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5 things to start your day

January 04, 2021
Five Things
Bloomberg

Georgia is on Trump's mind, a holiday rally for Bitcoin fizzles and OPEC+ plans next move. 

Votes 

President Donald Trump urged election officials in Georgia to "find 11,780 votes" to flip the state that President-elect Joe Biden won in November's election. There was a swift backlash following the release of the recording of the call, with Representative Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, saying the president's actions were "potentially criminal." Georgia holds a crucial run-off election tomorrow that will decide which party holds the majority in the Senate. Elsewhere in election news, the certification of Joe Biden as president on Jan. 6 is set to be opposed by a group of Senators led by Ted Cruz of Texas. While the move will have little effect, some Republican lawmakers are warning of the dangerous precedent it sets. 

Volatile 

Bitcoin's massive holiday rally -- which saw the cryptocurrency rise more than $11,000 since Christmas Eve to trade above $34,000 yesterday -- took a blow this morning. The digital token plunged more than $5,000 to trade near $28,000. The 17% decline is the biggest intraday retreat since March for the volatile asset. While it is, as always, hard to pinpoint the cause for the latest price moves in Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency gained more than 300% in 2020.

Oil choice 

Last year's OPEC+ decision to have monthly meetings to agree on output is getting its first test today when the group meets to decide whether to increase production in February. With Covid-19 cases climbing globally, several member states are cautious about making any change in output at the moment, according to delegates. The possibility of a delay in increasing supply combined with a fall in the dollar helped push a barrel of West Texas Intermediate for February delivery close to $50 earlier this morning, before slipping back to $48.88 by 5:50 a.m. Eastern Time. 

Markets rise 

Investors are starting the new year as they ended the last, pushing stocks higher as risk appetite remains elevated. Overnight the MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.9%, with Japan's Topix index closing 0.5% lower as the yen rose against the dollar. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index had gained 1.5% by 5:50 a.m., boosted by strong manufacturing data from the euro area. S&P 500 futures pointed to another record high at the open, the 10-year Treasury yield was at 0.931% and gold rallied. 

Coming up...

The final reading of U.S. manufacturing PMI for December is at 9:45 a.m., with construction spending for November at 10:00 a.m. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester kick off the year for monetary policy speeches. Both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden are on the campaign trail in Georgia ahead of tomorrow's vote. 

What we've been reading

This is what's caught our eye over the weekend.

And finally, here's what Joe's interested in this morning

Bitcoin is the first true religion of the 21st century. Sometimes people call Bitcoin a religion pejoratively, as a way to sneer at its disciples. Or they call it a cult. Or they just use "religion" to imply that the whole thing is irrational. But I mean it with no judgment one way or another. Just that it's literally a religion. There's plenty of evidence for it.

* It has a prophet. Satoshi, who not only has never been identified but who has apparently departed the world.

* Not only is there a prophet, Satoshi was apparently in it for the benefit of all mankind. There's no evidence that Satoshi ever sold a single coin.

* Bitcoin's first block was called The Genesis Block.

* Bitcoin has a sacred text: The White Paper. A short nine-page document that still gets passed around in printed form like Gideon's Bible.

* Bitcoin has original saints and apostles. Early figures like Hal Finney, who spoke with Satoshi, are revered in the community for their forward vision and their role in establishing the faith. Finney was the recipient of the first Bitcoin transaction.

* Bitcoin has its own Talmud-like texts. The early Bitcointalk.org message boards are still studied today, where the first users discussed the endeavor, and analyzed today in order to help guide the community.

* Holidays. Every May 22, Bitcoiners remember a famous transaction, where someone spent 10,000 Bitcoin on two pizzas. Meanwhile, every four years, Bitcoiners celebrate the halving, when the pace of new Bitcoin issuance gets cut in half. There's other holidays too... yesterday as Proof Of Keys day, for example.

* Dietary customs. Many of the most orthodox Bitcoiners adhere to a diet of strictly eating meat.

* Schisms. Just like with any religion, there have been breakaway attempts, with disciples branching out onto their own, dividing the community, a la the creation of Bitcoin Cash in 2017.

* Disputed claims to the crown. Some people have claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, engendering huge controversy and anger in the community.

* Fury at apostasy. While Bitcoiners are resentful of people who aren't part of the faith (Nocoiners) they hold in particular contempt apostates who abandon ship as part of a ragequit.

* Sayings and incantations. Just check out some Bitcoiners on Twitter, and it's basically a stream of repetitive phrases, meant to hammer home key ideas to the flock.

Prophets, apostles, holidays, dietary customs, sacred texts, schisms, sayings and more. Bitcoin isn't like a religion. This is just what a religion is.

Joe Weisenthal is an editor at Bloomberg.

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