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Yale economist Aleh Tsyvinski, who has taught economics at the prestigious Yale university for many years, has said that every investor who believes bitcoin can perform as well as it did in 2017 should invest at least six percent of their holdings in crypto. “If you as an investor believe that bitcoin will perform as

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• Rents in Williamsburg continue to drop as residents move out ahead of the L-train shutdown, according to StreetEasy.
• The portion of the subway line that connects Brooklyn to Manhattan will be closed for 15 months beginning in April to repair damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.
• Landlords are offering more discounts to people who will soon renew their leases, StreetEasy said. 

New Yorkers looking for a bargain on rent and willing to endure a longer commute may be able to find a sweet spot in Williamsburg.

The Brooklyn neighborhood is one of the city's trendiest. But according to the real-estate-listings site StreetEasy, residents are fleeing before a portion of the L train is shut down for 15 months beginning in April.

To entice anyone willing to move in as others relocate, landlords are slashing rents. In June, the monthly costs of 48% of Williamsburg apartments relisted on StreetEasy were lower than their rents two years earlier, the website said in a report released Thursday.

The average reduction was $250, but rents dropped by about $400 in several buildings, the report says. StreetEasy found that over the past two years, the luxury building Leonard Pointe had the most units relisted on its platform at a discount. And rents at 44 Berry St. dropped by $448 on average, the most in the neighborhood.

"These figures are only likely to increase as inventory grows and the L shutdown moves closer," said Nancy Wu, a data analyst at StreetEasy.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is shutting down the section of the L train that connects Manhattan and Brooklyn to repair damage caused by Superstorm Sandy in 2012. It plans to increase service on alternatives to the L train, including the G, J, M, Z, and 7 lines.

But on Tuesday, the J, M, and Z lines — like many in the city — were jam-packed during the morning rush-hour commute, previewing what may be in store when the L train shuts down, Gothamist reported.

Williamsburg residents who plan to stay and will soon be renewing their leases have a good bargaining chip in the subway disruptions. Some buildings are already extending the number of months of free rent to three from one or two, Wu said.

"While lower rents are attracting renters to live in (or stay in) Williamsburg, landlords have to compete with each other in a market that has 25% more inventory than it did last year," Wu said. "In June 2018, almost a third of listed apartments across Williamsburg received a price cut, the highest rate of any Brooklyn neighborhood."

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• Tesla laid out an unprecedented plan to go private at $420 per share on Wednesday, sending Wall Street into a flurry.
• Shares skyrocketed more than 10% following the announcement, which came as a cryptic tweet. 
• When it comes to the specifics of the potential news, Wall Street has more questions than answers
• Follow Tesla's stock price in real-time here. 

Elon Musk on Tuesday sent shockwaves through Wall Street when he cryptically tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 per share.

The announcement, followed up with only slightly more detail in an email to employees published on Tesla's website, sent the company's stock price soaring more than 10% — and burned short sellers in the process. 

As for the plausibility of such an unprecedented move, Wall Street analysts appear to have mixed feelings. While they generally acknowledge the strain on the company that being public — and the quarterly reports, disclosures, and intense scrutiny that come along with it —have worked against Tesla in the past, they also recognize that Tesla needs access to capital that public markets can provide, and question the valuation Musk touted Tuesday.

Here's what Wall Street is saying:

Evercore ISI: 'A private life is a happy life'

Price target: $301

"Traditionally, public markets have been there to provide a source of funding (note, we also believe they bring scrutiny and accountability which in many cases does lead to better practice)," said analyst George Galliers.

"However, if a company does not need that funding or is able to source future funding privately, then there is no obvious reason for it to remain public. As Musk points out, being public does have disadvantages and can lead to short-termism. Depending on where the private funding may come from, going private may also provide Tesla with 1/ deeper pockets to grow internationally at a faster rate and 2/ security through the next US/capital markets recession where public funding would dry up."

"Unless there is evidence to suggest that the funding is not secured and a transaction cannot be completed, we believe there is little to be done with the stock at these levels," he continued. "More broadly, if Tesla has attracted a strategic investor who is willing to not only help take the company private but also to provide material funding going forward, it should enable the company to execute and move faster as it seeks to complete its mission to move the world to a solar electric future."

Goldman Sachs: Going private won't help Tesla turn a profit

Price target: $210

"Taking a traditional LBO [leveraged buyout] approach of 6.0x leverage, in-line with historical LBO’s according to our GS credit research colleagues, this would imply $21 billion of debt financing on our 2020E EBITDA (and $29 billion on consensus) — leaving a need for incremental equity financing in the amounts of $47 billion (and $40 billion on consensus estimates); this would lead to lower interest expense —but still likely not positive cash flow generation (when capex is considered: 2020 GSe of $3.5 billion and consensus of $3.6 billion)," said analyst Heath Terry.

"We do see some potential issues transitioning the current shareholder base to this type of private structure as there may not be enough liquidity for large institutions within the current fund ownerships (i.e., funds managing investments in publicly traded stocks vs. potential private transaction arms of the business)," he continued. "We believe this would require some degree of internal shifting of the investment responsibility, where different return metrics, AUM sizes, and investment strategies could be under consideration."

Cowen: Tesla's current state doesn't support a valuation anywhere near $420

Price target: $200

"His method of using Twitter was very atypical for historic go private offers," said analyst Jeffrey Osborne. 

"We don't believe the current fundamentals of Tesla support a valuation anywhere close to $420 per share," he continued. "This deal would imply an ~$81 billion enterprise value for the company."

"Tesla is in a box as it needs cash to fund its aspirational growth initiatives and ultimate mission while at the same time needing to gear up to deal with rapidly maturing debt loads. The expectation of future growth coupled with long-term profits has kept the valuation lofty in recent years, and the story has always been able to raise capital when needed. Market dynamics are changing, competition is coming, the company has over-promised and under delivered consistently, which has heightened investor anxiety leading to the heavy short interest."

"We would argue that the public scrutiny regarding the company's operations are a benefit in ensuring efficient allocation of capital and improved company transparency."

RBC Capital Markets: Musk's tweets hint that 'significant outside funding' must be interested

Price target: $315

"The ability to convince shareholders to stay involved is likely critical to the success of Tesla going private which would be the biggest buyout in history (over $70 billion)," said analyst Joseph Spak.

"Musk owns ~20% of the shares, so all else equal, they may need to get committed financing for the remaining ~80% (~ $57 billion). Given Tesla’s financials, we don’t believe lenders would sign up to support the deal. For instance, that amount would bring LTM net debt/ EBITDA to ~12,267x, and ~22x NTM consensus EBITDA. Now, the deal cost could come down if they get other large holders to commit to roll over to the new structure. And there are some chunky page 1 holders that collectively make up ~30% of the shares. However, some of those holders may not be able to hold Tesla (or as much as they currently hold) should Tesla go private. A preliminary review of some of the big mutual fund holders indicates holding limits on illiquid securities. At the very least it could cause broader portfolio reviews. That’s not to say that a private Tesla can’t find its way into other funds at those holders."

"Because of traditional buyout funding challenges, we believe this indicates there is significant outside funding that is interested," he continued.

UBS: The risks outweigh the rewards

Price target: $195

"Post announcement, shares closed at ~$380, with the take-out price implying ~10.7% upside from here," said analyst Colin Langan.

"In past deals that terminated adversely, ~70% trade down over 10% with 1/3 ^rd trading down more than 30%. To put the deal in context, a takeout would require funding of $88 billion, making it 2.8x bigger than the largest buyout to date (KKR's 2007 acquisition of TXU Corp for ~$31.8 billion). Even if Musk (20%) & Tencent (5%) hold their stakes, $71 billion in funding would be required."

"Typically, a company would disclose this kind of news via a detailed press release while the market is closed or halt their stock in advance of the announcement," he continued. "Disclosing news of this nature via twitter is unprecedented and, according to a former SEC chairman , may constitute fraud if Tesla does not already have the financing lined up. The deal would likely require participation from numerous banks and institutional investors, and we think it likely that news of the deal would have leaked had Tesla already held discussions to secure funding."

Morgan Stanley: 'Tesla could be better off as a private company.'

Price target: $291

"The scale and scope of launching an auto company while providing a focused internal narrative to employees and
stakeholders on the goals of the enterprise may be better aligned outside of the eye of the public market with a longer-term horizon," said analyst Adam Jonas. "Tesla has long relied on public markets to fund its ambitious plan and has used its highly priced equity and equity-linked currency to its advantage since 2010."

"There remains a significant amount of near-term execution risk around the model 3 ramp as well as medium-to-long-term ability to generate sustainable levels of cash flow," he continued. "Adding as much as $50 billion of net debt to the capital structure would clearly intensify the outcomes of such an action."

Now read:

• Traders keep finding new ways to bet against Tesla
• One dirty word keeps popping up as Wall Street weighs the next market crash — and it should strike fear into the hearts of investors everywhere
• A $300 billion asset manager says investors are overlooking a huge threat that's building right in front of their eyes

SEE ALSO: Tesla's surging stock has cost short sellers $3 billion this month (TSLA)

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Dash CEO and former Wall Street executive Ryan Taylor spoke out about the recent Wall Street activity seen in the cryptocurrency space recently, with ICE establishing a bitcoin market and financialization coming in from other avenues of the traditional finance world. Dash CEO Explains Why He Left Wall Street to Go All in on Crypto

The post Interview: Dash CEO Ryan Taylor on Why Cryptocurrency Doesn’t Need Wall Street to Grow appeared first on CCN

The first time we saw a bear beating the hell out of somebody was in the Revenant. Then, it happened in February when bears attack knocked Bitcoin down from the $19,000-highs to the early $6,000-lows. A few months later, in June, Bitcoin revisited its previous yearly low and eventually broke it to establish a new one

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• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sold $35.9 million worth of stock, according to regulatory filings.
• It's his largest stock sale since he took over in 2014. In 2016, Nadella sold $8.3 million worth of stock. 
• The sale represented about 30% of his common Microsoft stock. Plus, he still holds 2.2 million of different types of shares in the company.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sold $35.9 million worth of his shares in the company, according to a filing with the SEC on Friday. 

The filing shows that Nadella sold 328,000 shares, accounting for about a third of his common stock in the company. After the sale, he still owns 778,596 common shares in Microsoft — plus another 2.2 million or so of different types of shares in the company. 

This move represents Nadella's biggest stock sale since taking the reigns at Microsoft in 2014. Previously, Nadella had sold about $8.3 million worth of stock in 2016. 

In a statement, Microsoft says that Nadella made the move "for personal financial planning and diversification reasons.” Indeed, this move marks the beginning of a trading plan, whereby Nadella will regularly sell portions of his Microsoft equity on a fixed schedule.

“Satya is committed to the continued success of the company and his holdings significantly exceed the holding requirements set by the Microsoft Board of Directors,” Microsoft said in the statement. 

Still, it just adds to Nadella's considerable personal fortune: Nadella took home about $20 million in cash and stock in Microsoft's 2017 fiscal year alone.  And under Nadella's leadership, Microsoft stock continues to set all-time highs, as the $835 billion company marches steadily towards a $1 trillion valuation, making his stock even more valuable.

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A gathering in London saw the cryptocurrency community cavort with cross-dressers and samurai dwarves, all in the name of history.

Thai actor Jiratpisit Jaravijit has been released on a 2 million Thai baht (approximately US$60,000) bail following his arrest over alleged money laundering in a bitcoin fraud case. As part of the conditions for his release, the actor popularly known as ‘Boom’ will be required to remain in Thailand. The 27-year-old television and commercials actor

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Over the past 24 hours, the crypto market has recorded a loss of $18 billion, as major cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ether, EOS, and Bitcoin Cash dropped by 4 to 13 percent. While Bitcoin ended the day with a 4 percent decline in its value, Ether, the native cryptocurrency of Ethereum, plummeted by 13 percent against

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• Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison in 2015 after being convicted of running the dark web marketplace Silk Road.
• His family have set up the twitter account @RealRossU, which relays messages Ulbricht dictates from prison.
• The account has helped get over 55,000 signatures for a petition asking for clemency for Ulbricht.
• His supporters argue Silk Road was no different to eBay and it's not his fault that people used it to sell drugs.

Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the dark web marketplace Silk Road, is dictating messages from prison that his family are delivering to the outside world via Twitter.

The Twitter account @RealRossU was opened in June and sent its first tweet on July 19. The tweet linked to a handwritten note posted on FreeRoss.org, a website run by "family, friends and supporters" of Ulbricht. The note said that the fact it was posted on FreeRoss.org proved its authenticity. Since then, the account has said Ulbricht is dictating his tweets over the phone to supporters.

"I'm hoping this will help me stay connected to the outside," the first tweet read.

Ulbricht, 34, is serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2015 of running Silk Road, a marketplace on the dark web that became synonymous with the illegal drug trade. At its height, the marketplace was estimated to have sales of $30 million to $45 million a year. The bulk of business on the site is believed to have been drug-related.

Ulbricht, who used the alias Dread Pirate Roberts (a reference to the cult movie "The Princess Bride") on Silk Road, was arrested by the FBI at a public library in San Francisco in October 2013.

@RealRossU has posted 19 tweets since it was set up, covering everything from the joy of getting visits in prison, his workout routine, and forgiving the judge who sentenced him to life in jail. The account has attracted over 18,000 followers.

The account's activation coincided with the creation of a petition calling for clemency for Ulbricht. It was set up by Ross's mother, Lyn Ulbricht, who runs the FreeRoss.org website.

"This is a sentence that shocks the conscience," the petition reads. "The website Silk Road was an e-commerce platform similar to eBay, where individual users chose what to list for sale. Both legal and illegal items were sold, most commonly small amounts of cannabis.

"Ross is condemned to die in prison, not for dealing drugs himself but for a website where others did. This is far harsher than the punishment for many murderers, paedophiles, rapists and other violent people."

As of Friday afternoon, the Change.org petition has gained over 55,000 signatures.

A handwritten note from Ulbricht written on Wednesday and posted late on Thursday by the @RealRossU account said: "I'm blown away by the outpouring of love and support you've shown me the past few weeks.

"With you behind me, I have hope that the petition will keep growing and we will get the President's attention."

SEE ALSO: Ross Ulbricht convicted of running massive illegal drug marketplace Silk Road

DON'T MISS: How collapsing bookshelves inspired Ross Ulbricht to launch illegal drug marketplace Silk Road

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NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

• An airplane employee took off in a plane without permission at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, Washington and later crashed in Puget Sound, the airport confirmed Friday night.
• There no other passengers on board.
• An FAA spokesperson confirmed that the plane departed without permission.
• Alaska Airlines acknowledged the situation in a statement: "We are aware of an incident involving an unauthorized take-off of a Horizon Air Q400. We believe there are no passengers on board. More information as we learn more."

An airplane employee took off in a plane without permission at Sea-Tac Airport in Seattle, Washington and later crashed in Puget Sound, the airport confirmed Friday night. There were no other passengers on board.

An FAA spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider that the plane departed without permission. Two F-15 fighter jets were scrambled within minutes to track the wayward plane, said Ed Troyer, the public information officer for the Pierce County Sheriff.

Alaska Airlines acknowledged the incident in a statement, saying "We are aware of an incident involving an unauthorized take-off of a Horizon Air Q400." A Q400 can seat as many as 75 passengers.

The US Coast Guard was responding to a crash site where a "large smoke plume" was seen, NBC News reported. The plane was allegedly "flying around Puget Sound," before later reports indicated that the plane went down near Ketron Island. Rescue boats were on scene.

Broadcast images of the crash site showed burning forest land in an apparently dense, dark area near Ketron Island.

Sea-Tac Airport confirmed that the plane crashed in south Puget Sound. The airport has returned to normal operations after a brief ground stop.

Troyer described the person who took the plane as a 29-year-old "suicidal male" who had lived in the county. "This is not a terrorist incident," he added.

Here's a radar view of the reported crash site, via Flightradar:

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for the latest version.

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NOW WATCH: An early bitcoin investor explains what most people get wrong about the cryptocurrency

Bitcoin (BTC) now makes up 50 percent of the entire cryptocurrency market capitalization.

Cryptocurrency-collateralized loan provider SALT Lending has announced that it is now operational in 35 U.S. states after receiving regulatory approval to expand its network to 20 new localities. The Colorado-based firm is perhaps the best known of several companies that allow borrowers to stake their bitcoin and other cryptocurrency assets as collateral when applying for

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