I have been doing a lot of research and can't come to a clear conclusion, wanted everyone's thoughts.  Has the US Government already made a partial move in order to try some sort of solidification to ensure that the world currency is still going to be backed by a US controlled asset?  USDC has already been used to solidify trade in Venezuela, was this the first step?

“This, I believe, marks really a first where the U.S. is effectively executing a global foreign policy objective with stablecoins for foreign aid because the existing dollar banking system can’t do the job.”

Like with Airtm’s previous efforts, all local residents need to receive the stablecoins is a mobile phone and some way of accessing the internet.

My thought process is that the US government realizes that they can't do this to control a more stable country so they had to start with a country with instability and one with a lackluster government footprint.  Is Venezuela their test bed?  The US government is not going to go down without a fight, they made way too much money having every other currency backed off the USD.

I'm thinking this could be a good opportunity to get involved, especially if USDC is going to act as a pegging instrument against non-US currency.  I'm also thinking, just stay the piss away.

Newbies and oldies alike need to make sure they are aware of this because this is just going to continue to happen, they realize that as a government they can either try to drive the train or end up getting run over by the train. 

Thoughts?

Resources:
https://www.coindesk.com/circle-usdc-venezuela-airtm

I have had several conversations with people outside the forum, and some on the forum, about price manipulation getting ready to occur like you've never seen.  Might be new to board, but not new to trading derivatives.  People need to be fully aware of the risk that this entails.  You thought people committing suicide because of margin was bad, wait until some of these people start trading derivatives, you haven't seen anything yet.  Some interesting points from the article:  https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinshares-and-bnc-support-new-high-performance-defi-derivatives-exchange

Just a snippet of the basics of the article.....

Leverj, a non-custodial derivatives platform based on an Ethereum sidechain, announced on Tuesday their cooperation with leading industry participants to support the launch and marketing of its exchange.

One of the more interesting theories is that this could be a huge play on ETH.  If ETH is going to be the gateway to trading derivatives through coins, ETH will see massive upside. 

To achieve meaningful performance for trading, Leverj uses its in-house Plasma-based scaling solution, Gluon. The system was optimized specifically for high-performance non-custodial trading. Like other Plasma-based systems, it relies on the security of the Ethereum chain to guarantee the safety of the funds.

One of the smartest aspects of this whole project is that you keep custody of your coins.  With so many issues going on with Paypal and other avenues wanting to act like an exchange, but are surely not - this is a breath of fresh air, especially for new individuals that are entering the market.

The platform expects to onboard crypto traders who wish to trade derivatives without losing custody of their funds.

My whole question surrounding this is that you know companies are going to try to bundle derivatives together in order to provide customers with more options to trade.  In the end, they are making the most off of active traders that will enter and exit positions multiple times a day.  So at the end of the day, are we going to see a 2x or 3x bearish derivative on a coin?  It's going to be interesting, thats for sure.

One of the biggest issues I see for new people in the industry is the inability to understand that cryptocurrency is more than just finding and hoarding the almighty BTC.  What is a practical use for blockchain or infrastructure or from alts.  A prime example is Desigual, they are a fashion designer that has decided to utilize blockchain and infuse it within their supply chain.

For the initiative, announced Tuesday, Barcelona-headquartered Desigual will use the Marco blockchain platform from Finboot to track supplies from initial order to arrival at its distribution centers.

The "track and trace" platform will be able to warn of possible delays and help improve insight into delivery operations, all in "near real time," Finboot said.

The ability to be able to utilize any type of cryptocurrency within aspects of business are just going to cement the crytpo and keep solidifying its place within our society.  I feel that we are really on the cusp of greatness within specific segments of an industry.  Blockchain could start leading to tracing on medication or within certain aspects of the medical industry.  For example, using blockchain to identify and solve supply issues for diabetic patients and their need for insulin.  The amount of assistance the crypto industry could provide is endless.

The article is short, but worth the read.

https://www.coindesk.com/fashion-brand-desigual-turns-to-blockchain-tech-for-supply-chain-visibility

I know there has been a few discussions/posts based on Paypal's "new" ability to buy cryptocurrency.  I have said it in one or two posts, but newbies, oldies and anybodies need to proceed with extreme caution.  I'm still checking to find more articles to verify that this is happening, but I am not surprised at all that Paypal has started limiting (basically freezing or suspending accounts) for people that have made multiple trades within a specific amount of time.  This is just one example, but I am sure that there is going to be an outpouring of articles/social media posts that are going to be coming with the exact same issue. 

Paypal is notorious for just freezing or closing accounts for minor issues or what they perceive as anything out of the ordinary.  Everyone needs to proceed with extreme caution, and my advice would be simply to just stay the heck away from Paypal involved cryptocurrency.  As stated best in one article, "If they are not your private keys, the BTC is not yours."  The article below was initially taken down, but it is back up.

Don't want to see anyone lose their rear ends because of Paypal shenanigans. Stay Safe!

https://cointelegraph.com/news/paypal-suspends-user-for-crypto-trading-using-paypal-s-own-service

One of the biggest issues I'm having with choosing newer, or revitalized, Alts is making the decision on whether to go with a basket of Alts or pick a select few.  I have a very technical background and have traded options for 15+ years successfully.  Here is my dilemma when crossing the bridge in my mind:

1A.  Application
1B.  Adoption

Notice 1A and 1B, I can't figure out which one is more important for investment purposes.  I am looking at some of these altcoins for the long term, minimum 5 years.  For example, right now I'm looking at 2 specific altcoins, STX and VET.

I see STX having a great first step to enter the industry, they focus on security and infrastructure breaches for lack of better terminology.  Here's my problem, adoption is going to do great - my concern is that the application is either going to break down or just be horrible from the get go.  There is virtually no way to 100% safe, and to replace the internet - my mind can't go there right now.

I see VET being a great model for a business that want to tie everything together and they have a great model to target different business areas.  They want to drive all of the cores within a business together from infrastructure to the general flow of information.  I see a great application here that could really be used globally; however, unless there is a significant adoption of bitcoin and Altcoins globally - VET could potentially have a hard time.

First off, I'm not looking for the next Altcoin that's going to become the next BTC.  I'm looking to find Altcoins that are going to force a foothold in the crytpo market or be able to find a specific niche.

So should I be focusing on finding an Altcoin that firmly checks both 1A/1B?  Should 1A hold more weight than 1B, or vice versa?  Should I look for a strong check in one area and a mediocre check in another?  Or is my thinking on Altcoins completely wrong.......