Just two and a half months after the US national deficit surpassed $20 Trillion for the first time ever, the United States government has now managed to rack up another half Trillion and the outstanding debt of the world's largest economy now stands at...
... and counting.
In the same time frame, the global stock markets have added nearly $17 trillion in value.
To put this into perspective, the entire amount of money created by QE measures in the past decade from the 5 biggest countries was around $19.5 Trillion.
The value of the bitcoin network in these same two and a half months since has skyrocketed from a market cap of $70 Billion all the way to where we stand now at nearly $200 Billion.
So for all those saying that "Bitcoin is a bubble" and that "it will end in tears" please take a look at the traditional markets and tell me with a straight face that this is heading to a happy place.
Today's Highlights
Stocks Pullback
Kitty Congestion
Bitcoin will be available to all global investors by the end of March!!
Please note: All data, figures & graphs are valid as of December 5th. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you're prepared to lose.
Market Overview
While Wall Street continues to watch the two headline stories coming from the White House very closely, the stock markets remain mixed and lackluster as they hover near all-time highest levels.
Any major update on the Tax reform bill that still has a few more tiny hurdles to cross or the investigation into Donald Trump's alleged collusion with Russia could set things in motion rather quickly.
Asian stocks took their cue from New York and ended moderately lower, while the opening in Europe seems to be rather bright this morning.
Theresa May did not find her happy place yesterday. Ostensibly, while she was having lunch with the European Commissioner she received a phone call from her coalition mates, our old friends the DUP of Northern Ireland, who at the last minute experienced a change of heart regarding the border issue.
May came to this meeting full of confidence that she was going to strike a deal but that one little phone call meant calling the whole thing off and now we're back to square one and running out of time.
Investors responded with rage, selling the Pound Sterling aggressively. This graph of the GBP/USD shows the hopeful ramp up going into the meeting and the subsequent selloff, which seems to be continuing well into this morning's session.
Kitty Congestion
Yesterday, we spoke about the new viral dApp on the Ethereum network called crypto-kitties. It seems that since yesterday's update the app has become even more popular and is now putting some serious strain on the entire ETH blockchain.
More than half of all transactions in the entire cryptocurrency world are processed on the Ethereum blockchain the total number of daily transactions has recently surpassed 700,000.
Estimates this morning found in a conversation with the Ethereum founders state that crypto-kitties are now responsible for about 23% of the network's usage and are now testing the limits of the system.
Like fireman up a tree, some of the core developers of Ethereum may soon step in to rescue the inefficient kitten who somehow managed to climb the tree but is now causing a commotion. It seems that the amount of gas used to birth a new cat is about 10 times more than is used in a regular transaction.
Still, this type of test is being seen as a positive step as it gives the creators a chance to improve and scale the network.
Big things for Bitcoin
Bitcoin is certainly in a happy place at the moment, testing it's all time high of $11,776.
The prospect of mass adoption by Wall Street is driving the price higher. It seems that firms are tripping over themselves to add the digital currency faster than their neighbor in the sensation that is now being called the "digital gold rush."
CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) has confirmed that they will be adding bitcoin futures on December 18th. Meanwhile, CBOE has announced that they will be adding it this Sunday!!
Even though the CEO of Goldman Sachs had a good laugh about Bitcoin with his pal Mike Bloomberg, it seems that his firm is integrating it well. In the monthly poll that Goldman sends out to analysts, they've now decided to ask a question about bitcoin.
By my estimation, Bitcoin trading could very well be readily available to all investors around the globe by the end of March.
As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or feedback. I'm always glad to discuss this stuff (that's my happy place). And please please, keep tagging me in posts and sending me stuff through the messenger and Email as many of you are already doing. ;)
Have an awesome day!!
eToro, Senior Market Analyst
Disclosure: This content is for information and educational purposes only and should not be considered investment advice or an investment recommendation. Past performance is not an indication of future results. All trading carries risk. Only risk capital you're prepared to lose.