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Bill Gates: Crypto Has No Valuable Output — It’s Not Adding to Society Like Other Investments

22/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Bill Gates: Crypto Is 'Not Adding to Society Like Other Investments'

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has explained why he does not own any bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. “I like investing in things that have valuable output,” Gates said, adding that crypto is “not adding to society like other investments.”

Bill Gates on Crypto, and Why He Isn’t Investing

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates shared his opinion about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session Thursday.

One of the questions he was asked was “What do you think about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies?” Gates replied:

I don’t own any. I like investing in things that have valuable output.

He added: “The value of companies is based on how they make great products. The value of crypto is just what some other person decides someone else will pay for it so not adding to society like other investments.”

Gates’ stance on cryptocurrency echoes that of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett. The Oracle of Omaha explained in detail why he would not invest in bitcoin or cryptocurrency earlier this month.

“It doesn’t produce anything,” Buffett described BTC, noting that he wouldn’t pay $25 for all of the bitcoin in the world. “What would I do with it? I’d have to sell it back to you one way or another. It isn’t going to do anything,” he opined.

The Microsoft co-founder and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has long been a critic of bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

In February last year, he said he didn’t own bitcoin, adding that he has taken “a neutral view.” However, he also said crypto was one tech innovation the world would be better off without. Gates noted: “The way cryptocurrency works today allows for certain criminal activities. It’d be good to get rid of that.”

Gates also commented on Tesla CEO Elon Musk owning bitcoin in February last year. “Elon has tons of money, and he’s very sophisticated, so I don’t worry that his bitcoin will randomly go up or down,” Microsoft co-founder said. “If you have less money than Elon, you should probably watch out,” he warned.

What do you think about Bill Gates’ comments about bitcoin and cryptocurrency? Let us know in the comments section below.

Rich Dad Poor Dad’s Robert Kiyosaki Thinks Bitcoin Could Bottom Out at $9K — Reveals Why He Remains Bullish

22/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has explained why he is still bullish about bitcoin. He’s waiting for the cryptocurrency to test a new bottom before getting in, which he indicated could be as low as $9K.

Kiyosaki Believes the Price of Bitcoin Could Fall to $9K

The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, is still bullish about bitcoin. He’s waiting for the price of BTC to test a new bottom before getting in.

Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries.

Kiyosaki tweeted Wednesday, “I remain bullish on bitcoin’s future.” He added that he’s waiting for bitcoin to test a new bottom, suggesting that it could be $20K, $14K, $11K, or even $9K.

The famous author proceeded to explain why he’s still bullish about bitcoin. The Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department are corrupt organizations and they will self-destruct before they regain honesty, integrity, and moral compass, Kiyosaki described.

Last week, Kiyosaki tweeted that he’s waiting for the bottom before getting into bitcoin. At the time, he expected the bottom to be around $17K but later said that it could even be lower, at $11K.

This was also not the first time Kiyosaki has expressed his distrust towards the Biden administration, the Treasury, and the Fed. The famous author has also been recommending bitcoin to investors for quite some time.

In March, Kiyosaki said the U.S. dollar was about to implode, blaming President Biden for causing inflation. He recommended gold, silver, bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and solana (SOL) as investments at the time.

However, Kiyosaki also previously warned that crypto is not without its problem. He cautioned that eventually, the government will seize all cryptocurrencies and fold them into a government crypto. Nonetheless, he said that the Russia-Ukraine war is “giving rise to crypto as a safer haven than government fake fiat money.”

What do you think about Robert Kiyosaki’s comments? Let us know in the comments section below.

Kevin O’Leary Expects US Crypto Regulations to Come Out After Midterm Elections

21/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, says U.S. crypto regulations will not come out until after the midterm elections. He explained that President Joe Biden “is not interested in discussing crypto” when his approval ratings have sunk to record lows. O’Leary also cited other factors, including double-digit inflation and high food and gas prices.

Kevin O’Leary on Crypto Regulation, Biden’s Policy

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary talked about bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation in an interview with Stansberry Research, published Friday.

He was asked how far away the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is from approving a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

“It’s a long way away,” O’Leary replied. “That’s not what’s going to happen first. I think what’s going to happen first is we are going to see policy on stablecoins.” He cited two bills that have been proposed for the regulation of stablecoins. One was introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty and the other by Senator Pat Toomey.

Noting that a bill on stablecoins will be easy to pass after the midterm elections, he emphasized:

Nothing’s gonna happen until after the midterms. Biden is not interested in discussing crypto when his poll ratings are, you know whatever it is, sub-31%. That’s not a place where he wants to go, so you’re gonna have to wait until after the midterms.

Mr. Wonderful noted that when Biden issued the encouraging executive order on crypto, his ratings were higher. A new poll shows that President Joe Biden’s approval rating dipped to the lowest point of his presidency in May; only 39% of U.S. adults approve of his performance as president.

The U.S. midterm elections are scheduled for Nov. 8. If the Republican Party gains control of either or both chambers, it will have the power to thwart the president’s plans.

O’Leary explained that crypto is not one of the “issues that when you are declining in the polls, you become a champion of. That doesn’t help you.”

Noting that “The market is correcting … People are getting gas at the pump, going to the driving season, at unheard-of prices the last 20 years. The price of protein’s up 20% to 40%,” the Shark Tank star said:

Biden’s facing close to double-digit inflation … He’s not sitting around worrying about crypto.

In addition, O’Leary described that there are a lot of different proposals coming out of the SEC around climate change, crypto, and bitcoin mining. “So it’s a very volatile situation right now,” he said.

Mr. Wonderful was also asked if he thinks this crypto winter will be a long one and where the market will head now.

“The forecasts for bitcoin have never been accurate. No one’s been able to forecast its volatility,” he opined. “And you know, the speculation that it was going to be a hedge against inflation was just flat out wrong.” He continued:

I’d argue that the volatility of bitcoin is going to remain very akin to what Amazon was for the first 15 years — 30% to 50% corrections every 12 months.

He explained the reason was that “There was no institutional support in the early days of Amazon.” The Shark Tank star asserted: “That’s the same right now for bitcoin … People talk about institutions owning it. That’s just not true. They don’t own any of it and they won’t until the SEC rules on it.”

What do you think about the comments by Kevin O’Leary? Let us know in the comments section below.

ETH Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin Says The Merge Could Happen in August, There’s Also ‘Risk of Delay’

21/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Following the statements from Ethereum developer Preston Van Loon at the Permissionless conference, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has further confirmed The Merge will likely happen in August. Buterin noted, however, that it’s quite possible there’s still a risk of delay, and The Merge could happen in September or October 2022.

The Merge Could Happen in August, Buterin Says

Just recently, Vitalik Buterin spoke at the ETH Shanghai Web 3.0 Developer Summit and Ethereum’s co-founder discussed the highly-anticipated proof-of-stake (PoS) transition. The Merge is scheduled to go live on Ethereum’s testnet Ropsten in 18 days on June 8, 2022.
During the ETH Shanghai Summit, Buterin explained that the transition will be a major test for the entire Ethereum ecosystem. “This will be a major test, larger than any of the tests that we have done before,” Buterin stressed. “Taking a large existing test network with many applications with proof-of-work, moving into proof-of-stake.”

Furthermore, Buterin confirmed that The Merge may be implemented by August, as ETH software developer Preston Van Loon had said the same at the Permissionless conference. However, while Buterin did mention the month of August, he also eluded to delays.
“If there are no problems then the merge will happen in August,” the Ethereum co-founder said. “But of course, there’s always a risk of problems. There’s also a risk of delays. And so September is possible and October is possible as well,” Buterin added.
Meanwhile, The Merge is the first of Ethereum’s major upgrades following the London upgrade, which implemented ETH’s burn mechanism. Following The Merge, Ethereum will implement The Surge, The Verge, The Purge, and finally The Splurge.
The Surge aims to help improve scaling by leveraging zero-knowledge rollups (ZK-rollups) via sharding techniques. Ethereum’s The Verge transition will apply Verkle trees in order to achieve statelessness by using the Merkle proof upgrade.

The Purge will add an EVM simplification track and eliminate historical data and technical debt, according to the Ethereum roadmap. Finally, The Splurge revolves around “Miscellaneous but important extras.”
Buterin also talked about The Surge and noted that after these two upgrades (Merge & Surge), Ethereum will be “a great system.”

What do you think about Vitalik Buterin’s comments about The Merge and the Ethereum roadmap? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Draft Law About NFTs Submitted to Russian Parliament

21/05/2022 by Idelto Editor

Lawmakers have filed a bill with the State Duma aimed at introducing the term NFTs to Russian legislation. The authors of the draft say the rights of those who own non-fungible tokens need to be protected as Russians are currently dealing with NFTs at their own risk.

Russian Deputies Propose Amendments Legally Defining NFTs

Members of the lower house of Russian parliament, the Duma, have put forward a draft law that will incorporate the term “NFT-tokens” into the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The sponsors of the bill, Vladislav Davankov and Anton Tkachev, are from the parliamentary group of the liberal New People party.

The explanatory note to the bill, Tass news agency reported, states that the initiative aims to “recognize NFT-tokens as non-fungible tokens of unique digital assets (images, videos or other content) in the form of non-fungible data stored in a distributed ledger system (blockchain system).”

“We need to protect the rights of NFT owners,” said Tkachev, quoted by the party’s press service. He pointed out that at present the legal concept of non-fungible tokens does not exist in Russian law and people continue to make transactions with NFT tokens at their own risk. He further elaborated:

Things have moved forward with cryptocurrencies, but an NFT is not a digital currency but a digital certificate of ownership, that is, an object of intellectual property, which is why we propose to regulate NFTs as intellectual property.

While Russian authorities have been taking steps to comprehensively regulate the country’s crypto space, Russia’s current and upcoming legislation does not explicitly mention NFTs. The term digital financial assets (DFAs), introduced with a law which went into force in January 2021, partially covers cryptocurrencies and some types of tokens.

A new bill “On Digital Currency,” which was submitted by the Ministry of Finance in February, is expected to be adopted this year. It has been designed to fill the remaining regulatory gaps in the nation’s legislation. It has already won the support of the federal government in Moscow, while the Central Bank of Russia remains opposed to the legalization of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

Do you think the State Duma will approve the new legislation for non-fungible tokens? Tell us in the comments section below.