Bitcoin....who's gotten into it?

[subtle plague]

If you can't beat em join em
.

But the communists are going to take your weapons away!

[byates1]

Ain't taking my shit son. Montana.

[Bunion 2020]

Aren't you moving to the East?

[byates1]

Top of the morning to you as well. No, I'm heading east for Xmas to see mom. She's 82. I'll be there for 2 months or so..

I have a house there , will be spending time w her in 3/4 years..

[Bunion 2020]

Oh I misconstrued. Good move, I was glad I spent time my Mom before she passed.

[neckdeep]

New analysis reports that 95% of all NFTs are now worthless.

Or, in cryptospeak, there's never been a better time to buy!

[heckacali]

Look like they all got funged

[J. Barron DeJong]

Went to check BTC price on Coindesk , and now they’re defaulting to by-the-minute price:



With no option to view beyond daily price:



Wut?

[neckdeep]

That's because the past and future no longer have relevance to bitcoin. It's just a degenerate asset where the savvy "trade the narrative" rather than any sort of fundamentals.

[JimmyCarter]

It's just a degenerate asset where the savvy "trade the narrative" rather than any sort of fundamentals.

To be fair, that’s also half the stock market at this point

[bennymac]

People in the stock market will agree. Cult members will disagree.

[stalefish3169]

Can you update your view as new data come in?

Or are you in a cult?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital...h=5a544d383f31

What is bitcoin?

Its proponents offer no shortage of answers: peer-to-peer cash. Digital gold. A hedge against inflation. But only in the inner bowels of the bitcoin rabbit hole have mainstream financial institutions begun to discover its most compelling use case: bitcoin as an ESG asset.

ESG is shorthand for environmental, social, and governance. It’s an investing framework used to direct capital towards sustainable investments. So could BTC = ESG? According to professional services firm KPMG, the answer is a resounding yes.

In a recently published report, KPMG makes the case that bitcoin can serve a number of ESG functions—from stabilizing power grids and driving investment in renewables to monetizing stranded energy and capturing methane. The paper coincides with new research from Cambridge University and Bloomberg Intelligence that reveals bitcoin’s environmental impact to be much smaller than previously thought. And it comes just weeks after BlackRock—the largest asset manager in the world and one of the leading proponents of ESG—announced that it had filed for a spot bitcoin ETF.

BTC As ESG
In the ongoing debate over bitcoin’s energy consumption, enough ink has been spilled and paper printed to be its own environmental issue. But in 2023, the winds are changing. Not only do they propel the turbines that power bitcoin mining—they are beginning to shift in the cryptocurrency’s favor.

KPMG’s report challenges conventional wisdom on Wall Street with a provocative thesis. In the words of its authors, “Bitcoin appears to provide a number of benefits across an ESG framework.” These benefits include:

Creating New Markets For Renewable Energy
Bitcoin miners can tap into any energy source, anytime, anywhere in the world. And they are in constant search of low-cost energy, which they increasingly find in under-utilized renewable sources, such as hydro, wind, geothermal, and solar.

Because they are subject to the whims of nature, windmills, solar panels, and dams often create energy when nobody needs it. This is known as “stranded energy,” and without a buyer, it goes to waste. Bitcoin, however, creates a robust marketplace for this kind of energy. Because the Bitcoin network runs 24/7/365, it can make use of renewable energy at all hours of the day and during any season of the year. Bitcoin’s flexible demand load not only can increase revenue for green power providers but can also encourage further investment in clean energy.

Stabilizing Power Grids
Matching supply with demand is one of the most significant challenges facing power providers. Too much energy production can overwhelm the grid. But so can too much demand. This is where bitcoin comes in.

Bitcoin miners can act as an energy sponge, soaking up excess energy when needed to prevent it from overloading the grid. But they can just as easily shut off at a moment’s notice when demand grows too high, as bitcoin miners did during a heat wave in Texas last month. The ability of bitcoin miners to do everything—or nothing—all at once is a boon to power providers. But it can also benefit customers by mitigating demand spikes to help keep prices low.

Reducing Methane Emissions
Methane is a significant driver of climate change. According to the KPMG report, methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for approximately 30% of global warming. To make matters worse, landfills act as methane mega factories, spewing toxic gas into the air as a byproduct of the decomposition process.

So what to do about all this methane? Believe it or not, bitcoin fixes this.

Companies are finding ways to capture vented methane on landfills and then turning that methane into electricity. They then use that electricity to mine bitcoin. This practice both reduces carbon emissions and monetizes stranded energy by taking toxic fumes and converting them into digital gold. If the process can be scaled, it could forever change the way landfills operate.

Other firms are following a similar model by converting flared gas into electricity to mine bitcoin. Like methane capture, this process harnesses energy that otherwise would have gone to waste. Consider that the potential energy of flared gas in the US and Canada could power the entire bitcoin blockchain, according to Harvard Business Review.

A New Look At Bitcoin’s Energy Consumption
Alongside the KPMG report, researchers at Cambridge University and Bloomberg Intelligence are taking a closer look at bitcoin’s energy consumption. And what they are finding also challenges past assumptions on bitcoin and its environmental impact.

Of note, the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance updated its methodology for calculating bitcoin’s global energy usage to better reflect differences across crypto mining machines. This led to a significant revision in its estimate of bitcoin electricity consumption in 2021—down from 114.0 TWh to 89.0 TWh. In other words, Cambridge overstated bitcoin’s electricity consumption that year by 15.0 TWh. To put that number in context, 15.0 TWh is enough electricity to power 1.4 million American homes for an entire year, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

New data from Bloomberg Intelligence is also reshaping bitcoin’s reputation on Wall Street. While environmentalists have pilloried the cryptocurrency in years past, new research shows that more than 50% of bitcoin’s power mix now comes from renewables. In retrospect, China banning bitcoin was a blessing in disguise for the network. That’s because the United States—which leads the world in sustainable bitcoin mining—hoovered up a significant portion of Chinese mining rigs, introducing more renewables into bitcoin’s energy mix.

Bitcoin > Solar?
New data and use cases have rewritten the script on bitcoin and the environment. Some climate-tech investors even believe that bitcoin is not only simpatico with an ESG framework; it is superior to existing ESG technologies. Daniel Batten, the co-founder of environmental investment fund CH4 Capital, is one of them.

In an interview, Batten explained to me that all climate-tech inventions have a carbon footprint at their inception. Solar, for example, only paid off its carbon debt in the 1990s—40 years after it was first invented. Batten believes Bitcoin is an ideal ESG technology because it won’t take nearly as long for the network to begin contributing to the environment in a positive way.

“As a technologist, I'm used to taking a long-term view when evaluating a technology's ESG credentials,” said Batten. “It's clear to me that bitcoin can pay off its climate debt much sooner than solar energy, and because of its ability to mitigate methane, can address more urgent challenges.”

Batten believes in allocating capital where it will have the greatest impact from an environmental standpoint. And by that metric, bitcoin again beats solar. Per Batten, “Our calculations show that investing in bitcoin mining powered by vented landfill gas is 45 times more emission reducing than investing in solar infrastructure deployment per dollar invested.”

The Bigger Picture
The environmental case for bitcoin is just taking root. But expect it to blossom in the months to come.

Why? Because watering the seeds will be the likes of BlackRock, Fidelity, ARK Invest, and other asset managers that have filed for a spot bitcoin ETF.

An ETF approval is likely to drive billions of dollars in institutional investment toward the world’s leading cryptocurrency. Key to onboarding investors big and small into the digital asset economy will be education, which entails correcting outdated narratives on bitcoin and the environment. Recognizing bitcoin’s emerging use cases as an ESG technology is a good place to start.

[J. Barron DeJong]

[lowsparkco]

Lol. Me too. Whatever he said.

[Mustonen]

Bitcoin mining ops making a case for bitcoin?

Get out.

[mcphee]

Guys guys guys guys GUYS! It was published in Forbes. FORBES! It’s totally legit.

[neckdeep]

Wow. Ol' Malcolm is doing 10000 rpms in his grave to see his once credible magazine shilling such hand wavy clickbait nonsense.

Bitcoin is an "energy sponge capable of soaking up extra power to prevent it from overloading the grid".

Got that? Bitcoin was imaginary nerd gold and now it's an imaginary ESG battery!

I guess it must be getting harder and harder to come up with new narratives. IMHO, it lacks the basic appeal of "line go up forever, lambos to the moon." I mean, once you subtract greed from the pitch, you're just left with this stupidity: Bitcoin, the massively wasteful and useless energy suck is actually an ESG play.

[JimmyCarter]

And that’s why KPMG is the worst of the Big 4 (though they’re all shitweasels in regards to ESG nonsense)

[stalefish3169]

Life comes at you fast. MFer had gold bars and wads of cash hidden around his house. LOL

https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press...ion-of-bitcoin

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...osecutors-say/

[mcphee]

^politicians are corrupt? WTF? I recite the pledge of allegiance when I wake up and before bed and there are corrupt politicians in DC?

My world has fallen apart.

[mcphee]

How long has this been going on? I’m apoplectic over here. I demand answers.

[bennymac]

Life comes at you fast. MFer had gold bars and wads of cash hidden around his house. LOL

https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press...ion-of-bitcoin

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/...osecutors-say/

What exactly does this prove…be specific

[J. Barron DeJong]

What exactly does this prove…be specific

That he should have demanded his bribes be payed in Bitcoin, obviously.

[stalefish3169]

What exactly does this prove…be specific

From the link I posted, "... we must seek greater clarity on how the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender may impact El Salvador’s financial and economic stability, as well as El Salvador’s capacity to effectively combat money laundering and illicit finances."

Bob sponsored legislation trying to say that BTC was going to facilitate money laundering in El Salvador. Bob got busted for fraud. I think that's entertaining. Do you understand yet?

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[stalefish3169]

Winter is coming. Is it getting cold in here? Are you all ready for some BRRRRRR?

https://twitter.com/C_Barraud/status...vOTwvaFOA&s=19

Treasury Buyback Plan Will Boost Market Resilience, US Debt Official Says
Department has said buyback programs will begin in 2024
Buybacks will seek to aid liquidity, improve cash management


By Liz Capo McCormick
September 21, 2023 at 4:45 PM UTC
The resilience of the world’s biggest bond market is top priority as US debt officials prepare to start buying back government debt, according to Josh Frost, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for financial markets.
“Buybacks can play an important role in helping to make the Treasury market more liquid and resilient,” Frost said Thursday in a prepared speech during a forum on the Treasury market in New York. Our goal is to “ensure that the Treasury market remains the deepest and most liquid market in the world.”
The Treasury is expected in 2024 to start regularly purchasing its bonds for the first time in more than two decades, a move that comes after years of increasing scrutiny on Wall Street about the $25 trillion market’s underlying fragility. The programs have two separate objectives: to bolster liquidity in some pockets of the market and to smooth the volatility of bill issuance as it manages its cash balance.
Officials had been exploring the buybacks for at least a year and unveiled additional details on the structure last month. But market liquidity has drawn scrutiny since at least October 2014, when Treasuries convulsed — with no apparent trigger — in what was dubbed a flash rally. Some measures pushed through since 2014 include boosting public reporting on daily Treasury transactions.
More recently, a near freeze of the market in March 2020 forced the Federal Reserve into massive purchases to prevent wider financial disruptions. That shock and other disruptions have led various regulators to seek improvements through an inter-agency working group.
Frost said the Treasury’s liquidity-focused buybacks were not intended to address periods of acute market stress, a responsibility that falls under the Fed’s mandate to ensure financial-market stability.
Instead, dealers should feel the bump from buybacks in their intermediation capacity in normal times, as well as when there’s outsized trading activity, said Frost, who spoke at an event co-sponsored by the International Swaps Derivatives Association and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
The department intends to be more “price sensitive” as it chooses the buyback offers to accept — and therefore may end up purchasing “materially” less then the maximum, he said.
“Buybacks can help improve the liquidity of the Treasury market by providing a regular opportunity for market participants to sell back to Treasury off-the-run securities across the yield curve,” he said. “This should improve the willingness of investors and intermediaries to trade and provide liquidity in these securities, all else equal, knowing there is a potential outlet to sell some of their off-the-run holdings.”
Just in August, the Treasury announced the first increase in the sale of notes and bonds in over in over two-and-a-half years to address a growing fiscal deficit and the lack of support from the Fed as the central bank rolls debt off its balance sheet through quantitative tightening.
The buybacks to support cash-management flows, meanwhile, are intended to reduce the volatility in the Treasury’s cash balance and regular bill issuance, according to Frost.
“Volatility can be costly to the taxpayer by causing imbalances between supply and demand and by potentially hindering the smooth functioning of the bill market,” he said.

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