Springtime = new beginnings
The world of money is changing at a pace few people could have imagined just a few years ago. Financial technology is opening minds around the world and prompting some interesting questions. What would a fair and just system of money look like? Where do cryptos fit? Where do gold and silver fit? What about digitized ownership of other hard assets?
The answer is there. It's just going to require some patience as these exciting new technologies prove themselves in the marketplace, and a set of best practices emerge. In this newsletter, we'll introduce you to some of the technologies that may just surprise the market in 2018. Digitized ownership of assets is nothing new to us. We've been doing it for nearly ten years. So rest assured, we are watching and working, and we are in the game.
Gold, Silver, Cryptos, and FinTech
Silver is poised to outpace gold this year
Silver has historically had a higher "beta" than gold. That means when the price of gold moves in either direction, the percentage change in the price of silver is usually greater. This year, with gold set to rise, silver should outperform it.
Adrian Day: 2018 Will be a Positive Year for Gold and Gold Stocks
Slowly, more analysts see 2018 shaping up to be positive for gold and silver. As always, a great deal depends on world events and interest rates.
Why Decentralized Exchanges Are the Future for Digital Assets
Much of the the worldwide groundswell of interest in digital currency over the past year has been funneled through major exchanges like Coinbase, Gemini, and Kraken. With their simple interfaces and mainstream-ready infrastructure, these centralized exchanges have brought billions of dollars of value to blockchain projects and digital currencies. The growth has been exponential — over 3400% in 2017 alone!
How Fintech is Changing the World of Finance
With technological advancements driving growth in finance, this will determine how all companies function, and Fintech is leading the finance revolution, making it possible to make secure purchases, compare loan rates and save you money.
Is Hashgraph Technology Just Hype, or Can It Dethrone Blockchain?
Hashgraph and newly emerging DAGs (Directed Acrylic Graphs) are gaining the attention of the blockchain and cryptocurrency world. Can they enable a seamless monetary system where gold, silver, cryptos and fiat currences co-exist?
Suggested Reading
Money - Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender
At it's core, this is what cryptocurrencies are all about. This book was written in 2001 - before the FinTech revolution. As such, it is a thought leading work that is historical and conceptual more than practical.
The author tackles subjects such as why there never seems to be enough money, why money flows from the poor to the rich, community currencies, good paper vs bad paper, and an overview of various forms of alternative currencies. It's concepts in books like this that today's technology can make practical. It's worth reading if you are interested in understanding some of the thoughts surrounding the future of money.
The Ethics of Money Production
Jorge Guido Hulsmann of Ludwig von Mises Institute explores the moral and ethical considerations of the development of monetary systems. He tackles subjects including the origin and nature of money, inflation and deflation, monetary monopolies, legal tender laws, paper money, and international banking systems.
Hulsmann concludes with two views of capitalism and monetary reform - the latter focusing on changing the legal structure surrounding money rather than changing monetary instruments themselves. With the monetary eco-system changing daily, it would be wise to look at the ethics of money and adopt a principled approach to reform.
Featured Question
"How does opening an OWNx IRA work?"
Answer:
It's that time of year again. Tax season is upon us, and while you can open a self-directed IRA at any time, this time of year people are considering what to do with their annual contribution. The OWNx IRA leverages our platform to reduce and eliminate many fees associated with the self-directed gold IRA. This makes it cost effective to use your annual contribution to buy gold and silver within an IRA.
The process to create an OWNx IRA is straight forward:
- Log into your OWNx Dashboard.
- Select one of our partner custodians.
- Open your IRA with them and fund it.
- Buy and sell gold and silver from your OWNx Dashboard.
More ounces. More control. That is the OWNx Gold & Silver IRA.