Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
The real demand for bitcoin will not be known until a global financial crisis guts confidence in central banks and politicized capital controls.
I've been writing about cryptocurrencies and bitcoin for many years. For example: Could Bitcoin Become a Global Reserve Currency? (November 7, 2013)
Via Dana Lyons' Tumblr,
Recently noted deterioration in market internals appears to be getting worse, as evidenced by this rare divergence in the Nasdaq market.
While so far the rout from the North Korea crisis has impacted global volatility first and foremost, with the VIX surging 50% (a rather pointless metric considering where the VIX was just days ago) on a modest drop in the S&P which earlier this week was making new all time highs, as massive short vol positions have been rapidly unwound, one trader believes the next place of impact is the sector which has so far emerged, so to say, largely unscathed from rising risk concerns: emerging markets, the clear outperformer so far in 2017.
The global rout resulting from tensions over the North Korean nuclear standoff continued on Friday as world stocks tumbled for the fourth day, on course for their worst week since November following a third day of escalating verbal exchanges between Trump and Kim, as European and Asian shares tumlbed, volatility spiked, and the selloff in US futures continued albeit at a more modest pace as the escalating war of words over North Korea drove investors on Friday to safe havens such as the yen, Swiss franc and gold.
Gold Up 2.3%, Silver 5.3% In Week - Gundlach, Gartman and Dalio Positive On Gold