Int the world of traditional finance, certain names are used as references. Paul Tudor Jones is one of those whose opinion counts more than others. Managing currently a hedge fund with nearly 40 billion dollars assets, Paul Tudor Jones became a legend on October 19, 1987.

This day corresponds to Black Monday, during which all the world markets experienced a huge correction. During Black Monday, the Dow Jones lost almost 23%. Hardly anyone had seen such a fall coming. No one except Paul Tudor Jones.

Shortly before the crash, Paul Tudor Jones came to the conclusion that Wall Street was heading straight for the wall. Paul Tudor Jones formed this opinion by conducting a thorough technical analysis of the S&P 500, but also by analyzing the historical data of the index.

In order to take advantage of this, Paul Tudor Jones went massively short U.S. stocks. On Black Monday, Paul Tudor Jones won over $100 million.

Since this episode became legendary, Paul Tudor Jones’ opinions have logically been listened carefully.

In the past, Paul Tudor Jones has never been a Bitcoin fan. Far from being as fierce an opponent as Warren Buffett, he confessed that he did not especially want to position himself on Bitcoin due to his lack of confidence in the queen of cryptocurrencies.

Paul Tudor Jones opts for Bitcoin to hedge against the great monetary inflation

The fact that Paul Tudor Jones wasn’t especially keen on buying Bitcoin in the past makes what happened on May 7, 2020 even more interesting.

In a letter to his investors, Paul Tudor Jones made a statement that had the effect of a small bombshell in the world of traditional finance and the Bitcoin world:

“We are witnessing the Great Monetary Inflation — an unprecedented expansion of every form of money unlike anything the developed world has ever seen. The best profit-maximizing strategy is to own the fastest horse. If I am forced to forecast, my bet is it will be Bitcoin.”
— Paul Tudor Jones

Like many other people interested in the world of finance, Paul Tudor Jones is well aware that the Fed’s current policy of unlimited quantitative easing will lead to unprecedented monetary inflation.

As a hedge fund manager, Paul Tudor Jones’ role is to develop the best possible strategies to maximize his profits.

In this context, pragmatism must prevail over personal opinions. To maximize profits, a hedge fund manager must find the fastest horse in the race.

Paul Tudor Jones’ decision is pure pragmatism

Faced with the rise of a Bitcoin which is the best performing asset of 2020 against gold or Wall Street, Paul Tudor Jones is convinced that Bitcoin is the fastest horse.

It must be said that with a price close to $10,000, Bitcoin is at +38% since the beginning of the year.

All this while Bitcoin third Halving hasn’t happened yet. And everyone knows that this exceptional event for Bitcoin will cause a very strong bull market in the next 18 to 24 months.

Coupled with the macro economic context made extremely difficult by the coronavirus pandemic, all this leads us to believe that Bitcoin price’s increase will be much more spectacular in the coming months.

Paul Tudor Jones has therefore decided to opt for Bitcoin rather than gold in order to protect himself from the inflation that will take place in the coming months.

His position on Bitcoin was not taken on spot market, but by buying derivatives on Bitcoin Futures.

The rest of Paul Tudor Jones’ letter is also interesting to read, as it confirms that only pragmatism guided his choice :

“I am not a hard-money nor a crypto nut. The most compelling argument for owning Bitcoin is the coming digitization of currency everywhere, accelerated by Covid-19.”
— Paul Tudor Jones

To see such a respected person in the traditional financial world taking a stand for Bitcoin in this way is an extremely bullish signal.

In the coming weeks and months, I am sure that other major hedge fund managers will do the same. This potential entry of large institutional investors into the Bitcoin world is clearly one of the major factors driving Bitcoin beyond the current $10,000 currently.

Bitcoin will replace the role played by gold

The decision taken by Paul Tudor Jones also makes it clear that Bitcoin will increasingly replace gold in the future as a store of value to hedge against currency devaluation.

While Bitcoiners have been certain of Bitcoin’s objective superiority over gold for long time now, Paul Tudor Jones seems to be gradually coming to that conclusion.

In particular, Paul Tudor Jones states that “Bitcoin reminds me of gold when I first got into the business in 1976”.

The simplest way to verify this is to first look at the evolution of the price of gold during the 1970s:

Then we can compare all this with the evolution of Bitcoin price over the last five years:

By using a logarithmic scale on each of the two charts, we can actually better understand why the current situation of Bitcoin price reminds Paul Tudor Jones of the gold situation in 1976.

If the strong bull market expected for Bitcoin in the 18 and 24 months following its third Halving does indeed take place, the trend correspondence between the two charts could be confirmed by the end of 2021.

Should the price of Bitcoin experience this trend in the coming months, Paul Tudor Jones will once again have demonstrated his pragmatism and flair that is unparalleled in the financial world.

Until you can check all this out, the best thing to do is not to lose sight of the fact that Bitcoin is well the fastest horse in the race at the moment. Betting against the fastest horse is never a good idea in the race for profits.

By  Sylvain Saurel

Updating its popular BTC price model, crypto analyst PlanB predicts the cryptocurrency could see a rally to $100K by 2021.

Crypto analyst PlanB released a key indicator for its stock-to-flow price prediction model which could signal a Bitcoin bull run to $100,000 by 2021 has just begun.

PlanB confirmed on Twitter on May 31 that the red dot — indicating a price increase — was now present in its stock-to-flow (S2F) model, a price prediction model for Bitcoin (BTC).

Though many have predicted BTC bullish behavior in the wake of the May 11 rewards halving, PlanB’s model marks when a run would occur with a red dot. Under this model, the chart shows a BTC price of $100,000 by the end of 2021.

Stock-to-flow model

Cointelegraph reported in April that PlanB had used its new cross-asset S2F model — S2FX — to predict a BTC price of $288,000 by 2024. Crypto analyst Harold Christopher Burger used the same data to forecast a rally to $1 million by 2025.

The S2F model does have its detractors. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has expressed some reservations about stock-to-flow, calling it part of the 95% of crypto articles that are “post-hoc rationalized bullshit.”

By TURNER WRIGHT

En Europe, les crypto-monnaies progressent petit à petit. L’Union européenne se penche de plus en plus sur le sujet, et de nouveaux cadres réglementaires et fiscaux sont esquissés partout sur le continent… Avec des approches variables. Voici un zoom sur 5 pays européens qui ont choisi de ne pas taxer les crypto-actifs.

1. Le Portugal

Le Portugal est maintenant unanimement considéré comme un pays où il fait bon vivre pour les traders en crypto-monnaies. Il faut dire que le gouvernement a fait un choix marqué : les particuliers n’ont pas à s’acquitter de la TVA lors de leurs achats et ventes d’actifs cryptographiques. Les revenus personnels en cryptodevises sont également exempts d’impôt.
Les entreprises doivent quand même payer des taxes sur leurs revenus en crypto-monnaies, mais elles profitent d’un cadre plutôt favorable. Il suffit en effet de passer 183 jours au Portugal pour être considéré comme un résident : un avantage pour les travailleurs qui souhaitent s’exporter.
👉 Plus d’infos dans notre article : Comment le Portugal est devenu le paradis des cryptos

2. L’Allemagne

Nos voisins de l’Est ont également choisi une fiscalité plutôt avantageuse pour les détenteurs d’actifs numériques. L’Allemagne a tranché sur le statut des crypto-monnaies, qu’elle considère comme de l’argent privé. En tant que telles, les ventes de Bitcoin, d’Ether ou de Litecoin ne s’accompagnent donc pas de taxes pour les particuliers. Avec deux conditions, et de taille : d’une part la transaction ne doit pas dépasser 600 euros. De l’autre il faut posséder les cryptos depuis plus de douze mois. Les traders en cryptodevises ne sont donc pas particulièrement avantagés. Comme pour le Portugal, les entreprises doivent cependant s’acquitter de taxes.

3. La Biélorussie

Pour les pays à l’économie en développement, les cryptodevises peuvent être une manne potentielle. La Biélorussie l’a bien compris, puisqu’il n’existe dans le pays pas de taxe s’appliquant aux cryptos. Ni pour les particuliers, ni pour les entreprises. C’est une loi de 2018 qui a promulgué ce cadre extrêmement favorable, et ce dernier a été confirmé jusqu’à au moins 2023. Le pays souhaite ainsi attirer des entreprises et booster le secteur.

4. La Suisse

Impossible de faire un top sur les pays les plus favorables aux cryptos sans parler de la Suisse. Le positionnement officiel du pays est le suivant : les individus qui achètent et vendent des crypto-actifs le font dans un cadre personnel, ils ne doivent donc pas subir des taxes. Concrètement, cela veut dire que les particuliers ne paient aucune taxe sur leurs cryptos, mis à part les très grandes fortunes.

Une exception notable existe : les mineurs sont considérés comme des travailleurs indépendants et non des particuliers. Leur activité est donc encadrée par le même cadre fiscal qui régit les activités professionnelles indépendantes. Il faut aussi noter que le pays distingue les traders « professionnels », qui sont eux aussi soumis aux taxes sur le produit de leur travail, des traders occasionnels, qui sont considérés comme des particuliers.

👉 À lire également : La Banque centrale suisse travaille sur une monnaie numérique

5. Malte

Parmi ces pays européens, Malte a su attirer plusieurs grandes entreprises crypto grâce à des conditions d’accueil plutôt avantageuses. C’est le cas de Binance, qui est officiellement enregistré dans le pays, mais aussi OKCoin. Rien de bien surprenant à cela : le gouvernement a très tôt reconnu le Bitcoin comme un actif légitime, et il a choisi de ne pas taxer les cryptos détenues par les particuliers, qui sont donc exemptes de TVA.

Les plus-values ne sont pas non plus taxées, sauf pour les cryptos considérées comme des titres financiers. Une exception existe cependant : les échanges de cryptos effectués au sein d’une même journée (day trading) sont eux fortement taxés.

👉 Découvrez la liste des adresses des exchanges pour remplir votre Formulaire n°3916-bis

Et la France dans tout ça ? Dans l’Hexagone, il est maintenant nécessaire de déclarer toutes ses plus ou moins-values aux impôts, à partir du moment où celles-ci excèdent 305€. Le gouvernement a montré une certaine ouverture aux crypto-actifs, mais il souhaite quand même serrer la vis aux traders : il est maintenant obligatoire de déclarer tous ses comptes situés sur des exchanges étrangers.

By Marine Debelloir

Germany has plunged into a recession with the worst quarterly contraction since the global financial and economic crisis of 2008, according to official data. Over 100 banks in the country are now charging customers negative interest rates.

Germany Enters Recession

The German economy is now in a recession according to data released Friday by the country’s Federal Statistical Office, Statistisches Bundesamt. The authority announced:

The corona pandemic hits the German economy hard … [Q1’s contraction] was the largest decrease since the global financial and economic crisis of 2008/2009 and the second-largest decrease since German unification.

“A larger quarter-on-quarter decline was recorded only for the 1st quarter of 2009 (-4.7%),” Statistisches Bundesamt confirmed. The Federal Statistical Office reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Europe’s biggest economy shrank 2.2% in the first three months of the year. The eurozone economy fell by its sharpest rate on record at 3.8% in the first quarter.

Economists, including those at Deutsche Bank, expect a worse slump in the second quarter as the full effects of the lockdown become apparent. Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that if the coronavirus’ transmission rate worsens, Germany could return to the lockdown measures.

Over 100 Banks Charging Negative Interest Rates

Throughout the recession and the covid-19 crisis, the number of banks charging negative interest rates in Germany has been climbing rapidly. In April, news.Bitcoin.com reported that 80 banks were passing on the burden of negative interest rates to some of their customers. At the time of this writing, that number has grown to more than 100 banks.

German STO platform Black Manta joins digital asset custody firm Finoa to develop institutional security token custody.

German security token offering (STO) platform Black Manta Capital Partners partnered with local digital asset custody firm Finoa to develop institutional security token custody.

According to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on May 4, the cooperation aims to develop a regulated security token custody solution explicitly aimed at institutional investors, high net worth individuals and corporations. Black Manta and Finoa will first collaborate on securing the tokens of the Berlin STO that has tokenized $12 million worth of real estate announced last month.

Per the announcement, Finoa is a Berlin-based digital asset custodian that holds a crypto custody license issued by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). Black Manta co-founder and managing partner Christian Platzer commented:

“Germany’s crypto custody legislation triggered a wide range of service providers in the digital assets space to apply for a BaFin licence. The German legislation was a crucial step to bring the confidence and liquidity of professional players to the space. In Finoa we see a team that is not only well positioned to cater to the high end investor class, but who bring also a mindset to the table that will be needed to develop this rapidly emerging market.”

Black Manta Capital Partners had not answered Cointelegraph’s inquiry as of press time. This article will be updated should a response come in.

The rise of security tokens

Previously, Platzer told Cointelegraph that, compared to traditional alternatives, STOs feature “lower transaction costs, transferability, tradability. You can invest in real estate today, without going to a notary.” Black Manta obtained a license for its STO platform from BaFin in the summer of 2019. According to Platzer, to launch its recent real estate STO the firm only had to answer a few questions from the regulator.

Given their promise, STOs are seen as a major part of the future of investing by many. Still, such offerings continue to reside in a legal grey area in much of the world. In an attempt to ease the issue France’s market regulator recently started considering a regulatory sandbox meant to study the impact of security tokens in the European Union.

By ADRIAN ZMUDZINSKI

La répartition géographique du minage de Bitcoin est une métrique difficile à définir. Pour faciliter l’accès aux données, une équipe en lien avec l’université de Cambridge a publié une carte interactive du minage de Bitcoin.

La carte du minage

La carte de la répartition du minage de Bitcoin permet de visualiser la part mensuelle de chaque pays dans le hashrate total du réseau. Celle-ci a été publiée sur le site de l’université de Cambridge.

Les données présentées sur cette carte ont été récoltées auprès des mineurs des pools de minage BTC.com, Poolin et ViaBTC. Une fois en possession de ces données, la localisation de chaque mineur a été estimée grâce à son adresse IP.

Bien qu’elles ne représentent pas l’ensemble de l’industrie, ces pools réunissent 37% de la puissance de hachage totale du réseau. Les équipes en charge du projet ont d’ores et déjà annoncé le souhait d’ajouter d’autres pools de mining à l’avenir afin d’affiner leurs données.

L’écrasante majorité chinoise

La nouvelle n’a rien étonnant, la Chine arrive en tête avec 65% de la puissance de hachage totale. Elle est suivie, loin derrière, par les États Unis avec 7,24% et la Russie avec 6,9%.

L’industrie chinoise représente une telle part du processus de minage du Bitcoin, que l’équipe en charge de la “Bitcoin mining Map” a décidé d’éditer une carte spécifique à la Chine dans le but de pouvoir visualiser la répartition par province.

Selon les données de la carte, la province du Xinjiang concentre la plus grande part de la puissance de hachage. Une donnée surprenante au regard des différents rapports publiés par CoinShares, mettant en première place la province du Sichuan.

Quoi qu’il en soit, cette carte permet enfin de visualiser l’activité de minage à travers le monde et avec plus de transparence. Comme l’a déclaré Apolline Blandin, responsable crypto et blockchain du projet : “ces données peuvent valider certaines intuitions du marché, favoriser une plus grande transparence et aider les participants dans la conduite de leurs opérations”.

by RENAUD H.