Money Reimagined: Crypto-Informed Ideas for the Future of Government

Buying bitcoin is one way for people to protect themselves from future governance failures.

BITSTRATEGY. One person no doubt pleased with bitcoin's price surge over $15,000 is Michael Saylor.

The move turned Saylor into a rock star in crypto circles, set off some copycat measures by other companies such as fintech provider Mode Global Holdings and payments service Square, and stirred a debate on whether bitcoin is a viable treasury-management asset for companies looking to protect the purchasing value of their cash.

"...MicroStrategy is no longer just a software company. Now it's a bitcoin bet. Investors who wish to buy bitcoin could always do so themselves with the proceeds of a dividend or share buybacks. The point of buying a stock is to get a stake in a business, not to take a flier on cryptocurrency."

It's a clever line, but in the face of the improvement in bitcoin's price Saylor could equally argue that he's achieved what he needs to do.

I'm looking forward to chatting with Saylor next week when he joins our "Bitcoin for Advisors" event for registered financial advisors.

The reality is the kind of policies Xi's government will need to pursue to give greater emphasis to its domestic economy and reduce China's reliance on foreign export markets will require it to further open up to foreign service firms, especially in the field of finance.

One big question is, what does this mean for cryptocurrencies? Would looser capital controls put the yuan under pressure and favor bitcoin, or would that lower the appeal of bitcoin, which has been used by Chinese nationals to bypass those restrictions?

U.S. agents seized some $1 billion worth of bitcoin they say was earned by the shuttered Silk Road drug market.

The massive stash was forfeited by an unnamed hacker who had stolen the bitcoin from Silk Road. The report raises more questions than it answers - such as, what involvement did jailed Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht play in all this? Kevin Reynolds reports.