• These four words tell us Facebook’s next big move…
  • Don’t be fooled by PayPal’s “walled garden” approach to crypto…
  • The U.S. risks falling behind in this crucial area…

Dear Reader,

Yesterday, we left off with my visit to the Health Nucleus in La Jolla, CA, to receive a full-body MRI scan.

The 3 Tesla (3 T) MRI scanner renders incredibly detailed images of the brain, cardiovascular system, neck, chest, pelvis, and abdomen. And it provides precise measurements of our visceral fat, the dangerous fat that surrounds our organs.

In a normal clinical environment, there would never be a reason to conduct a full-body MRI. Conventional medicine offers no justification for imaging parts of the body with no symptoms.

And that is precisely the problem that the Health Nucleus 100+ program solves. Rather than waiting for our bodies to show symptoms, they proactively search for early signs of something that could go wrong.

And it is not unusual to find something entirely unexpected. I’ll share more on that in a bit.

After the full-body MRI, it was time for my computerized axial tomography scan (CAT scan). I remember when we used to call them CAT scans, but these days they tend to be called CT scans.

Here I am inside the machine.

These CT scanners simply take X-ray images from many different angles. Then computers combine these images to create cross sections that allow us to “see” inside the body in a way we couldn’t with a normal X-ray.

This particular scan looks at the cardiovascular system. More specifically, it is used to measure the amount of calcified plaque in the arteries of our heart.

This allows the team to quantify a coronary calcium score, a useful indicator of our cardiovascular health. In short, the more plaque that is found in this scan, the higher our risk is of having a heart attack.

Next up was my echocardiogram and electrocardiogram (EKG), which I’m sure many of us have had done before.

The echocardiogram uses ultrasound to measure the size and shape of our heart. When used properly, it can accurately calculate the pumping strength of the left ventricle. It can also detect early signs of heart valve disease and any hypertrophy (thickening) of the heart muscle.

The EKG analyzes our heartbeat to determine if it is irregular, too fast or slow. Measuring the electrical energy that travels through our heart is also a useful diagnostic measurement for hypertrophy or fatigue.

Any one of these tests can give us a few data points on our cardiovascular health but not the complete picture. That’s why Health Nucleus collects all of the data from the MRI, the CT scan, the echocardiogram, and the EKG to generate a complete picture of our cardiovascular health.

And that’s exactly the point.

If we don’t have a complete picture of our health, we may very well be missing something. And that “something” could be quite serious and materially affect our longevity.

Tomorrow, I’ll share the details of a test that I’ve never had done before. I’ll also get to some of the details about the groundbreaking research that was produced from all of the incredible work that Health Nucleus has done over the years. There is literally nothing else like it.

Like I said yesterday, we have an incredible investment opportunity in the precision medicine space. My visit to Health Nucleus made that clearer than ever.

If any investors haven’t yet taken advantage, go right here to learn about my No. 1 large-cap precision medicine company to own today.

Investment trends like genetic sequencing and genetic editing are on the rise, and I don’t want any of my readers to miss out.

Now let’s turn to today’s insights…

What’s hidden in Facebook’s latest announcement…

A development at Facebook caught my eye this week. But not for the reasons stated in the headlines.

Facebook just announced that it’s offering a cloud gaming service to its users. This opens the social media giant to a massive market that’s projected to hit $3.2 billion by 2023.

Most people don’t know this, but Facebook is already one of the largest gaming companies in the world. Roughly 380 million users play games on Facebook every month.

And these games integrate with Facebook’s social media platform. Users can play the games within Facebook’s application. This makes the platform even more “sticky” for consumers.

But these are relatively simple, HTML5-based games. With its cloud gaming service, Facebook will be able to provide access to much more interesting and immersive games. These complex games just wouldn’t work from within Facebook’s application. They require too much computing power.

And that’s where the cloud-based service comes in. By running in the cloud, these games will be powered by advanced graphics processors.

Essentially, supercomputers located somewhere in a large data center will run these games remotely. Consumers would be able to connect via their smartphones or tablets.

And that brings us to the hidden gem in Facebook’s cloud gaming announcement. Let’s have a look at the following quote from Facebook’s Vice President of Play, Jason Rubin:

“We’re doing free-to-play games, we’re doing games that are latency-tolerant, at least to start…”

By referencing latency-tolerant games, Rubin is acknowledging that most users will access the cloud gaming service through a wireless network like 4G.

And that means their connections won’t be zero latency. They will experience lag time during game play. Facebook accommodates users by only offering games in which that kind of latency isn’t a problem.

But look at Rubin’s last statement – “at least to start…”

That’s a big hint.

Those four words tell us that Facebook is gearing up for a 5G service for mobile gaming. 5G wireless technology will eliminate the latency and allow all consumers to play even the most advanced games on the market, where microseconds matter when it comes to lag or latency. For most of us who don’t play games much, that won’t matter.

But the most popular kinds of games right now are large, multiplayer games with other people from around the world competing against one another. A 20-microsecond latency is the difference between winning and losing.

Another example of this issue is the awkward video and audio delays that we all experience on Zoom these days. It is an awful user experience.

And given that Facebook has billions of daily active users around the world, offering a 5G service would make Facebook a major player in the cloud gaming space.

It will put the company in a position to compete directly with Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft, which have each launched their own cloud gaming services.

And as 5G wireless networks get built out around the world, services like cloud-based gaming for mobile devices present a strong argument for a smartphone upgrade.

As much as I dislike Facebook’s business model, I must tip my cap to it on this one. A 5G-powered, cloud-based gaming service will be a big moneymaker for the company. It is really smart to get the service launched now and build the platform in anticipation of more widespread 5G wireless networks next year.

And this lets us know that Phase 3 of the 5G boom (new applications enabled by 5G) is about to heat up. It will be one of the biggest trends for next year.

I recently discussed this trend at my “Beyond Exponential” summit, including the best way for investors to position themselves to profit from Phase 3 of 5G. Anyone who missed it can go right here to watch the replay.

Under the hood of PayPal’s cryptocurrency announcement…

Big news – PayPal is getting into the digital asset space. The company announced that it will allow its Venmo users to buy, hold, and sell four of the top cryptocurrencies – bitcoin, ether, Litecoin, and bitcoin cash.

This move has the industry buzzing. But there’s a major nuance that doesn’t show up in the headlines…

One of the big advantages of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology is the ability to move funds quickly at any time of the day and any day of the week with very little friction.

That won’t be the case with PayPal.

PayPal is creating what is essentially a walled garden. It is not going to let users send their cryptocurrencies to any other wallet. Anyone who buys digital assets through PayPal will have to keep them within PayPal’s universe.

To me, that defeats the purpose. What’s the point of buying digital assets through PayPal if they are stuck there?

Of course, PayPal is touting that users will be able to spend their cryptocurrencies at the 26 million merchants that currently accept PayPal. That might sound nice, but it’s riddled with problems.

First, it is expensive to convert fiat currency into cryptocurrency.

Coinbase charges a spread of half a percent plus a fixed fee ranging between $0.99 and $2.99 for every transaction between fiat and crypto. And Square’s Cash App charges a fee of up to 1.75% on bitcoin purchases and sales. We can be sure that PayPal’s fees will be in the same ballpark.

And here’s the thing – PayPal’s merchants aren’t accepting cryptocurrency directly. Instead, PayPal will convert it back into fiat currency for all purchases.

This means that people using the service will pay fees twice. First, when they buy the digital asset itself. And then when they buy something with it – because PayPal will sell a portion of the digital asset to make the purchase.

What’s more, the act of selling the cryptocurrency to buy something at one of PayPal’s merchants is a taxable transaction. That means users of this service will also be on the hook for any capital gains taxes owed on the sale of their digital assets. That may be a big surprise to users come tax time.

So there’s not much interesting about what PayPal is doing here. It just doesn’t add much value.

In fact, it looks to me like an attempt to catch up with Square’s Cash App, which has had tremendous success allowing users to buy bitcoin.

But Cash App is easier to use and allows consumers to send their bitcoins to other wallets anytime they want. That’s clearly the way to go.

Ripple versus the regulators…

Ripple Labs has been in a standoff against regulators in the United States. The conflict stems from the fact that some investors have claimed Ripple’s XRP cryptocurrency was an illegally issued security. If you ask me, that claim is a bit ridiculous.

But it shines a light on the lack of clarity around digital assets in the U.S.

Of course, Ripple’s position has always been that XRP is a currency. It allows financial institutions to transfer funds much faster and far more cheaply than they can through the legacy financial system.

The problem is U.S. regulators have not provided clarity on where they stand. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hasn’t cracked down on XRP. But it also hasn’t confirmed that it sees XRP as a currency, not a security.

Because of this, Ripple is considering moving its business out of the U.S.

London is the top country on Ripple’s list because the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has already said that XRP is not a security. This clear guidance would enable Ripple to operate its business without any regulatory risk hanging overhead.

And this underscores a major issue that my colleagues and I in the Chamber of Digital Commerce have been trying to correct for several years now.

If we look at Ripple, it’s the third largest digital asset in the world (excluding the stablecoin Tether).

And Ripple has been one of the biggest success stories in the blockchain industry. It has spearheaded what is arguably the largest commercial adoption of digital currency on the planet. Ripple Labs’ technology has been a perfect example of how much value blockchain technology can bring to real-world transactions.

Yet the U.S. is very close to losing Ripple to the U.K. or another blockchain-friendly jurisdiction simply because the U.K. has provided clear regulatory guidance. Why would U.S. regulators not do the same? It just doesn’t make sense.

We’ve been saying this for years – the United States cannot afford to fall behind on blockchain technology and digital assets. But if it continues to lose the top projects and the best talent in the industry, that’s exactly what’s going to happen.

My advice remains the same: the U.S. government absolutely needs to provide a healthy regulatory environment that fosters innovation, within which blockchain companies can operate in a clear regulatory framework… and preferably one that allows normal investors to participate in the early stages of these exciting blockchain projects.

The sooner, the better.

Regards,

Jeff Brown
Editor, The Bleeding Edge

P.S. For those who are interested, there are still a couple of days left to see the footage from my tour of the American heartland, which premiered at my “Beyond Exponential” summit last week. I believe that what I discovered about 5G in my travels across the Midwest will be surprising to most investors.

At this summit, I also demonstrated live trades on camera to show viewers how I would build a million-dollar tech portfolio if I lost everything tomorrow. And we talked about the only stocks I would want to own over the next 10 years given today’s economic climate.

For any readers of The Bleeding Edge who couldn’t join us last week, a replay of Beyond Exponential is available at no cost. You can find it right here.

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