It’s Sunday morning, in the middle of August, and I truly thought I’d be taking it easy today.  This, after an epic Crypto Audioblog scripted and taped early yesterday, following Friday night’s blitzkrieg Bitcoin decline and associated altcoin meltdown.

https://dlive.io/video/andyhoffman/809a5637-9d69-11e8-84cd-0242ac110003 …

However, I’m on FIRE after having first, watched yesterday evening’s hideous price decline – YET AGAIN, on a summer Saturday night, with most of the world asleep.  This, after YET AGAIN having seen the “Hoffman Line,” at a $100 billion Bitcoin market cap, staunchly defended that morning.  Not to mention, the battle going on now – as Bitcoin nearly recaptured last night’s pre-plunge level of $6,400 level just as I awoke, before another low-volume raid commenced!

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028332466044514305

Given @parabolictrav’s revelation yesterday, of his – albeit, speculative – view that Bitmain’s selling of its Bitcoin inventory ahead of its upcoming September IPO has been a major reason for the 2018 bear market (that, and Mt Gox Trustee selling), I was already on tenterhooks considering all the possibilities when last night’s attack started – which clearly pissed me off to no end, if you were watching my Twitter feed.

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028431618619277312

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028435963184181248

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028436956017917952

There’s no way to PROVE what’s occurring at any given time - but the fact remains, we remain in a crypto bear market…even if Bitcoin may well have bottomed already, as its relentless post-June “dominance” rise starts to accelerate (which I write in “quotes,” because Bitcoin’s REAL WORLD OPERATIONAL DOMINANCE is well over 90%).  

Thus, the “all news is bad news” meme remains – particularly for altcoins – with traders continuing to do foolish things, whilst some of the industry’s biggest players making strategic moves that will ultimately be wildly Bitcoin-bullish…with the “moral of the story” being, if you trade Bitcoin or hold/trade altcoins, you are being REKT; but if you HODL Bitcoin - the ONLY strategy I have ever used, or recommended – you are surviving a bear market that is likely at its very tail-end, setting the stage to thrive in the oncoming, inevitable bull market.

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028358983566815232

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028115027654402048

As for Trav’s comments – which I’m sure he’ll expand on shortly, he believes Bitmain has been monetizing its Bitcoin inventory all year so it can post massive profits…and thus, boost its IPO valuation.  I have no problem with this strategy – and indeed, they just announced a $1.1 billion profit in Q1 alone, setting the stage for one of the largest IPOs ever, valuing it at $15 billion.  Hmmm, a massive profit just as the Bitcoin price was crashing.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitmain-plans-overseas-ipo-earned-1-billion-in-net-profit-in-q1-sources-report

https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-unicorn-bitmain-weighs-18-billion-ipo-one-of-worlds-largest/

To that end, I tweeted yesterday that next month’s Bitmain IPO, assuming it occurs as planned, could “literally be the defining crypto event of 2017”; which is saying a lot, considering the Mt Gox Trustee fiasco, ETF approval shenanigans, and overall crypto bear market…as TRUST ME, if indeed Bitmain is actively “prepping” for its IPO – which I ASSURE YOU, it is…they will want the crypto market surging when they file.

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028255686554148865

Thus, they may well be setting up “traders” – purposefully or otherwise - for the biggest “bear trap” short squeeze in crypto history.

https://twitter.com/alistairmilne/status/1028185724200333312

That said, as smart as Jihan Wu has been at exploiting Bitmain’s (albeit, fluctuating) market dominance – the damage done by supporting the BCash scam has been dramatic.  Which, if it were a public company already, would have gotten him and his entire Board of Directors fired.

To that end, NO ONE has as boldly and persistently called him out than myself – though plenty of others share my “title.”  Particularly, my relentless re-publication of the amazing March 1st article by “Crypto Herpes Cat” – who describes in great detail how BCash is unquestionably a Ponzi scheme supported by Bitmain…which helped Roger Ver fraudulently bring into existence for the “free money”; historic insider trading opportunities; and of course, to protect its unethical ASICS Boost software.  In a nutshell, if you think the Mt Gox Trustee had a lot of Bitcoin (less than 1% of the total at its peak), consider that Bitmain is the world’s largest BCash holder - with a position that literally, is “too big to sell.”

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028615522508632064

BCash’s operational flaws have only worsened over time – as clearly, less time is being spent maintaining its network, now that it’s been PROVEN to be no more useful than other Bitcoin forks, and less valuable to mine than its “twin brother” Bitcoin.  Consequently, I have relentlessly called it the most overvalued altcoin of all time – destined to become no more valuable than the rest of the walking dead Bitcoin forks.

https://twitter.com/Andy_Hoffman_CG/status/1028336808273174528

Thus, when we found out this week that a bug was exposed that could have completely destroyed BCash a few days ago, I was not surprised.  In fact, it was a Bitcoin core developer who found it – and instead of exploiting it, informed the BCash devs so they could fix it.  Otherwise, BCash would likely be under $100 now, on its way to zero.  Even though it hasn’t been widely discussed (what is these days, with sentiment so weak?), I believe this is a big reason for this week’s crypto – and particularly, altcoin – weakness…even though, like all altcoin issues, it has NOTHING to do with the STRENGTH that is Bitcoin’s rock solid, for all intents and purposes impenetrable network.

https://ambcrypto.com/bitcoin-cash-bch-consensus-vulnerability-revealed-by-cory-fields/

Thus, amidst my epic hatred of BCash, and all the damage it’s done – whilst ironically, making Bitcoin stronger and eliminating any pretense BTC will ever be “flippened” – I wasn’t surprised by this morning’s revelation that indeed, Bitmain has been supporting BCash in Ponzi-esque fashion.  The proof being in its pre-IPO disclosures, of how it has single-handedly been supporting BCash by selling Bitcoin to fund its purchase….as weighed in on by parabolictrav, Samson Mow, and Alistair Milne.

https://twitter.com/parabolictrav/status/1028448534826078208

https://twitter.com/Excellion/status/1028426579158884352

https://twitter.com/alistairmilne/status/1028533288175058944

Fortunately for Bitmain, they have enough capital to have funded this venture – and as noted earlier, receiving it for free helped…as well as the MASSIVE insider trading profits it unquestionably earned from the Bitcoin and BCash pump and dumps it engineered.  Moreover, when they ultimately sell, it will be more profits for them to bank…which frankly, can ONLY be done during bull market conditions, or else the price would collapse into oblivion.

Conversely, for bagholders holding BCash (do you still believe it’s the “next Bitcoin?), I more than ever believe it will fall to all-time lows versus Bitcoin – and likely, MUCH lower; as ultimately, particularly as a PUBLIC COMPANY, shareholders will not tolerate the purchase of more BCash, at a time when the rest of the world is selling it for Bitcoin…and perhaps, they won’t even tolerate BCash MINING.  Thus, in addition to the inevitable collapse of the BCash/Bitcoin ratio, it will get even less developer attention – making it even more susceptible to the type of bug that nearly killed it last week.

Fortunately, more and more entities are entering the Bitcoin space – which is why its hash rate is at an all-time high, even during a bear market.  This is gradually diminishing Bitmain’s market power – which in time, will be completely marginalized; if not, eliminated entirely.  But for now, particularly as Bitmain preps for its potentially historic IPO amidst ultra-thin, bear market conditions, it is continuing to wreak crypto market havoc…likely, for the last time.