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Over the past decade, bitcoin has morphed from a relatively niche payments system to one of the world's most profitable investment assets. In its infancy, the return on investment for bitcoin has managed to surpass the returns of traditional assets and indices, virtually crushing them in its wake.

With the turn of the century around the corner, lets take a look back at how you would have done if you had placed $100 on each of these investments. Please note, this is not financial advice.

Within its 10-year nascency, bitcoin has gone from zero to veritable hero. Straight off the starting blockor should that be genesis blockbitcoin's gains were pretty astounding. Within the first few years of its price discovery, bitcoin managed to go from literally nothing to a peak of $1,047 in 2014, its first bubble.

What followed was a bear cycle, stretching all the way to the fateful 2017 bull run.

At its peak at around $20,000, bitcoin had returned an almost inconceivable 25 million percent from its earliest recorded price point of $0.08 per bitcoin.

Nevertheless, much like every other cycle in its life, the price of bitcoin came cascading down. A protracted bear winter in 2018, and a brief spate of parabola this year places bitcoin at a current price of around $7,200. This gives the price of bitcoin a prevailing 10-year return on investment (ROI) of 9 million percent.

That means $100 would have netted you $900 million. In theory. (You probably would have spent it by now, lets be real).

Given this, stacking up traditional investments against BTC seems about as reasonable as pitting a Chihuahua against a Lion.

Regardless, heres how other assets fared over the past ten years.

Regarded as bitcoin's physical counterpart, gold has had a similarly rocky decade. Citing a price of around $690 in December 2009, the precious metal climbed swiftly to a peak some two years laterclaiming a price high of $1,164.

The following five years didn't treat gold so well, as it retraced back to around $700. This was thought to have occurred due to a tapering of global monetary easing. With the global economy back on track after the 2008 financial crisis, gold's use case was faltering. It wasn't until 2019 that the yellow rock rebounded to its previous highs, settling at a current price of $1,131.

This provides gold with a 10 year ROI of 63.9%. So $100 would now be worth $163.9. Nothing particularly crazy, but it is supposedly a safe haven after all.

Unlike gold and bitcoin, the price of oil started off on a high.

In December 2019, black gold fetched a price of $70. After a few years of fluctuating and a short-lived, all-time high of $113, the price of oil came crashing down by 71% in 2016, hitting a low of $30a decline not witnessed since 1985.

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According to the World Bank, this collapse was caused by an overabundance of the black stuff, manifesting from a boom in the production of shale oil. However, the expectations of this excess supply were not met by the market. With demand for oil dissipating, the price plunged into the depths.

Today, oil is priced at around $58, giving it an ROI of -17%. So that $100 would be down to $83, after ten years of investing. Yikes.

This exalted and time-honored stock index was among the few US stock indices to claim the longest bull run in history. It rose from the ashes of the global crash, citing 10,471 points in 2009, to an all-time high (ATH) of 28,000 points this year.

The primary reason for this impressive rise appears to be due to the performance of the 30 major companies the Dow lists. The Dow 30 cites major players such as Apple, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, American Express, and JPMorgan Chase among others.

Over these years, the Dow marks an impressive 167% ROI. That $100 would now be worth $267.

The very same index cited in the infamous dotcom bubble, the Nasdaq's impressive rise and fall is often compared to bitcoin's own fall from grace in 2017. Much like the Dow, the Nasdaq has had a stellar decade, rising from 2190 points in 2009 to an all-time high of 8,665 points this year.

The main catalyst driving the Nasdaq's strong rally appears to be tech stocks such as Facebook, and Amazon, who expanded in the late noughties, continuing their parabolic streaks well into 2019.

The Nasdaq's ROI of 295% is more than enough to beat the Dow. Putting $100 into that back in the day would have netted you $395.

Yet another well-performing stock index, the S&P 500 shares the accolade of the longest bull run in history with the dow. Similarly, this famed index gained traction during the following the economic crisis, recording alargely uninterruptedrise from 1106 points to 3140 points in 2019.

Therefore, the S&P 500 comes to an ROI of 183%. While your $100 would be up to $283, topping the Dow, it would still be lower than both the Nasdaq and bitcoin.

Who knows what the next ten years will hold.

Continued here:
Is Bitcoin a better investment than gold, oil and stocks? - Decrypt

Fundstrat Global Advisors co-founder Thomas Lee on how to invest in bitcoin, why he considers bitcoin to be a safe haven, the state of the markets and why he does not predict a recession.

Bitcoin is making waves again with its first TV ad in France.

The 18-second spot, which has been running multiple times a day on the countrys free-to-air station, TF1, advertises services from Paris-based financial firmKeplerk. The company allows people to exchange money for bitcoin at about 6,500 local convenience stores.

Customers can buy physical vouchers in the amounts of 50 euros, 100 euros or 250 euros, and, after a processing fee, convert them into bitcoin that appear in their mobile wallet.

Oh c'est sympa a! one Twitter user wrote, which translates to Oh, thats nice!

Digital currency has been gaining momentum in France, ranking on Bitcoinists top-20 countries adopting the tech. BeInCrypto, which reported news of the ad, said another campaign was launched months ago to allow bitcoin payments in 25,000 locations.

And other reports have predicted a bitcoin boom in the country on the news that more and more retailers there are preparing to accept the currency at some point in 2020.

This is not the first time bitcoin has appeared on TV, however. Earlier this year, in the United States, a national ad from New York-based crypto investment firm Grayscale Investmentsran urging investors to forgo gold and pick up bitcoin instead.

You see where things are going, it said. Digital currencies like bitcoin are the future.

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According to a report from Coincodex, the United States is among the top countries in terms of share of bitcoin users, making ita prime market for more digital currency TV ads.

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Strict state-level regulations, though, could make firms wary of launching new initiatives.

The value of one bitcoin is currently hovering around $7,700.

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Watch the first-ever bitcoin TV commercial launched in France - Fox Business

Authorities have busted a call center in Thailand and arrested 24 Chinese nationals for allegedly running a Bitcoin investment scam.

Chiang Rai Times, anEnglish language news portal, says the scam has been operating since March this year.

Additionally, the portal notes that those arrested were tasked with luring citizens in mainland China to trade Bitcoin using cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global.

According to a statement issued by Thailands Immigration Police, it appears the individuals had their passported confiscated when they arrived at a rented property in Bangkok, though this remains unclear.

A loosely translated version of the statement reads: The monthly salary is 5,000 yuan [$710.25]. There is accommodation [] with all meals, phone calls to deceive Chinese people. In order to conduct financial transactions in digital currency and to spin said digital currency on the website, starting from 09:00 hours to 22:00 hours.

The statement also says policeseized 61 notebook computers, 424 mobile phones, routers and 3 internet devices.

Thailands Immigration Police are reportedly working to identify additional Thai nationals also believed to be involved with the scam.

Published December 5, 2019 11:25 UTC

The rest is here:
24 Chinese nationals arrested in Thailand over alleged Bitcoin call center scam - The Next Web

The past day saw heightened Bitcoin whale activity, with surprisingly large transactions carried by the blockchain. But one particular block stood out.

At block height 606,641, the transactions contained within the 10-minute window totaled 903592.118 bitcoin. This amount is comparable to nearly 5% of the entire bitcoin supply, and is comparable to Satoshis stash. Based on estimations, the blocks mined by Satoshi Nakamoto contain between 900,000 BTC and 1 million BTC.

The block, mined by Antpool, only brought 0.25 BTC in fees, showing the low cost at which the vast sum could have been sent.

Earlier, whale watching bots noted a transaction that moved 57,577 bitcoin, and the UTXO transaction was also large.

But the neighboring blocks of number 606,641 were also impressive. The previous bitcoin block moved a whooping 230,343 BTC with a fee of 0.24 BTC, and the one before that held 66,643 BTC for a total fee of 0.4 BTC.

One of the most probable explanations is a move of funds between large cold wallets. But before an official announcement, those moves remain suspicious. The latest bitcoin exchange to receive a large inflow was Huobi, marking inflows as of December 4. Binance also shifted cold wallets on Tuesday.

The blocks total could have gone to several wallets, as there is no analysis of known wallets or addresses at the time of mining the blocks. Some of todays whale transactions are showing exchange-like behavior, the Whale Alert account commented.

Large-scale BTC flows may signal an attempt to either sell, or affect the bitcoin price in another manner.

The coins were moved on a day when BTC prices were also exceptionally volatile, rising from below $7,200 to a fast rally above $7,500. But low volumes and a short-term bearish outlook still dont allow a bigger price move. Bitcoin traded at $7,475.48 close to the time of the large-scale transactions. Around that time, as US markets opened, volumes climbed to above $19 billion for the day.

Beyond the high-load blocks, whale watchers noted the Upbit theft wallet was being emptied out methodically, with transactions of 10,000 and 1,000 ETH moved to new addresses.

What do you think about the latest heavy blocks and whale transactions? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @

Read the rest here:
Single Bitcoin Block Moves Funds the Size of Satoshi's Stash - Bitcoinist