Figure 1.1. Novogratz on the Crypto-Revolution

Note. Video provided courtesy of Youtube.com.

CEO Erik Voorhees, Shapshift.io & Chris Waltzek Ph.D. - April 19th, 2018.

Mp3 format. **

Figure 1.1. Erik Voorhees - Role of Bitcoin as Money

Note. Video provided courtesy of Youtube.com.

Figure 1.2. Tim Draper's Bitcoin Forecast - $250,000 by 2020

Note. Video provided courtesy of Youtube.com.

** Note. Disclosure - The show host was not compensated in any capacity by ShapeShift.io or SALT, and holds no tokens / shares in either company. This interview is presented only as informational / educational content and must neither be construed as investment advice nor as an endorsement of the tokens / coins. Goldseek.com LLC and the host are not registered financial advisors and cannot accept liability for the outcome of any investment decision. Speculative investments involve extreme volatility and higher than typical risks.

Listeners' Q&A - Chris Waltzek Ph.D. - April 12th, 2018.

Mp3 format.

Highlights

• The latest Listener's Q&A segment includes phone calls on the increasingly popular topics of silver and Bitcoin from Tom in Arizona, John in Sunny San Diego and an anonymous caller.
• Tom starts off the segment, noting that he’s heard that many of the silver dealers are running low on their stockpiles and he wonders why the price remains subdued amid low supply.
• John is also perplexed by the silver market scenario.
• Chris suggests that the improving fundamentals have boosted the technical case for a renewed silver bull market.
• For instance it appears that the downtrend was competed in 2015 and a solid base formed in 2016/2017 which could launch pad for a new advance to multi-year highs of $28-$30.
• By observing the long-term trend, investors will gain insights into the strength / endurance of the silver price advance.
• The second caller finds a correlation between the announcement of a BTC futures contract on the CBOE and the 100% advance in BTC in Dec. 2017, followed by a subsequent 50% decline.
• Several key experts in the field refute the futures market thesis, citing instead seasonal factors combined with lack of liquidity.
• In Dec. 2017, leading BTC exchanges turned down hundreds of thousands of applications for new accounts.
• At one point Bitfinex accounts were actually put up for sale, for several thousands of dollars, online.
• Large delays in buying Bitcoin, even on Coinbase, where investors were expected to overcome time-based hurdles as a security feature, to build trust over time added to a supply bottleneck. The situation accelerated demand to euphoric levels.
• If the futures contract scenario were truly to blame then the readily available BTC ETF, ticker GBTC would be the go-to alternative and was actively traded on the NYSE since 2016.
• Chris posits that the bottleneck scenario could return at the end of 2018/2019 as institutional investor demand increases.
• As demand grows exponentially, futures and options markets may resize contracts to reflect dwindling demand, so that the typical contract size of 1 BTC could drop sharply.

Bill Murphy & Chris Waltzek Ph.D. - April 11th, 2018.

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Highlights

Figure 1.2. Keiser Report - Surveillance Capitalism

Note. Video provided courtesy of Youtube.com and RT.

Peter Grandich & Chris Waltzek Ph.D. - April 10th, 2018.

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Mp3 format.

Peter Grandich of Peter Grandich and Company and Pete Speaks returns with commentary on the US stock market and the PMs sector. Topping the financial headlines; the trade war between Washington DC and China, as well as the new Shanghai gold backed yuan-petro futures exchange. While our key trading partners, China / Russia continue to stockpile sound money, i.e., gold / silver, the West is doubling down on debt. Nevertheless, students of Austrian Economics learn that debt = bondage; a concept well understood by the national founders:

More recently, Yogi Berra said, "You can observe allot, just by watching," in similar fashion, the national debt just topped $21 trillion, $21,000,000,000,000, with current estimates of US Federal Deficit spending approaching $1 trillion, annually. So it's not surprise to learn that one leading money manager, Seth Klarman, author of Margin of Safety and founder of $32 billion hedge fund The Baupost Group, who correctly turned to cash in 2000 / 2008, just advised clients to drastically increase cash levels in their investment portfolios. Warren Buffett reportedly had this to say about Seth Klarman's investing acumen:

Peter Grandich and the host share Seth Klarman's cautious outlook on US equities and related securities, at least until valuation metrics return to equilibrium levels, such as the overextended price-to-earnings figure of 24, with a mean of of 15.70. In comparison, the PMs sector remains a deeply discounted levels relative to paper assets as the commodities / S&P ratio suggests a new commodities bull market is imminent, as noted by Charles Hughes Smith (Figure 1.1.). In addition, top financial market technician, Clive Maund presents a compelling case for the resumption of the long-term silver bull market (figure 1.2.). The host notes that India may outlaw Bitcoin / crypto wallets, setting the stage for improved demand in gold / silver, as millions abandon digital money for traditional safe haven alternatives.

Figure 1.1. Imminent Bull Market in Commodities / Gold / Silver / Oil?

Figure 1.2. Signs of a New Silver Bull Market

• Part II. of the discussion with Bix Weir of RoadtoRoot-A continues the intriguing dialogue on silver and Bitcoin.
• As a GATA.org colleague, Bix Weir notes that the silver market is rigged - manipulators have the upper hand, but only for the time being.
• JP Morgan holds over 134 million ounces of silver, up from zero ounces in just few years, but our guest thinks the actual figure is several fold the official tally, nearly 1 billion silver ounces.
• JP Morgan could hold ten fold the stockpile of the infamous Hunt Brothers, known for the 1980's silver market corner / squeeze.
• The death of the archaic fiat money system is inevitable, nevertheless, cryptocurrencies will not be the root cause, but a natural evolution to more functional / useful money.
• Cryptos offer global inhabitants freedom of choice to choose a much safer token as a unit of value / utility with highly efficient payment options, convenience and improved anonymity.
• The founders of the USA would recognize these as inalienable traits, the absolute hallmark of personal freedom and foundation of the United States' Bill of Rights.
• The long established Gresham's Law actually predicts the enormous price ascent of Bitcoin / Ethereum, etc.; as bad money (fiat) naturally inflates the value of sound money (cryptos).
• An algorithm resistant to SHA256 ASIC / GPU, exclusively for mobile devices could yield a "killer-app," to ignite an entirely new "crypto-mobile" revolution.
• Similar to the Sieve of Eratosthenes, the host proposes a new prime factorization algorithm "The Sieve of Erdos", in honor of the greatest number theorist of the last century, Paul Erdos
• The proprietary technique could vastly reduce the heat / energy effects of traditional mobile device mining methods, relying instead on memory intensive techniques.

• The head of Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., CEO Tim J. Termuende, makes his show debut.
• Eagle Plains Resources is a mineral explorer located in Western Canada that seeks key deposits of gold, base metals, uranium, rare earth elements, and industrial minerals.
• Eagle Plains Resources enhances shareholder value through the acquisition and development of early stage mineral exploration projects.
• The first key to the success of their “Project Generator - A Risk Averse Business Model,” involves building symbiotic relationships with partner companies.
• Partners fund exploration as well as make cash and share payments to the benefit of Eagle Plains shareholders.
• The business model includes the acquisition of new mineral discoveries, where Eagle Plains reserves the right to “spinout its interest of that project into a new company.
• For instance, on March 8, 2018, Eagle Plains Resources received an Interim Order for a proposed spinout of Taiga Gold Corp; the meeting date is set for April 6, 2018.
• Shares of such new companies are distributed to existing Eagle Plains shareholders.
• The second key to the success of The Eagle Plains project-generator involves earning “royalties on properties that have been vended to third parties by Eagle Plains" (Eagle Plains, 2018).
• Currently Eagle Plains maintains royalties on over 15 projects held by junior to senior mining and exploration companies (Eagle Plains, 2018).
• For example on March 20, 2018 the company announced an option partnership with SSR Mining Inc. (formerly Silver Standard Resources Inc., SSRM).
• New drilling operation on Eagle Plain’s Fisher Property, Phase One of which is expected to finish by June, 2018 (Eagle Plains Resources, 2018).
• Shareholders were treated to another key strategic partnership, announced in late 2016 with Aben Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: “ABN”).
• The deal involves Eagle Plains Resources' wholly owned Chico Gold Project located 125km east of La Ronge, Saskatchewan (Eagle Plains Resources, 2018).
• Earlier this year on January 31, Eagle Plains Resources acquired new claims at the Knife Lake Area near Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan (Eagle Plains Resources, 2018).
• In the same month, Eagle Plains Resources executed an option agreement with CRC Minerals Inc., which may earn up to a 75% interest in the Acacia property located near Kamloops, B.C.
• The host encourages the listener's to due their own due diligence on Eagle Plains Resources Ltd., a favorite portfolio candidate of top PMs shares analyst, Peter Spina.
• The ticker symbol can be found on the TSX Venture Exchange, under EPL and on USA exchanges under ticker symbol: EPL.v.

• Part I of the discussion of Bix Weir of RoadtoRoot-A includes comments on silver and Bitcoin
• While gold remains the de facto king of currencies, Bix Weir outlines his highly bullish case for silver.
• The duo agree, silver represents an ideal safe haven as a hedge against the Echo Bubble, which threatens to ignite the Great Recession II.
• While research suggests the Comex gold / silver ratio is 100:1, our guest identifies a competing figure of 2,000:1, paper to bullion.
• The supply situation is just as impressive; although the gold / silver ratio is near 80:1, the empirical ratio is 1:1, as stockpiles of gold exceed that of silver.
• The theoretical value of silver is $1,000+, a 50+ fold relative discount to current prices.
• In 2016 100 billion ounces of silver is currently traded on exchanges, although only 50 billion ounces exist, ergo the silver market may be nearing a key, bullish inflection point.
• All silver ETFs and proxies are based on the fractional reserve system dynamics, magnifying the investment risks associated with rehypothecation, making the case for 1:1 gold / silver.
• The resulting threat to the global financial system is many times larger in scale / scope than the combined impact of MF Global, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers debacles.
• Both Bix Weir and the host plan to HODL silver until market manipulation comes to an inevitable halt.
• The discussion includes Bitcoin / Altcoins and the crypto-sphere. Nearly 3 billion global inhabitants have zero access to banking resources, including services taken for granted.
• Nothing is required for most of the disenfranchised to open a Bitcoin or Ethereum account.
• Using a mobile phone and voila, even the indigent are a "walking bank."
• Not even a phone is required to download a free Bitcoin wallet at a local library desktop.
• Bix Weir is leery regarding the Bitcoin ramp to $20,000 and subsequent decline under $8,000 - he suspects powerful interests intended to dump Mt. Gox BTC inventory at high prices.
• Due to the hype of numerous impending Bitcoin forks, Fork-apalooza.
• Excitement regarding the new BTC futures contracts, caused liquidity to dry up as investors bought the rumors and then sold the fact.
• Financial markets are discounting mechanisms that typically anticipate events up to six months in advance and adjust prices, a priori.
• BTC statistics reveal that the months of Nov. / Dec. tend to be favorable for BTC, while January - March are less so; April - June tend to be recovery periods.
• Those who disparage the value aspects of cryptocurrencies fail to recognize the value inherent in the Bitcoin PoW concept, where SHA256 hashing power is key to the integrity.
• SHA256 vastly reduces the 51% attack risk inherent even in DPoS / PoS. protocols. Bitcoin is based on a "trust-less" system that removes the middleman or third party.
• Bitcoin removes the banking intermediary, eliminating wasteful fees while increasing efficiency, just as email is 100's of times less wasteful / costly than traditional snailmail.
• The TCP/IP protocol remains the backbone of the internet, despite a myriad of solid competing alternatives, as the TCP/IP had first mover advantage and early adoption, similar to Bitcoin
• Satoshi Nakamoto and new developers defeated the Byzantine General problem, the consensus issue, by distributing the blockchain ledger among key, collaborative hash nodes.
• Bitcoin detractors make the following points: coin mining is too costly, cannot be used to pay taxes and is an inadequate store of wealth.
• The host counters: Arizona now accepts BTC for State tax payments, credit card company verification systems consume several fold the electricity of crypto mining.
• At $7,000 per coin, BTC's price remains 600% higher than 12 months prior.
• Traditional fiat money is doomed - the host coins a new crypto-battle cry: "Bitcoin is an unstoppable fiat money, computer virus."

• Arch Crawford, head of Crawford Perspectives, outlines his technical perspective on US shares, gold, silver indexes.
• Our guest continues to monitor the technical condition of the PMs sector, noting the positive inverse golden cross.
• Given the sharp advance in the gold, silver, commodities, XAU and WTIC , Arch Crawford is anticipating a new bull market, music to the ears of PMs aficionados.
• Regarding US equities indexes, volatility was too low for too long - he expects a return to the mean resulting in a capitulation moment.
• His account remains short equities since January 15th without margin. After the 3 day Easter / Passover weekend, stocks could rebound from lows.
• The new $60 billion trade tariffs imposed by the Administration on China, suggests increased tensions between the US and China / N.K.
• Should relations continue to deteriorate, the potential for military conflict may add a new twist to the geopolitical / financial arenas.
• On the domestic economic front, the discussion veers to the hawkish FOMC rate hike strategy.
• The current Fed Funds Futures (FFF) at the St. Louis FRED website indicates low odds of another rate hike at the upcoming May meeting.
• Odds are high for June rate increase to 150-200 basis points (80% odds); about even odds of a final 2018 increase at the December meeting.
• The threat of higher rates has rattled some perspective home buyers, resulting in higher SFH default rates and potentially ending the echo housing bubble (figure 1.1.).

• Bill Murphy of GATA.org returns with his perspective on the PMs sector.
• Savvy central banks around the globe recognize the strategic significance of bullion as sound money as seen by the continuing trend of PMs accumulation.
• Russia recently added several tons of 70 lbs. silver bars to the national stockpile.
• The silver bullion market is vulnerable to a short-squeeze, merely one billionaire could corner the silver market - according to Forbes, there are currently 1,425 billionaires, worldwide.
• As demand for high capacity battery power increases, due in part to electric cars / trucks, etc., silver demand will likely soar beyond current forecasts.
• While investors focus on Bitcoin / Altcoins, few realize that without significant silver based electronics, many electronic activities and devices would be impossible.
• Current official figures indicate that there is considerably more gold in above ground reserves than silver.
• Silver investment supply is more rare than gold on a purely investment basis, despite the fact that gold is 80 times more costly!
• 37 US states have passed legislation to restore gold / silver to the that status outlined by the national founders, as Constitutional money, including the latest, Wyoming and Alabama.
• The trend in gold repatriation continues unabated - Hungary is the latest nation to demand the return of its sovereign gold stockpile.
• Hungarian officials are following the precedent of Austria, Netherlands, Germany, and Venezuela, perhaps on fears of rehypothecation exposure.
• Max and Stacy visit scenic Puerto Rico, attending 3 crypto conferences (figure 1.1.).

• Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute, returns to the show with new commentary on the geopolitical arena and financial markets.
• Our guest is concerned that the US US could be drawn into a military conflict in the Middle East or with NK with potentially dire consequences.
• US equities indexes have benefited from artificial and unsustainable stock buybacks.
• Gerald Celente echoes the sentiments of many recent guests, expressing his concerns that corporate earnings may not be capable of maintaining current lofty levels.
• As wage stagnation and increasing credit card / auto loan defaults persist, policymakers could face an economic quagmire deeper than that of the Great Recession.
• To protect investors from increasing financial market exposure, Gerald Celente proposes the safe haven asset with the greatest appeal remains gold.
• Gold could soar after breaking through strong resistance at $1,450. Beyond that point, the sky could be the limit as the yellow metal eclipses the bull market peak, above $2,000 per ounce.

• WolfStreet.com founder, Wolf Richter makes his show debut with cautionary comments on the US domestic economy.
• The national unemployment rate remains at 17 lows 4.1% and employers added 313,000 new jobs to the workforce last month.
• Wolf Richter counters with increasing credit card / auto-loan default rates, elevated consumer debt levels and lower auto sales.
• Policymakers and consumers alike have learned little from the debt lessons of the 2008 Great Recession.
• The current Echo Bubble has resulted in record debt levels. Consequently, the higher interest rate theme will persist in 2018.
• Our guest expects 4 FOMC rate increases this year - the 100 basis point increase could result in 6% mortgage rates by year end, which has yet to be priced into the markets.
• The US housing sector is particularly vulnerable to interest rates, due in part to the subsequent increases in mortgage costs and monthly payments.
• The Titantic-like housing sector responds slowly; our guest expects real estate price declines by the end of 2018 or early 2019.
• The host suggests interested parties monitor US Housing Starts, which recently recorded exceptional figures, a 10% boost month over month, annualized, his key leading economic indicator. The figure could offer guidance (figure 1.1.).
• To shield investment returns, the host suggests identifying low correlated assets to lower the overall beta risk of the traditional stock / bond investment portfolio.
• Safe haven assets such as the PMs, Bitcoin and currencies offer liquidity and wealth preservation.
• A hypothetical portfolio includes the following assets to help balance stocks / bonds(included for illustration purposes, not as investment advice).

• 50% BTC (beta +1.0),
• 10% GLD (beta .60),
• 10% ETH (beta .55),
• 10% LTC (beta .60),
• 10% BCC (beta .60),
• 5% XMR (beta .40),
• 5% UUP LEAPS (beta -.89).

• Top Wall Street Chartered Technical Analyst (CTA), Ralph Acampora of Altaira Wealth Management, revered as "A Professor of Technical Analysis," returns.
• Investors grew complacent amid arguably the greatest stock bull market in history, illustrated by few if any typical reactions.
• Our guest advises investors to ignore the recent uptick in volatility - US shares are fairly priced and likely to set records in 2018.
• Less than half of hedge fund managers have 5 years of market experience, suggesting that few money managers have endured a serious bear market in US equities.
• Ralph Acampora discounts the threat of a 20-30% decline in US shares and pooh-poohs the risk of interest rate hikes.
• Not until rates climb to 5% should analysts sound the alarm.
• According to one media report, the 30 year US Treasury actually outperformed US shares just slightly.
• The US bond market could experience a profound reaction as soon as 2018 due to expected FED rate hikes.
• The recent tariffs on US trading partners may not pose a major threat to share prices.
• Ralph Acampora notes the encouraging price action in the long-term charts of Micron (MU) and Intel (INTC), the host adds GPU manufacturer nVidea (NVDA).
• Listeners / readers are encouraged to sign up for to his free Twitter account with and active subscriber base of 26,000+.

• Arch Crawford, head of Crawford Perspectives, outlines his technical vantage point on Bitcoin, US shares, gold, silver and related indexes.
• Due in large part to the ominous technical condition of the US Greenback, our guest expects the world's reserve currency to continue to decline.
• The market could be entering free fall amid an ominous inverse golden cross, where the shorter term 50 week MA crosses below the longer 200 week MA.
• Consequently, gold, silver, Bitcoin, Altcoins, cryptos, commodities, WTIC and related shares should enter a profitable bull market.
• According to the Keiser report, JP Morgan has accumulated approximately 140 million ounces of silver.
• The Keiser report suggests that the investment bank is hoarding silver in anticipation of an epic price advance.
• Russia's new national silver stockpile of 70 pounds silver bars, stacked in enormous piles amounts to perhaps $70 million in value (figure 1.1.).
• With the gold to silver ratio extended to extremes, nearing an all-time record of 80:1, one gold coin purchases nearly a 100 oz silver bar.
• The stat. suggests fire-sale AG prices. Case in point, silver could climb from $17 to $70 for lucky silver lottery ticket holders.
• The current Bitcoin prediction implies a run to $40,000, via Fibonacci projection, assuming that the $5,700-$8,000 support level holds over the coming months, which interesting coincides perfectly with top crypto investor, Mike Novogratz's 2018 Bitcoin target (figure 1.1.).

• Lior Gantz of Wealth Research Group makes his show debut with his insights on Bitcoin, Altcoins and the PMs.
• The former money manager / entrepreneur is an avid silver aficionado who survived the Dot Bomb crash like tens of millions of investors.
• The ordeal taught him to adopt a Warren Buffett-like investing approach, which lead him to silver / commodities / China stocks and spectacular results.
• Our guest cites the work of "Mr. Silver" First Majestic Silver (AG) CEO, Keith Neumeyer with his $100+ silver price forecast and that of and Amir Adnani.
• US shares are in the process of forming a key bull market zenith.
• The guest / host also agree that the market capitalization of the entire cryptocurrency arena could increase 5-10 fold, soaring to $3-5 trillion in the coming years.
• Investors are advised not to confuse cryptocurrencies and blockchain based new technologies; many of the overlooked "cryptos" are actually intriguing tech companies.
• Lior advises listeners in the US to pursue careers / jobs in sectors insulated from outsourcing, such as repair techs, high tech jobs, etc..
• The duo call for fireworks in the junior mining sector, noting one candidate of top CEO Amir Adnani and his Goldmining Inc. (GOLD).