Author: IAIN MARTIN
Compiled by: Bitpush BitpushNews
A week ago, I, like you, had never heard of the Paul brothers, but all that has changed in the past few days. I now know that Jake Paul is an American actor who then became a professional YouTuber, and later a celebrity boxer, with Netflix live-streaming Jake's fight against Mike Tyson, who is 31 years older than him, last week.
Unsurprisingly, the younger man won, but he is clearly a savvy operator, reportedly earning $40 million, twice what the panting Tyson was paid.
Meanwhile, Jake's brother Logan is a wrestler and wealthy internet celebrity who has faced questions over cryptocurrency trading, with accusations that he promoted investments without disclosing returns. It is reported that after agreeing to be interviewed by the BBC at a training camp in Puerto Rico, he hired a Logan lookalike to replace him, and a group of supporters booed the BBC.
These two brothers are emblematic of an era where becoming an internet celebrity can earn you hundreds of millions, but Logan's role in the crypto craze is the more interesting phenomenon.
Currently, the crypto market is booming, with prices continuing to soar on the back of Donald Trump's election victory.
There were reports yesterday that the Trump Media and Technology Group, founded by Trump three years ago, is poised to acquire the cryptocurrency trading platform Bakkt. Some of the key trends of our time - populism, Trump, celebrity and billionaire lifestyles amplified by social media - seem to be converging in the crypto trend, and whatever happens, it is likely to impact all of us.
There's no shame in admitting you don't really understand Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Most of us don't, even though we need to start taking it more seriously, as it is having disruptive effects, even influencing the thinking of the incoming US administration.
Cryptocurrencies are essentially alternatives to government-issued or -sanctioned currencies. Digital tokens can be exchanged or stored, and due to encryption, they cannot be copied or stolen. We are assured they are completely secure and unhackable.
The Biden administration has cracked down on the crypto Wild West, accusing parts of the industry of violating US laws. In contrast, Trump has promised to be the "Cryptocurrency President", apparently with a crypto advisory council and a US strategic Bitcoin reserve. With Republicans now dominant in Congress, the excited crypto industry, supportive of Trump, is lobbying to open up the banking system to allow banks to service crypto companies.
In this excitement, Bitcoin hit a record high of $94,000 this week, up nearly $20,000 since election day.
In the wake of the BTC surge, thousands of small players hope to ride the wave too. Social media is awash with discussions of tokens, memes and FOMO: "The must-have meme coins for the next crypto bull run - grab them before they explode".
These things are very popular with young people, especially young men.
It's easy to understand why, when they see how fundamentally unfriendly the current economic fundamentals are to their generation.
When those so-called crypto-rich are active online, young people are drawn in and follow the herd, claiming the existing financial system is rigged, and they've found an alternative that will surely make them wealthy - it's hardly surprising.
But there is a big paradox in the way the Trump world is embracing the crypto currency movement as a cause.
Trump only cares about American power, and the main expression of that is the dollar. Holding the world's reserve currency gives the US the ability to control the workings of the financial system, and to sanction "misbehaving" governments - that's real dollar Power.
But at the core of the crypto currency movement, beyond all the hype, is a hypothesis that at some point - perhaps before the end of this century - the existing system will collapse.
The argument is that successive governments and central banks have printed money and accumulated huge debts, with US national debt set to breach the $36 trillion mark. While Trump has talked about eliminating waste, his cuts are a drop in the ocean compared to the massive debts from defence and interest payments, and spending will increase under his presidency.
So the crypto argument is that you should put your money into cryptocurrencies, so the US government can't devalue it or steal it.
Even those who have lived through the awful aftermath of previous financial bubbles and are deeply sceptical of cryptocurrencies can see that at some point, global investors may refuse to fund or buy the US's massive debts and go on strike, which would be the root cause of any future financial crisis.
Will the crypto faithful, including Trump's own companies, be dominant in the new system? What about Americans who hold traditional dollars and not BTC? It's hard to see how a dollar collapse would fit with the "America First" ideology.
Trump's budget-cutting plans include putting Elon Musk in charge of a Government Efficiency Department, dubbed Doge. This is a reference to the Doge meme coin, which was originally created as a joke by its inventor, although it has since become quite established.
Musk's choice of the Doge nickname to represent his role in reshaping America is the ultimate tech industry joke. Let's hope we can still laugh about it in ten years' time.
