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Former Point72 Exec: ₿itcoin is Still a Perfect Way to Bet Against Central Banks

Former point72 exec: ₿itcoin is still a perfect way to bet against central banks

Former Point72 Exec: ₿itcoin is Still a Perfect Way to Bet Against Central Banks

Travis Kling has taken to the streets yet again. This time, the chief investment officer of Ikigai, a Los Angeles-based crypto hedge fund that launched in October, doubled-down on his sentiment that ₿itcoin (BTC) is a perfect way to bet against the monetary policy enlisted by global governments and Wall Street mainstays.

Related Reading: Economist’s Belief That Stocks Are Overvalued Has ₿itcoin Enthusiasts Enthused

bitcoin Hedge Against Fiscal Irresponsibility

At the Cayman Alternative Investment Summit hosted in the British Territory, Grand Cayman, Kling explained that there’s a high likelihood that the flagship cryptocurrency is the perfect hedge against “fiscal and monetary policy irresponsibility.”

Per a post-mortem CNN Business, who compiled his comments made on Thursday, a former Point72 portfolio manager even likened ₿itcoin to a credit default swaps (CDS) against central banks’ enamorment with printing money.

For those who missed the memo, Kling’s comment regarding CDS should be quite fitting, yet ironic simultaneously. More specifically, it is widely believed that the rise (and subsequent collapse) of such financial instruments, which are effectively insurance on bonds, catalyzed the 2008 Great Recession. Funny enough, Wall Street’s biggest names, including AIG and the now-defunct and disgraced Lehman Brothers, defaulted on their default swaps.

The Ikigai head, who made a sudden U-turn at the peak of 2017’s crypto boom, as he downed a red pill to foray into cryptocurrencies, remarked that he’s wary of the build-up of debt on government balance sheets. Kling even stated that the monumental rise of enlisted quantitative easing (QE) strategies is “how you would write the script” for the adoption of cryptocurrencies, especially ones that are fully decentralized, the world over.

Former point72 exec: ₿itcoin is still a perfect way to bet against central banks

The world may be over, but we have ₿itcoin.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Ryan Selkis of Messari echoed Kling’s thought process. Per previous reports from this outlet, Selkis claimed that cryptocurrencies will likely be a way for investors to mitigate risk in the midst of an inflationary recession, where capital markets would shrink drastically. The Messari chief executive even noted that in trying times, investors will flock to stores of value en-masse, especially a form of digital gold like ₿itcoin.

Interestingly, Kling’s comments regarding ₿itcoin’s valid value proposition in a world torn apart by mind-numbing levels of government-issued debt come after JP Morgan claimed that cryptocurrencies are best used in a dystopian society. The Wall Street giant’s researchers claimed that as it stands, BTC hasn’t proven itself to be valuable in current use cases, and could thus only find value in a world where fiat currencies and traditional equities have bitten the dust.

At the same event, Mark Yusko of Morgan Creek Capital Management also touted his belief that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. Chief executive Yusko, who has become a ₿itcoin evangelist alongside his coworker, Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano, explained that cryptocurrencies will be the “greatest wealth opportunity,” adding that these assets are likely to exceed “any of our imaginations.”

Travis Kling’s Crypto Thesis

Kling’s recent comments against the monetary hegemony that governmental incumbents have established comes after he claimed that there’s an “inevitability to ₿itcoin,” claiming that the asset’s non-sovereign, deflationary, and decentralized nature makes it the perfect way to “opt-out of the largest monetary experiment of human history.” And as such, he explained that the cryptocurrency is likely going to become a tool for a society based on Austrian Economics over the next decades.

While he’s adamant that cryptocurrencies will thrive in the long haul, for now, he believes that this nascent asset is in a precarious position. Speaking with BreakerMag, he claimed that from his point of view, the crypto winter will likely last until “demand sustainably exceeds supply.” And at the moment, Kling explained that there’s an “oversupply of crypto relative to demand,” likely touching on the endless stream of alternative crypto assets.

In another comment, he explained that the next cryptocurrency bull market will be preceded by more shortcomings in this nascent industry. As reported by NewsBTC, Kling noted that to warrant a move higher, a number of horrors will have to befall this industry. On Twitter, he wrote:

“More exchanges gone. More projects shuttering. More SEC enforcements. More developer ragequits. More ICO Treasury selling. More layoffs. More fund liquidations. More scammers exposed. More failed cap raises. More “crypto is dead”… Only then do we move higher.”

Featured Image from Shutterstock

Published at Fri, 08 Feb 2019 14:00:24 +0000

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US Blockchain Tech Company Node40 Unveils Next Generation Digital Currency Tax Software

“Node40 Balance” Set to Launch on March 22nd, In Time for the IRS Reporting Deadline

[Note: This is a press release]


New York, NY – March 22, 2017 – Node40, one of the world’s largest blockchain infrastructure hosting services, has built a game-changing software product that allows every single American to properly report their digital currency gains to the taxman. Node40 Balance, available for Dash users today and bitcoin users later this year, is setting a completely new standard in precision and simplicity because it calculates net gains and losses for every single transaction made throughout the calendar year, and rolls it all into the IRS approved Form 8949 with attachable worksheets for the user; an industry breakthrough given the First In First Out (FIFO) method currently used by competitors often causes gross misreporting. Node40 Balance, two years in the making, has been under comprehensive beta testing using real-world use cases. The product has been anticipated by high frequency Dash traders, miners, accountants, lawyers and tax professionals.

Node40 CEO Perry Woodin

Node40 CEO Perry Woodin explains:

Node40 Balance is a feature packed blockchain accounting service that brings the familiarity of services like QuickBooks or TurboTax to the world of digital currency. Node40 Balance analyzes the blockchain and provides valuation data for all of your transactions. You annotate your transactions according to your real-world needs and Node40 Balance provides reports with your gains, losses, and income. What makes Node40 Balance unique is the precision in which gains and losses are calculated. A simple FIFO strategy is not sufficient for dealing with digital currency transactions. Node40 Balance uses the true carrying cost and days held to calculate precise valuations that ensure you are not over-reporting your tax liability.

The need for innovation like this is vast for two simple reasons. Firstly, government direction for tax reporting digital currency has been ambiguous at best, given that the IRS policy for digital currency users was last updated in 2014. Although it is clear that digital currency is taxed as a property, most people are unsure how to properly calculate gains, losses, and income from incredibly small fractions of a currency with different valuations and different days held. Secondly, current means of tax reporting are categorically flawed; people currently self report without taking minute-by-minute price fluctuations into consideration, or use existing software that favors aesthetics over accuracy.

Node 40 Balance Screen

Discussing the need for a product like Node40 Balance, Woodin says:

The burden of calculating tax liability falls completely on the user. Most people do one of two things; use software that does not calculate the level of accuracy that we required, or go to accountants who will apply a very simple FIFO strategy to determine gains or losses, which we know to be incorrect. This strategy works well for traditional investments where you are selling whole units, but it is not a good strategy for digital currency. When transacting in digital currency, most transactions will have multiple inputs, each with a different cost basis. Unless you are able to create an exact transaction, the cost basis of the change needs to be tracked along with the amount of days carried. Users of Dash and bitcoin, both experiencing meteoric rises this year, have genuinely been crying out for a product like this for a long time. We anticipate significant demand.

Node40 Balance is a Software as a Service (SaaS) available for purchase by subscription at one, three, and twelve month durations, as well as a free trial period. The product caters to every demographic because individuals, small business, large corporations and government departments meet their tax reporting obligations at varying times of the year.

Node40 IRS Form

Woodin goes on to state:

As a company that accepts digital currency as payment for service, we do not want to over or under pay our tax liability, nor let our customers do so either. In business and in life, every penny counts. If you aren’t accurately calculating your gains, losses, and income, you could end up leaving money on the table. We want this to become an indispensable tool for every digital currency user across America.

Node40 is one of the leading server hosting providers for the Dash network. In the now popular world of distributed Peer-to-Peer (P2P) decentralized blockchain applications, stability is of paramount importance. Node40 was founded to encourage participation in and add value to P2P networks like Dash by hosting an incentivized node yielding monthly rewards. Founded by CEO Perry Woodin and CTO Sean Ryan in 2015, Node40 is based in Albany, New York. Node40 are the creators of Node40 Balance, a revolutionary new SaaS product making cryptocurrency tax reporting much easier, and much more accurate.


Images courtesy of Node40, Twitter, AdobeStock

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