Since the 2008 financial crisis, central banks have turned to unconventional monetary policy in an attempt to spur global economic growth. Featuring ultra-low interest rates and unprecedented quantitative easing, trillions of dollars have been released into the financial system and near-zero interest rates have become the new normal. Today, total debt held by global central banks exceeds $18 trillion and multiple countries such as Switzerland and Japan have implemented a negative interest rate policy, charging depositors for holding funds in the central banks.
For over five years, the US Federal Reserve has maintained a target Federal Funds rate between 0.00-0.50%, exerting significant downward pressure on global interest rates and forcing investment capital into exceedingly risky markets in pursuit of yield. The Fed has quadrupled the US monetary base via debt purchases yet the velocity of money has dropped sharply. This means additional dollars flooding into the financial system are not being lent to consumers, but utilized by institutional banks to double down on risky bets in various equity, debt and derivative markets. Markets have responded well to this influx of capital aided by the global accumulation of debt by central banks. The current bull market has lasted for over seven years, with all three major US stock indices topping all-time highs in 2016. The question is how will central banks normalize monetary policy and begin to raise interest rates? As noted by prominent economists, extended periods of zero (or negative) interest rates could have adverse consequences for the global economy. In 2009, as central banks took these unprecedented steps to spur economic growth, Bitcoin was anonymously released with the aim of revolutionizing digital value transfer and restructuring the global financial system. The Bitcoin protocol introduced the idea of distributed ledgers, i.e blockchains, an innovative technology that is now being applied in various industries such as record management and distributed computing. Neha Narula's TED Talk, 'The Future of Money' does a exemplary job explaining this disruptive concept. Over the last few years, other peer-to-peer platforms have been created, building upon and tweaking the attributes of Bitcoin's underlying technology. The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) was released into production, allowing for the formation of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and the development of decentralized applications (dapps). The ethereum platform aims to become the backbone of the Internet of Things (IoT) economy, which will allow inanimate objects to conduct autonomous transactions via micro-payments. Per coinmarketcap.com, less than $15 billion is currently invested in peer-to-peer platforms and supporting projects. Within this diverse industry, multiple disruptive technologies have come to market offering innovative services at significantly reduced costs. With close to $70 trillion invested on global stock exchanges, even the slightest reallocation of capital into this space will materially increase market values. Please take a moment to explore the information provided throughout this site and utilize the links as a jumping off point in your research. Feel free to contact us to discuss the purchase of distributed digital property or ask any questions you may have.
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AuthorTyler Logsdon is a CPA and Registered Securities Representative located in Newport Beach, California. He is actively employed in the blockchain industry. Categories
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