Did Steve Hanke find a way out of the hole he’s been digging himself into for all these years? With almost 13 years worth of failure predictions, the economist is the world’s most prolific user of Bitcoin. And now, out of nowhere, he seems to like the world’s second cryptocurrency by market capitalization. He doesn’t like Ethereum. The “560% Price Boost This Year,” of course. But there’s more…
Ethereum is giving Bitcoin a hard time. DeFi and NFTs have made Ethereum more popular, leading to an astounding 560% price increase this year. It has the appearance of a bubble. But, is it?https://t.co/2fkvuNoRWz
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) November 12, 2021
Wait… is Steve Hanke into NFTs? The man said, “N and DeFi are increasingly using Ethereum.FTs” without a hint of irony. He also said, “Ethereum gives Bitcoin a hard time,” which is the most positive thing Steve Hanke has said about Bitcoin in over a decade. And, in the end there, he leaves space for possible deniability, “It has the appearance of a bubble. It is, but…”
Also, the economist links to a very basic and inept CNN article. Steve Hanke is warming up to cryptocurrency? Is there another dynamic?
This Article by Steve Hanke is Linked to
This run-of-the-mill article doesn’t really say much. The main message of this article is the price action that NewsBTC readers are probably familiar with.
“Ethereum, or ether for short, is also trading at record levels. It’s now hovering around $4,850, having soared more than 560% this year, compared to the “mere” 135% pop for bitcoin. Crypto investors are betting that ether will continue to be used as the backbone for even more non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, as well as so-called smart contracts.”
Okay, now what do we have? There isn’t much. It’s all over the place. It breaks down the total cryptocurrency market capitalization, introduces the concept of the mythical “flippening,” and tries to keep people away from meme coins. To accomplish this, CNN quotes Paxfull’s Ray Youssef saying, “The difference between bitcoin and Ethereum versus mem coins is like the difference in blue chips and penny stock that you are told by a man at a boiler house..” The article also talks about inflation, how could it not?, and introduces ETFs into the picture.
“The rise of bitcoin ETFs also could be good news for ethereum, because experts predict that similar ether ETFs could soon launch. That will make it even easier for average investors and big money management firms to buy into the crypto.”
So, all in all, it doesn’t say much and the only clear fact it presents is that Ethereum had a better year than Bitcoin. Why was Steve Hanke linking to it?
ETH Price Chart for November 13, 2021 at Bitfinex. Source: ETH/USD TradingView.com| Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
Hanke is Trying to Find a Lifeboat
NewsBTC is constantly in conflict with Steve Hanke. We responded to his calling Bitcoin “in the past year.” Not legal, It is not a currencyIt and its concept being legal tender “stupid.” And now, he seems to like Ethereum. Why? Is it because Ethereum’s internal policies are more akin to the traditional banking system he’s accustomed to? Hanke realized that cryptocurrency is here to stay, but is afraid to admit that he has been wrong all this time about Bitcoin.
However, his main response so far has been mockery. Even notorious Ethereum defender Udi Wertheimer said, “this is the most bearish ethereum signal i’ve seen in my entire life.” Let’s keep an eye on his Twitter feed and see what the economist says about Ethereum in the next few days. This will be very interesting.
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