Alternative Investments to P2P?

I wasn't asking the question in the context of shorting, just in the general sense. I get that some people like crypto-currencies. They fluctuate like crazy, often upwards for long periods of time, gives lots of opportunity for financial gain (always welcome).

Once that volatility stops, is there anything attractive about crypto-currencies that would make more them useful than (say) the pound ?

Some people claim that one good property of Bitcoin is the maximum number that can be produced. Imo that would mean once they were all 'mined' we'd be in a world essentially the same as the gold standard (no fractional reserve banking). Unattractive property imo, gold standard was tried many times in the past, never worked through all economic cycles.

So, what's to like about crypto (other than its volatility) ?

Given the parlous state of P2P I'm "bumping" this Topic.

really ? The first does not lead to the latter. Unless possibly utterly niche marginalised usage which authorities are not too worried about. Just see direction of travel in china for example.


Now, I am prepared to hold my hands up and admit this is not my "specialist subject". But nonetheless, I think the above demonstrates a serious conflation between the potential benefits of Blockchain approaches/technology versus crypto currency.

All Crypto Currencies are reliant on "blockchain". But the reverse is not true: the benefits of blockchain are not dependent on crypto currencies. The former is dutch tulip speculation territory: if you are going to invest in something because it is volatile, get your timing right, but don't try to justify it in terms of anything other than the bubble that it is. Long - or even medium term - the only role for crypto currencies that are not rooted to some 'real world' value/currency, is for transactions you specifically want kept out of the gaze of the authorities: think dark web etc.

No (legitimate) business doing real world transactions is going to hang its coat on buying/selling/transacting  in e.g. bitcoin or its ilk, precisely because of its volatility and its lack of surety. On the other hand, there are good reasons why companies would want to adopt/benefit from blockchain enabled supply chains but with transactions denominated in "real world" currencies. (If you need to rationalise that as a Crypto Currency, then think of it as one that is pegged to e.g. the USD)

Bottom line is: real world currencies / fiat money have value because of the ability of governments to raise future taxes (they can stand behind the "I promise the bearer...."). Whereas Crypto is well just ...... what ?? It has nothing standing behind it. 

I welcome a reasoned counter.

BondMason may be a good alternative to P2P Lending.

We enable clients to access returns from loans, sourced from experienced lending partners that typically coinvest in the underlying loans. Although we started in the P2P Lending market, we now source 75%+ of loans from outside P2P.

Our clients have achieved a net return of 6.5-7% pa in each of the last three years.

Bold play, into Gold:-


Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris, who has put half of his net worth into gold, believes that the yellow metal could reach US$1,800.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris’ belief in gold led him to invest half of his US$5.7 billion net worth into the precious metal.

Sawiris predicts that the price of gold will break free from its current slump to reach US$1,800 per ounce as “overvalued” stock markets crash.

“In the end you have China and they will not stop consuming. And people also tend to go to gold during crises and we are full of crises right now,” Sawiris said.

“Look at the Middle East and the rest of the world and Mr. Trump doesn’t help,” he added.

Sawiris, who founded North Korea’s first telecom operator, Koryolink, has been waiting 10 years to repatriate all his profits easily and control his mobile-phone company. In order for this to happen and have his investments finally pay off, a North Korean peace deal needs to be reached.

“I am taking all the hits, I am being paid in a currency that doesn’t get exchanged very easily, I have put a lot of money and built a hotel and did a lot of good stuff there,” he noted.

Following a successful meeting between North Korean President Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-In last week, US President Donald Trump now has plans to meet North Korean leader to discuss his nuclear-weapons and missile programs.

For Sawiris, an agreement would allow for him to restore his investments there and possibly make new ones.

Beyond his telecom business, Sawiris bought out Egyptian investment bank Beltone Financial Holding and expanded his portfolio by entering into the mining sphere. He, with his family, became the largest investor in the sector through shareholdings in Evolution Mining (ASX:EVN), Endeavour Mining (TSX:EDV) and La Mancha Resources.

Addressing his investments, Sawiris stated, “I recently sold a portion of my Evolution shares because I want to invest now in Latin America and Eastern Europe.”

Looking forward, the man whose largest share of investments includes most of his gold stakes, is planning to invest in Egypt’s “booming” real estate market this year, shrugging off concerns of a bubble in the market.

“In my family we are investing a lot right now because we see the opportunities,” he said. “It isn’t patriotism or advertising or anything like that,” he said.

As of 1:58 p.m. EST on Wednesday (May 2), the price of gold was trading at US$1305.70.



SOURCE: investingnews.com/daily/resource-investing/precious-metals-investing/gold-investing/egyptian-billionaire-put-half-net-worth-gold/

I see Turks are reported to be making major gold investments as a hedge against continuing rampant inflation.