Larry Cermak of The Block on What 90% of Bitcoin Trading Is For - Ep.103

Larry Cermak, director of research at The Block, looks at the macro trends in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, including what can be gleaned from derivative data, why many hedge funds are shorting Bitcoin and what has happened to trading volume since the summer. We also cover how the exchanges vary in terms of liquidity and target customer, which types of traders are active now, and which exchanges other than the Bitwise 10 also have real volume.  Finally, Larry talks about what amount of real value is being settled on the Bitcoin blockchain and how this compares to gold and other cryptocurrencies.  

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Episode links: 

Larry Cermak: https://twitter.com/lawmaster

The Block: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/

Hedge funds short Bitcoin: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/48268/hedge-funds-were-short-bitcoin-going-into-this-downturn-cftc-reports-show

Per-website visits to exchanges:

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/46235/crypto-exchanges-experiencing-a-steady-drop-in-traffic-since-june-suggesting-declining-retail-interest

Depth of order book on exchanges: https://www.theblockcrypto.com/daily/49546/when-evaluating-spot-exchanges-based-on-order-book-depth-bitfinex-appears-the-most-liquid

Analysis of value settled on Bitcoin: 

https://www.theblockcrypto.com/genesis/50100/close-correlation-between-value-settled-and-traded-volume-shows-cryptocurrencies-are-still-mainly-used-for-speculation

Weekly news recap:  https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-most-important-crypto-podcast-of-2019/