Russian President Vladimir Putin waves to participants of the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students during the closing ceremony at the Olympic Park in Sochi, Russia.

俄罗斯总统普京在俄罗斯索契奥林匹克公园闭幕式上向第19届世界青年和学生节的参与者挥手致意。



World leaders are embracing cryptocurrencies so that they have some say in its future.

世界各国领导人正在拥抱加密货币，以便他们在未来拥有一些话语权。



Russian President Vladamir Putin pulled a complete 180. Last yea rthe country considered jailing bitcoin owners, but now has invested in crypto mining companies.

俄罗斯总统普京(Vladamir Putin)完成了180度的工作转变。去年，这个国家考虑过关押比特币的所有者，但现在已经投资于加密采矿公司。



Cryptocurrency may be one of the biggest threats to governments, security and the entire financial system that we’ve ever seen. It can help fund terrorism and its anonymity makes it almost impossible to track. Most importantly, it is poised to revolutionize global finance and banking.

加密货币可能是我们所见过的政府、安全以及整个金融体系面临的最大威胁之一。它可以帮助资助恐怖主义，而它的匿名性使得它几乎无法追踪。最重要的是，它将彻底改革全球金融和银行业。



But our new Enemy No. 1 can’t be fought; it can perhaps be controlled. Banks have figured that out and are bringing crypto currency into the fold.

但我们的新敌人是不能打仗的;但它或许可以被控制。银行已经明白了这一点，并将加密货币引入了市场。





The superpowers—U.S., China and Russia--will have to face the new reality. They love to hate it and hate to love it. Regardless, if they don’t embrace it, they won’t be able to control it. An enemy you don’t control is a much bigger threat.

超级大国美国，中国和俄罗斯将不得不面对新的现实。他们恨它，讨厌但又爱它。不管怎样，如果他们不接受它，他们就无法控制它。你无法控制的敌人是一个更大的威胁。



So, welcome to the new balance of power, funded by cryptocurrency.

因此，欢迎使用加密货币资助的新力量平衡。



"This will ‘uberize’ banking to the extent that the major banks are spending billions to get into this Blockchain," says Frank Holmes, legendary gold investor, CEO of US Global Investors and Chairman of HIVE Blockchain Technologies, the first public company where investors can participate in the build-up and infrastructure of crypto-mining.

美国全球投资者公司首席执行官兼HIVE区块链技术公司首席执行官弗兰克·霍姆斯（Frank Holmes）说：“这将使各大银行花费大量金钱，以致大型银行花费数十亿美元进入这个区块链。可以参与密码挖掘的构建和基础设施。






The period of uncertainty is over

不确定的时期结束了



Russia is embracing it, with an eye to dominating it. China has banned it. The U.S. is struggling to figure out how to regulate it. But nothing can hold it back.

俄罗斯正在接受它，并着眼于控制它。中国禁止它。美国正努力弄清楚如何监管它。但没有什么能阻止它。



And now, many believe the uncertainty is over.

而现在，许多人认为不确定性已经结束。



China tried to ban it in September, making it illegal for residents to trade in cryptocurrencies or start-ups to raise funds through ICOs, completely shutting down local cryptocurrency exchanges.

中国在九月试图取缔它，居民交易加密货币或创业公司通过ICOs筹集资金被彻底关闭，当地的加密货币交易所是非法的。



Bitcoin’s price plunged 40 percent. Then it recovered almost immediately.

比特币的价格猛跌了40％。然后几乎立即恢复。



This was a reminder that cryptocurrency is an autonomous system that can’t be knocked out.

这提醒人们，加密货币是一个不能被淘汰的自治系统。



"The ethos behind blockchain has been tested," Ken Sangha, COO of Open Money and the Open Project in San Francisco, told Forbes. "A central, organized and powerful authority -- China -- said 'no' and we all have been tested worldwide because of it. But the system flexed its muscles. It's doing what it was supposed to do."

开放资金首席运营官兼旧金山开放项目首席运营官Ken Sangha对“福布斯”表示：“区块链背后的精神已经过考验。 “一个中央的，有组织的和权威的权威中国说'不'，我们都因为这个问题而在世界范围内受到了考验，但是这个体系扭曲了它的力量，正在做它应该做的事情。



And its muscles are the envy of tangible currencies everywhere. Bitcoin hit a record $6,000 per coin on 21 October. Naysayers came out of the woodwork to say it couldn’t possibly last, and definitely couldn’t go any higher. Wrong again. By the last week of November it was approaching $10,000 a coin.

它的价值被有形货币所羡慕。比特币10月21日创下创纪录的6000美元一枚。反对者破门而出说这不可能，绝对不能再高。又错了。到十一月的最后一周，它接近了10000美元一枚。






Threats and opportunities

威胁和机会



The potential security threats are clear and present, but let’s put things like new avenues of terrorism funding into perspective.

潜在的安全威胁是明确的和现实的，但让我们把一些新的恐怖主义资金的途径放在视野中。



At this point, terrorist groups are certainly eyeing their options with cryptocurrency, and testing the waters. In January, we saw what appears to be the first case, with the Indonesian government claiming that members of the Islamic State were transferring Bitcoin to each other.

在这一点上，恐怖组织肯定会用加密货币来关注他们的选择，并对其进行测试。今年1月，我们看到了第一个案例，印尼政府声称“伊斯兰国”(Islamic State)的成员正在互相传递比特币。



Terrorists could create a virtual currency that is even more powerful and untraceable—one that can completely bypass the global banking system. It hasn’t happened yet, but the potential is there.

恐怖分子可以创造一种虚拟货币，这种虚拟货币甚至更强大、更难以追踪——这完全可以绕过全球银行体系。它还没有发生，但潜力在那里。



While terrorist groups may be mildly courting cryptocurrency, it’s not widespread. Speaking to Newsweek, the Rand Corp’s Joshua Baron, a cryptographer and mathematician, says he doesn’t really see Bitcoin as the “go-to currency for terrorists”—yet. “It does not offer enough anonymity.”

虽然恐怖组织可能会温和地追求加密货币，但这并不普遍。在接受《新闻周刊》采访时，英国兰德公司(Rand Corp)的密码学家兼数学家约书亚·巴伦(Joshua Baron)表示，他并不认为比特币是“恐怖分子的货币”。“它没有提供足够的匿名性。”



While terrorism is a threat to the security of all states, another threat to the U.S. is an opportunity for Russia: sanctions busting.

虽然恐怖主义是对所有国家安全的威胁，但对美国的另一个威胁是俄罗斯的一个机会:制裁破坏。



The rise of digital currency means that Russian officials sanctioned by the U.S. and the European Union have a way to send and receive money.

数字货币的崛起意味着，美国和欧盟(eu)批准的俄罗斯官员有办法发送和接收资金。



While the U.S. Treasury’s Terrorism and Financial Intelligence unit puts sanctioned individuals on a blacklist that keeps them from doing any business in U.S. dollars, cryptocurrency, which isn’t backed or controlled by any state, makes it possible to bypass the blacklist.

尽管美国财政部的恐怖主义和金融情报部门将被制裁的个人列入黑名单，使他们无法从事任何以美元计价的业务，但在任何国家都不支持或控制的加密货币，使得绕过黑名单成为可能。

But even this pales in comparison to the bigger story here: Bitcoin and its fellow cryptocurrencies are challenging the foundations of the global banking system.  

但是，与这个更大的故事相比，即使是这样：比特币和它的同类加密货币正在挑战全球银行体系的基础。



Disruption of the global banking system at this point is “inevitable”, Bala Venkataraman, global chief technology officer of banking and capital markets for Computer Sciences Corp, whose sister company runs the IT backbone of the National Security Agency (NSA), told Newsweek.

计算机科学公司（Cyber Sciences Corp）银行和资本市场的全球首席技术官Bala Venkataraman表示，目前全球银行体系的破坏是不可避免的，Bala Venkataraman是其国家安全局（NSA）的IT骨干负责人。



“Cryptocurrencies could become the new driver of international business and financial transactions, and that would be transformative, if not revolutionary,” says Dr. Makarenko, whose consulting firm advises Fortune 500 companies.

“加密货币可能成为国际商业和金融交易的新动力，如果不是革命性的话，这将是变革性的，”马卡连科博士说，他的咨询公司为财富500强企业提供咨询。



But here’s the problem:

“If we don’t truly understand how they are operating, who is controlling them and how to avoid it being used for illicit purposes, it may inadvertently turn out to be one of the most innovative turning points in the underworld, whether it’s organized crime, terrorism financing or corruption.”

但是这是问题：

“如果我们不真正了解他们是如何运作的，谁来控制他们，如何避免他们被用于非法目的，它可能会不经意间成为黑社会中最具创新性的转折点之一，无论是有组织犯罪，资助恐怖主义或腐败“。



The crypto ‘embrace’ is all about control

“拥抱”的含义完全是控制



Just last year, Russia was toying around with throwing Bitcoin owners in prison, characterizing cryptocurrency as an infectious pyramid scheme.

就在去年，俄罗斯还在玩弄比特币的所有者，将比特币描述为一个传染性金字塔骗局。



Now, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is ready to embrace cryptocurrency—if only to control it.

现在，弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)的俄罗斯已经准备好接受加密——只要控制它。



The real push started in July, when a Putin aide unveiled his cryptocurrency mine: an industrial-scale server farm called Russian Miner Coin. In September, the company held an initial coin offering (ICO), raising over $43 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum.

真正的推动始于今年7月，当时普京的一名助手公布了他的加密货币计划:一个名为俄罗斯矿工硬币的工业级服务器农场。今年9月，该公司举行了首次投币(ICO)，筹集了超过4300万美元的比特币和Ethereum。



Then came the regulatory push. After all, Russia has lost an estimated $310 million this year alone due to lack of ICO regulation.

接下来是监管方面的推动。毕竟，由于缺乏ICO监管，俄罗斯今年仅损失了3.1亿美元。



In late October, Putin issued five presidential orders for controlling cryptocurrency. This means everything from taxing coin miners and regulating initial coin offerings (ICOs) to creating legislation for new blockchain tech and setting up a single payment space, presumably with the Central Bank.

10月下旬，普京发布了控制加密货币的五项总统令。这意味着从硬币矿工征税和管理初始投币产品（ICO）到为区块链技术创建立法以及建立一个单一的支付空间（可能与中央银行）。



Still, the Russian government is not entirely unified on the issue. The Central Bank thinks blockchain is cool, but isn’t keen on cryptocurrency itself. They’d like to have something like a crypto-ruble that could track transactions from cryptocurrencies into rubles.

不过，俄罗斯政府在这个问题上还没有完全统一。中央银行认为区块链很酷，但并不热衷于电子货币本身。他们希望有一个像加密卢布的东西，可以跟踪从加密货币到卢布的交易。



It’s far more than a fad. Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly visible across Russia. Mining is becoming so pervasive, in fact, that computer stores are having a hard time keeping graphic and video cards in supply.

这不仅仅是一种时尚。在俄罗斯，加密货币正变得越来越明显。事实上，采矿业正变得如此普遍，以至于计算机商店很难保持图形和视频卡的供应。



The Russian Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov, has even gone as far as to say that cryptocurrency will soon be treated like regular financial securities.

俄罗斯财政部长安东•西卢安诺夫(Anton Siluanov)甚至曾说过，比特币很快就会像普通金融证券一样受到对待。



There’s no point in prohibiting this reality, says Siluanov.

The U.S. might be of the same mind—broadly speaking, but it’s moving at a slower pace in the race to control the world’s new currency.

And it’s its own worst enemy in this scenario, says Dr. Tamara Makarenko, managing director of West Sands Advisory, a UK-based global consulting firm.

Siluanov说，没有必要禁止这一现实。

美国可能也有同样的想法，但在控制世界新货币的竞争中，美国正以较慢的速度前进。

总部位于英国的全球咨询公司西金沙咨询公司(West Sands Advisory)的董事总经理塔玛拉·马卡里科(Tamara Makarenko)博士说，在这种情况下，这是它自己最大的敌人。



But Russia, for one, is much more motivated. Cryptocurrency is a great way to skirt sanctions.

“The U.S. is rightfully concerned about cryptocurrencies, but like anything that may have a negative impact on national security, there are way too many stakeholders that need to be brought to the table to discuss, so the U.S. is not capable of acting quickly,” Dr. Makarenko told Oilprice.com.

但俄罗斯却更有动力。加密货币是规避制裁的好方法。

“美国对加密货币的担忧是正确的，但就像任何可能对国家安全造成负面影响的事情一样，有太多的利益相关者需要被带到谈判桌上讨论，因此美国不能迅速采取行动，”马卡阿斯科博士告诉《石油价格》网站。



“The right conversations are taking place, but at the end of the day, it is in the U.S. interest to secure the value of the global position of the dollar.”

“正确的对话正在进行，但在一天结束的时候，确保美元全球地位的价值符合美国的利益。”



So, while China is banning cryptocurrency and the U.S. is still trying to figure things out, Russia seeks to dominate.

因此，尽管中国正在禁止加密货币，而美国仍在试图解决问题，但俄罗斯试图主导。



But just like China’s ban will be largely ineffective, so too will Russia’s move to dominate. Cryptocurrency is stateless, and that is its real power. It can be regulated, but not enslaved.

但就像中国的禁令在很大程度上是无效的，俄罗斯的主导地位也将受到影响。加密货币是无状态的，这是它真正的力量。它可以被管制，但不能被奴役。



Resilience Proven, Investors Flock to the Future

经证实的弹性，投资者涌向未来



Right now, about 85 percent of the world’s bitcoin trading volume comes from China. Countries with heavily subsidized energy are obvious ether mining haunts, but now the colder countries have something to offer that has nothing to do with the government, and doesn’t involve any legal gray areas that will come under scrutiny.

目前，全球约有85％的比特币交易量来自中国。能源补贴严重的国家是以色列的采矿困境，但现在较冷的国家可以提供与政府毫无关系的东西，而且不涉及任何将受到严格审查的法律灰色地带。



With even Putin’s IT advisor getting into the great game, hoping to challenge China’s hegemonyin Bitcoin mining, the race is on in full force. They’re hoping to capture 30 percent of the global cryptocurrency mining share in the future.

甚至连普京的IT顾问进入这个伟大的比赛，希望挑战中国在比特币挖掘方面的霸主地位，比赛正在全面展开。他们希望在未来占有全球加密货币矿业份额的30％。



Japanese billionaire Masatoshi Kumagai, co-founder of giant GMO Internet, announced plans recently to invest over $90 million in a new Bitcoin mining business that will operate as a fund, partially by soliciting capital from investors and repaying them in cryptocurrency.

庞大的GMO互联网联合创始人、日本亿万富翁Masatoshi Kumagai最近宣布，计划投资超过9000万美元的新比特币采矿业务，该业务将作为一只基金运作，部分通过向投资者募集资金，并以加密货币偿还它们。



In North America, billionaire backing is going into HIVE, via Lionsgate Entertainment and Goldcorp superstar Frank Giustra, a legendary mining figure known for being in the right place at the right time—and always in front of a trend.

在北美，亿万富翁的支持将通过Lionsgate娱乐公司和Goldcorp巨星Frank Giustra，一个传说中的矿业人物，在正确的时间被称为正确的地方，始终在一个趋势前面。



The new Great Game is virtual reality, and while governments are busy trying to figure out how they can control it, investors are busy sinking billions into what is fast becoming a story of industrial-scale cryptocurrency mining.

这一新的伟大游戏是虚拟现实，而各国政府正忙着弄清楚如何控制它，投资者正忙着将数十亿美元投入到正在迅速成为工业规模的加密货币开采的故事中。



Now that everyone’s seen how resilient Bitcoin is, not only are things moving to the industrial phase, but everyone’s weighing the best venues for mining. Because even though this is virtual reality, location still matters.

现在每个人都看到了比特币的稳健性，不仅事情正在转向工业阶段，而且每个人都在权衡采矿的最佳场所。因为即使这是虚拟现实，位置仍然很重要。



That’s why HIVE has set up in Iceland, where Mother Nature’s natural cooling is friendly to these massive computing facilities, and where the massive energy required to mine cryptocurrency—in this case Ether--on an industrial scale is cheaper thanks to plentiful hydroelectric and geothermal sources. First, HIVE put $9 million into Hong Kong-based Genesis Mining Ltd., which just built the biggest ether-mining facility in the world—Enigma. Genesis acquired 30% of HIVE in the deal. A second deal in mid-October saw HIVE close a $30-million bought deal financing, completing a $7-million investment by Genesis Mining, acquiring a second data center in Iceland.

这就是为什么HIVE在冰岛建立起来的原因，在那里大自然的自然冷却对这些巨大的计算设施很友好，而且在这种情况下，由于大量的水力发电和地热资源，在工业规模上需要大量的能源。首先，HIVE向总部位于香港的Genesis矿业有限公司(Genesis Mining Ltd .)投入了900万美元，该公司刚刚建成了世界上最大的以太挖掘设施。在这笔交易中，《创世纪》获得了30%的蜂巢。在10月中旬的第二笔交易中，HIVE关闭了一笔3000万美元的交易融资，完成了700万美元的投资，收购了冰岛的第二个数据中心。



And now HIVE is setting up in another ‘cold country’—Sweden—with Genesis.

From China and Russia to North America, virtual is the reality. It’s no longer a question of whether cryptocurrency will survive. It’s a question of what it will disrupt on its way to the top of the global finance chain.

现在HIVE正在另一个“寒冷的国家”瑞典与创世纪建立起来。

从中国和俄罗斯到北美，虚拟是现实。 这不再是加密货币能否存活的问题。 这是一个到达全球金融链顶端将会破坏的问题。