tv Power Lunch CNBC June 10, 2021 2:00pm-3:00pm EDT
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an older one, seen as slower, more expensive and new-age ones are coming in faster, cheaper, energy efficient which is an issue in recent years. >> thank you now to one of the aspects of the crypto universe that investors worry about, the extreme volatility and while most assets go through volatile periods not many are influenced by forces that have no connection to the asset's actual value tweets can result in big moves for example when musk announced that tesla wouldn't accept payment in bitcoin because of energy concerns it triggered a double digit drop in that crypto there's the tweet from musk and yes even emojis can move the market there's an emoji and a meme. hinting at a breakup sending bitcoin down by 3% how worried should investors be
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about volatile swings in crypto? anthony pompliano and brian kelly, welcome to both of you. kelly wants to cross-examine anthony, you say one a thing you're concerned about is quote the u.s. dollar is guaranteed to lose value every year. that's my concern. but bitcoin can lose half its value in a day a week an instant that's my concern as an investor. >> bitcoin didn't lose its value in bitcoin terms one bitcoin is one bitcoin like one dollar is one dollar. it's purchasing power and bitcoin's purchasing power increases. the cost of goods and services goes down. if you hold dollars the cost goes up and seeing the numbers being reported here over the
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last couple of days and ultimately looking at bitcoin in dollar terms you see bitcoin's up about 300% over 12 months compound annual growth rate over a decade is 200% so volatility's not good or bad. volatility is a thing. right? amazon stock is volatile tesla stock is volatile. it is only bad going against you and people who have been long bitcoin over a long period of time that volatility worked in their favor and very happy and want more volatile to the upside and the difference volatility is not bad in your favor. >> absolutely not. when it goes in your favor brian, maybe narrow the questioning a little bit here. if bitcoin's value is denominated in dollars or euro or yuan or whatever, isn't that really the measure of whether it
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has purchasing power or not? how much you can use it to transact. >> right right. that ultimately is the end goal of bitcoin is to be a full fledged currency we are not there yet i would suggest we are more in the speculative commodity of the phase and starting to transition into the full fledged currency phase and it is very, very important to size the position in koipt currencies and bitcoin appropriately. don't put in stuff to keep you up at night but you should have exposure to this in my opinion and you're going to have to stomach volatility if we look at the u.s. dollar in the early 1800s you would have said this will never be a storer of value but as it evolves and used for more the volatility will die
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down and guys like me are bored with trading it but a useful asset. >> i don't think you want it to be used as money if you held a dollar in 1800 it is worth nothing today. >> right but that's the nature of the u.s. dollar. and the way that the federal reserb worked why the monetary policy on bitcoin is a very different type of thing. i would like to see bitcoin used as a currency globally i think creating a lot of good, efficient for companies to mover money around but as a trader, a volatility join junkie i want volatility but the volatility does have to die down. >> the irs, anthony, said property and not a currency and would have to change otherwise people will be taxed every time they use it as currency and makes everything they buy more expensive. i know you're bullish on the price of bitcoin here. jpmorgan yesterday said, look,
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kate was talking about off the top with the crypto winter and think both are in this situation. tell me why we should n't expect bearish movers for the cryptos for a good portion of this year. >> short term price doesn't matter we are talking about the greatest wealth transfer in history. we are literally watching everyone from individuals to corporations to financial institutions to now countries decide that they want a transparent program attic certain monetary policy. it flies in the face of the existing system. we don't know what the next thing that's going tohappen in the existing system is and therefore, that uncertainty leads to fear. so what ultimately happens is that you're seeing people around the world, over 100 million individuals, now all the way up to countries say we need something with certainty in the
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monetary policy and with ever increasing demand and more people, company, corporations and countries come in and start to adopt it thest dollar price has to go up to accommodate everyone only thing to happen if you believe in supply and demand economics. >> a final thought here epa bring brian in, as well. you mentioned something that's key here there's fear there's fear you ascribe the fear to the concern of monetary policy but my guess is that there's also fear on behalf of the central bankers who govern monetary policy for treasure secretaries or finance secretaries who are concerned that crypto is a threat, is a threat to the traditional monetary system and therefore they will step in to try and regulate it or do away with it. what do you say? >> the bitcoin is one of the most regulated currencies in the united states today. right? it is harder to start a bitcoin
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company in the state of new york than it is to start a traditional financial company, you have to get more approvals to start that bitcoin company. also on top of that we described it is taxed more aggressively than any other currency in the united states. i have to pay capital gains tax to spend it but people are still adopting it so i think that's what people should be paying attention to despite all of the obstacles, the friction. people still want this. >> are governments likely to quash crypto >> they haven't yet. we have seen a move towards thoughtful regulation and here in the u.s. they could have quashed it, squashed it a long time ago and they haven't and i think because part of this isn't just about let's -- a currency innovation but a lot of stuff being built on it as you mentioned in the beginning on the smart contract,
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decentralized finance. this is a pretty big industry right now and thoughtful regulation is where we're going to itch to comply with all those rool rules so the idea that bitcoin is unregulated a misnomer turkeys don't like thanksgiving either. >> fair much thank you very much. i'm grateful that i didn't say quash crypto all right? i said it right. >> thank you both. another big threat, regulation too much is it the wrong kind plus security concerns as hackers continue to demand payment in bitcoin but not all bad and looking at the opportunities this new industry created. our new yp czepealcrtora sci continues after this a whole lot more? cool. so what are you waiting for? mckayla maroney to get your frisbee off the roof?
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welcome back, everybody, to the crypto craze special looking at the risks and opportunities of cryptocurrencies. one big concern is about regulation decentralization is a part of the allure but governments and regulators are ready to assert authority over the space and here's what was said yesterday on "the exchange." >> investors don't have the full
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protections that they have in the equity markets or in the congressman modties future's market so our sister agency and our agency s.e.c. bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies do not have the full protections. it's a speculative asset class technology neutral but what i said to congress is i think that one of our agencies should have authority to write rules and help protect investors on crypto exchanges. >> on top of that last night senator warren saying the government needs to confront crypto threats saying the threats by by crypto show the congress can't continue to hide out hoping that crypto will go away it won't jake clayton writing this month that crypto needs regulation but not necessarily new rules. joining us bob grifeld at the
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nasdaq and paul graywall is chief legal officer with coinbase great to have you both here. bob, first to you. i don't know where you stand in terms of welcoming the advent of crypto or sort of being concerned about the role it's playing in business and society. so what kind of rules do you think need to be written here? >> the first thing you have to do is understand we have a great regulatory regime in place for other assets and currencies so why don't we ride upon the back of that regulation when you think about the aml rules, no the custom rules in place today that should apply to crypto thinking about market structure we saw the development of the national market structures gary references for equities, equity options. we have the same regime, simila. you have to get the currencies into the existing regulatory
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framework. >> paul, that's probably music to the ears of the crypto industry so it's not outlawed. there was a journal op-ed that argued crypto should be banned baufrt use in ransomware what is the argument against those that say that's the only way to cut down on the pandemic? >> there's concerns because crypto's having a moment here at coinbase we see over 56 million verified users over 6 million people transacting on the platform every day jit's understandable that questions are asked about protecting consumers we share that objective. we have built our reputation and business on trust and trust means that we embrace appropriate regulation we think that the right regulation that is clear, that is transparent and that is equally applied can address the
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issues in a much more productive way than banning an asset class based on misunderstanding. >> this probably isn't the question to ask you but you are a legal expert in some ways on this matter so we have a lot of businesses watching from large to small especially the smaller ones feel like they get these ransomware attacks and they have no choice but to pay $120,000 in crypto. tell them why crypto should n't be banned in order to stop that from plaguing their businesses and pocketbooks. >> crypto is a solution to the problem of ransomware. it is not a problem itself i want to commend the fbi and the doj for the work on the colonial pipeline ransomware attack it was crypto that allowed the fbi to trace those funds and ultimately to secure them, at least the vast majority of them. so we think the traceability of
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the public ledger part and parcel of crypto is actually an asset to law enforcement it is not a burden. >> how do you see that, bob? in other words, there are other forms of cryptocurrency beyond bitcoin that may not be as traceable as bitcoin is because there is both the private key and the public key and if you can crack those two you can trace and follow the money but there are other forms of cryptocurrency that are presumably more secure and aren't as friendly as paul says bitcoin is to law enforcement. >> i would say this. with digital currency, with the advent we had ransomware develop. and there's d correlation between the two. i think it's hard to deny that e could be we'll find out as time goes on
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but clearly you have seen ransomware attacks increase as digital currency became popular. that being said it ties back to the original point if we have a proper regulatory regime it is easier to track and trace and many ways you can stop it before this happens right? we need know your customer rules. anti-money laundering rules in the digital currency world so outside the blockchain or within the blockchain you know what's going on and you can identify the bad actors and then they won't try things they know they can't away with. >> bob, speak directly to paul who works for coinbase right? okay >> yes. >> advise him on what he and his -- you have run nasdaq you know all about this. market structure know your customer what would you tell him directly is the best practice he and his company can follow to secure
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cryptos and make them more -- i hesitate to use the word trustworthy. >> coinbase has done a phenomenal job to establish the position and the not too hidden secret is regulation represents a barrier to entry so to the fact that the market gets more regulated, right that will help the incumbents. always disease through all time and all asset classes so coinbase, my advice is regulation will be good for coinbase the embracing of that regulation will be good and the entire marketplace will grow and grow in a very secure position and through the great work of coinbase through the years they're in a great position now to ride that wave. >> paul, another question that people have about crypto is how do they make sure that theirs doesn't get hacked what do you do to shore up not
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just bitcoin the numerous others that are out there. >> the most important thing that consumers can do to keep the assets safe is use secure, reliable exchanges and wallets with a track record of security and protecting the customers we are very proud of the fact that no customer has ever lost a p penny of funds due to a security attack on the platform not ifr platform in crypto can say and something we think customers should weigh heavily with choices to do business with the crypto economy. >> gentlemen, thank you so much. paul, bob, on regulation. all right. one of the reasons for the call for more regulation is ransomware attacks caused the shutdown of one of america's key energy pipelines, disrupted the meat supply from
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u.s. to australia. both eventually paid hackers in bitcoin. though the fbi was able to recover half the ransom paid by colonial something like 11 million. technology reporter mckenzie looking at how all this plays out for the companies that get hacked. >> reporter: a business will fall victim to an attack every 11 seconds this year according to research firm cyber security ventures. many of them like colonial pipeline have admitted that they don't have a plan for when that happens. several have never even dealt in bitcoin, the currency of choice but virtually all ransom companies but some companies swoop in at the last minute to handle the logistics. >> after the consultants and the companies and stakeholders have made the determination that exhausted the options that's when they come to companies like
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us in order to acquire crypto at any time of day or day. >> reporter: less than an hour from initial contact digit at mint is able to make the ransom payment for the victim that includes vetting the hacker to make sure they're not tied to a u.s. sanction company and then going to acquire the cryptocurrency needed to pay the ransom digital mint said it's an increasingly popular currency request for payments and considered more privacy focused and allowing the criminals freedom from the tracking tools and mecbitcoin brings there's over $100 million in ransomware settle. s with a median payment of 800,000. last year cryptocurrency payments quadrupled. in april a task force of microsoft, the fbi, the secret
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service and others delivered recommendations to the white house on the threat. on the irsssue of prohibiting t payments they're split at a certain point it makes more sense to just pay the ransom rather than hemorrhaging cash due to paralyzed operations. >> fascinating, troubling. points out monero. i wonder if that's where the burden will fall for a way to say we don't mind the public blockchain. anonymous, different story. >> that's where we talked a few moments ago of other forms of crypto that may turn out to be more appealing to the bad guys. >> yes. >> around the world. as we continue here, up next, coinbase is partnering with a 401(k) provider called for us to for investments for your retirement jos ceo of for us all inus
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deal of for us all and coinbase is planning to bring them into the cryptocurrency workers in the for us all plan can invest up to 5% out contributions to crypto. joining us is jeff schulte the ceo of for us all. great to have you here let's start with what will put most people's minds at ease. up to 5% is that correct? >> exactly right we have seen in the last few years a sea change in the investment world with institutional investors using cryptocurrency part of the portfolio. you see harvard, brown, yale including cryptocurrency in their endowments and unfortunately most americans don't have access so we have decided to make it available through the 401(k) and access of education, guidance and guardrails to help them make good use of this. >> there's nothing preventing
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people from buying and owning it but 401(k)s are tax advantages and building wealth in a safe way. why should we open this up to something like crypto, especially for an asset class? not such the volatility but still so new and not just bitcoin with a proving case and sounds like a basket of different cryptos. >> up to 50 different tokens available in the 401(k) but i think the academic research as well as the professional community is clear on this it is not that the jury is out the verdict is in. 0% of 5% cryptocurrency has an opportunity to increase growth without volatility so we think that actually does have a role to play and the truth is 60% of all professional managers say that cryptocurrency has a role to play in their portfolios. >> i'm sure people might take
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the other side of that argument but that's for another time and place. as i understand it you're a platform provider and your clients are employers who are setting up their 401(k) plans with you had you had any resistance on the part of employers to offering cryptocurrencies as part of the portfolios are they afraid that the workers are going to get burned by these investments? do they embrace it >> what we have seen is very strong embracing of cryptocurrency among employers 60% of all people we speak to express interest in doing this and not just making it available but the way as part of a weldy verse if ied portfolio with the education and the help to make appropriate use of it. >> who's the custodian of the cryptocurrency how does that work >> so we have worked with coinbase to help us both on the custody and the trading. we're very excited to have them
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as a provider with us in this. we thought carefully about who would be appropriate to work with and we have confidence in the platform and excited to have them. >> what do you say to the cynics liking at the size and go you're tiny in the industry and this is a way to gain market share >> i would say that the 401(k) industry is slow to moving and a smaller player allows us to see what's happening in the market, recognize the trends that are irrefutable and take a position as a leader because we think that the time is right and bringing access to these invest mtds is not just appropriate but proper. >> thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. all right. ahead on this "power lunch" crypto special what about the opportunities? we'll speak to the ceos of blocktower and blockfi about
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i'm christina parts los. president biden and british prime minister johnson signed an atlantic charter outlining eight areas to collaborate including fighting cyber crime and in the last hour biden and pfizer ceo announced the u.s. will purchase 500 million vaccine doses for global donations. >> the united states is providing these half million doses with no strings attached let me say it again. with no strings attached our vaccine donations don't include pressure for favors or potential concessions. we're doing this to save lives >> today's announcement with the u.s. government gets it closer to our goal and significantly
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ability to asave more lives. in testimony to a house panel treasure secretary yellen is warning that inequality in vaccinations could lever some countries behind adds the rest of the world enjoys an economic recovery. the nation's budget fell $260 billion, 6% compared to may last year but mostly because tax payments not due until july last year looking at the fiscal year to state the deficit is up 10% at more than $2r trillion. an abrupt halt to the murder trial of millionaire robert durst. the judge in los angeles says durst is hospitalized due to an incident the jury is sent home for the day. >> thank you let's take a look breaking away from the coverage of cryptos. the dow losing a chunk of the
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gains. it was up 290 at the highs still in the green by 88 points. s&p on pace for a record close and the nasdaq is up about 100 points as you see right there. restoration hardware soaring on an earnings beat the home furnishing stock up 15% on the session but not everything in housing is higher home builders in the red restaurants seeing red today cheesecake factory leading the declines after announcing a stock offering. if bitcoin and ether are aiming to demott characterize access who are connecting people with the assets? enter blockfi founded in 2017 with a suite of cryptocurrency services, loans, a trading platform an just today a new service aimed at high net worth. just four years old the
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company's reportedly seeking a $5 million valuation and manages $15 billion of assets. joining us is flori diaz what happens if i take out a loan against the crypto and falls in value by 50%? >> great to see you again, kelly. it is very simple. retail loan product we offer allows people to borrow u.s. dlars against the crypto and the model we used since founding never led to a default loss so you have a few different options. you can either post additional crypto to avoid selling the collateral or if the price moves don't and don't post more we can sell the portion of the crypto and never a default on the loan. >> the question harks back to the housing bubble that predated
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the 2007 great financial crisis. people took home from the homes because home prices never fallen in value wanted to tap the equity it was unusual and tanked the economy and this case bitcoin is smaller than housing but also much more volatile so we're now entering an environment where you probably get a test of this model. right? >> yes we have been tested multiple times. in march of last year the crypto markets fell overnight 50% and lending at that time as we were in the most recent dip in may and most of the retail users are used to the volatility and people have some bitcoin stored in a blockfi interest account to sweep assets to meet any margin calls on the loans and well tenured coming to volatility and may was one of the most
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strongest months for performance in the history despite bitcoin being down 36%. >> what is the interest rate on the loans and how is it determined >> it is based on the cost of capital, so basically what is the u.s. dollar availability on the balance sheet. what we look to do is lend it out at rates that start in the 10% to 11% and down to 4.5%. and the way it works is more collateral you post to guarantee the loan the lower yours interest rate and what i love about this product with global inequality is u.s. dollar lending product is available overseas so for example we have clients in costa rica who can access 4.5% u.s. dollar interest rates which if you compare it to other products available to clients in that country it usually costs 20% to 25% to borrow u.s. dollars so what i
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love about the platform is that we focus on one price for all regardless of your country, demographic or where you are in the world. >> quick question, quick answer. we have been talking about know your customer rules. do you do you know your customers >> absolutely. the first -- at blockfi is chief compliance officer and if you build financial products you need to pay attention to regulations, not only what they are today but could be in the future especially for a new asset class like crypto and we have best policies and we have had that since the beginning many companies try to add compliance later on and we build it right from the beginning. >> more of an observation i guess but you potentially face a cascading effect if people have to post more crypto or take
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crypto to make the margin calls, it could force downward pressure on the price of crypto so if we get into a situation where let's say the customer average a price point that the crypto sinks below does that cause a cascading selling effect do you try to offset that? >> absolutely. so we do have a risk model in place that tries to prevent us from one off client liquidation and look at the portfolio risk in ren any downward price movement takes leverage from the crypto or bitcoin price in general and ultimately you could argue talking about 2007 and 2008 less leverage in the price is actually healthier for the market in the long term. >> absolutely. thank you for your time today. >> all right let's stay with the investment theme. blocktower announced the
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acquisition of gamma point capital to offer what they call market neutral crypto investments. companies like coinbase and others try to keep the edge as the industry continues to grow will we see more and bigger deals? my guess is yes. matthew getz is ceo and founder of blocktower. there are a lot of names in this field not familiar to us, not goldman sachs or jpmorgan. but they're out there and i have to guess that over time some of these companies whether it's coinbase or others are going to become as familiar as us and as profitable perhaps as the other names i mentioned. >> yeah. i think you are hitting the nail on the head. good to be with you guys when i left goldman sachs four years ago now that was the thesis and seeing that playing out. seeing the companies go more
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mainstream, seeing measure capital markets activity seeing the names pop up in large rounds of financing or spac talk or whatever it might be and i think that's only going to continue to ramp up across all the categories not only where we live but custody, lending with blockfi and the different segments of the market. >> new generation of millionaires minted as a result of that. do you see this pyramid of investment narrowing over the next decade or so, so that there are not more or fewer dominant players and that consolidation and getting out of the initial positions that entrepreneur is there? >> you have seen it in the market so like the exchanges, for
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example, it was rampant three, four years ago in the last crypto bull market a new exchange in the u.s. or outside of the u.s. and most obvious thing in the world will say that will consol date and it has. you've had certain players gain more share, others who kind of built on the success like coinbase so i think you'll start to see a pattern follow where whether it's in data analytics providers or people that evaluate data who help track and try angulate or lending platforms or investment funds there's a lot of talent that comes from nonobvious places this isn't churning out investment banker why is the people who truly understand crypto and know how to think about it kind of come from less traditional paths and why we did the --
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>> let's sneak in another question before kelly. is it -- i don't mean to overstate this but is it going to take a big company like a jpmorgan, a goldman to come in and buy one of these exchanges, a central player to quote legi legitimize the market? it feels fuzzy and sketchy and you said you left goldman. are they embracing this? >> they are. i've been back to goldman sachs 15 times since i left helping them think about the space and launched a trading desk and each traditional players at different kind of legs of the race if you will so i think two things will happen one youeer exactly right there is going to be a legitimizing rubber stamp where state street acquires --
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>> somebody comes in. >> but at the same time enduring franchises that are built like coinbase that supplant or leapfrog the traditional players because they know the tech, the engineering that interfaced with the new market and the new technology. >> my question was going to be what do you do primarily where the opportunities? arbitrage? we mentioned the top of the hour the back wardation is it traditional long short sort of stuff? is it quote/unquote stock picking and knowing which crypto to come out of a tough patch as the one that has the most momentum behind it >> yeah. that's really -- you put it really well because there's so many opportunities so particularly four years ago when we launched it was how best do we capture this full opportunity set while navigating everything that's evolving and
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managing the risks it was a combination of thinking about different investment strategies and applying them depending on the market regime are we in. are we in a hyper bollic bull market a bear market? how best to compound wealth and capture opportunities in the regimes. most recent acquisition speaks well to the point because one thing that i think is really important and a function of how this market has matured and institutionalized over four years is because the structure exists with very attractive market neutral opportunities so these are strategies that they're agnostic whether or not bitcoin, crypto, going up or down these are strategies that are seeking to profit regardless of the cycle you are in and some institutions that don't want that i'm not saying everyone's been waiting for that
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there are some who say we believe in the technology and think it is valuable over the long term and willing to ride the waves to get there and not esch particularly a large organization. >> right you might want arbitrage i don't want exposure to kroiptd. i want you guys to arbitrage what goes on between bitcoin and the futures for me and just take that we have to go. describe to me what are we a bear market for crypto >> we're not we are in still solidly in my view in solidly in a structural bull market. the recent volatility is par for the course easy to garner attention but the reality is with an asset that has the evolve it is normal even waterboard the context of a bull market and offer this humbly i don't know six or 12 months to go but something in the bottom of the sempbt inning of this bull market and part of the reason why market neutral is
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important is because when and if those cycles come if you can continue to compound wealth, the nature is very power you know that better than most people i talk to. >> we try. >> thank you very much we'll have you back. >> yeah. i was thinking about there was my little world of investing, investing largely in mutual funds my mump tual funds may not make mump money but the companies do. i wonder if that's a lesson that individual owners of the asset may not make as much money as the providers and the infrastructure players and so forth. >> a question to pose to you nothing but fee compression in the traditional asset management and investment space in crypto do you capture more fees and making the money? my guess is somebody doing a hedge fund has a better fee structure than a traditional one. after the break a deeper
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dive into the crypto ecosystem we'll talk about the process of mining bitcoin and talk about the environmental costs which are more and more scrutinized. we're back in a moment but all m something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this... your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee... yeah i should've just led with that... with at&t business... you can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need. our retirement plan with voya, keeps us moving forward. hey, kevin! hey, guys! they have customized solutions to help our family's special needs... giving us confidence in our future... ...and in kevin's. voya. well planned. well invested. well protected. you need a financial plan that can help grow and protect your money.
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welcome back, everybody, to our crypto craze special now we turn our attention to bitcoin mining that's the process of unlocking new tokens at $36,000 per coin you know this process can be very lucrative if you get one. it's given rise to crypto miners such as riot blockchain and marathon digital which are publicly traded and cipher mining which plans to go public via spac in the coming weeks but it has raised red flags about the impact to the environment. china is threatening to crack down on mining operations. joining us is ceo tyler page tyler, welcome good to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. a lot of tylers in here. >> but that's a good thing, right? just for people to play a little catchup here, what does it mean to mine a bitcoin? we understand that there are a
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fixed number of these bitcoins that exist as part of an algorithm, i suppose how do you mine it what does that mean? and if you find one, what do you get? >> yeah. so good question so it's really a pretty straightforward business we operate data centers. and so it looks very similar to other more traditional data center businesses. the difference is we have our computers effectively sell their output to the bitcoin network. we provide that infrastructure and validate transactions. we are rewarded by doing that through the bitcoin software with both newly minted bitcoins as well as transaction feeds from a business perspective, it's very similar, it's just we're compensated in bitcoins. >> we're setting here in a set with the images of gold coins all around us. there is no such thing as a bitcoin physical like you're
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seeing behind me, it is all a destination on some ledger, is that right and why the hell does it take so much energy to mine one? >> well, what i'd say is it's a natively digital asset and it's truly a global open source network to transmit and store value. and that's a real breakthrough with all kinds of repercussions that frankly can be really good for humanity the way that that ledger and that network is protected and made secure is through the process of mining, and that does use energy to conduct the business it's very similar to other industries that use their power to protect their industries. if you think about it this way, it's a disruptive technology the financial technologies also use lots of power and so does
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bitcoin mining. >> tyler, here's my question as each bitcoin requires more energy to mine, people are trying to bring coal plants back online and using massive energy centers. niagara falls could be next at this rate. what's it going to take to get to 21 million bitcoin? how much energy and mining are we talking >> well, i think there's an important nuance in this debate and it's really great that it's happening at the highest levels because i think it's an important milepost but there's an important nuance everyone needs to understand there's a difference between the amount of power used and the environmental impact of that power. and i think here is where the bitcoin mining industry specifically has a really good story to tell. it generally has a higher penetration through the use of renewables like you suggest in other industries it has more renewables used than the u.s. power grid.
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as we look forward and think about esg priorities across the whole world, this is an industry that has a good story to tell on the use of renewables and green power. and furthermore, unlike other uses of power that need to be located need population centers and, therefore, limit the use of renewables, bitcoin mining is mobile >> from one tyler to another, thanks tyler page, we appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. and still ahead before we finish out our special, our final thoughts, some key lessons from today on this crypto craze. if you wake up thinking about the market and want to make the right moves fast... get decision tech from fidelity. [ cellphone vibrates ] you'll get proactive alerts for market events before they happen... and insights on every buy and sell decision. with zero-commission online u.s. stock and etf trades. for smarter trading decisions,
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kelly, as we wrap up this special hour, and i've really enjoyed it, i've learned a lot we look at the chart of bitcoin over this year we began the year at roughly 30,000 it wasn't much before that that it was in the 20, 15,000 and went up to 60,000. close your eyes wake up in april and you're at 60,000, now you're back at 36,000 the volatility is still the worrisome part, i think. it's going to be very interesting to see which of the major, major institutions in finance becomes the first to totally embrace it, to go ahead and buy one of these providers, these infrastructure providers, and give it that kind of stamp of approval. >> i think one of the takeaways for me as well, even if we don't see a major announcement of such
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and such insurance company doing it, that would probably fall under the rubric of alternative assets but it means it's supporting the industry even if it's not grabbing headlines. >> it can be a risky asset but also a risk mitigation technique. >> thanks for tuning in, everybody. >> thanks for watching "power lunch. "closing bell" starts right now. >> thank you welcome to "the closing bell." i'm wilfred frost along with morgan brennan who's in for sara eisen. stocks moving higher in today's session though off their best levels as we head into the final level of trade may consumer prices rose at the fastest pace since the great recession, up 5% year over year. meantime jobless claims hit a pandemic era low last week of 376,000. the meme trade i
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