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Bitcoin Is The Safe Asset With Consumer Price Index At 85

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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

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

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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

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Twitter Tried the Oldest Trick in the Book

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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

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THE 1 Marketing System Designed To Grow Your iHUBGLOBAL Business

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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!

And not only that, but ALL of those new iHub memers that your sponsored are on your email list, which you can then promote our other 24 businesses to!!  It’s a double win win for you!  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to build generational wealth!  FOR ONLY $25 PER MONTH!!  HOW CAN ANYBODY SAY NO TO THAT??

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.
 

There is so much more!  And all for a small monthly subscription fee of only $25.00!!

So, if you are serious about building your iHub.Global business, subscribe today to this pre-built system designed top to bottom, to build your iHub business.

Click here to get started! 

Why not get started today? Click that button above and start now!

Sincerely,

Tim Moseley

 

Tim Moseley

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

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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

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Bitcoin Recovers 40000 Amid Wider Crypto Market Slump

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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

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Crypto Market Melts Down as Bitcoin Drops 15 Ethereum Loses 14

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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.

Go to video page

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

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What effect has Ukraine inflation and the Fed had on gold prices?

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What effect has Ukraine, inflation, and the Fed had on gold prices?

Gold prices have been affected by three primary factors, inflation, the war in Ukraine, and lastly, statements and actions by the Federal Reserve. Overwhelmingly, market participants are focused on the effects of spiraling inflation levels and the war on Ukraine providing bullish market sentiment for the precious yellow metal. While statements and actions by the Federal Reserve have curtailed any sustained upside movement gold continues to gain value this year.

As of 4:15 PM EDT gold futures basis, the most active June contract is trading at $1957.80, after factoring in today's gain of $12.20 or +0.63%. Most noteworthy today is the high gold achieved in trading overseas, reaching an apex of $1974.60.

However, following the intraday high were statements by the president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, Charles Evans said, that he would not oppose interest rates moving higher to more of a neutral stance between 2.25% and 2.5% by the end of the year. This could only be accomplished by the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by ½% at two of the remaining FOMC meetings this year.

Speaking to the Detroit economic club Charles Evans said, "Fifty is obviously worthy of consideration; perhaps it's highly likely even if you want to get to neutral by December." The net result of his statements today took gold from its intraday high roughly $18 above current pricing, to its current price just below $1960 per ounce.

The primary reason that gold continues to trade higher in light of a much more aggressive Federal Reserve is the current level of inflation as well as the war in Ukraine.

Tomorrow the government will release the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, which will give the investment community the latest information on the current level of inflation in the United States. The current consensus by economic analysts is that the March report will show another uptick in inflation. Adding to the former pressure, which took inflation to its current 40-year high is the war in Ukraine which resulted in higher food and oil pricing. The CPI inflation index came in at 7.9% for February and it is anticipated that tomorrow's report will show that inflation has moved substantially past 8%.

The current military action by Russia as it attacks its neighbor in south Ukraine is expected to accelerate with no end in sight. Ukraine today said that it expects Russia to initiate a major offensive imminently with military action shifting its focus from the capital city of Kyiv to the Eastern portion of Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists currently occupy the territory of Donbas. Karl Nehammer, the Austrian Chancellor, met with Vladimir Putin, the first EU leader to hold face-to-face talks with the Russian president concluding his viewpoint, "I generally have no optimistic impression that I can report to you from this conversation with President Putin… The offensive (in eastern Ukraine) is evidently being prepared on a massive scale."

Combined, the continued acceleration of inflationary pressures in the United States and the war in Ukraine are overwhelmingly balancing any negative pressure by statements and actions of the Federal Reserve. Collectively these three forces, Ukraine, inflation, and the Federal Reserve, have been the primary sources affecting gold pricing. However, it seems that the war in Ukraine and upticks in inflation are moving gold prices higher than the negative or bearish market sentiment created by the Federal Reserve as it continues its action to normalize interest rates in an attempt to stave off the drastically higher level of inflation.

For those who would like more information simply use this link.

Wishing you as always good trading,

By Gary Wagner

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

Tim Moseley

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The Marketing System For Rejuvenating Struggling iHubGlobal Business

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Several months ago I stumbled across a marketing system that has forever changed the way I operate on a daily basis.  That marketing system is called iWebatool.  It is unlike any other marketing system I have ever seen.  iWebatool is jamb packed with all the capture pages, landing pages, videos, autoresponders, tutorials, etc. . . all the tools a marketer could ever need.  The entire platform is designed to provide all those marketing tools to anyone who wants to use them but they have already been pre-built with several preselected opportunities.  At this point in time, there are approximately 25 different opportunities that have been chosen by the CEO and his team of experts have built a complete marketing package for each one of those 25 businesses.

That's how the system operates.  They don't go to all the trouble of building out those powerful marketing funnels, complete with professionally written followup emails, for just any opportunity.  These 25 or so opportunities have been hand picked by the CEO himself.  One thing I absolutely love about this system is that it is only $25.00 per month.  And believe me, that is super cheap when you consider all the time and effort you save in building out the funnels themselves. 

   

One such funnel was built (and is continually being updated and enhanced) for the iHub.Global business.  As a matter this is his favorite of the entire group.  This particular funnel is being used by marketers around the world and it is estimated that this funnel has been and still is instrumental in over 160,000 enrollees into the iHub.Global business.

iWebatool and Markethive have many similarities yet they are different in many ways.  I love Markethive and iWebatool both.  I feel they compliment each other nicely.

So if you have a iHub.Global business and you are struggling with enrollment, you may want to take a look at the funnel you could be plugging into for only $25 per month.  Here is an example of what I am talking about:  THIS LANDING PAGE IS DESIGNED TO GET NEW iHub.Global AFFILIATES FOCUSED ON THE RIGHT THINGS

The CEO gives multiple ZOOM meetings on a weekly basis.  Some are specifially for iHub.Global business owners and the Zoom meeting on Monday is how to use the iWebatool Marketing System itself.

One last item, the CEO buys upwards of half a million clicks a year all from the same source and as a result he gets a massive discounted price per click.  A perk that all members get when purchasing these high quality clicks is we also get to buy clicks at that massive discount which help enormously when it comes to building your list right there at iWebatool.  Members also get to send daily broadcasts to their lists and I can attest that many signups for my various programs have come from the followup work I do from that list at iWebatool.  I just can't say enough about how effective iWebatool is.  

There are so many other items I could cover here but I will save those for another time.  So if you are an iHub.Global business owner already that link above is for you but if you are not an iHub.Global business owner yet, then you need to CLICK HERE.

Tim Moseley

 

Tim Moseley

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Why Politicians Still Can’t Lead With Crypto

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Why Politicians Still Can't Lead With Crypto

Crypto is becoming mainstream in Washington, D.C.—so why are politicians still shy about showing their crypto stripes?

By Daniel Roberts

Oregon congressional candidate Matt West (L) and former Wyoming Rep. Tyler Lindholm on a panel about crypto and politics at Camp Ethereal 2022 in Wyoming. (Photo: Chie Endo)

Crypto is a bigger topic in the halls of U.S. government than it's ever been.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order on crypto, mobilizing multiple agencies to get on the same page about regulating the industry. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wy.) is a vocal crypto proponent, and recently defended her right to own Bitcoin as a policymaker. Former South Carolina Representative Mick Mulvaney, nicknamed the "Bitcoin Congressman," was a top aide to President Donald Trump. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) is a crypto advocate who argued for changing the restrictive "broker" definition in the Senate infrastructure bill. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and New York City Mayor Eric Adams are among multiple "crypto mayors" who are gaga for crypto and plan to take paychecks in Bitcoin.

And yet, if you're an elected official or currently running for office, it seems you still can't lead with crypto. It can't be your primary talking point, or you get branded as a crypto crazy.

"That is a concern," said Matt West, a Democrat and former Yearn Finance developer running for congress in Oregon, when I asked him at the end of a panel at Camp Ethereal in Wyoming last month. "When I'm going around my district, which does lean fairly to the left … it does come across as fairly negative. Full stop. And that's a real issue. That's an issue with our messaging and our branding inside of this community, more than anything else."

West said that to avoid getting "pigeonholed," he leads with climate change, homelessness, income inequality ("all those traditional Democratic talking points"), and then, eventually, people "learn about crypto and my background in it," and that's when he lets his crypto out, so to speak.

Crypto on the Campaign Trail: Matt West, Matthew Diemer, Tyler Lindholm at Camp Ethereal 2022

Politicians are embracing crypto on both sides of the aisle. Matt West, running for congress in Oregon, Matthew Diemer, running for congress in Ohio, and former Wyoming Rep. Tyler Lindholm discussed crypto and politics on a panel with Decrypt's Jeff Roberts at Camp Ethereal in Wyoming. As Diemer pointed out, "We have a conservative Republican, a progressive Democrat, and a moderate Democrat on the same stage, unified by crypto and the idea of making sensible regulation."

Go to video page

Andrew Yang learned the hard way. The Bitcoin-touting 2020 presidential candidate was an early frontrunner in the 2021 New York mayoral race until he fell behind former police officer Eric Adams, ironically a fellow crypto-advocate, who made crime his leading issue and waited until 20 days into his tenure to truly let his crypto out.

Yang said on our gm podcast last month that, "The days of [crypto] being off of D.C.'s menu or radar screen are very, very quickly coming to an end." But even as he promotes a lobbying DAO that aims to spur change in D.C. using crypto, he also says the DAO's work will still involve "doing things the old-fashioned way."

That right there is the lingering problem: The old-fashioned way still reigns in Washington. And the biggest power-players in the old guard aren't ready for something they see as new (even though Bitcoin's been around 13 years) and "shadowy."

Caitlin Long, a 22-year Wall Street veteran who left the big banks to launch a Bitcoin bank, said on our gm podcast that the crypto reactionaries in D.C. break down into two groups: big government or big business. "Those who are true big government believers are going to be anti-crypto, because crypto is not about centralization, it's about decentralization—and oftentimes, you see those same folks being very anti big tech," Long said. "And then there's the big business crowd. Most folks will never admit that they're either big government or big business types, but look at what they actually do. The big business types protect the big banks, and take an awful lot of donations from them."

Many of the prominent pols who have criticized crypto fit clearly into one of the two groups Long described. Perhaps that won't change until the makeup of Washington changes—and that's up to the voters.

This is Roberts on Crypto, a weekend column from Decrypt Editor-in-Chief Daniel Roberts and Decrypt Executive Editor Jeff John Roberts. Sign up for the Decrypt Debrief email newsletter to get it in your inbox every Saturday. And read last weekend's column: Web3 Is Supposed to Be Secure. What About All These Hacks?

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter