StockGumshoe... We’ve got a big new cryptocurrency-related pitch to look at for you today, and since it’s from Ray Blanco at Agora’s Breakthrough Technology Alert, one of the most heavily-marketed newsletters around, you’ll probably see the ad soon if you haven’t already. It’s all about what Ray Blanco calls “The Stockchain” … which is basically the next wave of blockchain adoption, as it goes from being an alt-currency story to becoming the foundational technology for all financial transactions (stock market, bond market, etc.)
And, of course, he doesn’t pull his punches when it comes to hyperbole or ridiculous “promises”… including the notion that this blockchain will quickly becoming 9,303 times bigger than every single crypto-currency as we see it ring “The Opening Bell for the Wyoming Stock Exchange.”
But let’s try to read between the lines, sift through the hype, and figure out what it is he’s actually recommending.
“This will make the crypto-currency revolution look like a summertime lemonade stand, run by your neighbor’s cute little first grader.
It’s a stock, not an alt-currency or a special token or coin — he clearly notes that you can use any brokerage account….
“Unlike Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies, it’s ridiculously easy to make the 1 Stockchain trade I’m recommending today.
“You just enter the 4 letter code I’ll give you into any major brokerage and you’re done.”
OK… so we buy a stock to get our crazy riches… which one?
The most specific clue we get is this quote, buried in the middle of the ad:
“As this venture capitalist said recently about the concept behind his revolutionary new idea, that I call the “Wyoming Stock Exchange”:
OK, so we don’t get a lot of other detail… but feed that to the Thinkolator, and it doesn’t take much chugging and chewing until we get a very high-probability answer: This is almost certainly a veiled recommendation to buy Overstock (OSTK).
The “technology supergenius” and the guy who was named Entrepreneur of the Year and accepted Bitcoin early and funded the open source community and hates Wall Street is Patrick Byrne, the firebrand CEO of Overstock.com (and son of the late (and legendary) John Byrne, of GEICO and White Mountains Insurance fame — both Byrnes worked for Warren Buffett). He’s a fascinating guy, despite the fact that Overstock has often been a disappointing retailer compared to its public peers (like, say, Amazon), well worth reading up on him if you’re interested.
Byrne’s last fight, against naked short selling a decade ago, no doubt informs his current interest in cryptocurrencies and blockchain — Overstock, through its Medici subsidiary, has invested heavily in blockchain technologies in several areas, including voting and real estate and identity, but the big push right now is for their largest blockchain investment, tzero, which they describe as “blockchain meets capital markets.”
Overstock (and Medici, their blockchain subsidiary) are not Wyoming companies, they’re headquartered in Utah… but Wyoming is certainly trying to lead the way in blockchain and has made a big effort to set up a legal structure that incentivizes blockchain companies and cryptocurrencies to work in Wyoming, so perhaps some of Overstock’s investments are in that state. I didn’t dig that deep on that point.
And yes, per the teased deadline, May 14 is currently the expected close of the offering for tzero tokens… though the process has been delayed and disputed over the past six months as Overstock and tzero try to work with regulators.
You can see a pretty good explanation of the tzero blockchain in Overstock’s latest quarterly presentation here, and certainly tzero and Overstock have been well-covered in the press for this large ICO offering and the ambitious plans Byrne likes to talk about — there was an interview in American Banker back in January, and the tzero token sale/ICO was delayed for a while (and investigated by the SEC, which helped bring down OSTK’s share price last month).
I’m sure there are plenty of folks who like Overstock (including Tom Forte, the lone Wall Street analyst who covers the stock and who talked it up a lot a few months ago, and recently reiterated his $100 target), but I’ll bet most of that enthusiasm is pretty recent, and is based on hopes about the blockchain stuff, which means it’s subject to the fluctuating winds of blockchain sentiment. The most bullish person I’ve noticed on Overstock has been Mark Cohodes, the famed short seller who was a Patrick Byrne target back in those naked shorting days of 2005 or 2006 — he talked up Overstock at the Grant’s Interest Rate Observer conference last Fall, which got a lot of media attention (and some raised eyebrows). That was before the crypto-fueled spike and collapse, though as of a few days Cohodes still says he owns and likes it.
I’ll watch from the sidelines for now, thanks…
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Poster Comment:
sschechter... If you want real venture capital investment in blockchain, get some EOS. Multiple VC firms and creator Block One have already pledged over a billion dollars to develop dApps on the EOS platform. It is extremely likely that many of those dApps will airdrop their own shares on EOS token holders, like has already been committed by Everipedia, a blockchain based Wikipedia competitor. EOS is by far my number 1 blockchain pick and think it will do well no matter what happens to bitcoin. EOS is like a blockchain based Android – a platform to launch thousands of commercially scalable dDapps, and owning EOS will allow you to collect shares in new companies. Ethereum cannot scale and is beyond repair blockchain
daveandmelinda... After listening to Cohodes last October at the Grants conference I bought a bunch of OSTK around $39. Sol d half at $80 and stopped out the remaining 1/2 at $52. If only I could do that on a regular basis. Might be worth another shot if its down around $30 as I do believe his tzero will make it as one of the surviving cryptos which really go to town.
As far as Blanco is concerned, this guy is the worst of all newsletter pushers I’ve ever read. Simply nauseating. He’s a joke.
brown7228... Blockchain is an inventory system. It record every transitions as they happen. The reason it is so effective is that site of the transition sends information in blocks and not bits as they happen. The new system sends transitions much faster from 25,000 bits to 400,000 bits per second. Accounting on the fly. Complete management from the top down. Write a program on how you want the company to run tie it to blockchain and the operation becomes seamless. Mining is the security blanket that locks in every action. “No stocks” just Cryptocurrency to indicate valuation. That means no market manipulation. No shorting selling stocks. Also no divined just growth or failure.
How can you evaluate a companies intention if you can’t analyze what the porous of their involvement will be. Old companies verses new startups. This is my own evaluation of what I have read so far. If this is right I can’t see how this system can be stopped. Just like the market you pays your money and takes your chances. 10-Bagger Letter blockchain
fabian... I subscribe to Bianco affordable letter, I’m satisfied with it. I would never put $ 2,000 for a letter. Here is the last trick from Bonner and Partner to part you from your hard earned cash. I received an offer to subscribe to Near Future (also mentions OSTK, they all do it) for $ 74. Ok, gives me ideas. When you sign out, they come with many pages; WAIT you can do this, you can do that. I always skip. Then I receive my CC statement, that I scrupulously check, and I see another charge from Bonner for $ 100. I call them and they tell me that I subscribed to an Exponential Tech Investor letter that will renew for $ 1,995 in June. Non refundable! Be careful out there, they are desperate for your money.
bluesharpbob... Interesting article about cryptocurrencies in this month’s Smithsonian Magazine
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/founding-fathers-money-problems-bitcoin-180968393/
elk82070... You note, “…but Wyoming is certainly trying to lead the way in blockchain and has made a big effort to set up a legal structure that incentivizes blockchain companies and cryptocurrencies to work in Wyoming, ” Wyoming is pushing to be headquarters for large supercomputer groups. However just as “go figure” note, Wyoming has some weird banking laws so that a resident may not set up a Coinbase account. Wyoming and Hawaii are the only two States where Coinbase won’t operate.
quantum... Take a look at Global Blockchain Technologies – quote “Global Blockchain’s blockchain subsibuary, tzero.com,Inc (tZero)” also involved in the KodakOne Coin offering.