This report was originally published by Tyler Durden at Zero Hedge
Banks like to pretend that they’re so much more established and secure than the world of cryptocurrencies, but as anybody who pays close attention to the headlines would know…that’s just not the case…
Setting aside all of their rhetoric about embracing the blockchain, banks have mostly avoided or opposed cryptos (Goldman Sachs, sensing the opportunity for profit, is one notable exception), often citing their volatility and the ease with which they can be used to launder money as qualities that disqualify them from being taken seriously (though, as we recently witnessed with the US dollar, perhaps banks need to rework this volatility argument a bit). Even yesterday’s announcement of the first criminal charges against a cryptocurrency trader pales in comparison to the many, many crimes that banks (or even one bank) have settled allegations of. The real answer to why the banks’ dislike cryptocurrencies is probably because they feel threatened. The recent selloff notwithstanding, the rise of cryptocurrencies has continued unabated, despite the efforts of some of the most powerful governments on Earth, while the concept is still very young, it does have potential to shake up the aging fiat system. In order to understand the race between the banks and cryptocurrencies, we developed a visual to see just how “David” is comparing to “Goliath.”
Using data from Yahoo Finance and CoinMarketCap.com, HowMuch.com‘s data team developed a visual that compares the market caps between some of the world’s largest banks and the largest cryptocurrencies. On the left blue column, there are four banks listed from largest to smallest market caps: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of China, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. Conversely, the right red column features the total cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, NEO, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, and Stellar. The larger the circle, the bigger the market cap.
Total Crypto Market Exceeds Size Of JPMorgan; Banks Fight Back In Attempt To Slow Growth
After an extraordinarily volatile (even for bitcoin) start to the year, cryptocurrencies are rallying once again, with bitcoin breaking above $10,000. As of Feb. 16, 2018, the crypto market had a market cap of $470 billion – larger than the size of the United States’ largest bank, JPMorgan Chase.
Bitcoin’s market cap alone is comparable to Bank of China’s. The second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum, is comparable in size to Morgan Stanley. It is stats like these that have the global banking sector worried that cryptocurrencies are on track to make a serious impact on their operations.
One of the most recent efforts to help slow the pace of crypto growth were announcements from several banks saying that customers could no longer purchase digital currency with their credit cards. Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger has called Bitcoin “totally asinine” and Warren Buffet has said he would “buy a five-year put on every cryptocurrency.”
Overall, cryptocurrencies are seeing their size and value top even some of the largest financial institutions in the world. This has caused banks to fight back and attempt to slow their growth. However, even banks clearly don’t know what they really want. After JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon famously declared Bitcoin a “fraud”, it is interesting to now see a report published by the investment bank that calls Bitcoin-based ETFs the “holy grail for owners and investors.”
And should the bitcoin ETF become a reality, do you really think banks will turn down those lucrative fees?
What do you think?
The banks hate cryptocurrencies?
Please. The banks created cryptocurrencies to properly prepare us bottom-feeders for the coming cashless economy. You can’t have all these different currencies in a one-world, globalist economy. Just like you can’t have multiple Constitutions, and Bill(s) of Rights, and 2ND Amendments.
Remember the story about the lowest common denominator. That’s what is in store for us. That’s the future. And if things get messy, then the Globalists will take the whole thing down, murder two-thirds of the world population, until the few survivors are begging for salvation.
I may have missed something, but banks usually require collateral in the process of moving money( eg. loans)
Even our crap dollar is backed by collateral.
“property (such as securities) pledged by a borrower to protect the interests of the lender”
Cryptocurrencies have no collateral.
If that satellite 22,000 miles away from me fails, or someone cuts a Fiberoptic cable, I’m functionally broke if I don’t have a stash of something that people will accept as barter or payment.
The dollar has no collateral. It’s fiat currency. “Full Faith and Credit” is the only thing backing up the dollar. The dollar stopped being a store of value when then President Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard in 1971.
blame-e and rellik – you’re both right. The original dollar (or most all ‘printed’ currencies) were basically paper representations of something real. And that lasted until Nixon took the USA off the gold standard. Since then, the dollar was bound to oil – it was resolved that the only currency that oil could or would be traded in, in terms of printed value, was the dollar. As the people of this country just went along with the whole scheme, eyes were taken off the ball and the dollar’s value incrementally has been altered to reflect levels of debt. A circular lending program developed – fractional reserve banking. Rather than define – just accept that debt has surplanted real tangible worth. It is no longer say a piece of property that backs a dollar. It is the debt and increased trading of debt that now does. Crypto – what a joke!!! “Secret”, “Hidden” – that’s what the word means. It IS what we’ve been using now for over 40 years!!! A big secret. NOTHING backs any currency anymore. Just the acceptance of the lie.
Hopefully some genius will come up with a way to produce physical crypto coins – maybe via 3D printing or something else. That’s the only thing holding me back because I know when SHTF, the ZOG will most likely shut down the Internet.
Or, if we had the replicators on the starship Enterprise, we could produce them at will. 😉
BP, not sure how one could actually produce a tangible Bitcoin. Somehow the one-time address would have to be locked/’minted’ onto a physical object. Once used, the real-world ‘coin’ would become valueless; for once in a new wallet, would it not just be forced to ‘disappear’/rendered sans worth?
The criminal cartel of central banks will NEVER allow crypto currencies to replace their fiat system. Its still a very small piece of the pie, but when the time comes, Wall street and the Federal Reserve are going to pull the rug out of cryptos with massive regulations…essentially bringing their value to where they were from the start, ZERO. Of course the wall street insiders with their banking buddies will short the CCs; again transferring enormous wealth into their hands once again.!!!!!
The premise of the article is completely inane. You are comparing market cap of a bank to the size of a currency? Let’s just agree you know nothing aboout money, makets, economics or banking.
I know people that suffer because they have a fortune invested in crypto currencies. I wouldn’t put so much into anything if it meant I’ld be stressed all the time. These cryptos are up and down. Maybe they’ll go away, maybe not. Regardless, I feel fine putting a few dollars up.
I can get out now and I’ll have made a few dollars. But if I stay in and lose, so what. I’m not putting in so much that it keeps me awake worrying about it. Don’t worry. Be happy.
Buy gold and silver. Buy enough of life’s necessities so that hyperinflation won’t destroy your life. If you take out a loan to buy a house or car, pay it off early. That’s my philosophy.
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I figure you nailed it.
This was actually an excellent article. If they can make a decentralized hybrid physical-digital cryptocoin, I think that would be a really disruptive combo against the thieving banksters.
This comment in the linked Zero Hedge article really opened my eyes though. I just might look into acquiring some physical cryptocoins.
** my take on crypto shifted a lot since I first begun to understand money and learned my simplistic view was inaccurate…
When the banking system crashed and wiped out families, businesses and even government, laws were passed to prevent it happening again – the essence of it was that banks were printing ‘money’ far in excess of the wealth they actually held…
The Currency act was passed here to prevent banks ‘inventing money’ and printing paper money. No one could print money any more except the government…
Bitcoin is actually a perfect money in a way. It is owned by no country so just like gold, it’s got value everywhere and that value isn’t determined by who’s portrait lies on a sheet of paper issued by a government. It is finite – 21 million is all that can exist. as it’s adopted and as populations increase it becomes scarcer – it’s infinitely divisible (gold copper silver had problems with that, unless like Indonesia you started also minting aluminium coins)
and yes sure, we’re not there yet – ‘mining’ the final ones of the 21,000,000 will be very energy intensive. But hey, Australia’s government only holds 300 million in gold reserves.. when I last calculated that means there’s only 18 grams per person .. that is NOT a lot of wealth backing our country! If we had to mine our way out of debt you could be sure a massive amount of energy would be put to use extracting as many ounces as we could.
But assume bitcoin takes off , the banks don’t get to invent new ones into existence to dilute the stuff, so wide adoption would mean prices would drop, wages would drop, as whole bitcoin values go higher and higher all the time…
Me? I bought one physical bitcoin for a whole $18 many years back. It was all I was prepared to gamble. and being the believer that one should own one’s own wealth I selected to have a physical one I could stuff under a mattress or bury or carry – anything other than letting a bloody bank hold it ! **
https://www.zerohedge.com/comment/11198478#comment-11198478
What’s really peculiar is that all cryptocurrencies valuations are shown against the dollar, RMB or other traditional paper currency.
Why not start valuation against gold, platinum, rare metals or something like that?
As long as cryptocurrencies are traded against a dollar, the market could be manipulated or swayed.
Why not start valuation against gold, platinum, rare metals or something like that?
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I completely agree. I also find it strange that you can take fiat US dollars (paper or on credit) and buy cryptocurrencies that, theoretically, may have more intrinsic value than worthless toilet paper from a rogue ‘Federal’ bank.
Banks don’t like cryptocurrency because they can’t regulate it (profit from it)… PERIOD.
A glimpse into the future reveals that governments and banks will have no control over crypto currencies because it functions outside of their ability to control all things! A new epoch is here and the arrogant hucksters will soon be gone! Corporate, government and political criminals are at the end of their rope, it’s time to watch them hang on the tree of liberty!