11th December 2021 > > IMF.

tl;dr

The IMF has now proved it is no longer fit for purpose

Market Snap

Market Wrap

On-chain analysis of short term holder’s SOPR (Spend Output Profit Ratio – which is an estimate of the sell price ratio to the last time a coin was moved) suggests that recent buyers are selling at a loss into this weakness.

A Venn diagram of these paper hands with those who lost a chunk of cash in the recent clear-out of leveraged longs might be expected to show a huge overlap.

Occasional Series – Joe Biden

Joe has come in for some criticism, both warranted and unwarranted. But everyone needs time to grow into a job. He looks like he is doing just that.

The US response to Omicron is exactly what one should expect from a mature, Western, liberal democracy.

Next up, Joe has just hosted an online conference to discuss issues of democracy.

He invited 110 countries including Taiwan, reinforcing their rightful claim to sovereignty (no need for a referendum to know that fact).

He did not invite China, Russia, Turkey, or Hungary.

I assume the woke Twitterati police are up in arms at the exclusion of the first three of those autocratic countries led by a kleptomaniac, which just goes to prove he is upping his game for everyone’s benefit.

Occasional Series – Technical Analysis (TA)

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – International Monetary Fund (IMF) and crypto regulation

For reasons that remain unclear to me, the IMF is popular with a certain section of the mainstream press, despite its long record of causing extra pain and turmoil for the citizens of some of the world’s poorer countries.

It comes as no surprise that the IMF’s natural tendency to be authoritarian and anti-libertarian means that its views on - and its knee jerk reaction to - cryptos stretches far beyond one of distaste.

The IMF is an influential body, though one wishes that was not so, and its views, however predictable, are worthy to be reported. Here are some choice points from a recent report:

- “systemic” financial stability risks from cryptos.

- “… comprehensive, consistent and coordinated” global regulation (music to the ears of Convicted Criminal Christine Lagarde and simply the very worst idea ever posited).

- Exchanges to be licensed or authorised (the one proposal of any value).

- TradFi entities to assess investor suitability and conduct risk assessments (Duh! This is already in place).

I could go on. And so I shall.

The authors express horror that in developing countries cryptocurrencies might "replace domestic currency and circumvent exchange restrictions and capital management measures.” No prizes for guessing to whom that comment is directed. This comment is a direct reflection of the IMF’s well justified fear that cryptos will make this legacy financial institution irrelevant.

Perhaps the least insightful comment was this:

"Many crypto service providers operate across borders, making the task for supervision and enforcement more difficult."

You don’t say, Sherlock.

But I leave you with the most nonsensical comment every written about cryptos:

“Crypto’ $2.5 trillion market value shows the significance of innovations like blockchain—and reflects that it's overvalued.”

Get a life matey boy.

Reserve Treasury Protocols (before they all go to zero