Perspective, opinion, and commentary on bitcoin, altcoins, and cryptocurrency for people who want to focus on the big picture. Don't sweat the day-to-day. It's cryptocurrency - relax and enjoy the ride!
4 Nov 2023 5 minute read 2 comments MarkHelfman
On November 3, 2023, Citizens Bank collapsed. Its closure marked the fifth US bank failure of 2023, the most bank failures in a single year since 2017. After a few years of calm, people in the US rediscovered a hard truth: Even the safest assets a...
31 Oct 2023 6 minute read 2 comments MarkHelfman
The Fed, the US’s central bank, will soon meet to decide what to do about interest rates. While nobody expects a rate hike, the Fed says people still have too many jobs and make too much money. It needs to “drain liquidity” and “weaken the labor mark...
25 Oct 2023 4 minute read 10 comments MarkHelfman
With bitcoin’s price breaking above $30,000, the cryptosphere seems locked in a “bull or bear market” conflict. Bitcoin’s price keeps going up but it feels like a bear market. Leading indicators and social media tell you the world's about to fall off...
20 Oct 2023 7 minute read 4 comments MarkHelfman
Yesterday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dropped two more charges against Ripple for selling its XRP crypto the wrong way. The score stands at Ripple 3, SEC 0. Ripple isn’t the first crypto business to defeat the regulators. SEC Cha...
16 Oct 2023 2 minute read 1 comment MarkHelfman
It's a tough time to predict what’s going to happen with cryptocurrency. Some people insist a global recession will crush the market. China’s in rough shape. The Israel-Hamas conflict could spark oil embargoes or World War 3. Ukraine-Russia, too. Th...
12 Oct 2023 2 minute read 5 comments MarkHelfman
Shortly before Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX trial started, Bloomberg reporter Zeke Faux published an anti-crypto book, Number Go Up. I haven't read it and don't plan to read it—not just because he didn't read any of my books, but also because I'm pretty s...
26 May 2023 3 minute read 1 comment MarkHelfman
Did you hear the news? Big crypto investor Paradigm dropped crypto and web3 from its branding. Good for them. A lot of other crypto VCs failed before they could pivot. Julius Caesar called this thousands of years ago when he said “I came, I saw, I...
26 May 2023 19 minute read 24 comments MarkHelfman
By request, I'm posting the May 2023 monthly issue of Crypto is Easy here. Enjoy! In last month’s issue, I looked at the shifting paradigm as we potentially end the mildest bear market (statistically) in crypto’s history. In this month’s issue, I o...
7 Apr 2023 1 minute read 3 comments MarkHelfman
Bitcoin’s price is on a tear and the rest of the crypto market’s zooming, too. Altseason seems like it’s just around the corner. Nobody’s talking about bear markets anymore. Crypto is Up. Is the Bottom In? Does that mean it’s time to stack some celeb...
4 Apr 2023 3 minute read 9 comments MarkHelfman
In February, IMF’s Executive Board published their Elements of Effective Policies for Crypto Assets. In this report, they acknowledge how quickly crypto technology is evolving, how poorly governments have adapted to its usage, and how significantly i...
