcoin and Ethereum have both recovered key levels, even as the global crypto market cap slipped further overnight.

By Decrypt Staff

Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. 

Bitcoin has rallied to reclaim the $40,000 mark following a crash that saw it drop 15% in 24 hours. At time of going to press, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap stands at $40,119, down 4.7% on the day, according to CoinMarketCap.

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has similarly reclaimed the psychological level of $3,000 after dropping below it overnight. It currently stands at just over $3,000, down 4.2% on the day.

The cryptocurrency market remains emphatically in the red, with the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies dropping to $1.86 trillion, a drop of 3.76% in the last 24 hours. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are down over 13% in the last seven days.

Of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Solana and Cardano have been hit the hardest, falling by 6.4% and 5.9% respectively in the last 24 hours.

Speculation has focused on Bitcoin's increasing correlation with stock prices as a possible explanation for the crash, with Bitcoin's price correlation with the S&P 500 hitting 0.49 in March. With all three major U.S. stock indexes ending Monday in negative territory, the crypto market has fallen in lockstep.

Monero defies the market

Curiously, one cryptocurrency that has outperformed the market is Monero; the privacy coin is up 8.9% on the day and 8.1% on the week, and currently stands at $244.

Some speculation has focused on increased activity around Monero as being linked to sanctions evasion. Last month, U.S. public policy nonprofit Brookings singled out Monero as a potential tool for criminals, noting that, "As the privacy protections of a given coin increases, so too does the likelihood it could be used as part of a sanctions-evasion scheme."

However, this doesn't seem to be borne out by the wider market; fellow privacy coins Dash and Zcash have followed the market's downward trend, and are down 4.2% and 9.0% on the day respectively.

Tim Moseley

Crypto Market Melts Down as Bitcoin Drops 15 Ethereum Loses 14

Crypto Market Melts Down as Bitcoin Drops 15%, Ethereum Loses 14%

Bitcoin fell below $40,000, while Ethereum found itself just under $3,000.

By Jeff Benson

Bitcoin dropped 15% in 24 hours today, falling below $40,000 for the first time since March 15. Meanwhile, Ethereum dipped 14%, finding itself beneath the $3,000 mark for the first time since March 23. 

It's part of a larger trend, with crypto markets tumbling 8.5% in the span of 24 hours to hit a market cap of $1.84 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap

If you're looking for plausible answers as to why, it's worth checking out the equities markets. The S&P 500, an index of 500 top publicly traded companies in the U.S., closed down 1.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended Monday 1.2% lower, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost a full 2.2% of its value.

Bitcoin, which is historically fairly correlated to other cryptocurrency prices is, of late, increasingly correlated with stock prices. In March, BTC's price correlation with the S&P 500 hit 0.49, with -1 meaning they move exactly opposite and 1 meaning they move in perfect tandem. It was the highest rate since October 2020, per Arcane Research.

Gemini COO Talks to Decrypt at Bitcoin Miami 2022

Gemini COO Noah Perlman talks to Decrypt's Kate Irwin at Bitcoin Miami 2022 about Gemini's approach to competing with other exchanges, its focus on regulatory compliance, and his own views on Bitcoin maximalists.

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But what's going on with stock prices?

Take your pick. There's the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, a new round of COVID lockdowns in China, and, of course, the Federal Reserve's decision to aggressively raise interest rates and choke off the supply of money into the economy.

The Nasdaq was already down nearly 4% from Monday through Friday last week. The weekend hasn't made things much better. With less money pumping into the economy as the Fed seeks to fight inflation, crypto market caps very well may deflate, according to BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes. The billionaire investment banker-turned crypto entrepreneur wrote on Sunday of a "coming crypto carnage" and predicted that both Bitcoin and Ether had much further to fall. 

"Bitcoin and Ether will bottom well before the Fed acts and U-turns its policy from tight to loose," he wrote. He predicted they will test the $30,000 and $2,500 thresholds before the end of June.

Hayes previously predicted, when the price of BTC was below $5,000, that it would reach $10,000 in 2019. That turned out to be prescient, as the price rallied to above $12,000. A year earlier, he suggested that BTC could hit $50,000 that year and would bottom out at between $3,000 and $5,000. While he was way off on the former, the latter prediction was correct.

Bitcoin bulls are hoping Hayes' most recent prediction is wrong. But a look at today's price movements indicates he could be on to something.

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter