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So let's get into the crypto conversation. Last week a Coinbase was named into the S and P five hundred and you know that skyrocketed their stock and it's also been encouraging news for the crypto community as a whole, so going forward, but they also had an issue as far as for sure security breach. So let's talk about the security issue, and let's also talk about coinbase future as far as its stock price and you know, stability as a company.
I think the security issue is just the penality of leadership. I think Brian handled it pretty well. I think he was very direct and addressing it. He didn't skirt around the leak of the news or the break of the news. So I do like that. As far as them being included, A lot of people were asking does this give crypto a lot more credibility? And I'm gonna be honest with bitcoin, if it's the highest return of asset of all time, how much more credibility does it need.
It's outperforming Bitcoin or you know, bigcoin.
Yah crypto or all right, crypto currencies outside of bigcoin, because I think I think at this point people have already solidified bigcoin. Yes, when they say gave credibility to crypto, I think they're talking about every other crypto currency outside of bigcoin.
Most, I think are not institutional assets to hold long term, even on the retail side. I know, I don't want to cause the war between the other crypto of factions, but there's only one to invest in currently if you want an incredible return.
I think the crypto currency market at large.
Needs some reform and just needs better projects for sure. But as far as a coin business inclusion, I think it goes to the testament of people want high returns and they want something that isn't necessarily tied to the dollar in the current regime. Do I like moon coin or or Solano the most. I mean, I think we've had the conversation enough. Sharp is still fighting a good
fight and hopefully that make a turnaround. But if you want some exposure that is not tied directly to Michael Saylor, coin is a good alternative, even though I think MicroStrategy is better.
But I think we.
Can be very honest to overall crypto market, there is nothing to invest in but bitcoin.
Yeah.
I think that's what makes it interesting is that when you Bitcoin and coin base of synonymous with each other at this point, because coinbase is the largest custodian of bigcoin in the world, then own twelve percent of all the bitcoin.
Yeah, right at this point.
Right now, I think they said that they manage over four hundred billion in cryptocurrency, which is a great uptick from last year where I think they closed that three twenty five billion. But they also are the largest custodian of ethereum as well. And so if it's will it impact the entire space, no, will it impact certain coins, yes, for.
Sure, he is one of them.
They also are the largest custodian of Solana as well, and so those are three coins. If Coinbase is the custodian of and you're trying to invest in the space without directly investing in it, yeah, coin makes a lot of sense. And it's obviously the first digital asset to be on the S and P five hundred, So it's it's a.
Major monumental moment.
Like you said, good coins is already been solidified once it crossed certain thresholds fifty five one.
Hundred thousand, now it's been there.
But coin it, I mean, it's a good investment if you're looking to be in the space without directly owning those coins, well, yeah, for sure.
Pushback, thank you now you put that.
I was going to say, because for people that's listening the close all right, the next best thing and not owning big cooin is is owning the bigcoin etf I bet.
So it's related.
Coinbase is related, but it's not direct because some people still an educational process that for sure keep in mind. So I don't I want people just to fully understand because we can't take it for granted.
Owning coin base is not like owning bitcoin.
It's it's related because it's like what you just said, it's the brokerage. But if you do want to have if you want to mimic bitcoin's performance on the stock market and not actually own bitcoin and not have to, you can you can buy ibit And there's other bitcoin ETFs which track bitcoin. Now why would you do that because if you feel like you're not one hundred percent confident with crypto. As far as the security, there's no recourse if money gets if your crypto gets stolen. Ibit
is on the stock exchange, so it's regulated. You get it through the brokerage. There's some level of security. There's also that's important for people to understand because a lot of people still don't understand crypto. They understand bitcoin, they want to buy it, but they don't understand it. They don't understand it the nuances or how to keep the coin safe, and the difference between the cold wild and
the hot water. It's kind of like mumbo jumbo. So and then for the people that's like, all right, well, if you don't invest in bitcoin, then ibit is not bitcoin. Yes, true, but the thing about bitcoin is that is liquid. You can always buy bitcoin. So if you can buy ibit and at any point in time cash that and then buy bitcoin, but at least you're actually still participating in upward mobility of bitcoin if you feel bitcoin is a good investment without having.
To go through all of the hurdles and.
Obstacles that could potentially happen because of owning the outright cryptocurrency.
I got to ask the minute all the question why I bit over micro strategy.
Well, because well, so ibit tracks Bitcoin dollar for dollar as far as like whatever it does.
Ibit does that.
Micro's strategy is once again that's like a coin based type thing, but more centered around bitcoin, where that is a bitcoin linked investment. When it's direct, so Bitcoin can go up and Michael strategy can go down hypothetically, right, but it's also designed to it has higher volatility than bitcoin. So the micro strategy is something that if Bitcoin returns ten percent, micro strategy might do twenty percent. Yeah right,
So it's like you get higher leverage. So that's why a lot of people have done options on Michael on micro strategy and then just purchase bitcoin.
Purchase bitcoin for the long haul. That's a good strategy.
Options on micro strategy, so you get that accelerated growth in a short period of time, but for bitcoin to ride. So I would say, if if you really just want to just do bitcoin and want an alternative, I bit is the way to go. Micro Strategy is a I'm trying to just fast track this thing and get as much money as I possibly can while bitcoin is going up.
Yeah, and if you get in at forty three bucks, I bet it's currently at the high or not a high. Fifty nine dollars almost at the high. Sixty one is way cheaper than micro strategy as well. For those of you who are looking for a more cost effective alternative.
What do we think about the appreciation potential for coinbase now that it's being added to the S and P five hundred? How many funds will it be in? Will the price increase over the next six or twelve months?
I think so on the institutional side, and just from a validity standpoint, it does take some of that concern or worry away from is this too volitude to well, if it's in the s and P five hundred, it has to be legit.
And you have to give Brian credit.
He's fought through a lot of wars business wise to be able to survive this.
So I think their inclusion.
Is needed and it's very good and credit to SMP four including them because there's a lot of legacy companies that they probably could have kept in. But I'm glad that they were included, and I should get to three seventy eight.
They were included.
Discover Financial was removed, but they were acquired.
I believe Discover Financial was acquired.
But essentially, like you said, like they iPod in twenty twelve, here we are in twenty twenty five. When they iPod, it was an it was kind of around this idea like will this space even exist exist?
Right?
So he wasn't coming in with the same type of favor that a lot of companies come in with. So to be here thirteen years later and being part of the S and P five hundred it is a monumental moment. But I mean, so the security part is part of it. It used to feel like the safest way to do it if I didn't know anything, was to be coin based. We know that not to be true from some stories that we've obviously heard and experience, but I mean, he put out a ransom the other day. He was like, look,
they try to extort me for twenty million. I'm getting twenty million into the people who can find them.
Yes, smart move. Yeah that was okay, Brian Bryce.
You can't pay any terrorists, man, because if they pay that twenty somebody else is going to hack an Act two hundred. It's a good big business lesson. You cannot pay that excursion feed.
Yeah.
And as the price of big client is going up, you've seen the amount of crypto theft going up. Absolutely. I mean this is as part of it. So security around that space is going to be paramount, especially as that price continues to climb and climb and climb, because we don't see it stopping here at one hundred, right, it looks like that's a right. So yes, security around the space is going to be a wave.
Oh the last note, crypto founders and crypto megal whales, up your security. I know a lot of people may have seen a video where the husband and wife was almost kidnapped. If you go look at the amount of crypto whales that have had unfortunate circumstances the last three or four years, please be mindful.
I will say that.
And it's uh two point two billion dollars was stolen in crypto in twenty twenty four and so far this year, first four months, one point seven billion has already been stolen. And that doesn't even a count for the tool, the full cryptos hacking and everything that's been going on. So when you look at it from a standpoint of crypto, is this security aspect has not been solved, it's not. It's not an issue that has been solved. It's an
issue that is Actually it's only getting bigger. And we posted this on Instagram, but you know there's a Michael Turpin,
So it's interesting this this made news twenty eighteen. Hackers stole twenty four million work for Crypto from his phone, and how they did it was through a SIM swap scam, So they convinced AT and T to transfer his phone number and or they had somebody on the inside do it, and they they stole twenty four million dollars from his phone and he actually sued them for two hundred and twenty four million dollars. So the reason why the SIM swap thing is interesting is that it actually happened to me.
I can't prove this, but I'm pretty sure that's what happened because but my coin base got hacked. I had to take my phone in to get serviced, and then we went to LA and then I actually had COVID. It was a whole long story, but my phone stopped working for like two days, and then when it came back on, that's when my coinbase was hacked. So I think that somebody inside this store switch saw your Google Instagram and said, oh, sim car swap. So that's this
is a real thing. So coin base security issue has not been solved.
No, in the experts. What is the MAK that's insured? Do we know? Is it is two hundred? Is it?
If you guys see, No, it's no insurance. What I'm saying crypto. That's why I said if you want to, if you want to safer route is I bit because there's no insurance on crypto, so there's nothing you can do about it, even if even if it's on coin base, it's not there's no.
There's no insurance for that short coin base, is what you're saying. That's Brian.
I'm sorry, but you do need you do need to fix that issue for sure, triple factor authentication or something triple the next leg because.
The vast majority of people is not going to do a coal wallet, right. The coal wallet is the it looks like a USB drive, this drive thing, and that's when you actually have you know your code and you actually own your own crypto, meaning you're the sole custodian of it. But for most people, especially if you got a lot of money, we're conditioned and trained to have institutions hold on money like you know what I mean. Most people are not going to have five million dollars
and just put it in a safe. They would rather put five million dollars in the bank. Feel comfortable with that, right If feel comfortable for five million dollars in josh wab, they don't feel comfortable actually having five million dollars in there in their possession.
So I don't know.
I think crypto experts are going to have that, but the average everyday person I don't think is going to be comfortable with that.
It'd be interesting to see what the encryption is, right, if you're holding twelve percent of the world's big point and you're managing over four hundred billion dollars of assets, how is that?
How is that protected while being a target? Yeah? I would love somebody to break that down for us that that's interesting.
Does CrowdStrike have a crypto division or it's solely focused on crypto or no, I'm.
Not sure give you that information momentarily.
Yeah, because whoever finds a way to provide it actra layoff security, that's where the real money is going to be.
Right, that's going to be that's the way, right, And we're speaking about crypto, but even.
In artificial intelligence as well.
For sure, you can see how this technology, especially when we talk about cyber companies, CrowdStrike, Pale all to Z scale, all these companies.
How important they will be.
Not now, but I mean definitely now, but even more so in the future as that becomes more of the commonplace.
These companies are going to be needed.
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