WEBVTT - APAC Equity Markets Follow US Tech Stocks Lower

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, Radio News.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome to the Bloomberg Daybreak Asia Podcast. I'm Doug Krisner.

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<v Speaker 2>Certainly was a risk off day in the US, and

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<v Speaker 2>that included bitcoin. In a moment, we'll take a look

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<v Speaker 2>at the crypto space with Peter Chung, head of research

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<v Speaker 2>at Presto Research. But we begin in Hong Kong with

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<v Speaker 2>Helen Ju, Managing director and CIO of NF Trinity. Happy

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<v Speaker 2>New Year, Helen, Thank you for joining us. It's always

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<v Speaker 2>a pleasure. There's a lot to cover. We can talk

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<v Speaker 2>about the FED and some of the policies that we're

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<v Speaker 2>expecting from the incoming Trump administration in a moment, But

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<v Speaker 2>I'd like to begin with technology because we saw a

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<v Speaker 2>pretty good pullback today in Nvidia. I think in New

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<v Speaker 2>York trading we were down around six percent. That seemed

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<v Speaker 2>to be correlated to disappointment over what the market heard

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<v Speaker 2>yesterday when CEO Jensen Huang gave the keynote address at

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<v Speaker 2>CEES he fail to mention he failed to mention the

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<v Speaker 2>company's next generation of chips Rubin, and that may have

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<v Speaker 2>been driving a lot of the disappointment. How are you

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<v Speaker 2>viewing AI right now?

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<v Speaker 3>Broadly speaking, look, I think that AI has obviously been

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<v Speaker 3>really the key momentum driver behind the broader market since

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<v Speaker 3>pretty much March of twenty twenty three, when the.

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<v Speaker 4>Chat GPT started to take off.

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<v Speaker 3>I think a lot of the upward revision in terms

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<v Speaker 3>of expectations has already happened, and it really depends on

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<v Speaker 3>which segment of the ecosystem you're operating in to figure

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<v Speaker 3>out whether there is still further upside. So what we

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<v Speaker 3>have seen initially is that most of the focus has

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<v Speaker 3>been on Nvidia and on the GPU, and then gradually

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<v Speaker 3>it actually spread out to other parts as well. Like

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<v Speaker 3>you know, any company that has some application that has

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<v Speaker 3>to do with AI, or even like one or two

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<v Speaker 3>percent of revenues coming from AI starts to become AI

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<v Speaker 3>plays and see meaningful valuation expansion. Now we're kind of

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<v Speaker 3>getting to the stage where the expectation is high enough

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<v Speaker 3>that it's quite easy to miss the high expectations, and therefore,

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<v Speaker 3>just like before you had twenty five percent share price

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<v Speaker 3>move on the back of a slight beat and two

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<v Speaker 3>percent of revenue AI product, now the opposite can also happen,

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<v Speaker 3>and so it's becoming much more selective and much more

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<v Speaker 3>volatile versus Before let's talk.

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<v Speaker 2>A little bit about the macro. Some of the economic

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<v Speaker 2>news that we had here in the US seemed to

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<v Speaker 2>trigger concern about stubborn inflation, and with that the bet

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<v Speaker 2>that the FED is not going to be aggressive in

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<v Speaker 2>cutting rates again, maybe not until July. So how are

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<v Speaker 2>you viewing the US inflation story right now?

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<v Speaker 3>I think a lot of it is still very much

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<v Speaker 3>dependent on services, and in terms of the goods front,

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<v Speaker 3>we've already seen meaningful disinflation, and actually the broader trend

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<v Speaker 3>is not so concerning.

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<v Speaker 4>If you look at the small amount.

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<v Speaker 3>Of inflation beat versus expectation, it is really kind of

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<v Speaker 3>like a very very minor amount.

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<v Speaker 4>But I think we do see that.

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<v Speaker 3>Last night, for example, the macro data across the board

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<v Speaker 3>was quite strong. Think that, you know, things are really

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<v Speaker 3>not slowing down. And I think the other main source

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<v Speaker 3>of the concern about the inflation is not only what

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<v Speaker 3>we're seeing today from the strong economy, but also what

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<v Speaker 3>we might see going forward from both the trade tariffs

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<v Speaker 3>as well as the loss of labor from the immigration

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<v Speaker 3>policies that Trump is likely to implement. So that's why

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<v Speaker 3>people are getting increasingly concerned, not necessarily because of today's data,

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<v Speaker 3>but because of what might happen policy wise over the

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<v Speaker 3>next three to six months, where there's a significant amount

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<v Speaker 3>of uncertainty.

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<v Speaker 2>Uncertainty, but you're kind of indicating maybe concern about rising

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<v Speaker 2>inflation longer term, right, I.

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<v Speaker 3>Mean, yeah, I mean the new normal or the kind

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<v Speaker 3>of longer term normal is certainly going to be higher

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<v Speaker 3>versus before because of a lot of the structural things

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<v Speaker 3>that have changed, So for example, the deglobalization, right, so

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<v Speaker 3>those are or maybe you know, even though the technology

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<v Speaker 3>has been helping, maybe the impact of the technology disinflationary

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<v Speaker 3>trend was seen earlier, like maybe one or you know,

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<v Speaker 3>one and a.

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<v Speaker 4>Half decades ago.

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<v Speaker 3>So obviously, if AI really has a very significant impact

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<v Speaker 3>in terms of lifting productivity, that's going to be the

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<v Speaker 3>huge offsetting factor. But at the moment we're still at

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<v Speaker 3>the very beginning of that. It's very difficult to quantify

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<v Speaker 3>or to figure out how much impact it can have.

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<v Speaker 2>So if you can accept the idea that maybe we

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<v Speaker 2>only get one rate cut this year, the dollar really

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<v Speaker 2>is going to reflect that and remain very robust against

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<v Speaker 2>the majors. And I'm sure that for someone in the

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<v Speaker 2>Asia pack that has to put money to work. That's

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<v Speaker 2>going to be increasingly challenging, is it not.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it's already been challenging, right, So obviously, beginning of

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<v Speaker 3>last year, people were expecting like six rate cuts last

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<v Speaker 3>year and maybe four more this year, and then now,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, looking back, the economy has been surprisingly strong

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<v Speaker 3>in the US, and you know, now I think the

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<v Speaker 3>expectation is a little bit extreme on the other side

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<v Speaker 3>because of a few things.

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<v Speaker 4>One is that, actually, if you think about it.

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<v Speaker 3>A lot of the job's data over the last few

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<v Speaker 3>one or two quarters has actually been quite volatile. So

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<v Speaker 3>it's sure this month we had very very strong data,

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<v Speaker 3>but we can't be assured that the employment data is

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<v Speaker 3>going to be consistent throughout. And if you do have

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<v Speaker 3>one or two months of air pocket again, then I

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<v Speaker 3>think the yields will sell off and people start to

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<v Speaker 3>get more concerned again. The second thing is that a

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<v Speaker 3>lot of this tariff and immigration policy, and tariff in

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<v Speaker 3>particular is not only inflationary, but also potentially going to

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<v Speaker 3>hurt growth in the US, hurt US corporates, and hurt

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<v Speaker 3>overall activity globally, which will then have indirect impact on

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<v Speaker 3>the US economy as well, So if that actually happens

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<v Speaker 3>and US data gets affected, that could also actually increase

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<v Speaker 3>the expectations regarding more ray cuts versus before. So at

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<v Speaker 3>the moment, it feels very firm, but usually those are

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<v Speaker 3>the moments when you can't really see anything going wrong.

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<v Speaker 3>Those are the moments when you're.

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<v Speaker 4>Just like on the cusp of something going wrong.

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<v Speaker 3>And I think expectations about the US economy and it's

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<v Speaker 3>robustness and the yield outlook are quite quite uppy at

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<v Speaker 3>the moment.

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<v Speaker 2>How are you viewing China right now? And opportunities there.

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<v Speaker 3>Opportunity is definitely there, But I don't think it's about

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<v Speaker 3>domestic stimulus necessarily. Domestic simulus is only enough to get

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<v Speaker 3>people to feel like things aren't getting incrementally much worse.

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<v Speaker 3>But all the sentiment and expectation and hopes and confidence

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<v Speaker 3>rests on really the geopolitical aspect, right So if you

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<v Speaker 3>do have very egregious trade policies, it's going to massively

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<v Speaker 3>hit sentiment and the markets are not going to perform

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<v Speaker 3>no matter how much domestic policy stimulus you have, And

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<v Speaker 3>so I think that's the key thing to watch.

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<v Speaker 4>I think I hope that China and the US as

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<v Speaker 4>well as.

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<v Speaker 3>The US and other major markets that it's dealing with,

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<v Speaker 3>will have a rapid negotiation at the beginning of this

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<v Speaker 3>year and try to sort out some of the differences

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<v Speaker 3>rather than having it you know, drag out through the

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<v Speaker 3>rest of the year, which would be actually very negative

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<v Speaker 3>for global economy and sentiment.

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<v Speaker 2>So we've covered a lot of themes, Helen, can you

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<v Speaker 2>help me understand what the investment strategy would be going forward?

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<v Speaker 1>Here?

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<v Speaker 2>How does everything translate?

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<v Speaker 3>So I think there's two possible outcomes. One is the

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<v Speaker 3>Goldilock scenario, which is that the US economy is intact

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<v Speaker 3>and the jail politics are not as bad as expected.

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<v Speaker 3>In that case, everything else catches up to the US

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<v Speaker 3>and a synchronized global recovery, and you actually have the

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<v Speaker 3>dollar weekend a little bit and everywhere else that's been

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<v Speaker 3>totally hammered catch up.

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<v Speaker 4>That's the best case scenario.

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<v Speaker 3>In the worst case scenario, you know, the administration gets

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<v Speaker 3>a little bit too hawk as drags it out tariffs, immigration,

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<v Speaker 3>they end up being negative for the US and.

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<v Speaker 4>Elsewhere as well.

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<v Speaker 3>The US starts to catch down with the rest of

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<v Speaker 3>the world, and everything actually on the risk assets front

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<v Speaker 3>actually starts to go down.

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<v Speaker 4>In the first scenario, what we.

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<v Speaker 3>Would look at would be like cyclicals and non US

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<v Speaker 3>markets for that catch up play, because they are basically

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<v Speaker 3>the ones that are lagging and the ones that would

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<v Speaker 3>benefit the most from that scenario. And the second scenario,

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<v Speaker 3>I think is really about holding cash and maybe treasuries

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<v Speaker 3>and defensives, you know, all the places where nobody has

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<v Speaker 3>any exposure. In the equity market, I wouldn't even be

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<v Speaker 3>going that much into like credit just because the credit

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<v Speaker 3>spread is so so so narrow at the moment. It

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<v Speaker 3>has to widen if there is any kind of recession

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<v Speaker 3>or soft landing fears, So that would be the way

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<v Speaker 3>that we would look at it. And you know hedging

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<v Speaker 3>as well, because vis is still low.

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<v Speaker 2>So what about things to avoid it all caused when

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<v Speaker 2>I was listening to you kind of sketch out the

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<v Speaker 2>China story, I'm thinking, well, avoid anything that has to

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<v Speaker 2>do with the Chinese consumer.

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<v Speaker 3>The Chinese consumer has definitely been weak. But that Chinese

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<v Speaker 3>consumer derating or sell off is actually behind us. Is

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<v Speaker 3>actually about six to nine months ago, so that was

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<v Speaker 3>the worst of it. Previously, expectation was always for twenty

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<v Speaker 3>percent plus growth, and the stocks were trading at like

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<v Speaker 3>twenty to thirty times PE and the positioning was very heavy.

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<v Speaker 3>I think all of that has already unwound in the

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<v Speaker 3>last six to twelve months. Obviously, whether it rebounds to

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<v Speaker 3>a significant extent remains to be seen.

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<v Speaker 4>The low end.

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<v Speaker 3>Consumer is probably the one that the government cares the

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<v Speaker 3>most about, and so certain consumer staples and other stuff

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<v Speaker 3>I think is the area that we would look at.

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<v Speaker 4>I think on the luxury and so on and so

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<v Speaker 4>forth front.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, most of the global luxury stocks have sold off,

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<v Speaker 3>but they're not like super.

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<v Speaker 4>Distressed per se.

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<v Speaker 3>And I don't think the Chinese consumer is necessarily going

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<v Speaker 3>to rebound aggressively on the luxury front, even if the

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<v Speaker 3>trade TARFF concerns go away.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll leave it there. Helen, thank you so much for

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<v Speaker 2>joining us. Helen ju is managing director also the CIO

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<v Speaker 2>at NF Trinity. Joining us from our studios in Hong Kong.

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<v Speaker 2>Here on the Daybreak Asia podcast. Welcome back to the

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<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Daybreak Asia Podcast. I'm Doug Krisner. So bitcoins march

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<v Speaker 2>back above one hundred thousand didn't last very long today

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<v Speaker 2>During New York trading Bitcoin slid about five percent along

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<v Speaker 2>with a broader retreat in US risk assets. Let's take

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<v Speaker 2>a closer look now at the crypto space. We are

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<v Speaker 2>joined by Peter Chung. He is head of research at

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<v Speaker 2>Presto Research. Peter joining us from Hong Kong. It's always

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<v Speaker 2>a pleasure. Happy New Year. Can you help me understand

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<v Speaker 2>what was going on with the price action in bitcoin today?

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<v Speaker 1>By Happy New Year to you as well. I think

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<v Speaker 1>what happened last twenty four hours is just the typical

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<v Speaker 1>risk assic behavior of bitcoin reacting to some very strong

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<v Speaker 1>macro data that came out in the early hours of

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<v Speaker 1>the US equity market trading. So I think along with

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<v Speaker 1>the broader risk asset selloff, I think the bitcoin also

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<v Speaker 1>went through some correction. And yeah, I think that's what happened.

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<v Speaker 2>When you look at bitcoin, Peter, the risk asset that

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<v Speaker 2>is strongly or most strongly correlated with the cryptocurrency, would

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<v Speaker 2>it be equities, would it be what's going on in

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<v Speaker 2>the US dollar? How do you understand the signal that

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<v Speaker 2>the bitcoin market is getting from other risk markets.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I think the segment of the traditional finance market

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<v Speaker 1>that has the highest correlation with the crypto and bitcoin

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<v Speaker 1>is the big text, especially the Magnificent sevens. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I think because bitcoin actually because it's an emerging asset

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<v Speaker 1>class that has an element of network effect. So one

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<v Speaker 1>looking at a bitcoin is viewed as sort of like

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<v Speaker 1>a Internet startup that has a lot to gain from

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<v Speaker 1>the adoption of the network by the public. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>exactly what bigcoin Networker has been going through in the

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<v Speaker 1>first fifteen years of its life.

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<v Speaker 2>It's interesting that you mentioned the Magnificent seven. I think

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<v Speaker 2>the Bloomberg gauge of the mag seven was down about

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<v Speaker 2>two and a half percent today, so clearly a lot

0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.880
<v Speaker 2>of selling pressure. Let's talk a little bit about your

0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:49.040
<v Speaker 2>expectations on bitcoin policy or crypto policy more broadly, with

0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.760
<v Speaker 2>the new Trump administration. What are your expectations in terms

0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.520
<v Speaker 2>of the regulatory environment.

0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:57.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so I think, I mean, there are a few

0:11:57.520 --> 0:12:00.920
<v Speaker 1>things that will happen. But first and almost I think

0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:03.480
<v Speaker 1>with the Trump in the White House, there are things

0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:09.120
<v Speaker 1>that can happen relatively quickly through the presidential power. These

0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:14.559
<v Speaker 1>include things like repealing set on one, which is the

0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:20.600
<v Speaker 1>SEC guidelines that effectively prevents traditional Costilian banks from entering

0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:25.199
<v Speaker 1>into the digital asset custody space. Another thing that could happen,

0:12:25.720 --> 0:12:28.560
<v Speaker 1>I think is the end of the so called the

0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:33.320
<v Speaker 1>Operation chockpoint two point zero, which is a name given

0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:38.959
<v Speaker 1>to the anti cryptop policies undertaken by the Biden of

0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:42.160
<v Speaker 1>the administration. I think that you know that that can

0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:45.320
<v Speaker 1>be easily fixed by replacing some of the key UH

0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:50.160
<v Speaker 1>members of the federal regulatory agencies. And then the other

0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:53.079
<v Speaker 1>thing that could happen is on the legislation side in

0:12:53.120 --> 0:12:56.479
<v Speaker 1>the Congress, now that we have, you know, the Republican

0:12:56.840 --> 0:13:00.439
<v Speaker 1>majority Congress, and the many of the policy is that

0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:05.120
<v Speaker 1>I think the Trump advocated in terms of nurturing the

0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:10.160
<v Speaker 1>crypto industry requires a legislative process, and these things can

0:13:10.240 --> 0:13:12.560
<v Speaker 1>These can be undertaken as well, but this will be

0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.920
<v Speaker 1>a little bit more lengthier process given that it needs

0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.920
<v Speaker 1>to get buy ins from many lawmakers.

0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:22.120
<v Speaker 2>So, Peter, when I hear you describe a lot of

0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:24.360
<v Speaker 2>the changes that you're expecting here in the US, I'm

0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:27.319
<v Speaker 2>curious about how that may impact markets like Hong Kong

0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:30.800
<v Speaker 2>or Singapore where crypto is concerned. Do you have a

0:13:30.800 --> 0:13:31.240
<v Speaker 2>sense of that.

0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:36.880
<v Speaker 1>Yes, So, I think many jurisdictions in Asia look to

0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.679
<v Speaker 1>what's happening in the US in terms of crypto policies

0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.480
<v Speaker 1>and regulations, and I like to use that as a

0:13:43.840 --> 0:13:47.240
<v Speaker 1>benchmark given that there are you know, the many of

0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.120
<v Speaker 1>the opinion leaders on the on the crypto industry is

0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:56.240
<v Speaker 1>actually they reside in the US. So I think, you know,

0:13:56.320 --> 0:14:00.120
<v Speaker 1>policymakers in Hong Kong and Singapore, they both view the

0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:04.880
<v Speaker 1>blockchain as a technology that can enhance their competitive positioning

0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:08.880
<v Speaker 1>as financial hubs, and I think they are paying a

0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:12.280
<v Speaker 1>very close attention to what's going to happen, especially with

0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.040
<v Speaker 1>things like a stable coin, for instance, which is the

0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:19.760
<v Speaker 1>initiative that Hong Kong government in particular is quite interested in.

0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.920
<v Speaker 2>So I mentioned a moment ago that during New York trading,

0:14:23.080 --> 0:14:26.160
<v Speaker 2>Bitcoin broke back below one hundred thousand. Do you have

0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:29.560
<v Speaker 2>a price target this year for where bitcoin may end up?

0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:34.200
<v Speaker 1>We do. Actually, we published the twenty twenty five Crypto

0:14:34.200 --> 0:14:38.520
<v Speaker 1>Market Outlook Report in December where we talk about a

0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.720
<v Speaker 1>few things, but one of them is the price predictions

0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:46.440
<v Speaker 1>for major cryptocurrencies and bitcoin. We have a price target

0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.040
<v Speaker 1>of a two hundred and ten thousand. I know a

0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:52.920
<v Speaker 1>lot of people kind of get surprise to hear a

0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.840
<v Speaker 1>big number like that, but remember that the bitcoin has

0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.840
<v Speaker 1>done crazier things in the past two hundred ten thousand

0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:03.280
<v Speaker 1>dollar The target is about one hundred percent upside from

0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:06.880
<v Speaker 1>current point on, which is the modest increase compared to

0:15:06.920 --> 0:15:11.800
<v Speaker 1>the bull cycles of the last fifteen years. And we

0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:15.280
<v Speaker 1>actually have a quantitative kind of approach to this number.

0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.000
<v Speaker 1>So what we did was, you know, we just didn't

0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:20.160
<v Speaker 1>We didn't just pull the number out of the thing there.

0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:24.440
<v Speaker 1>We estimated what we call the realized value for next

0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:27.280
<v Speaker 1>year for bitcoin network, which is a metric that we

0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:31.440
<v Speaker 1>think captures the uh the adoption of bigcoin as an

0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:36.320
<v Speaker 1>asset class by the by the traditional finance and that

0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:39.880
<v Speaker 1>number has been steadily increasing about five percent every month

0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:43.360
<v Speaker 1>since the January of last year, which is when spot

0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:45.960
<v Speaker 1>big quin t TF was first introduced. So we think

0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.560
<v Speaker 1>the adoption of that asset class through vehicles like the

0:15:49.560 --> 0:15:52.520
<v Speaker 1>ETF will continue into next year. And as long as

0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:55.840
<v Speaker 1>that happens, I think the hour real the realized value

0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:59.360
<v Speaker 1>target is quite fairly realistic. And we apply three and

0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:03.520
<v Speaker 1>a half times multiple to our realized value estimate to

0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.240
<v Speaker 1>arrive at our fear value estimate for the bitcoin market cap.

0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:09.320
<v Speaker 2>So right now, as I'm speaking to you, I'm looking

0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:11.760
<v Speaker 2>at a price of just under ninety seven thousand, and

0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:15.040
<v Speaker 2>you are forecasting two hundred and ten thousand by the

0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:17.920
<v Speaker 2>end of twenty twenty five. Now, how does that map

0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:22.120
<v Speaker 2>with the overall market cap for bitcoin? I mean, what

0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.120
<v Speaker 2>do you believe the overall market will be at the

0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:24.760
<v Speaker 2>end of the year.

0:16:25.440 --> 0:16:28.760
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so that's the number will be about four point

0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.480
<v Speaker 1>two trillion dollars for bitcoin. So our twenty ten thousand

0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:36.760
<v Speaker 1>dollars higher price is simply by dividing that number with

0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.000
<v Speaker 1>outsending bitcoin units.

0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:42.360
<v Speaker 2>So we've talked about a price target of two hundred

0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:44.760
<v Speaker 2>and ten thousand in the year ahead for bitcoin. I'm

0:16:44.800 --> 0:16:47.280
<v Speaker 2>curious Peter, as to whether or not you're making other

0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:49.240
<v Speaker 2>bold predictions for the year ahead.

0:16:49.720 --> 0:16:52.000
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. So another prediction that we make in that report

0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:56.440
<v Speaker 1>is that that we think at least one nation state

0:16:56.880 --> 0:17:02.000
<v Speaker 1>or one sent five and the company will embrace bitcoins

0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:07.160
<v Speaker 1>as a treasury asset. And on the nation state side,

0:17:07.560 --> 0:17:10.000
<v Speaker 1>it's actually a trend that's been happening for the last

0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:13.040
<v Speaker 1>at least four years. You know, we saw the first

0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.000
<v Speaker 1>of that from Elsa Vador when they announced the adoption

0:17:16.080 --> 0:17:19.200
<v Speaker 1>of a bitcoin as the legal tender. The announcement from

0:17:19.200 --> 0:17:22.160
<v Speaker 1>Elsavada was in twenty twenty one, and every year since

0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.080
<v Speaker 1>then at least one country has been announcing it. You

0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:28.680
<v Speaker 1>can find the list of those countries in the report. Obviously,

0:17:28.800 --> 0:17:31.760
<v Speaker 1>last year was you know, US announced the plan to

0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.199
<v Speaker 1>do so, although it still requires approval from you know,

0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.040
<v Speaker 1>from the Congress. You know. I think the mere fact

0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:42.760
<v Speaker 1>that the US is considering this option, I think it's

0:17:42.800 --> 0:17:45.639
<v Speaker 1>going to trigger a lot of discussions in other countries

0:17:46.320 --> 0:17:49.440
<v Speaker 1>based on the game theory dynamics.

0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:51.800
<v Speaker 2>Peter will leave it there. It's always a pleasure. Thanks

0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:54.240
<v Speaker 2>so much for joining us, Peter Chung, they're head of

0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:57.520
<v Speaker 2>research at Presto Research. Joining us here on the Daybreak

0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:03.720
<v Speaker 2>Asia Podcast. Thanks for listening to today's episode of the

0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:07.920
<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg Daybreak Asia Edition podcast. Each weekday, we look at

0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:12.400
<v Speaker 2>the story shaping markets, finance, and geopolitics in the Asia Pacific.

0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.920
<v Speaker 2>You can find us on Apple, Spotify, the Bloomberg Podcast

0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:19.359
<v Speaker 2>YouTube channel, or anywhere else you listen. Join us again

0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.679
<v Speaker 2>tomorrow for insight on the market moves from Hong Kong

0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:27.200
<v Speaker 2>to Singapore and Australia. I'm Doug Chrisner and this is

0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:27.800
<v Speaker 2>Bloomberg