Nick’s Note: Many of our Palm Beach Research Group subscribers are sitting on large cryptocurrency gains… And that presents a dilemma: If you sell some of your coins to access your cash, you may miss out on future gains… My colleague Greg Wilson has found an innovative solution to this problem.


By Greg Wilson, analyst, The Palm Beach Letter

In 2010, Elon Musk faced a tough decision. Should he sell some of his pre-IPO Tesla shares?

Musk is the CEO and founder of Tesla Motors. Today, he’s worth more than $13 billion. But in 2010, the billionaire was “broke.”

At the time, Musk was going through a divorce. He had a $200 million net worth but invested “his last cent in his businesses.”

In a 2010 divorce proceeding, he told the court that he had less than $650,000 in liquid assets left:

About four months ago, I ran out of cash. I could have either done a rushed private stock sale or borrowed money from friends.

Musk borrowed the money from his billionaire buddies. It was a wise choice. Tesla shares have gone up over 10 times since the IPO.

But what if you’re blockchain rich and don’t have any billionaire buddies?

It’s a dilemma called “asset rich but cash poor.”

Money on Paper

A person is asset rich but cash poor when they own considerable assets but have a relatively small amount of liquid assets.

It’s not an uncommon situation.

Entrepreneurs often have most of their wealth tied up in their companies like Musk did. And ordinary people can face this problem, too.

Say you’re a retired couple with $500,000 in home equity but only $1,000 in savings and no other liquid assets. You’d also be asset rich but cash poor.

Today, we’re seeing this dilemma emerge in the cryptocurrency space.

Many of our subscribers are sitting on large gains in their portfolios.

For example, if you bought 100 coins of one of our recommendations last year at $9, you’d have turned that $900 into $35,000 today—a nearly 4,000% gain.

But you could be facing a dilemma…

Say you needed the money for an emergency or to take a vacation.

How do you access that cash without selling your coins and taking a tax hit or missing out on future gains?

Recently, I spoke to the CEO of the company solving the “blockchain rich but cash poor” problem. Best of all, you don’t need any billionaire buddies to take advantage.

Secure Automated Lending Technology

The solution I’m talking about is a company called Secured Automated Lending Technology (SALT).

SALT was started in September 2016. The platform allows people who own blockchain assets to use them as collateral for cash loans.

The CEO is Shawn Owen. He got his start in the restaurant and bar industry. He also happened to be an early bitcoiner, getting involved in 2010.

Shawn combined his passions to found the Southern Hospitality restaurant in 2012. It was the first brick-and-mortar business to accept bitcoin in Colorado.

During this time, Shawn started hosting meetup groups. In those groups, he learned everything he could about bitcoin and money.

At one meeting, a colleague suggested lending against bitcoin as collateral. The idea for SALT was born.

“It seemed obvious that this was a service that the industry needed as a whole,” Shawn said.

How SALT Works

Without getting too complicated, the SALT platform automatically stores your cryptocurrency as collateral and enforces all terms of the loan contract.

And because you use your blockchain assets as collateral, SALT doesn’t require a credit check.

Let’s walk through an example…

Say you own the 100 coins of the crypto I mentioned above… and you want to lend against them. At a price of $350, that’s $35,000 in blockchain assets.

As an example, let’s say you borrowed 80% of those assets. That would give you a loan of $28,000.

I’m sure you’re wondering to yourself now… “What happens if the value of my blockchain asset drops?”

The SALT platform constantly monitors the value of the collateral. Shawn says the contract won’t act until the loan-to-value ratio reaches 110%.

At that point, you have two options:

  • You could add more collateral, or…

  • You could sell some of your collateral to pay down the loan.

If you fail to pay, you get to keep the loan, but you lose all your blockchain assets.

Shawn said interest rates will begin in the 10–12% range. And loan durations will be 12 months.

But as the platform builds out, the rate range will broaden and the loan duration will lengthen.

Shawn says all of SALT’s lenders meet U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines for accredited investors.

But he added that hedge funds and small banks are lining up to lend against blockchain assets. And he’s already talking to even bigger players.

How to Get Started

To use the SALT platform, you need to become a member. And that requires buying a SALT token.

SALT will roll out its beta version in September. And the goal is to have a fully functioning SALT platform up and running by the end of the year.

Lending will be just the start…

Shawn revealed to me that one of the company’s future projects includes a smart debit/credit card… backed by your blockchain assets.

SALT is an innovative company in the rapidly expanding blockchain space. You can learn more about the company here.

We’ll continue to introduce you to the best cryptocurrency products and services coming to market.

Regards,

Greg Wilson, Analyst
Palm Beach Confidential

P.S. Next Thursday, my colleague, Palm Beach Confidential editor Teeka Tiwari, is rereleasing his exclusive cryptocurrency training series with legendary speculator Doug Casey. During the webinar, Teeka will show you how we find some of the world’s most explosive cryptocurrency plays.

And as a special bonus, you’ll have a chance to claim a portion of $250,000 in bitcoin that we’re giving away. But you must attend the event to get the details. Register for free right here.

MAILBAG

From Tadeo P.: I am painfully surprised about your group promoting and endorsing a newsletter like Zenith Trading Circle. I am a subscriber in a couple of your newsletters. I am now concerned about the quality and seriousness of your recommendations and opinions.

Nick’s Reply: We don’t claim to have an exclusive license on good ideas. So when we come across ideas our readers might find interesting… we pass them along for you to judge. You’re free to disregard them or take action.

We look at it as a perk of our business model. We’re in the business of selling ideas, nothing else. That means unlike mainstream media companies, we don’t accept a cent of outside funding from corporate partners, traditional advertisers, or companies we recommend. And we never sell email addresses.

Our marketing is what makes our business possible. And without it, we wouldn’t be able to deliver you the wealth of information we do each day. If at any point our advertising becomes too much for you, you can always choose to turn off advertising by logging into your member profile and changing your settings—or by contacting our customer service team right here.

Frankly, we like to keep an open mind about all ideas. But that decision ultimately lies with you. And that’s the most important thing.

From George K.: Could you please sprinkle the Daily with essays on subjects other than stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies?

The primary reason I subscribed to the Palm Beach Letter back in 2011 and purchased an Infinity membership as soon as they were offered was the eclectic nature of the Palm Beach Research Group. Also, what happened to the reader feedback section? I kind of feel the Daily has lost its personality. Thanks.

Nicks’ Reply: Thanks for your message, George. As you may know, the Daily is primarily a financial newsletter. So our main mission is to find ideas that can help you increase your wealth. We’re still the same eclectic bunch as before… But as with any industry, change is sometimes necessary.

And of course, we continue to run feedback in our Mailbag section. If you have any questions or ideas to share, you can send them right here.