array(1) { [0]=> &object(stdClass)#6151 (52) { ["id"]=> string(5) "17060" ["title"]=> string(120) "Do lockdowns boost property prices? Are short-sellers levelling the playing field? Did you lodge your tax returns early?" ["alias"]=> string(117) "do-lockdowns-boost-property-prices-are-short-sellers-levelling-the-playing-field-did-you-lodge-your-tax-returns-early" ["introtext"]=> string(196) "

On this episode of The nestegg Podcast, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and three experts discuss the ups and downs of online auctions, the power of activist short-sellers, and tax time 2021.

" ["fulltext"]=> string(1111) "

Steve Waters, director of Right Property Group, chats about online auctions and why they resemble “a bad Zoom meeting”, the growing resilience of the property market, and how Sydney’s lengthy lockdown could shake things up.

RMIT’s senior lecturer of finance, Dr Angel Zhong, delves into short selling – the original trade that sent GameStop stock soaring – and how activist short-sellers are impacting markets.

And lastly, tax and super guru Timothy Munro talks about those early tax lodgers and possible ramifications, as well as detailing the temporary shortcut method, which you may be able to use this tax time.

Have a question for our experts? Get in touch at [email protected] and you might get featured on the next episode.

" ["checked_out"]=> string(1) "0" ["checked_out_time"]=> string(19) "0000-00-00 00:00:00" ["catid"]=> string(3) "302" ["created"]=> string(19) "2021-07-13 05:06:29" ["created_by"]=> string(4) "2404" ["created_by_alias"]=> string(0) "" ["state"]=> string(1) "1" ["modified"]=> string(19) "2021-07-13 07:59:56" ["modified_by"]=> string(4) "2404" ["modified_by_name"]=> string(12) "Robyn Tongol" ["publish_up"]=> string(19) "2021-07-13 07:55:25" ["publish_down"]=> string(19) "0000-00-00 00:00:00" ["images"]=> string(240) "{"image_intro":"images\/podcasts\/230221_Angel_Zhong_Steve_Waters_Timothy_Munro.jpg","float_intro":"","image_intro_alt":"","image_intro_caption":"","image_fulltext":"","float_fulltext":"","image_fulltext_alt":"","image_fulltext_caption":""}" ["urls"]=> string(121) "{"urla":false,"urlatext":"","targeta":"","urlb":false,"urlbtext":"","targetb":"","urlc":false,"urlctext":"","targetc":""}" ["attribs"]=> string(855) "{"article_layout":"","show_title":"","link_titles":"","show_tags":"","show_intro":"","info_block_position":"","info_block_show_title":"","show_category":"","link_category":"","show_parent_category":"","link_parent_category":"","show_associations":"","show_author":"","link_author":"","show_create_date":"","show_modify_date":"","show_publish_date":"","show_item_navigation":"","show_icons":"","show_print_icon":"","show_email_icon":"","show_vote":"","show_hits":"","show_noauth":"","urls_position":"","alternative_readmore":"","article_page_title":"","video_url":"","channel_id":"UCLBR-2LtTtui_WiRuEfW3qA","send":"0","test":"0","comments":"1","readingDiff":"3","schema_active":"0","schema_name":"","schema_description":"","schema_thumbnailUrl":"","schema_uploadDate":"","schema_duration":"","schema_contentUrl":"","schema_embedUrl":"","canonical_link":""}" ["metadata"]=> string(68) "{"robots":"","author":"","rights":"","xreference":"","metatitle":""}" ["metakey"]=> string(105) "lockdowns, boost, property, prices, short, sellers, levelling, playing, field, lodge, tax, returns, early" ["metadesc"]=> string(200) "On this episode of The nestegg Podcast, host Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and three experts discuss the ups and downs of online auctions, the power of activist short-sellers, and tax time 2021. Steve W" ["access"]=> string(1) "1" ["hits"]=> string(3) "143" ["xreference"]=> string(0) "" ["featured"]=> string(1) "0" ["language"]=> string(1) "*" ["readmore"]=> string(4) "1111" ["ordering"]=> string(1) "0" ["category_title"]=> string(7) "Podcast" ["category_route"]=> string(17) "resources/podcast" ["category_access"]=> string(1) "1" ["category_alias"]=> string(7) "podcast" ["published"]=> string(1) "1" ["parents_published"]=> string(1) "1" ["lft"]=> string(2) "82" ["author"]=> string(12) "Robyn Tongol" ["author_email"]=> string(33) "[email protected]" ["parent_title"]=> string(9) "Resources" ["parent_id"]=> string(3) "300" ["parent_route"]=> string(9) "resources" ["parent_alias"]=> string(9) "resources" ["alternative_readmore"]=> NULL ["layout"]=> NULL ["params"]=> object(Joomla\Registry\Registry)#6153 (3) { ["data":protected]=> object(stdClass)#6148 (95) { ["article_layout"]=> string(14) "momentum:newne" ["show_title"]=> string(1) "1" ["link_titles"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_intro"]=> string(1) "0" ["info_block_position"]=> string(1) "0" ["info_block_show_title"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_category"]=> string(1) "1" ["link_category"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_parent_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["link_parent_category"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_associations"]=> string(1) "0" ["flags"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_author"]=> string(1) "1" ["link_author"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_create_date"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_modify_date"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_publish_date"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_item_navigation"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_vote"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_readmore"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_readmore_title"]=> string(1) "1" ["readmore_limit"]=> string(3) "100" ["show_tags"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_icons"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_print_icon"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_email_icon"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_hits"]=> string(1) "1" ["record_hits"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_noauth"]=> string(1) "0" ["urls_position"]=> string(1) "0" ["captcha"]=> string(0) "" ["show_publishing_options"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_article_options"]=> string(1) "1" ["save_history"]=> string(1) "1" ["history_limit"]=> int(10) ["show_urls_images_frontend"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_urls_images_backend"]=> string(1) "1" ["targeta"]=> int(0) ["targetb"]=> int(0) ["targetc"]=> int(0) ["float_intro"]=> string(4) "left" ["float_fulltext"]=> string(5) "right" ["category_layout"]=> string(14) "momentum:newne" ["show_category_heading_title_text"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_category_title"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_description"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_description_image"]=> string(1) "0" ["maxLevel"]=> string(2) "-1" ["show_empty_categories"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_no_articles"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_subcat_desc"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_cat_num_articles"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_cat_tags"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_base_description"]=> string(1) "1" ["maxLevelcat"]=> string(2) "-1" ["show_empty_categories_cat"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_subcat_desc_cat"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_cat_num_articles_cat"]=> string(1) "1" ["num_leading_articles"]=> string(2) "14" ["num_intro_articles"]=> string(1) "0" ["num_columns"]=> string(1) "0" ["num_links"]=> string(1) "0" ["multi_column_order"]=> string(1) "0" ["show_subcategory_content"]=> string(2) "-1" ["show_pagination_limit"]=> string(1) "0" ["filter_field"]=> string(4) "hide" ["show_headings"]=> string(1) "1" ["list_show_date"]=> string(9) "published" ["date_format"]=> string(0) "" ["list_show_hits"]=> string(1) "0" ["list_show_author"]=> string(1) "1" ["orderby_pri"]=> string(4) "none" ["orderby_sec"]=> string(5) "rdate" ["order_date"]=> string(9) "published" ["show_pagination"]=> string(1) "2" ["show_pagination_results"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_featured"]=> string(4) "show" ["show_feed_link"]=> string(1) "1" ["feed_summary"]=> string(1) "0" ["feed_show_readmore"]=> string(1) "0" ["sef_advanced"]=> int(1) ["sef_ids"]=> int(1) ["custom_fields_enable"]=> string(1) "1" ["show_page_heading"]=> NULL ["layout_type"]=> string(4) "blog" ["menu_text"]=> int(1) ["menu_show"]=> int(1) ["page_title"]=> string(71) "Invest Money - Strategies and Tools for your Investment Goals | nestegg" ["menu-meta_description"]=> string(180) "Let us help you decide how you want to invest your money on. Learn the best strategies in investing and options like cryptocurrency, bonds, mutual funds, property and stock market." ["secure"]=> int(0) ["page_description"]=> string(7) "nestegg" ["page_rights"]=> NULL ["robots"]=> NULL ["page_heading"]=> string(71) "Invest Money - Strategies and Tools for your Investment Goals | nestegg" ["access-view"]=> bool(true) } ["initialized":protected]=> bool(true) ["separator"]=> string(1) "." } ["displayDate"]=> string(19) "2021-07-13 07:55:25" ["slug"]=> string(123) "17060:do-lockdowns-boost-property-prices-are-short-sellers-levelling-the-playing-field-did-you-lodge-your-tax-returns-early" ["catslug"]=> string(11) "302:podcast" ["link"]=> string(136) "/resources/podcast/do-lockdowns-boost-property-prices-are-short-sellers-levelling-the-playing-field-did-you-lodge-your-tax-returns-early" ["image"]=> string(65) "images/podcasts/230221_Angel_Zhong_Steve_Waters_Timothy_Munro.jpg" ["image_alt"]=> string(0) "" } }

Latest Podcast

Do lockdowns boost property prices? Are short-sellers levelling the playing fiel...

Resources

There is $17.5 billion in lost and unclaimed super across ...

Invest

Talk of bitcoin bubble obscures one factor

By Lucy Dean

December 07 2017
Share

Invest

Talk of bitcoin bubble obscures one factor

By Lucy Dean
December 07 2017

A bitcoin crash doesn’t pose a great risk to the global economy, but the environmental impacts of bitcoin mining need to be reckoned with regardless, an economist has said.

Talk of bitcoin bubble obscures one factor

By Lucy Dean

December 07 2017
Share

A bitcoin crash doesn’t pose a great risk to the global economy, but the environmental impacts of bitcoin mining need to be reckoned with regardless, an economist has said.

Speaking to Nest Egg, Australian economist and former member of the board of the Australian government’s Climate Change Authority John Quiggin said if bitcoin “falls in a heap”, a group of people will lose their money but the global financial system shouldn’t be too adversely affected.

However, until that point is or isn’t reached, the energy used by bitcoin miners and the bitcoin network is going to continue increasing, he said.

According to cryptocurrency analyst Digiconomist, the power used to fuel one bitcoin transaction would power 8.44 American households for a day.

Or, to put it into perspective, the energy used by the bitcoin network as a whole could power 2.96 million American households. The energy used to power the Visa payment system would power 50,000.

In terms of electricity consumption, the bitcoin network is currently using about the same amount as Serbia but more than 159 countries like Morocco, Nigeria, Ireland and the Slovak Republic.

Currently, bitcoin’s electricity consumption accounts for 0.14 per cent of the world’s electricity consumption. However, as Digiconomist’s head, Alex de Vries explained, the “continuous block mining cycle incentivises people all over the world to mine bitcoin”.

“As mining can provide a solid stream of revenue, people are very willing to run power-hungry machines to get a piece of it,” he said.

“Over the years this has caused the total energy consumption of the bitcoin network to grow to epic proportions, as the price of the currency reached new highs. The entire bitcoin network now consumes more energy than a number of countries.”

Mr de Vries explained that bitcoin mining works as series of blocks are added to bitcoin’s blockchain about every 10 minutes by miners.

Bitcoin is mined through a series of complex calculations, however as more are mined the difficulty of the calculations increase and the computational energy required to complete the process increases too.

Commenting on the energy usage, Mr Quiggin said, “People didn't think very much about it [the environmental ramifications of bitcoin] when it started and when it's raised, the general response is to say, well this can't really be true, it can't really be using so much electricity.

“But … the impact is measurable enough to be a significant proportion of world electricity use so that fact is hard to deny.”

He said that the next question is what governments can do about it.

“Obviously the the primary part of it [the ideology] behind bitcoin is to produce money the government has nothing to do with,” Mr Quiggin said

“On the whole, they [governments] are seeming to tread pretty carefully in regulating that but that’s the first thing; [having it] regulated as a financial instrument and then see where they go from there.”

Continuing, Mr Quiggin argued that there’s an illusion that governments are unable to regulate cryptocurrencies.

However, the reality is that it’s more a matter of how a government would need to gain or maintain control.

He explained, “The Chinese government could find out who all the bitcoin users are easy enough, go around to their houses and take their computers, take over their account.

“I imagine lots of people in government will just be waiting for the whole thing to collapse under its own weight, which I still believe it will do but obviously you can't surmise it would do so before actually doing any substantial damage to the global environment.”

A bitcoin tax is not too far out of the realms of possibility either. He said that while governments previously may have been more concerned with the illicit use of bitcoin, as the cryptocurrency gains traction and value, it also increases in visibility as a tax-target.

“When you're talking a hundred billion dollars, governments might well say: this is something we can tax or regulate,” Mr Quiggin said.

“Certainly a government might say we can tax this and direct some money from it. Governments have made it clear that where there are capital gains taxes, it's applicable to trading bitcoin.”

Mr Quiggin's comments come as the ASX announces that it will replace its CHESS software used to clear and settle Australian equity transactions with a distributed ledger technology developed by Digital Asset.

In a statement made today, the ASX said: "The new system will be operated by ASX on a secure private network where participants are known, ‘permissioned’ to have access, and must comply with ongoing and enforceable obligations.

"The system will be designed without access barriers to non-affiliated market operators and clearing and settlement facilities. It will also give ASX’s customers choice as to how they use ASX’s post-trade services."

Forward this article to a friend. Follow us on Linkedin. Join us on Facebook. Find us on Twitter for the latest updates

Rate the article

Bitcoin

Bitcoin might seem less volatile, but things aren’t what they seem

While bitcoin has staunched much of the bleeding from its crash in April and May, its decreasing volatility raises questions. ...Read more

Bitcoin

The world’s biggest bitcoin exchange is becoming a big target for regulators

Binance is making headlines, and not for good reasons. ...Read more

Bitcoin

5 signs of life for bitcoin investors

It’s not all bad news for those betting big on the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. ...Read more

Bitcoin

Despite the Chinese crackdown, bitcoin still led the crypto market in June

While the cryptocurrency market continued to fall in June, it’s not all bad news for bitcoin investors. ...Read more

Bitcoin

‘Here we go again,’ say bitcoin investors

Despite weeks of decline and a fresh crackdown by the Chinese government, bitcoin veterans still have hope. ...Read more

Bitcoin

‘Black Swan’ theorist turns back on bitcoin

Well-known essayist and risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb has let loose on cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. ...Read more

Bitcoin

Bitcoin crashes on China’s anti-crypto move

The crypto market was deeply in red overnight following China’s latest attack on the crypto mining. ...Read more

Bitcoin

Bitcoin surge raises the question: Is Musk running a ‘pump and dump’ scheme?

The price of bitcoin continues its volatile run as Tesla boss Elon Musk renews his support for the alternative currency, although sceptics have accused the billionaire of trying to pump and dump the c...Read more