{"id":1808,"date":"2025-06-27T16:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T20:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/?p=1808"},"modified":"2025-11-15T14:49:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T19:49:47","slug":"is-circle-the-best-crypto-innovation-in-8-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/articles\/is-circle-the-best-crypto-innovation-in-8-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Circle the Best Crypto Innovation in 8 Years?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nNIA Special Alert: From Ethereum at $18.50 to Augusta Gold\u2019s Breakout Moment \u2014 Understanding the Crypto Bubble &amp; Real Value\n<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nIn March 2017, the <strong>National Inflation Association (NIA) <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">suggested<\/span> Ethereum<\/strong> at <strong>$18.50<\/strong>\u2014not because it was a trendy pick, but because we believed in the revolutionary potential behind a decentralized application being built on the Ethereum network: the <strong>REP token<\/strong>. It aimed to power the <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">first decentralized<\/span> prediction market<\/strong>, a vision <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>far more ambitious<\/strong><\/span> than what we see today with platforms like <strong>Polymarket<\/strong>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nWhile <strong>Polymarket<\/strong> has become the most well-known prediction market, it\u2019s completely centralized: paid employees determine event outcomes. REP, on the other hand, promised a truly decentralized oracle. <strong>REP holders<\/strong> would <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">verify<\/span> outcomes<\/strong> (elections, sports, etc.) and the blockchain would reach <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>consensus<\/strong><\/span>\u2014<strong><span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">without<\/span> middlemen<\/strong>. That was the kind of <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>innovation<\/strong><\/span> <strong>Ethereum<\/strong> was <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>enabling<\/strong><\/span>, and it\u2019s why we were <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>early believers<\/strong><\/span>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nAfter <strong>Ethereum<\/strong>, NIA became the first to profile:\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\n<strong>BTL<\/strong>, the <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">world\u2019s first<\/span> <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">publicly traded<\/span> blockchain company<\/strong> building Ethereum-based tech.\n<\/span><\/li>\n\n<li><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\n<strong>Hive Blockchain<\/strong>, the <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">first<\/span> <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">publicly traded<\/span> crypto miner<\/strong>\u2014founded by <strong>Frank Giustra<\/strong>.\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nIronically, <strong>Giustra <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">didn\u2019t<\/span> <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">believe<\/span><\/strong> in <strong>Hive<\/strong>. He <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>dumped<\/strong><\/span> his shares early and later <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>shorted<\/strong><\/span> the stock. To <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>avoid<\/strong><\/span> being <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>squeezed<\/strong><\/span>, restricted insider shares were abruptly made free trading\u2014without CEO approval\u2014allowing <strong>Giustra<\/strong> to <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>cover<\/strong><\/span> his <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>short<\/strong><\/span>. Still, NIA members saw <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">gains as high as 880%<\/span> on Hive<\/strong>, <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">675%<\/span> on BTL<\/strong>, and an astounding <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">26,218%<\/span> on Ethereum<\/strong>, our <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>largest gainer<\/strong><\/span> in history.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nBy the <strong>2018 Consensus<\/strong> conference, <strong>expectations<\/strong> were <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>high<\/strong><\/span>\u2014but the <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>biggest announcement<\/strong><\/span> was a <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">new<\/span> stablecoin<\/strong>: <strong>USDC<\/strong>, <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">launched<\/span><\/strong> by <strong>Circle<\/strong> as a <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">more transparent<\/span> Tether<\/strong>. While <strong>Tether<\/strong> had <strong><span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">no<\/span> <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">reliable<\/span> audits<\/strong>, <strong>Circle <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">promised<\/span><\/strong> <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">real<\/span> dollar backing<\/strong> and <strong>accounting<\/strong>. That was it. <strong><span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">No<\/span> killer dApps<\/strong>, <strong><span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">no<\/span> breakthroughs<\/strong>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nLuckily, our 2018 top pick, <strong>QIWI<\/strong>, was the <strong><em>only<\/em> crypto-related stock<\/strong> to <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>gain<\/strong><\/span> that year. Even our <strong>QIWI <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">call options<\/span><\/strong> posted <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>big returns<\/strong><\/span> while everything else <strong>Crypto related <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">collapsed<\/span><\/strong>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<h3><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nThe Voyager Digital Decision: From <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">6,225% Gains<\/span> to <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">Predicting<\/span> <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">Collapse<\/span>\n<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nIn mid-2020, we debated whether to make <strong>Solaris Resources (TSX: SLS)<\/strong> or <strong>Voyager Digital<\/strong> our <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>#1 pick<\/strong><\/span>. <strong>Solaris<\/strong>, backed by <strong>Richard Warke<\/strong>, went on to <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>gain over 1,100%<\/strong><\/span>\u2014but we chose <strong>Voyager Digital<\/strong>, the <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">only pure-play<\/span> <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">publicly traded<\/span> crypto brokerage<\/strong> at the time. Why? Because they had just <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">acquired<\/span> Circle\u2019s \u201cInvest\u201d division<\/strong>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nWe knew that with the <em>Coinbase IPO<\/em> coming, <strong>retail demand<\/strong> for a <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">publicly traded<\/span> crypto brokerage<\/strong> would <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>explode<\/strong><\/span>. And it did: <strong>Voyager<\/strong> soared <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">6,225%<\/span><\/strong> in just 10 months.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nWe later told NIA members to <strong><span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">short<\/span> Voyager near its <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">all-time high<\/span><\/strong>, <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>correctly predicting<\/strong><\/span> its <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>collapse<\/strong><\/span>\u2014not because of <strong>Celsius<\/strong> (which <strong>Voyager<\/strong> quickly <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>exited<\/strong><\/span> after we <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">raised<\/span> <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">concerns<\/span><\/strong>), but because of its <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>exposure<\/strong><\/span> to <strong>Three Arrows Capital<\/strong>, a firm we had <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>never<\/strong><\/span> even heard of before their <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>default<\/strong><\/span>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\n<strong>Voyager<\/strong> was <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">paying out<\/span> \u201cinterest\u201d<\/strong> (really just incentive bonuses) to users. Most coins paid <strong>3%<\/strong>, maybe <strong>3.5%<\/strong> on <strong>Bitcoin<\/strong>. But one coin stood out: <strong>Circle\u2019s USDC<\/strong>, where <strong>Voyager<\/strong> was <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>paying<\/strong><\/span> an <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>astonishing<\/strong><\/span> <strong>6%\u2014double everything else<\/strong>. Why? Was <strong>Circle<\/strong> <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">giving<\/span> backdoor incentives<\/strong>? Was this part of their agreement when they sold <strong>Circle Invest<\/strong> to <strong>Voyager<\/strong>?\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nWe may <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>never<\/strong><\/span> know\u2014but it worked. <strong>USDC<\/strong> became a <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>$60 billion<\/strong><\/span> stablecoin, and <strong>Circle <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">went public<\/span><\/strong>. At one point, its <strong>market cap<\/strong> briefly <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>surpassed<\/strong><\/span> <strong>USDC, reaching <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">$68 billion<\/span><\/strong>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nBut what has <strong>Circle<\/strong> actually done? They <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>didn\u2019t<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>innovate<\/strong><\/span>. They <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">copied<\/span> Tether<\/strong>, slapped on better optics, and rode the speculative wave. There\u2019s <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>no<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>world-changing<\/strong><\/span> use case. <strong>USDC <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">won\u2019t replace<\/span> debit cards<\/strong> or <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>outcompete<\/strong><\/span> <strong>Venmo<\/strong>\u2014even in places like <strong>Venezuela<\/strong>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<h3><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nWhat This Means for Investors Today\n<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\n<strong>Circle\u2019s IPO<\/strong> becoming the <em>hottest stock of the year<\/em>\u2014despite offering <strong><span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">no<\/span> <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">real innovation<\/span><\/strong>\u2014tells us everything we need to know about today\u2019s <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>distorted<\/strong><\/span> <strong>markets<\/strong>. <strong>Hype-driven <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">garbage<\/span><\/strong> gets all the attention while <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">real<\/span> <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">value<\/span><\/strong> is <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>ignored<\/strong><\/span>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nBut that\u2019s about to change.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nWe believe the next <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><em>real<\/em><\/span> <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">winner<\/span><\/strong> will be <strong>Augusta Gold (TSX: G)<\/strong>\u2014and it could become a <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">5x to 10x gainer<\/span> in the short term<\/strong>. It owns the <strong>Reward <span style=\"color:#f1c40f;\">Gold Project<\/span><\/strong> in <strong>Nevada\u2019s Beatty District<\/strong>\u2014what we believe is the <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">most important<\/span> <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">new<\/span> U.S. <span style=\"color:#f1c40f;\">gold district<\/span><\/strong> of this decade.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nBacked by <strong>Richard Warke<\/strong>, <strong>Augusta Gold <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">shouldn\u2019t<\/span><\/strong> even need a <strong>$50M loan<\/strong> from <strong>President Trump\u2019s EXIM Bank<\/strong>&#8230; but with <strong>capital <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">misallocated<\/span><\/strong> to <strong>crypto <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">scams<\/span><\/strong>, this is the <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>best available path<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> for <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">constructing<\/span> Reward<\/strong> without shareholder dilution.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<h3><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nOur Final <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">Warning<\/span> Before the Next <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">Collapse<\/span>\n<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nThe <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">next<\/span> speculative IPO <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">disaster<\/span><\/strong> could be <strong>Bullish<\/strong>; the <strong>shell corporation<\/strong> built with funds from the EOS year-long ICO. Founder Brendan Blumer promised an \u2018Ethereum killer\u2019 and instead became the largest shareholder of <strong>Silvergate Bank<\/strong>\u2026 just before it <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>failed<\/strong><\/span>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nBlumer used EOS funds not to build applications, but to launch Bullish.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nAnyone rushing into the <strong>Bullish IPO<\/strong> will get <span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\"><strong>completely destroyed<\/strong><\/span>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nWhen that happens, we expect a <strong><span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">full<\/span> investor <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\">pivot<\/span><\/strong> away from <strong><span style=\"color:#e74c3c;\">overvalued<\/span> tech<\/strong> and into <strong><span style=\"color:#27ae60;\">undervalued<\/span> natural-resource companies<\/strong> like <strong>Augusta Gold<\/strong>: backed by <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>real assets<\/strong><\/span>, <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>real value<\/strong><\/span>, and <span style=\"color:#27ae60;\"><strong>real upside<\/strong><\/span>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\nThe <span style=\"color:#2980b9;\"><strong>next wave<\/strong><\/span> belongs to <span style=\"color:#f1c40f;\"><strong>gold<\/strong><\/span>.\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-size:14px; font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;\">\n<em>Past performance is not an indicator of future returns. NIA is not an investment advisor and does not provide investment advice. Always do your own research and make your own investment decisions. NIA\u2019s President has purchased 232,200 shares of G and may purchase more shares. This message is meant for informational and educational purposes only and does not provide investment advice.<\/em>\n<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NIA Special Alert: From Ethereum at $18.50 to Augusta Gold\u2019s Breakout Moment \u2014 Understanding the Crypto Bubble &amp; Real Value In March 2017, the National Inflation Association (NIA) suggested Ethereum at $18.50\u2014not because it was a trendy pick, but because we believed in the revolutionary potential behind a decentralized application being built on the Ethereum [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[158,48,136,104,12,9,32,8,128],"class_list":["post-1808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-blsh","tag-copper","tag-crcl","tag-crypto","tag-g","tag-gold","tag-sls","tag-technology","tag-vygr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1808"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5115,"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1808\/revisions\/5115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inflation.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}