[2017-11-05] Saudi Arabia arrests Billionaire Prince - Could Uncertainty Boost B

[Beef Coin]

Saudi Arabia arrests Billionaire Prince - Could Uncertainty Boost Bitcoin?

Political uncertainty in the Middle East has risen to an all-time high, with Saudi Arabia arresting the richest Arab in the world, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Could this result in a shift to Bitcoin, the digital safe haven, in the Middle East?

Saudi Arabia's crackdown

Saudi Arabia has initiated a sweeping crackdown, ostensibly against corruption, today. King Salman has ordered the arrest of senior princes and ousted many senior officials from ministerial roles. The list of people arrested includes Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the richest Arab in the world.

Prince Alwaleed was in the news recently for his negative views on Bitcoin, saying that Bitcoin would face an Enron-like collapse. While the public reason given by King Salman for the arrests is his drive against corruption, many commentators believe that the King could be clearing the route for his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to take over as the King.

Qatar under siege

From early June 2017, Qatar's neighbors - Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and UAE have imposed a blockade on the country, accusing the country of harboring Islamic militants and maintaining a relationship with Iran, Saudi Arabia's staunch enemy.

Qatar is a small country in the Middle East, with large natural gas reserves. According to the World Bank, it is the country with the highest per capita GDP based on purchasing power parity ($127.5K in 2016). It will also play host to the 2022 Fifa World Cup.

Many believe that the actual reason for Qatar's neighbors imposing a blockade is Qatar's support for Al Jazeera, a news organization which has aired views contrary to the established position in the Middle East. Given the absolute power enjoyed by governments in the Middle East, an independent news channel in the region has raised many hackles.

Bahrain on the verge of collapse

Bahrain is one of the smallest economies in the oil-rich Middle East, with its GDP five percent the size of that of Saudi Arabia. Its economy is oil dependent and the recent lull in oil prices has resulted in its economy getting strained.

The Central Bank of Bahrain has pegged its currency to the US dollar (0.376 Bahrain Dinar = 1 US dollar), but this has come under strain with dwindling foreign currency reserves. According to Bloomberg, Bahrain has approached Saudi Arabia for support to stave off a financial crisis and impending devaluation. Currency devaluation in Bahrain would spark a contagion effect in the Middle East, where most currencies are pegged to the US dollar.

Bitcoin rises when governments screw up

Misconduct by governments, either in the political or monetary space, results in people trying to find safe havens for their wealth. Traditionally this has been gold, but Bitcoin is fast developing as an alternate safe haven, with its decentralized and boundary-less nature.

The Middle East is strategically important, both because of its vast oil and natural gas reserves and the tremendous wealth of its citizens. If rich sheikhs in the Middle East think that parking a fraction of their wealth in Bitcoin makes sense given the uncertainty in the region, Bitcoin's price could scale new highs.

Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/saudi-arabia-arrests-billionaire-prince-could-uncertainty-boost-bitcoin

[jjacob]

The Middle East has always been a problematic area for the world. Unfortunately, they control the oil reserves. Authoritarian governments (who fill the Middle East) definitely would not like Bitcoin, as it cannot be controlled by their military might. I expect a lot more dissidents in such regions to start using Bitcoin

[shantoote]

The Middle East has always been a problematic area for the world. Unfortunately, they control the oil reserves. Authoritarian governments (who fill the Middle East) definitely would not like Bitcoin, as it cannot be controlled by their military might. I expect a lot more dissidents in such regions to start using Bitcoin

Saudi Arabia  and Dubai now start using new technology so that may be accept it soon

[richardsNY]

This comes very soon after the prince having spoken out against Bitcoin some days ago. Eventually these are the type of governments that will end up forcing people (regardless of the arrests this article refers to) in the direction of Bitcoin. We've seen a few examples already where people take things into their own hands, and thus distance themselves from the government that only pushes them further into troubles. After all, it's not for nothing that the local Bitcoin volumes in that country have spiked considerably this year. The smart people surely have taken early precautions to avoid potential damaging situations, where the rest will start to act when things become real bad.

[iamTom123]

What a story! Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the richest Arab in the world, made some headlines last week for his negative comments about Bitcoin and how it would be collapsing soon. Little did he knew by then that it would be him who can be facing some sort of a "collapse" in jail. Now, this should be a big reminder to Mr. Jamie Dimon, who knows one of these days somebody credible can be accusing the man of corruption too in the firm he is managing (am just speculating here so don't ask me for source, okay?).

This has become funny. As there are many people who are professing to be experts in Bitcoin and have become prophets of doom for cryptocurrency, the value of Bitcoin is rampaging like a bull and can be poised to reach $10,000 within this year (at least give or take some numbers). I think there is now a correlation between negative criticisms and the increase in value for Bitcoin...the more these people talk about the impending doom the more Bitcoin bloom. The more that these leaders of the industries about to be disrupted by Bitcoin, the more Bitcoin is unstoppable...maybe the market has already enough lessons in the past as these people certainly are not the people that can kill Bitcoin.

I am wishing the rich prince all the best of health and wealth and may he find his days in prison shortened.

[panju1]

This comes very soon after the prince having spoken out against Bitcoin some days ago. Eventually these are the type of governments that will end up forcing people (regardless of the arrests this article refers to) in the direction of Bitcoin. We've seen a few examples already where people take things into their own hands, and thus distance themselves from the government that only pushes them further into troubles. After all, it's not for nothing that the local Bitcoin volumes in that country have spiked considerably this year. The smart people surely have taken early precautions to avoid potential damaging situations, where the rest will start to act when things become real bad.

Exactly. When you have authoritarian governments, it is inevitable that people will find refuge in Bitcoin. Saudi Arabia and all the middle eastern countries are ruled by kings and dictators. They can seize your conventional wealth in the blink of an eye.

[Diced90]

I honestly do know how this story was dragged under the tag name of bitcoin when the story points in the direction of corruption and hierarchy...

Whatever happens hope the prince can dig himself out of this.

[Lancusters]

The Middle East has always been a problematic area for the world. Unfortunately, they control the oil reserves. Authoritarian governments (who fill the Middle East) definitely would not like Bitcoin, as it cannot be controlled by their military might. I expect a lot more dissidents in such regions to start using Bitcoin

Control of oil has rendered them a disservice. After humanity will stop using oil as fuel, they can remain without a livelihood. The higher the oil price the better to use alternative technologies. It is possible that the low cost of energy will remain the only way of generating income is active in the mining business.

[Kingofbitcoin12345]

That is fast revenge,, not truly from bitcoin but to the bad things he has done before and I think the negative comment he made is now can be seen as a comment from a corrupt prince.. I’ll be happy with it,, i need to have some beer now to celebrate.. I would Jamie Dimon JPMorgan CEO to be on the next line.. Then that would be a festival already for the bitcoin community..

Im not really a bad person but I think they deserve to be on that position..

[hatshepsut93]

People were always trying to tie Bitcoin's rise to some political events, but it's simply wrong to say that Bitcoin rises because something bad happened in some country, as it can't really explain how Bitcoin increased in its value more than 10 times during the last year. This effect of people buying Bitcoin as a hedge against governments or traditional assets might be true in some cases, but Bitcoin is still risky and volatile, so most traders tend to ignore it (or just hodl long term) - so Bitcoin is unlikely to actually react to some news that don't directly involve it. The simpler explanation for Bitcoin's rise would be natural adoption, interest from investors and just speculation.