In late 2008, an anonymous person (or persons) known only by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto published a nine-page research paper called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Digital Cash System” on a cryptography forum. This paper detailed all the requirements that were needed to bring this decentralized, uncensored, trustless (you don’t have to trust a third party), distributed (multiple points of decision making), digital cash system to life.
With the help of a small group of cryptographers and programmers, Satoshi Nakamoto proceeded to create the Bitcoin software. In 2010, Satoshi made the first successful Bitcoin transaction of 10 bitcoins, worth $0 at the time (and worth approximately $200,000 as of August 2022) to Bitcoin software developer Hal Finney. After that, Satoshi became much less active in the group, leaving responsibility for the further development and world-wide adoption of this innovative, new monetary system in the hands of the people. Satoshi then faded away, and only rarely posted on the cryptography forum.
Satoshi hasn’t been heard from since March 7, 2014.
Why have cryptocurrencies gotten such a bad rap?
We all know that criminal financial activity is certainly not unique to cryptocurrencies. However, since crypto was initially conceived as a way for people to escape the government’s control over their money, since its inception crypto has been the main focus of negative commentary in the traditional world of finance:
- Bill Harris, former CEO of Intuit and founding CEO of PayPal and Personal Capital, has repeatedly called Bitcoin a scam “a big financial bubble that’s going to burst.”
- Michael Burry, the man who bet against the housing market before its collapse in 2008, predicted back in June of 2021 that crypto will plummet.
- Warren Buffet, one of the most successful investors in the world, has called Bitcoin worthless and stated that he wouldn’t pay $25 to own all the cryptocurrency in the world.
- Jordan Belfort of “The Wolf of Wall Street” fame does not believe that governments will allow Bitcoin to survive.
- Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has said that cryptocurrencies are not real currencies and lack intrinsic value.
If you’ve just developed an interest in cryptocurrency, it is important to remember the power of perspective. It is true that each of these people is extremely successful in their field, but being an expert in traditional finance doesn’t mean that they understand the relatively new world of digital assets. Also keep in mind that all of these figures’ jobs are to manage your money and your expectations – and cryptocurrency isn’t a conventional investment.
People’s saying all sorts of things about cryptocurrency is precisely why it is so important to learn about it yourself. If you take an even closer look at the professions of each of these successful people, it’s possible to argue that they could be biased because cryptocurrency threatens to replace the companies and industries that they have developed and profited from their entire professional lives.
What is Actually Happening?
If you’re looking at what companies are doing in the blockchain and crypto space, you’ll see an entirely different side of the story:
- January 14, 2022: Elon Musk announces that Tesla will accept Dogecoin for certain products.
- July 13, 2022: Disney choses Polygon, in addition to five other organizations, to create new techniques in the fields of virtual reality, NFTs, and AI.
- August 17, 2022: As of this date, Google’s parent company Alphabet has invested $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency and blockchain companies. BlackRock and Morgan Stanely have invested more than $2 billion combined in cryptocurrency. Samsung has invested close to $1 billion total in 13 blockchain companies.
- August 24, 2022: Samsung announces it will launch a crypto exchange platform in 2023.
- August 25, 2022: Mastercard and the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, launch a pre-paid card that provides clients with a simple way to make purchases and pay bills with cryptocurrency.
Just to name a few…
Tax attorneys for cryptocurrency
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