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HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS

June 6, 2022

"Wealth brings with it refinement, the spirit of conservation, while poverty inspires adventurous ideas, the desire to change things."

- Jose Rizal

In case you missed it: Our new Crypto Understanding Survey is helping us better serve you, our readers.

It takes just two minutes and is completely anonymous.

Please take the survey here and get instant insight into what other readers have answered. More results to come this Friday!

The Bitcoin Believer Breakdown (Block, Inc.): One of the most thorough bitcoin surveys we've seen, polling almost 10,000 adults across the world to get current attitudes toward bitcoin.

Investor takeaway: About 88% of people worldwide have heard of bitcoin -- great widespread awareness -- but they differ widely in their understanding of how it's best used. (Read on.)

The Block survey shows that higher-income users see bitcoin as good for making money, while lower-income users see bitcoin's potential as a cheaper payment method:

Intuitively, this makes sense. If you're struggling to make ends meet, you'll welcome a cheaper payment technology. If you've got money to invest, you'll be more attracted to bitcoin as a long-term investment.

Investor takeaway: The question is, can bitcoin really be both an investment opportunity and a stable payment technology?

Our view is that bitcoin is currently more useful as an investment; those looking for a stable payment technology will eventually migrate to other crypto assets (like stablecoins or CBDCs).

Hi everyone,

Of all the casualties of the current bear market induced by the Federal Reserve System, few could have predicted the fall of Environmental and Social Governance (ESG).

ESG is a way of impact investing that was all the rage over the last bull cycle. After all, when the money is running freely it's quite easy to make investment decisions that adhere strictly to how we would like to shape the world at the expense of a few percentage points in profit.

In a bear market, however, when gains are much harder to come by, people tend to be slightly less principled and more focused on the bottom line. This article tells the full story about how ESG investments that were outperforming the S&P 500 for more than a decade are now trailing behind.

It's not just the fact that regulators are now imposing new rules on the sector, though that's certainly part of it. The main issue is all the hypocrisy coming out now that the financial squeeze is on.

A blaze of glory

In my mind, the defining point of the ESG phenomena's end came at a Financial Times conference last month titled Moral Money Summit Europe, where attendees were treated to a very unique view of how bankers actually think about ESG.

The speech below was delivered by Stuart Kirk, HSBC's global head of responsible investments, who pointed out that on the grand scale of things, any potential climate catastrophe would not stand in the way of astronomical financial gains in the long term.

HSBC has since thrown Mr. Kirk right under the bus as they distanced themselves from his comments. I highly recommend watching the above clip in all its 16-minute and 25-second glory.

Adding insult to injury, one of ESG's main rivals, the oil and gas industry, is having a blockbuster year. Here we can see how some of the futures markets have performed so far this year. Energy-related markets are clearly dominating.

Best regards,

Mati Greenspan

Analysis, Advisory, Money Management

Bitcoin Market Journal is a daily newsletter that makes you a better crypto investor. It is created by Evamarie Augustine, Charles Bovaird, Mati Greenspan, John Hargrave, and Alexandre Lores.

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