Fintech Impact

Episode 39witha Panel from the Institute of Advanced Financial Planners Conference 

Title: Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies, Are They an Investment you should Recommend to your Clients?

Summary:

During the 39th episode of the Fintech Impact podcast, Jason Pereira(award-winning  financial planner, university lecturer,  writer), Kyle J Kemper (Executive Director and Chief Strategy Director of the Blockchain Association of Canada), and David Hayes (Technology Brokers International) discuss the phenomenons of blockchain and cryptocurrency. The three put forth their view of the cutting edge investments and leave us with revolutionary takeaways. The trio help demystify the complexity of both Blockchain and Cryptocurrency.

Show Notes:

●         00:48—Introduction ofFintech Conference in Ontario--Details are avaiable on Jason´s linkedin profile.

●         4:23—Introduction of the panel who will be discussing cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Kyle J Kemper, David Hase, and Jason Pereira speak as part of the panel.

●         7:52—To be so sure about whether your coffee is fairtrade, you need data and a secure system to verify it. A solution that can do this is Blockchain. Blockchain can manage all of our data, and it can help keep our information secure.

●         10:23—Blockchain fast facts: 1,600 cryptocurrencies already exist. 54th most popular google search this year. One of the most valuable start-ups in Canada is a bitcoin company. The biggest bitcoin story is about the bitcoin bubble.

●         11:23—Canada is creating their own national cryptocurrency.

●         12:08—The recent cryptocurrency bubble. Cryptocurency breaks Warren´s basic tenenant of investment: Invest in things that have intrinsic value.

●         13:20—Problems of cryptocurrency include scalability, huge energy consumption, fraud, money laundering, and security. The number one concern and problem is that people don´t trust the systems.

●         14:34—Is now the time to invest in Cryptocurrency?

●         14:54—David kicks off the panel.

●         15:03—David has a vested interest in the cryptocurrency, and from a technology standpoint, he believes in the future of blockchain. It is a great technology.

●         16:30—Blockchain can promote cyber security and will grow to include biometrics--your fingerprint and more. Blockchain is generally trusted.

●         17:30—Amazon and IBM are working with blockchain as part of their formula, and they are growing their business nicely.

●         17:50—Digressing from Blockchain, Bitcoin is dead. In startk comparison to Blockchain, David doesn´t like bitcoin.

●         18:28—Bitcoin is more of a digital trend.

●         18:53—Once someone (like the world bank) enters the market and adds stability and credibility to the volatility, digital currencies would be a good investment and that would be a key time to invest in the sector.

●         19:50—Shopify allows every single type of bitcoin to be used on their platform.

●         20:22—Transition to Kyle Kemper

●         20:26—There is actually a website that has bitcoin arbituaries that shows you how many times bitcoin has died. Bitcoin is here and digital currencies are the future.

●         21:26—You are taking risk by not having bitcoin in your portfolio. Kyle wouldn´t use it to support his mortgag, but it is an investment worth having.

●         22:26—In the past, we needed banks to move the money. With bitcoin, banks do not stifle the transcaction process in terms of supply and inflation. 

●         23:26—With bitocoin, you skip the need for interrmediaries like banks.

●         24:17—Bitcoin is a currency, a commodity, and a ledger that everyone can witness. 

●         24:53—Bitcoin is young but still growing.

●         25:25—As big players come into the market, there will be a flip in the market from volatility to stability and credibility.

●         25:53—Insure yourself and use Kyle´s formula to invest in Bitocin at a proportion based on your overall global wealth.

●         28:00—Bitcoin is fixed at 21,000,000 pieces of Bitcoin.

●         28:50—Transition to Jason Pereira.

●         29:30—Jason unpacks thoughts around cryptocurrency We have never had anything like this before and that is what makes cryptocurrency difficult.

●         30:15—Therise and fall of the bitcoin bubble and the probability that it will be a lasting investment over time.

●         30:43—If you are trying to make fast money, bitcoin is a disaster. However, bitcoin is the most revolutionized computer we have seen in the avenue.

●         31:03—The entire system for monetization has been flipped with cryptocurrency.

●         31:13—All the code and protocols that everything we do is based on--facebook, facetime call, etc. Crypto flipped the protocol. Crypto gets value at the originating protocol level.

●         32:17—Three uses that determine if something can be used as a currency: it store value, serves as an even exchange, and measures how much something is worth. Bitcoin does all three.

●         33:07— Bitcoin´s other functionality is the utilities side like smart contracts.

●         33:24—Smart contracts allow anything in code that has been completed to be compensated accordingly--work gets done, money gets paid. Jason talks about how this affects the efficiency of futures contracts in the natural gas industry.

●         35:08—Smart contracts based off of bitcoin can measure the computing that has been completed by employees and promote accountability in coporations. 

●         36:00—Smart contracts could also help streamline the process after getting hit by a storm. 

●         37:27—Can money be made in Bitcoin? yes, but as an advisor we have to measure the return. Is there a potential for return? yes, but at this stage in the game, there is so much technical jargon that we need to wade through.

●         38:19—The Cryptocurrency and Blockchain space is not mature enough to be able to incorporate it into our portfolios today. We have to put our client`s priorities first, many of which are based of off a way of life rather than returns.

●         39:01—The floor is open to questions.

●         39:32—Is cryptocurrency too volatile to use as currency? This is a western view of currency. If you are in a country where currency is less stable than cryptocurrency, there will be a drive to use crypto.

●         42:05—The voltility comes down to your own investment appetite.

●         42:51— What is the concept of mining and does it mean anyone can produce more currency?

●         44:33— Does cryptocurrency undermine the bank of canada?

●         45:46— Any currency undermines the central bank. Rather, it is another venue for purchasing.

●         46:33—How close are we to reaching the point of investment? A year away or ten years away? Ask us in ten years.

●         48:14—Your cash and credit card are far more vulnerable to security breech than blockchain.

●         48:45— The role blockchain will play in patents, copywriting, and owership is important. It will become the underlying infrastructure for ownership and also a way to monetize that ownership.

●         51:24—The computing power is not the processing power. 

●         53:17—You can increase the number of bits, but people are unlikely to do that as it affects the value of bitcoin negatively.

●         55:56—More pepole have lost money with Bitcoin than made money with it.

●         56:20—What can you do right now? Download a wallet so you can invest and hold digital currencies.

3 Key Points:

1.     Blockchain and cryptocurrency´s technical jargon can be convuluted and make it hard to understnad the market in its entireity, but they are considered to be revolutionary advances across several fields including the futures market, utilities--smart contracts, and future corporate accoutability structures.

2.      The bitcoin market has been distracted by greed. If you are trying to speculate and make fast money, it is a disaster. However, the truth is that bitcoin is revolutionary, and digital currencies are a market of the future.

3.     Bitcoin is a valid form of currency: it can store value, be used as a unit of measure, and be exchanged. However, it still needs maturity, stability, and credibility to beconsidered a part of portfolios. Experiement with it, but don´t bet your house on it. There is a love for Blockchain and a dislike for Bitcoin.

Tweetable Quotes:

-       “Start experimenting for the love of god. Go open a Robo Account. Go buy bitcoin. Once you see these things, you can start to understand.” –Jason.

-       “The realchallenge is that we have never had something like this before” – Jason.

-       “Bitcoin is a distraction due to greed. If you are trying to speculate and make fast money, it is a disaster. However, the truth is is that bitcoin is revolutionary.” – Jason.

-      “You are taking a risk by not having bitcoin.” – Kyle.

-      “ As big players come into the market, there will be a flip in the market.”– Kyle.

-      “ More people have lost money on Bitcoin than made money on Bitcoin”– David.

Resources Mentioned:

●The Fintech Impact

●Refer to Jason Pereira´s Linkedinfor Information about the Fintech event hosted by Individual Finance and Decision Center: New Developments in Fintech and their impacts on Society

●David Hayes

●Kyle Kemper

●Woodgate Financial

●Itunes, Sticherto access the podcast

●Insitute of Advance Financial Planners Confrence

●Edge Wallet