WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, dropping to its lowest level in nearly 45 years as the labor market tightened further, bolstering expectations of faster wage growth this year. The second straight weekly decline in claims reported by the Labor Department on Thursday also pointed to strong job growth momentum, which could further drive the unemployment rate lower. “The extremely low level of claims is a sign of tightness in the labor market and suggests that February is shaping up to be another solid month for job creation,” said John Ryding, chief economist at RDQ Economics in New York. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits decreased 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ended Feb. 3, the Labor Department said. Claims fell to 216,000 in mid-January, which was the lowest level since January 1973.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 232,000 in the latest week. Last week marked the 153rd straight week that claims remained below the 300,000 threshold, which is associated with a strong labor market. That is the longest such stretch since 1970, when the labor market was much smaller. The labor market is near full employment, with the jobless rate at a 17-year low of 4.1 percent. The tighter labor market is starting to exert upward pressure on wage growth. The Labor Department reported last week that average hourly earnings jumped 2.9 percent year-on-year in January, the largest gain since June 2009, after advancing 2.7 percent in December. Employers added 200,000 jobs to their payrolls last month. Strong wage growth supports optimism among Federal Reserve officials that inflation will increase toward the U.S. central bank’s 2 percent target this year. U.S. financial markets expect the Fed will raise interest rates in March. The Fed has forecast three rate increases for this year after lifting borrowing costs three times in 2017. ECONOMY LIKELY OVERHEATING Prices for U.S. Treasuries fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rising to a near four-year high also as the Bank of England said interest rates probably need to rise sooner. The dollar was little changed against a basket of currencies. Stocks on Wall Street were trading lower.
“For Fed officials it is damn the torpedoes and plunging stock prices and keep with the game plan to raise rates gradually as the economy is showing increasing signs of overheating,” said Chris Rupkey, chief economist at MUFG in New York. “ The Fed may be out of step with current economic conditions and behind the curve.” Last week, the four-week moving average of initial claims, considered a better measure of labor market trends as it irons out week-to-week volatility, declined 10,000 to 224,500, the lowest level since March 1973. The claims report also showed the number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid fell 33,000 to 1.92 million in the week ended Jan. 27. The four-week moving average of the so-called continuing claims rose 12,500 to 1.95 million. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-economy/u-s-jobless-claims-drop-to-near-45-year-low-idUSKBN1FS23K.... Tried to bold the most relevent parts. United states economic numbers have looked good over the past 12 months. I think this confuses many causing them to believe the US stock market will immediately rebound after its latest decline. To view reasons why US stocks might not rebound, read this thread  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2901643Economic slowdown in china could fuel fears of global markets declining(this could use more media exposure). It could explain the recent US stock market decline. Also there are stories in the news recently of Moody's, a credit rating agency, threatening to downgrade US credit due to its high deficit and debt. |
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I made a thread which could detail some of the key reasons behind the latest stock market decline. It could also explain some of the reasons behind bitcoin's latest decline as well: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2901643Concerns over china's economy and what might be economic slowdown there could jeopardize future economic growth, financial earnings and tax revenue projections. This could explain the recent stock market decline: savvy investors are *pulling out* to protect their investment from what may be a lingering storm on the horizon. There's another school of thought which says both the stock market and bitcoin declines were politically motivated. I think bitcoin's value dip was politically motivated as shown by the media making wild and untrue claims about tether to hide the degree to which btc's devaluation may have been caused by currency manipulation. The stock market decline being politically motivated is likely untrue, in my opinion. Economies and markets may be defined in terms of *boom* and *bust* cycles. The time to invest is when things are *booming*. Right now if concerns over china's economy are valid, we may be in a *bust* cycle. This could mean investors will take a vacation and avoid investing in markets, expecting them to contract or for growth potential to be minimal enough to not be worth it in terms of risk versus reward. Looking at charts, it might be fair to say the price of bitcoin peaks at the end of the year near christmas(perhaps with the exception of around 2014 with the silk road Ross Ulbricht aka *Dread Pirate Roberts* crackdown and chinas ban on exchanges). I think investors might buy bitcoin towards the mid to end point of the year expecting the price to rise. That seasonal period could be the best time to *buy in* at least from a historical perspective. |
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Japanese culture and society revolve around creating long term value. You can see it in how japan invests heavily in infrastructure such as a high tech and functional train system. Their impressive broadband and internet communications infrastructure. They have a poweful tendency to favor long term planning over the short term gratification typically embraced by western cultures. It may naturally follow that japanese will gravitate towards bitcoin and embrace it. Crypto as a HODL means of creating long term value may be something that is likely to appeal to the mindset and spirit of japan.
I wouldn't be surprised if japan became a megahub of crypto activity in the future. This may only be the tip of the iceberg as far as japan's expansion into crypto currencies go. I think the rivalry between japan and china (also japan and korea) could further fuel japan's transition towards crypto. If japan were able to wrest crypto market dominance away from both china and korea, literally take crypto away from them, that might be a victory of sorts for japan. Of course, korea and china could make this easy for japan with their continued legal action taken against crypto markets.
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But it remains: There's no intrinsic value! Not on gold, not on livestock, not in a house, nowhere. I think its fair to say, intrinsic value is merely a type of value based on perceived utility. Its based on the idea gold carries real world application and utility based on it being used in jewelry, electronics and other assorted things. What complicates things is, there are other forms of utility which the term "intrinsic value" does not cover. Currencies carrying utility in the form of electronic payment is a term we desperately need but perhaps do not deserve. Bitcoin also carries forms of utility not described by the term "intrinsic value". We have decentralization and many other forms of utility which could be as important or more valuable than "intrinsic value" which we lack important sounding buzzwords to describe. So yeah, to clarify: I agree with you. The term intrinsic value is something of a myth. Not only is its existence questionable, bordering on a philosophic debate, but also its relative value in comparison to similar forms of utility may be exaggerated. |
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I think one shouldn't count on markets being down 10% being evidence they'll soon rise 10% to make you easy money. The 10% decline may be propelled by concerns global over economic slowdown, market stagnation and ultimately: recession. If you've paid any attention to economic analysts and financial gurus who have predicted economic collapse over the past decade, you might know the reason for this.
Crypto currencies have a tendency to auto-correct from dips in price due to them historically being fueled by sell offs and dumps. There's a massive and key difference between a price dip propelled by a sell off and a price decline caused by a price correction. Equities markets don't usually follow the trend set by crypto where price declines are likely to rebound quickly. Equities markets are not historically long term stores of HODL value the way bitcoin used to be and are more prone towards speculation and perhaps determinism in terms of them utilizing P/E and other metrics which do not exist in crypto trading to quantify value.
Of course, everything I'm summarizing changed drastically with the introduction of crypto futures markets and the recent paradigm shift towards bitcoin markets becoming more prone towards speculation.
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China’s overseas shipments held up (exports +11.1% YoY in USD terms) despite the stronger yuan and rising trade tensions with the U.S., but it was the imports that stunned many, rising 36.9% YoY in USD terms, slamming the trade surplus well below expectations.  (Link to image in case it doesn't display: https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_desktop/public/inline-images/2018-02-07_20-32-24.jpg ) In Yuan terms the spike in imports was just as impressive...  (Image link: https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_desktop/public/inline-images/2018-02-07_20-30-34.jpg ) In USD terms, the China trade balance printed $20.34bn, well below the $54.65bn expectation and collapsing from last month. Perhaps in an effort to show there is no trade war, January exports to U.S. rose 7.5%, but 'friendly' imports surged 20.5% on the year. While coal (colder than normal) and oil imports (record) surged in January more than expected, it is crucial to understand that the Lunar New Year, which began earlier in 2017, may have distorted the data notably. Nevertheless, stocks extended their losses on the data...  (Image link: https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_desktop/public/inline-images/2018-02-07_20-28-50.jpg ) But the big impact is extending the losses from the US session in the Yuan as it crashes 5 handles after the data...  (Image link: https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_desktop/public/inline-images/2018-02-07_20-21-53.jpg ) Offshore Yuan is now down over 11 handles on the day and down 1.5% in the last two days. It would appear all bets are on again for another devaluation.  (Image link: https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/styles/inline_image_desktop/public/inline-images/2018-02-07_20-35-52.jpg ) Today is actually the biggest drop in the Yuan since the Aug 2015 devaluation (and remember what ripples that sent through global markets) https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-07/yuan-crashing-after-huge-china-trade-surprise.... The implications of this are interesting. This could be the cause behind the recent US stock market decline, and the crypto decline as well. Both could be attributed to economic slowdown in china, and the yuan devaluation which naturally follows. These precedents could negatively affect markets of the global economy, reducing confidence in stocks to follow financial projections where healthy markets continue to propel growth. It might provide another reasoning for china cracking down on crypto, to prevent migration of funds from the yuan which is devaluing to crypto currencies which may be devaluing at a slower rate, if at all. It seems that this could signal the first counter movement to the trade deficit the united states has continued with china for a long time. There could be a significant paradigm shift ongoing here. There are a few different angles to this which might be considered. |
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This thread cites an article claiming more than 10% of the $3.7 billion invested in ICOs has been stolen. The majority of thefts occurred from phishing attacks which strikes me as being a tiny bit suspicious. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2806881There is a possibility of ICO founders stealing funds from their own ICOs to give themselves a free bankroll with no financial liabilities or obligations. Phishing is an attack vector one might expect tech savvy end users to avoid. A high percentage falling prey to it could be deemed unlikely from a probability perspective. This thread cites blockchain stocks collapsing by 40% to 90% which seems to indicate the shadiness isn't limited to ICOs but may extend further. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2829312. |
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There's no such thing as intrinsic value! I think the error made with intrinsic value is its painted into a corner of polar opposites where the only purported options are #1 intrinsic value and #2 lacking intrinsic value. Its inaccurate to conclude: anything lacking intrinsic value, has no value. To be fair, we should acknowledge there are many different types of value. The term intrinsic value only defines one type, the lack of which does not exclude other forms of value. Credit cards and crypto currencies having added utility in the form of easier convenience of use and electronic transactions could serve as an example of value existing outside of the "intrinsic". Decentralization could be yet another example of value other than "intrinsic". We might also say that HODL long term stores of value is another positive which "intrinsic value" does not cover. It might be ok for crypto to lack "intrinsic value". The term doesn't define the only form of value and there could be other types which are more important or relevent depending on current events and current political climates. |
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Armed robbers have raided the house of a British virtual currency trader, forcing him to transfer Bitcoins after tying up his wife and threatening him with a gun, British media reported on Monday. The robbery happened on January 22 at the couple's home in the village of Moulsford in southeast England, according to the Daily Mail, which said the cryptocurrency crime was the first of its kind. Four robbers wearing balaclavas broke into the house of Danny Aston, 30, and his wife Amy Jay, 31. A Thames Valley Police spokesman quoted by the Daily Telegraph said only that police were investigating an "aggravated burglary" in Moulsford last week and that the occupants of the house had been "threatened". According to company registry records, Aston and Jay are directors of Aston Digital Currencies, which specialises in managing virtual currency portfolios. The company was created in June 2017 at a time when Bitcoin was trading at around 2,500 euros. It has since risen sharply to a peak of 16,323 euros on December 17 before falling back below 10,000 euros. No arrests have been made but the reports said that Aston may have been targeted because of his high profile in the cryptocurrency community. Using a pseudonym, Aston has carried out more than 100,000 transactions with 16,375 partners. Some of them referred to him online using his real name, which may have led robbers directly to him. Bitcoin is a virtual currency created from computer code that allows anonymous transactions. Unlike a real-world unit such as the US dollar or euro, it has no central bank and is not backed by any government. https://hedgeaccordingly.com/2018/01/armed-robbers-have-raided-the-house-of-a-british-virtual-currency-trader.htmlBetter source if anyone wants it: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/28/britains-first-bitcoin-heist-trader-forced-gunpoint-transfer/No mention of how many BTC was stolen. Apparently this is the first case of bitcoin being physically stolen via force in history. It will be interesting to see if the BTC is recovered. Also interesting: thieves were armed with a gun. The article mentions the person robbed carrying out more than 100,000 bitcoin transactions! That's a lot of transfer fees! I feel like there's an interesting and important angle to this news story that I'm missing. If someone can spot it, please point it out to me! On the positive side, its good no one got hurt. Does anyone think he'll have his funds returned by law enforcement? |
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Notes.
-Tai Tuivasa isn't well known. He is Mark Hunt's training/sparring partner. Mark Hunt has said that Tai Tuivasa hits harder than anyone Mark Hunt has faced throughout his career. Very high praise if true.
-I don't know if Tyson Pedro will win or lose his fight. One thing about him, he has some of the most interesting set ups to his kicks I can remember seeing in the UFC. If anyone bothers watching him fight. Note the set ups he uses.
-I suspect Yoel Romero may only have 2-3 rounds in him before he tires. Yoel may need an early finish.
-Jake Matthews looked like a hot prospect after defeating Johnny Case. Not certain what happened to him. I think he has a lot of injuries and or surgeries that are negatively affecting him.
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Can decentralized technology help the housing market? Yes. Decentralizing banking could have a positive impact on housing markets. For example let's say a crypto currency were designed to work with real estate transactions. Real estate loans could have their annual percentage rates reduced via free market competition introduced as crypto began to compete in what might be described as a centralized and monopolistic housing market run by banks. Reducing APR rates could create a more efficient housing market which might benefit consumers. |
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Hello Everyone!
This will not be a world news. This will not be giant game changer. This will, however be a topic close to me as I am from the Czech republic.
For those who are totally unaware, Czech republic is a small country in the middle of Europe (sometimes called the heart of Europe). But we are one of the biggest BTC miners per head!
Even with all those recent news, Czech republic stays strong in the crypto markets, believing in the blockchain. This can be easily shown by our biggest e-shop with electronic. They started to accept BTC as a mean of payment last year and it has easily become one of the most popular payment options, especially for PC components (mostly for more mining).
Good news! If I remember right: both Iceland and Hungary booted central bankers out of their countries after repaying their debt to banks incurred during the 2008 economic crisis. Am I right in thinking the Czech Republic falls roughly under the same category, in terms of it being politically aligned in opposition to central banks? There are interesting independence movements ongoing around the globe whereby many appear to be taking note of the influence central bankers have upon the world and are deciding to oppose their negative influence. I wish we could do more to support this as americans. |
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Every once in awhile... Alex Jones and InfoWars do a story on wealthy demographics constructing safehouses or bunkers in rural areas to take shelter in after civilization collapses. There are many wealthy CEO's and executives who have helicopters and other measures in place as part of a rapid response scheme. The only thing that comes to mind is, the wealthy are selling all their crypto and stocks and preparing for a big crash. I hate to be doom and gloom but that's the only thing I can think of. People are calling a bear market and selling while they can.
Bitcoin's price decline appears to be market manipulation and a media smear campaign revolving around tether/USDT. For the stock market to drop that much however, in the face of decent economic metrics, could imply things are worse than we think.
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It was another crazy news week, so it's understandable if you missed a small but important announcement from the Treasury Department: The federal government is on track to borrow nearly $1 trillion this fiscal year — President Donald Trump's first full year in charge of the budget. That's almost double what the government borrowed in fiscal year 2017. Here are the exact figures: The U.S. Treasury expects to borrow $955 billion this fiscal year, according to a documents released Wednesday. It's the highest amount of borrowing in six years, and a big jump from the $519 billion the federal government borrowed last year. Treasury mainly attributed the increase to the "fiscal outlook." The Congressional Budget Office was more blunt. In a report this week, the CBO said tax receipts are going to be lower because of the new tax law. The uptick in borrowing is yet another complication in the heated debates in Congress over whether to spend more money on infrastructure, the military, disaster relief and other domestic programs. The deficit is already up significantly, even before Congress allots more money to any of these areas. "We're addicted to debt," says Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He blames both parties for the situation. What's particularly jarring is this is the first time borrowing has jumped this much (as a share of GDP) in a non-recession time since Ronald Reagan was president, says Ernie Tedeschi, a former senior adviser to the U.S. Treasury who is now head of fiscal analysis at Evercore ISI. Under Reagan, borrowing spiked because of a buildup in the military, something Trump is advocating again. Trump didn't mention the debt — or the ongoing budget deficits — in his State of the Union address. The absence of any mention of the national debt was frustrating for Goldwein and others who warn that America has a major economic problem looming. "It is terrible. Those deficits and the debt that keeps rising is a serious problem, not only in the long run, but right now," Harvard economist Martin Feldstein, a former Reagan adviser, told Bloomberg. The White House got a taste of just how problematic this debt situation could get this week. Investors are concerned about all the additional borrowing and the likelihood of higher inflation, which is why the interest rates on U.S. government bonds hit the highest level since 2014. That, in turn, partly drove the worst weekly sell-off in the stock market in two years. The belief in Washington and on Wall Street has long been that the U.S. government could just keep issuing debt because people around the world are eager to buy up this safe-haven asset. But there may be a limit to how much the market wants, especially if inflation starts rising and investors prefer to ditch bonds for higher-returning stocks. "Some of my Wall Street clients are starting to talk recession in 2019 because of these issues. Fiscal policy is just out of control," says Peter Davis, a former tax economist in Congress who now runs Davis Capital Investment Ideas. The Federal Reserve was also buying a lot of U.S. Treasury debt since the crisis, helping to beef up demand. But the Fed recently decided to stop doing that now that the economy has improved. It's another wrinkle as Treasury has to look for new buyers. Tedeschi, the former Treasury adviser to the Obama administration, calls it "concerning, but not a crisis." Still, he says it's a "big risk" to plan on borrowing so much in the coming years. Trump's Treasury forecasts borrowing over $1 trillion in 2019 and over $1.1 trillion in 2020. Before taking office, Trump described himself as the "king of debt," although he campaigned on reducing the national debt. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget predicts the U.S. deficit will hit $1 trillion by 2019 and stay there for a while. The latest borrowing figure - $955 billion - released this week was determined from a survey of bond market participants, who tend to be even faster to react to the changing policy landscape and change their forecasts. Both parties claim they want to be "fiscally responsible," but Goldwein says they both pass legislation that adds to the debt. Politicians argue this is the last time they'll pass a bill that makes the deficit worse, but so far, they just keep going. The latest example of largesse is the GOP tax bill. It's expected to add $1 trillion or more to the debt, according to nonpartisan analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation (and yes, that's after accounting for some increased economic growth). But even before that, Goldwein points to the 2015 extension of many tax cuts and the 2014 delays in Medicare reimbursement cuts. "Every time you feed your addiction, you grow your addiction," says Goldwein. There doesn't seem to be any appetite for budgetary restraint in Washington, but the market may force Congress' hand. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-spending-debt-analysis-20180203-story.html.... I would be interested to know what happens when deficit and debt become unsustainable. When the USSR collapsed, death tolls increased after many russians lost their state funded pension and welfare funds. I don't know what could happen in poor areas of the USA if the federal government defaults causing many in poverty to lose state funded benefits but it could be bad. Recent surveys have also shown a high percentage of military relying on food stamps and assorted aid. There is a chance of social security, healthcare, paid abortions, postal service, firefighters, police & other state run programs & services being defunded. The potential for disaster under a default is fair. Yet we sally forth as if we believe such a thing will have zero effect upon our lives. It is "interesting" to say the least. |
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If I remember right, the media claims tether printed $80 billion dollars out of "thin air" which they utilized to buy bitcoin to keep the price from falling. If you look at the market cap of tether for the quantity of coins they have in circulation, their market cap is only $2.2 billion.
I think most people don't believe the media's claims. Its a myth fabricated to fool those who are new or less knowledgeable about crypto currencies. Perhaps to fool people into selling their bitcoin so that financial firms and banks can purchase them at a discounted price. Its difficult to guess what the motivation or intent behind it is, although there would appear to be some campaign behind it.
The key thing will be whether any real or substantial evidence regarding tether is released. Yes, they are shady. But are they capable of printing $80 billion dollars without anyone noticing? That could be too farfetched to be accurate.
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- Privacy aimed coins - Monero, ZCash, Electroneum, Onion, Verge,...
What do you think will do the governments as far as regulations or even bans with each of the groups? How may the value be affected?
I'm not certain its possible for large scale privacy to exist in an era where surveillance networks like echelon and carnivore are hardwired into ISP's and virtually every data transmission is logged or recorded. Even if deep packet inspection may not yet be implemented perfectly, I seem to remember reading about TOR not being the most secure protocol, years ago. INTERCEPTING TOR TRAFFIC TO SNIFF PASSWORDS OR OTHER DATAOnion routing works by relaying communications through a network of systems in various places. These systems are generally volunteers. Your connection travels through various nodes(it's encrypted), until it reaches the exit node, and then the location(ie the website you're connecting to via port 80). This unencrypted connection on the exit node is what we will be exploiting. http://www.ubertechblog.com/2011/03/intercepting-tor-traffic-to-sniff.html A Researcher Used a Honeypot to Identify Malicious Tor Exit NodesThe Tor network, used everyday by thousands of people around the world to surf the web anonymously and to circumvent internet censorship, depends on its volunteer "operators," the people who run and maintain the network's final set of servers, also called "exit nodes." Whoever controls these exit nodes can potentially see the traffic coming out of the Tor network, and, if they want, spy on it. In an experiment dubbed BADONION, an independent security researcher that only goes by the pseudonym "Chloe" devised a clever way to find out who, among these operators, is maliciously sniffing and intercepting traffic. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/mgbdwv/badonion-honeypot-malicious-tor-exit-nodes I've been out of the loop for years now. Maybe these exploits have been patched by TOR devs. Or maybe not. I would be interested to know the answer to this. |
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Should there not be a mechanism allowing the inheritance of coins which have not be transferred during life to ones loved one? If someone is to pass and not provide the access to their wallets these coins are forever lost.
Food for thought.
Most could opt for secret methods of crypto inheritance. With the death tax (see: estate tax) maxing out around 40% in the united states, I believe most would prefer to avoid a publicly known mechanism of inheritance, not wanting to lose half to taxes. A mass adoption method of inheriting crypto based on software or smartphone apps could have a potential market. An anonymizing service like TOR for crypto inheritance could carry consumer demand. Now that you mention it, this is an interesting topic. I wonder what the de facto consensus is with best standards for ensuring safe and reliable passing of crypto to next of kin. |
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 (Link to screenshot in case image doesn't load): http://i63.tinypic.com/wund44.jpgBitpay hasn't worked for me in months. No "send to" address displays in the payment form. Is it like this for everyone? I never really thought about it. Beginning to wonder now, though.  |
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I have no evidence for this. What makes the most sense to me, via occam's razor / path of least resistance is, crypto exchanges where trades can be made without paying commissions are conspiring on some level to devalue bitcoin. This appears to be coordinated in conjunction with the media "story" claiming tether is artificially propping up bitcoin's value. There may also be a coordinated sell off. Recent news of banks and financial institutions banning bitcoin or refusing to sell crypto to their customers probably doesn't help much, either. Of course, the accusation of tether boosting bitcoin's price is an extraordinary claim. I remember a time when people said extraordinary claims require evidence. Somehow I doubt we'll see any evidence. |
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Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) today announced financial results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2017. Operating cash flow increased 7% to $18.4 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $17.3 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2016. Free cash flow decreased to $8.4 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $10.5 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2016. Free cash flow less lease principal repayments decreased to $3.4 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $6.5 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2016. Free cash flow less finance lease principal repayments and assets acquired under capital leases decreased to an outflow of $1.5 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with an inflow of $4.7 billion for the trailing twelve months ended December 31, 2016. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-com-announces-fourth-quarter-210100782.html.... For those who wonder why retailers like Sears and Sam's Club shut down, this is part of the explanation. Walmat and amazon's greater efficiency earned by cutting middle men out of their supply to distribution chain gives them an advantage making it difficult for rivals to compete in global markets. Old news. Nothing shocking about that. Where things could get interested is, bitcoin's paradigm shift from "trust based" to "trustless" systems could have a similar effect. It could cut middle men out of bitcoin's infrastructure, making it more efficient and superior to classical financial systems like banks. |
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