Blogs -I/O Fund’s Interview with CoinDesk: Why Square’s Name Change to Block is Defensive

I/O Fund’s Interview with CoinDesk: Why Square’s Name Change to Block is Defensive


December 31, 2021

author

Beth Kindig

Lead Tech Analyst

Beth Kindig shared her views on Square’s name change to Block, Jack Dorsey stepping down as Twitter’s CEO, and the upcoming opportunities to watch in an interview with CoinDesk.

Here’s an overview of the discussion.

Square is technically getting disrupted by Blockchain and this is prompting Jack Dorsey to embrace Bitcoin. I had discussed this two years ago in an article for MarketWatch where I stated the following:

Finance is changing rapidly through mergers and acquisitions, but not rapidly enough. There will be tremendous pressure for traditional payment processors to get with the times and adopt blockchain, or else they will be left behind by lower-cost competitors …. The real value to consumers and merchants has yet to be seen. Square may have replaced cash registers, but the fees the company charges are as old-school as ever. Square charges 2.6% plus 10 cents per transaction … Digitization in the finance industry is built atop age-old infrastructure and ignores the most obvious area in need of disruption: transaction fees. Visa and Mastercard are making acquisitions to remain relevant and competitive, while PayPal and Square are getting on more devices with peer-to-peer apps such as Venmo and Cash App. Those moves won’t lead to massive growth. An overhaul of the infrastructure via blockchain will take some time, and only then will investors enjoy serious investment returns.”

The fees that Square and other fintech names charge are the fees that blockchain promises to disrupt over time. We do not think Square is pushing for Bitcoin adoption and changing its name to Block out of strength, rather we think this is a defensive move.

Regarding Twitter, Beth Kindig points out in the interview that the social media site has many bots which can affect the number of advertisers on the platform sees. According to a Pew Study, 66 percent of tweeted links are shared by bots. Most websites do have some bot traffic at an estimated 29 percent, therefore some of this is unavoidable. The reason Twitter has higher bot traffic is because it does not require a network of friends/family to have a presence and someone with a very low follower count or brand new account can immediately click on ads and links. The CTO of Twitter has recently become the CEO, Parag Agrawal, and these problems are likely to persist under the new leadership as they did when he led the technical side.

How to Find the Next Opportunity

Cloud has been very resilient and we believe this sector will perform well during times of high inflation. We also think the market is currently oversold with the Russell 2000 index being more oversold than during March of 2020. During these times of indiscriminate selling, we stay firm on product and fundamentals as cloud, for example, drives down costs for the companies.

We believe the current sell-off was driven by a high inflation number rather than the Omicron variant. We believe Bitcoin will perform well during times of inflation while more speculative and high beta stocks will not perform well, such as IPOs. The bottom line will also begin to matter more.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Please consult with your financial advisor in regards to any stocks you buy.

Gains of up to 2,400% from our Free Newsletter.


Here are sample stock gains from the I/O Fund’s newsletter --- produced weekly and all for free!

2,400% on Nvidia

450% on Bitcoin

*as of Oct 04, 2024

Our newsletter provides an edge in the world’s most valuable industry – technology. Due to the enormous gains from this particular industry, we think it’s essential that every stock investor have a credible source who specializes in tech. Subscribe for Free Weekly Analysis on the Best Tech Stocks.

If you are a more serious investor, we have a premium service that offers lower entries and real-time trade alerts. Sample returns on the premium site include 3,850% on Nvidia, 650% on Chainlink, and 700% on Bitcoin. The I/O Fund is audited annually to prove it’s one of the best-performing Funds on the market, with returns that beat Wall Street funds.

beth
head bg

Get a bonus for subscription!

Subscribe to our free weekly stock
analysis and receive the "AI Stock: 5
Things Nobody is Telling you" brochure
for free.

More To Explore

Newsletter

Why the I/O Fund is Not Buying Nvidia Right Now Video Interview

Why the I/O Fund is Not Buying Nvidia Right Now: Video Interview

In an interview with Darius Dale, Beth Kindig stated: “We ultimately think you can get Nvidia lower than where it is trading now. We are likely to take gains between $120 and $150 based on technical l

October 04, 2024
https://images.prismic.io/bethtechnology/ZvuHobVsGrYSwLe2_CybersecurityStocksSeeingEarlyAIGains.jpg?auto=format,compress

Cybersecurity Stocks Seeing Early AI Gains

Below, I look at the demand environment for leading cybersecurity stocks CrowdStrike, Zscaler, Palo Alto, and Fortinet, and which ones have key metrics hinting toward underlying strength.

October 01, 2024
https://images.prismic.io/bethtechnology/ZvK7P7VsGrYSv1Vx_4ThingsInvestorsMustKnowAboutAI_.jpg?auto=format,compress

4 Things Investors Must Know About AI

We’re still in the early innings of AI, but the pace of transformation that AI is driving is unlike any other technology seen before, and that was evident at Communacopia. Below, I dig in to the four

September 24, 2024
https://images.prismic.io/bethtechnology/ZupMBLVsGrYSvfYT_AIPCsHaveArrivedShipmentsRising%2CCompetitionHeatingUp.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&rect=14%2C0%2C3408%2C1917&w=1920&h=1080

AI PCs Have Arrived: Shipments Rising, Competition Heating Up

Chipmakers Qualcomm, Intel and AMD are working to bring AI-capable PCs to the “mainstream”, delivering powerful neural processing units to PCs for on-computer AI operations. AI PCs are not only a cons

September 19, 2024
https://images.prismic.io/bethtechnology/Zt_IoxoQrfVKl4bz_PredictionMicrosoftAzureToReach%24200BillionInRevenueBy2028.jpg?auto=format,compress

Prediction: Microsoft Azure To Reach $200 Billion In Revenue By 2028

The lead we see from Microsoft today on AI revenue streams is critical enough and predictive enough that it points toward Azure surpassing $200 billion by 2028, catalyzed by the OpenAI investment.

September 09, 2024
Jensen Huang at Convention

Nvidia Stock Is Selling Off: It’s Not Because Of Blackwell

Direct liquid cooling doesn’t lie as it’s intricately linked to the Blackwell launch, implying that Blackwell would indeed ship by Q4 – and Nvidia just confirmed that (multiple times) in Q2’s release.

September 02, 2024
Jensen Huang's Presentation

Nvidia Stock: Blackwell Suppliers Shrug Off Delay Ahead Of Q2 Earnings

Bulletproof Nvidia showed an unusual bout of weakness this past month following a report from The Information that Nvidia’s new AI chips are delayed. The report asserts that Nvidia’s upcoming artifici

August 26, 2024
Microchips

Arm Stock: Buy Its Customers, Not The Stock

Arm Holdings is the third-best performer of 2024 in AI-related semiconductor stocks with a 56% YTD return, behind only Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor.

August 20, 2024
Big Tech Battles on AI

Big Tech Battles On AI, Here’s The Winner

The major theme over the past month in Big Tech and AI semiconductors has been the durability of demand: essentially, what is Big Tech’s return on more than $150 billion in capex over the last twelve

August 12, 2024
Bitcoin Update - Next Stop $100,000

Bitcoin Update: Next Stop $100,000

Bitcoin is the best performing asset in market history. There is no stock or asset that has come close to delivering the returns of this digital currency --- it has greatly outperformed all FAANGs, an

August 01, 2024
newsletter

Sign up for Analysis on
the Best Tech Stocks

https://bethtechnology.cdn.prismic.io/bethtechnology/e0a8f1ff-95b9-432c-a819-369b491ce051_Logo_Final_Transparent_IOFUND.svg
The I/O Fund specializes in tech growth stocks and offers in-depth research for Premium Members. Investors get access to a transparent portfolio, a forum, webinars, and real-time trade notifications. Sign up for Premium.

We are on social networks


Copyright © 2010 - 2024