Bitcoin's main use case for about 4 years now has been an easy way to trade altcoins.  Sadly, this is what has become of it.  The Lightning network is a poor substitute for Bitcoin in my opinion, but it could be the technology needed for Bitcoin to have a metaverse presence as well as a way to trade NFTs with much cheaper fees than some of the more popular networks.  The problem is that development tools and hubs of communication are few and far between, along with the toxic Bitcoin maximalist attitude that Bitcoin will retain it's first mover advantage forever even if nobody is using anymore.  Hopefully time will weed out the toxic attitude, as massive altcoin outperformance of Bitcoin hasn't.  Honestly, I think if it wasn't for Tesla and MicroStrategy I think the ETH/BTC flippening would be much closer than it is to happening, and am concerned that a handful of entities is really all that is stopping this phenomenon currently as every new entrant in the crypto space I've met in the last 4 years has a much larger altcoin portfolio than exposure to Bitcoin (if any at all). 

https://www.blockchaincenter.net/flippening/

Will Smith made an entire movie about this, complete with big scary fear sensing monsters and a young boy's struggle to contain his emotions.  Not a bad flick actually.  The movie was called After Earth and here's the quote I'm referring to:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSKzLtRzY78

I've seen so many people make bad decisions out of fear.  I think it's best to train yourself to not have fear.  Whether this be with desensitizing yourself to scary situations or just making a conscious effort to disregard emotions that will be harmful in intense situations.  Personally, I like to watch lots of horror movies late at night and put myself in situations that others may find uncomfortable.  As a result, when in dangerous situations I do not cower in fear, but step forward with an adrenaline rush and sense of excitement.

I think it's just a bad fit.  Vogel is a defense first coach, coaching a bunch of aging hall of famers who have "saved energy" by not playing defense most of their careers.  The defense first mentality just isn't going to work with them.  That's why you're seeing young guys like Malik Monk thrive in the system while everyone else is seemingly struggling.  They need to get a run and gun score 120+ per game coach in there and see what these hall of famers can do.  The only guy that comes to mind is Mike D'Antoni but I think his days of being a head coach are over.  I really believe that's the style of play they should be going with.  Let Dwight Howard handle the defensive responsibilities and let everyone else run and gun.  This small ball defense first system is not going to work with this roster and I can't be the only one who knows it.  I'm still expecting Vogel to say goodbye during the all star break.

Nice troll.  I'm assuming this is more about trying to stir up a pot and get some attention then any question about sex right from the start.

You've made your religious beliefs very clear here, but I'm not sure that not participating in fun activities is as godly as you may believe it is.  Again, nice troll to anger the atheists.

I don't know how healthy it is for your prostate to go without a release, but I'm sure it won't kill you quickly.  I honestly have no idea.  I'm assuming at some point a release wouldn't be voluntary, but who knows.  This isn't something I'm really knowledgeable about.

His huge what?  This is the line that really cemented the troll.  Sort of displays that the whole post was a joke. 

All in all, not a bad troll.  It's got God, sexual insinuation, comedic relief, and is sure to anger some people.  I give it a 7/10.

Looks like we're slapping the top of the recent trading range here.  I would assume a breakout above $39K would lead to a retest of $43K.  I'd probably trim a little at that point of whatever you grabbed at the bottom at $33K if you're a trader.  If not, this is still an exciting level as a breakout above $43K would be extremely bullish and I think would probably move us up over $50K.  There's a couple resistance points around $53K & $57K after that, but then we'd pretty much be looking at retesting $69K at that point...  I'm not sure if we've got the momentum for all of that yet, but I do think we'll probably retest $43K as soon as this week.  We might be dependent upon the news cycle to go any further than that.  All eyes on Biden regulation as we see where this market wants to go.

Rough day for those picks.  Honestly, I would have chosen the same.  I didn't watch anything but highlights from the Bengals and Chiefs, but I used to date a girl from Kansas City and she left a lasting impression on me, so I never bet against KC. 

The 49ers game was a great one also.  At the end of the 3rd quarter I was even texting some friends who adamantly hate the 49ers just to stir them up a bit.  It worked but then everything in the game changed.  When that 49ers defender dropped the pass that literally went right to him with nobody else around, it felt like it was only a matter of time before the Rams won.  I know that guy is going to spend his offseason wishing he made that catch...  I know you can't blame a loss on one guy and it isn't solely his fault, but if he makes that catch (99 out of 100 times he probably would have) then the game is over and they're going to the Super Bowl.  I'm sure he had a rough morning today.

Great games though.  What we all love to see.  Hopefully the Super Bowl doesn't disappoint.

I blame Frank Vogel. He used to be one of my favorite coaches before this year, but he’s absolutely terrible for the Lakers. A team with 5 hall of famers and Malik Monk is leading them… Dwight Howard playing at a top level and getting next to no minutes is downright disrespectful. If Frank Vogel is still the Lakers coach after the all star break then I’ll be shocked. He’s a great guy and like I said one of my favorite coaches, but he’s got to go if the Lakers want to have a chance of getting beyond the first round of the playoffs, and to be honest if he’s the coach I don’t see them getting past the play-in game.

Bitcoin is valuable because there are people who want to buy it.  This value is derived from Bitcoin's blockchain being a publicly visible decentralized and immutable ledger with the utmost security of available options. 

The game theory at play with the mining aspect has also led to massive investment.  This investment was made by major players globally and they will protect their investment by purchasing the underlying currency if needed.  This leads to a feedback loop of sorts that will continue to cause the price to rise until one day there has been so much investment made that needs to be recouped, that it surpasses the funds available to prop up the underlying currency, and it crashes.  No idea if this will happen in 5 years, 25 years, or 150 years, but it seems inevitable from a long term view.  Technology will continue to present better solutions to the problems that Bitcoin fixes, and at some point I believe that will overcome the network and first mover effects.  Until then, dance while the music is playing.

I just can't wait until the press conference...  Maybe a drinking game where you take a sip every time he uses the word, "complicated" in his speech.  I feel like every time he discusses anything, that's his go-to saying.  Everyone else just doesn't understand because things are so complicated only the great intellect of Joe Biden could possibly grasp it.  If there's one thing that inspires confidence on the world stage, it's considering everything extremely complicated. 

I learned at an early age that if people think things are complicated, it's because they lack understanding.  If someone understands something completely, they can describe it to you in very simple terms.  Beware the person who hesitates to explain something because it's complicated.  That only means they don't understand it. 

As for Biden's view on Bitcoin, I'm pretty sure he'll say, "it's complicated."

If only that pesky sun stayed up 24 hours a day...

I think rather than looking to install enough solar panels to mine on 100% renewable energy, people should think of mining on renewable energy as a way to elevate their financial benefit from overproduction of electricity.  For example, there are a lot of solar systems in use throughout the country that overproduce electricity during certain hours of the day.  Currently, many of these producers get compensated very poorly for energy they add to the grid.  Mining crypto is a good way to take that excess energy and profit at a much higher rate.  Additionally, at night it can save wasting energy on heating and instead put that toward generating crypto assets.

So instead of looking at mining as a problem that needs to be solved with a ton of solar panels, look at it as a solution for how to benefit from excess energy production. 

My understanding is that the government has a very distasteful view of stablecoins like USDT and wants to replace them with their own digital dollar eventually.  While going hard after exchanges that aren't currently requiring KYC is inevitable, Biden's administration seems to want to accelerate that process.  I imagine at some point exchanges that choose to use USDT instead of actually dollars will also be facing some regulatory fire.  The % returns available on these stablecoins is too much of a thread to the current system.  With such a massive amount of funds globally stuck in negative real yielding bonds, USDT has become a real threat to their system.  The fact people can take out mortgages on their house and dump the funds into USDT and reap benefits from a massive interest rate spread is terrifying to those in power.  This couldn't possibly last forever. 

It’s out there charging. I’m glad we’re seeing more and more shots of this beast. From the pictures you can see the charging port’s location confirmed. Hard to believe it could be another two years for these things to hit the streets. I think that has more to do with supply/production issues then anything else.

https://insideevs.com/news/564011/tesla-cybertruck-prototype-spotted-supercharging/amp/

Starting to sound like the Lakers are going to get some help soon.  They're pursuing Buddy Hield pretty hard and the Kings seem willing to dump him due to his unhappiness the last few years with the team.  I think he'd be a great fit with LeBron, and would allow for a pretty amazing lineup of Westbrook, Hield, LeBron, AD, & Howard.  A couple years ago that would have passed for an All Star team.  Not to mention having Carmelo & DeAndre Jordan coming off the bench...  I really think Hield is a missing piece they need and for the sake of wanting to see the Lakers and Nets in the Finals I hope they can manage to pick him up as he's one of the best shooters in the league.

https://www.yahoo.com/now/arizona-senator-introduces-bill-bitcoin-213046518.html

More information being made available about this bill now.  Pretty interesting to think taxes could be paid in Bitcoin.  I remember this was an absolutely absurd thought as recent as half a decade ago.  I still have my doubts as to whether this will actually pass, but the fact it's even on the table is a pretty massive step forward that I thought would be extremely unlikely to occur for decades if ever.  Pretty amazing how some politicians have embraced Bitcoin and acknowledged the US Dollar is doomed as a result of overprinting.

It came down to the last shot by Westbrook. He made 2x 3’s and 2x layups before taking that last shot for the win. A shame it didn’t go down. Westbrook had the most points by a Laker in a half at Staples Center (Crypto.com Arena) since Kobe Bryant in his final game. Pretty impressive. Of course Dwight Howard didn’t get any minutes because why would Frank Vogel play his best big man since AD was out… I think the Lakers are just letting Vogel keep his job until the All Star break. It’s obvious he needs to go.

I’m looking forward to watching this one. It’ll be the first full game I’ve seen with LaMelo Ball in action. Hopefully AD will be back on the floor and I haven’t heard much about why LeBron was out so I’m not sure if he’ll be playing or not. Westbrook vs Ball should make it worth watching regardless. I know from LaMelo’s highlights and having few nationally televised games that he’ll be looking to put on a show for ESPN in an hour from now. As far as who wins… I think I’m going to have to say Lakers on this one, but I’ll be keeping my money on the sidelines.

According to Woj it looks like the Sacramento Kings are no longer interested in Ben Simmons.

https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1487144548518219782

I'm guessing Philly wouldn't accept any deal that didn't include Fox and the Kings weren't willing to part with him for Simmons.  A shame, because I think Simmons on the Kings would have been a good fit for everyone.  This definitely hurts the Sixers as Simmons' trade value is now even lower without their prime suitor.  Now I just hope we see some sort of massive trade involving multiple teams.  Maybe Houston/Lakers/Sixers or some combo with Portland.  Ben Simmons definitely isn't helping his career or reputation with this dragging on so long.

I've been telling people for the last 4 years that the time to sell would be not a price, but a point in time.  I chose early December of 2021.  When all of my friends started hitting me up as Bitcoin was pushing up towards $50K and asking if they should buy in, I let them know that we were in the 9th inning of this run and the advice that I repeatedly gave to those close to me was this...

"It's ok if you want to speculate on Bitcoin during the bubbles, but know that if you're still holding crypto come Christmas time you're probably going to lose a lot of money."

While I may not have hit the date exactly, considering the time frame I think I did pretty well.  Nevertheless, nobody listened and now I'm hearing about how crypto is a scam that cost them half their money.  Oh well.  On to the next cycle.  I would advise people to buy big if it hits sub-$10K in the next 2 years and don't forget to sell your stack in December of 2025 this time.

A bill has been put forward in Arizona to make Bitcoin legal tender within the state!

Absolutely amazing.  I'm not sure if I ever believed this would happen.

https://www.azleg.gov/legtext/55leg/2R/bills/SB1341P.pdf

It remains to be seen what sort of support will be behind this bill, but it gives an optimistic outlook on the future anyway.  I remember saying lots of things about what would happen when this day came.  I guess we get an official opportunity to see how far away from this being a reality we are.  So proud to be a citizen of Arizona right now.  Almost makes up for what happened during the last presidential election.

If you've taken the ride from $200 to $30,000 without selling, might as well see how high it will go.  A smart man once said to run your winners long and cut your losers short.  Bitcoin has been a long running winner for quite some time now.  Not selling is better than many people who have purchased Bitcoin during that period.  I can imagine though if you are sitting on a big stack and will owe a ton of money in taxes, you have to be toying with the idea of moving to Puerto Rico right?  I've never been myself, but I have to admit that spending 7 months there to save a bundle on taxes is more than just a little tempting.  I think if Bitcoin did go parabolic before summertime hits, I might find myself there.