As in many developing countries, Kenya’s recycling industry is underdeveloped and relies heavily on the private sector, which has slowed plastic recycling initiatives, as the plastic collection business generates low margins
As a result, multinational firms like Coca-Cola and Unilever are subsidizing the collection of their PET through the non-for-profit body called PETCO whose members reportedly account for 60% of the PETmarket.
Additionally, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Unilever and Diageo have formed the African plastic recycling alliance last March to create recycling initiatives.
Analysis and Comments
The article showcases the two main issues the plastics recycling industries in most countries are faced with; 1) an underdeveloped collection and recycling infrastructure, and 2) the subsequent lack of recyclable materials to sustain their businesses.
While a growing number of governments has already begun to take action (e.g. in the form of bans), more incentives from governments are needed to boost participation in recycling schemes (or, for example, to set up deposit schemes which have shown to be very successful in the EU) and to hold companies legally responsible for the collection of their waste.
Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible. Richard Feynmann
The purpose of this weekly series is to recap some of the interesting ideas and concepts across a wide range of disciplines which each and every week in crypto seems to throw up. This ‘learners paradise’ is a great space to explore but also asks a lot of those who delve into it.
Got a grasp on basic programming logic, how about Austrian economics, or quantum computing or precisely how hashing algorithms underpin blockchains? Taking a moment to reflect or recap on the recent concepts and ideas crossing the crypto landscape can be very beneficial whether you are a hardcore day trader or just exploring a casual interest in the space.
It’s important to note that not every idea here reflects my own bias or opinion. If it’s here, it’s because it made me think.
That’s a wrap on another compelling week in crypto. As always looking forward to your comments and suggestions.
Note on Sources:
Twitter & Reddit (cryptos current meta-brains) / Medium / Trybe / Hackernoon / Whaleshares / TIMM and so on/ YouTube / various podcasts and whatever else I stumble upon. The aim is a useful weekly aggregator of ideas rather than news. Though I try to keep the sources current – I’ll reference these articles and podcasts etc. as I encounter them – they may have been published just a couple of days ago or in some cases quite a bit earlier.
Just one week ago that I came back from a holiday trip at Portugal, mostly at Algarve and Lisbon area.
Chatting with my wife we both agreed that Portugal had surprised us in many aspects…
There we found an exemplary country in my opinion, excellent gastronomy, beautiful and clean beaches, preserved nature, modern and efficient infrastructure, healthy industry…
It gave us the impression that the country is emerging from the European economic crisis in a more efficient way than the rest of the southern countries …
… and not only at the traditional levels of the economy….
The Portugal Tax Authority has a very clear approach regarding BITCOIN and CRYPTOCURRENCIES:
“Cryptocurrency trading and payments in Portugal are exempted from tax”
Read the Authority Rule here (Portuguese language) and a more synthetic new here .
Do you think Spain and the rest of European countries will learn from Portugal’s Example?
According to a recent report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global meat consumption must be reduced to curb global warming and alleviate strains on stretched land and water resources.
As human use directly affects more than 70% of the global ice-free land surface, plant-based foods and sustainable animal-sourced foods could free up several million square kilometres of land by 2050 and cut harmful emissions.
Last year’s report called for rapid changes across society to keep the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, while this year’s report states that “[t]he window for making these changes is closing fast. If there is further delay in reducing emissions, we will miss the opportunity to successfully manage the climate change transition in the land sector.”
Analysis and Comments
According to the report, agriculture, forestry and other land use activities accounted for 23% of total net man-made GHG emissions during 2007-2016 (excluding pre- and post-production activity in the food system).
While the IPCC stops short from actually telling people to go meat-free, it does advocate the benefits of a more plant-based alternative diet, which may be seen as a positive for players in this space (although this is not exactly news).
The Guardian published a highly critical response to the IPCC’s land and climate report (saying that it “irresponsibly understates the true carbon cost of our meat and dairy habits”), which includes a number of very interesting figures – well worth a read!
The picture above is self-explanatory of what I want to tell you.
Today I have read more posts complaining about the #newsteem as a consequence of the HF21 deployment.
Yes, it is a fact we have got a reduction on our post rewards but It does not seem to have been the case regarding curation rewards which, according to what I see in the estimations of Steemworld, will be more than double the curation rewards of exactly 7 days ago:
Here the 7 day estimation:
2 days ago my curation rewards were estimated around 8 SP per week but now I can start noticing that they have increased 1.55 SP.
If I run the estimative function at the same tool I get the following “prediction”:
That’s more than doubling my weekly curation!
I know it is still so early to get a realistic estimation about it. I have noticed as well that also the amazing Steemworld is struggling from time while calculating the data. The blockchain has to stabilize and it will take some time and maybe some more changes will come as for today, we know that devs and witnesses have deployed another version of the code, so called HF22 for fixing some potential security bugs.
Sadly what I clearly see in my FEED today is a substantial reduction of new posts created by the people I follow…
Maybe all these changes are/were necessary…or maybe not
Perhaps the economic changes will only benefit the bigger stakers…
Maybe simply it was not the best day to implement such a radical changes…with such a low behavior of STEEM at the market
Maybe, maybe…maybe…
I don’t know you but I am not going quit so easily…
I hope all of you will keep enjoying of this, “our Blockchain” even if you struggle now…Please, keep working, posting and engaging…I also have the firm conviction that we will succeed in the long run…if we get focused more on the marketing side…
Please click the link below to listen to the 51st episode of my weekly crypto podcast ‘Two Minute Crypto.’ These are intended to be short, single-topic ramblings on some aspect of the cryptosphere. Consider dropping a like and or a review on iTunes or Podbean if you enjoy the podcast. Comments and critiques welcome.
Welcome to Two Minute Crypto. This week we explore Austrian economics – a core pillar underlying the economic worldview of most Bitcoin advocates. As a crypto enthusiast, you’ve likely noticed that Austrian economics is frequently referenced, in particular, by Bitcoin maximalists. So, what exactly are they referring to? What follows is an extremely simplified overview of the Austrian school of economic thought. It is also not an unequivocal endorsement as my personal view lies somewhere between the Keynesian-Austrian models.
The main beliefs of the Austrian School of economics can be summarized into five areas:
Laissez-faire economics – a strong belief in the primacy of free markets viewing government regulations and interventions in markets as an inefficient negative. This extends to a belief that all government programs such as infrastructure spending, social welfare, and public healthcare are inherently wasteful.
A rejection of the Keynesian model of fiscal policy which involves the creation of fiat by governments in order to support spending programs and stimulate the economy.
A related rejection of the role and actions of central banks in both the printing of fiat money and the setting of interest rates in order to balance, promote or reduce inflation. In addition, Austrian economists are sharply critical of the fractional reserve banking system which utilizes debt to promote economic growth.
Support of a return to a gold standard or in the case of crypto adherents, the adoption of Bitcoin as a new standard and or global currency. Key to this is the removal of the ability of the state to ‘create’ money. Sound sovereign money may be said to be the heart of the belief system most Bitcoin maximalists espouse.
A belief that market recessions are in large part caused by central bank interest rate manipulation – inverting the relationship commonly stated by central banks where it is the looming recession itself that causes the change of rates.
Bitcoin advocates would argue that BTC is deflationary in nature. Its supply is limited, its issue known and dependable and critically, its supply lies outside the control of any state or body. Austrian economics and Bitcoin maximalism are natural co-concepts. It is extremely difficult to be both a Bitcoin supporter and a proponent of Keynesian economics.
As to other cryptocurrencies, it is far more debatable whether they offer a viable alternative to fiat currencies. If they are centrally controlled, then the possibility of supply being open to manipulation is orders of magnitude higher than BTC.
If you are interested in learning more about the Austrian school of economics as it relates to crypto, I highly recommend you read The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous.
I hope this has been helpful. I’d be happy to answer any questions in the comment section below. Until next time, wishing you safe and profitable trading.
Workin
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According to a new
survey by Autolist, the top reasons for not buying an EV were range, price, and charging, with c. 40%
of respondents concerned about these issues.
The author makes the argument that these concerns are outdated, as EV
prices are already below US$30k (after fuel cost advantage), provide a range of
~250miles, and the are thousands of charging points every where in the US.
One of the positive insights from the survey is that
the majority of consumers (55%) now said
they would use an EV as their primary vehicle rather than as a secondary
vehicle (which was previously the top answer).
Analysis and Comments
This article fits in well with the investor’s view as to the process by which EV uptake will occur
The short version is that, as the article highlights, the key issue around EV adoption will be familiarity. For most consumers, current EVs are perfectly suitable for day to day use. Most of us just don’t drive far enough to need to recharge more than once a day (as with the person in this story). So the key is getting people to try one.
This does not understate the charging infrastructure challenge; yes, there is a lot more that needs to be done to roll out charging stations, especially fast chargers. But this is a solvable problem.
As with similar innovations, the adoption curvestarts slowly and then rapidly accelerates – we expect to hit this inflection sometime in the mid 2020s. Tailwinds to this include tougher emission standards & city centre driving restrictions & potential headwinds include cutting of subsidies and a lack of affordable model choice.
The article also makes an important point:
Auto makers don’t need to keep making the range further & further, if the cost is more expensive batteries & hence a very expensive EV. The alternative is cheaper shorter range EVs, possibly with a lease package that includes the occasional use of a petrol car for longer trips
From https://old.trybe.one/archives/btc-beginning-of-the-week-analysis/
But the price movements of the last few days are indicating that a channel (or possible flag) may not be the correct way to view BTC at the moment.
Instead, BTC now looks to be limited by the rising base of a converging triangle, as opposed to the descending base of a channel:
Made by Bit Brain with TradingView
Scenarios:
The triangle itself is neither inherently bullish nor bearish, so in isolation it tells us nothing about the direction of future price movements. What it does do is give us a time: soon. Price is already in the breakout zone of the triangle, and should breakout any time between now and mid-September.
Previously I was of the opinion that the channel was probably part of a larger bull flag pattern.
From https://mentormarket.io/cryptocurrencies/bit-brain/bitcoin-possible-next-moves/
But now it looks more likely to be a bull pennant:
Made by Bit Brain with TradingView
But now it looks more likely to be a bull pennant:
Since these two patterns predict the same bullish outcome, this doesn’t fundamentally change my medium-term outlook. This may make a difference to those trading the pattern, but as my blogging is generally geared towards investors, I consider that to be beyond the scope of this post. If you are a trader, then take a look at the posts or videos of an analyst such as Working2005 who regularly discusses crypto trading.
For my part I am not ready to see this “2019 bull run” continue yet. As I discussed in my recent “Crypto Market Cycles” series, I am still expecting a drop before we have another rise. This is somewhat contrary to what a bull pennant may indicate, but I have my reasons for saying so.
Volume is declining slowly but steadily, which puts BTC at risk of a sudden drop. Such a drop would tie in nicely with the information I discussed in “Crypto Market Cycles”, where I showed BTC to be trading at a higher price than what we would expect for a low-hype market:
From https://mentormarket.io/cryptocurrencies/bit-brain/crypto-market-cycles-part-2/
I addition to this, I still believe that the current price movement (of the last couple of months) strongly resembles those of 2017:
From https://mentormarket.io/cryptocurrencies/bit-brain/bitcoin-possible-next-moves/
…meaning that a strong and sudden dip could well occur soon. I am expecting such a dip. It is only after such a dip that I expect prices to climb again – as predicted by a bull pennant. This won’t necessarily be a “bull run” per se – just the following of the general BTC base trendline further upwards.
The bull run has yet to come…
Yours in crypto Bit Brain
“The secret to success: find out where people are going and get there first” ~ Mark Twain
“Crypto does not require institutional investment to succeed; institutions require crypto investments to remain successful” ~ Bit Brain
Like every other economy in the world, the Japanese economy is slowing down. But the Japan has one competitive advantage over most countries. Japan is a very large exporter. Now you might say China is a large exporter as well. But Japan has been one for many decades and as a result, has become the largest net creditor to the world. So during times of uncertain, capital flows out of other currencies and into the Japanese yen, causing it to strengthen. This is way the Yen is considered a safe haven currency.
With continued rife between the US and China, an inverted yield curve in the US, negative German bond rates, the Brexit deadline fast approaching, I remain super bullish on the Japanese Yen. Lets go to the charts to see where the Yen might be headed next.
Monthly Chart (Curve Timeframe) – monthly supply is at 0.0103 and monthly demand at 0.00805.
Weekly Chart (Trend Timeframe) – the trend is sideways with upside momentum.
Daily Chart (Entry) – the chart suggests to go long if and once price breaches the the daily supply at 0.00953.
This post is my personal opinion. I’m not a financial advisor, this isn’t financial advise. Do your own research before making investment decisions.
