其实我本来2020年就有买房的打算了,结果谁能料到2020年3月新冠疫情就这么在全世界爆发了,改变了一切。疫情席卷之际,不确定性太强,于是我就暂缓了买房计划改为暗中观察。在2020年7月的时候,我在这个博客写了一篇《美国房市 Time The Market: 是不是应该2021年再买房?》,现在事后来看这次 time the market 的尝试彻底的失败了,因此错过了房价暴涨之前的最佳买入时机。
人们对 Single Family Home (SFH) 的偏好。有人会觉得疫情以来这波 work from home 带来的 SFH 价格疯狂上涨,可能会在疫情结束后反噬,到时候大家搬回城里,SFH 就会有很大的抛压。我倒是觉得除非是特别远郊的地方,否则 SFH 的价格很难下跌。美国毕竟 condo 有很高的HOA、因为不拥有土地而房价涨的慢,这些大缺陷永远都是存在的,很难想象体验过 SFH 的人会在个人财务不出问题的情况下去降级回去住 condo。
房价并不像股市那样几乎每10年就来一次大跌。纵观美国100年的房价历史,其实只有2008年这一次是崩盘式下跌的,其他时间都一直在涨(这里指的是 nominal price,不是扣掉通胀后的 real price),一部分城市在一些时期会有下跌,但幅度都很小。2008不是常态,而是极其少见的异常状态。
2008年那次之所以会房价崩盘,我认为最主要的原因是在那之前金融体系玩的那些花样太花哨,风险没有被真正正确地计算,于是银行放贷标准太低。于是有很多本来不该买得起房子的人被银行放贷了、以及有太多人加杠杆加的太高。今年银行放贷方面依然卡的很严,参与加价疯抢的买家们都是相当qualify的有钱人。今年甚至有无数 all cash offer,连贷款都不需要。
这一事实也需要和《年轻时候应该加杠杆:让一生中的风险变均衡》结合起来:年轻时和中年以后相比资产太少,如果一生中用同样的比例投资股市,那么年轻时承受的波动绝对值就过小了,年轻时需要加杠杆才能让风险在一生中变均衡。加杠杆的坏处是会让波动变大,如果你这笔投资很短时间内就有可能需要卖出的话,那么波动太大对你来说真的是不行的;但若你的投资 time horizon 有30年或更长那么久,那么短时间的波动就不是风险,你完全可以在年轻时加杠杆获得最佳回报率。等年纪越来越大以后,就不要再继续追求 max log return 了,需要把杠杆率逐渐降回1。
The blockchain technology has presented us with an astounding number of new projects and widespread innovation. It makes cryptocurrencies and decentralization possible, but lately, many developers have been focusing on bringing all of these decentralized networks together with cross-chain compatibility. If developers are working on a DeFi application on Ethereum’s platform, they may want the opportunity to expand that to the Polkadot ecosystem as well. The same applies while bringing DeFi solutions to Bitcoin’s blockchain. Clover is a way of bridging this gap for greater compatibility when building and operating across blockchains.
Clover Finance was founded in 2020 as a Substrate-based Polkadot parachain. The platform seeks to provide an intuitive blockchain infrastructure to reduce efforts and costs for developers. Clover bills itself as a foundation layer for cross-chain compatibility. Its cofounders, Viven Kirby, Norelle Ng, and Burak Keçeli, seek to bring more decentralization to the cryptoverse, as a whole.
How Does Clover Work?
Clover describes itself as a blockchain operating system. It contains a storage layer, smart contract layer, Defi protocol layer, and eApp layer that work in unison to accomplish the goal of blockchain interoperability. Here are the layers in more detail:
Storage layer: The storage protocol layer enables the distributed storage of dApp data.
Smart contracts layer: This layer supports the cross-chain deployment of smart contracts with a Web 3.0-compatible API. Existing web 3.0 DApps can be migrated to Clover without any changes.
Defi protocol layer: This layer supports various basic DeFi protocols, such as swapping, lending, insurance, and others. Developers will also be able to build their additional DeFi protocols.
eApp layer: This layer supports the evolution from a DApp to an eApp (External Application). Developers can build and deploy their own eApps easily on Clover, with no need for other virtual machines or network bandwidth.
What Makes Clover Unique?
Clover provides the groundwork to create DApps that work across blockchains. Previously, DApps were developed and used within the Ethereum network. The Clover system will make the use of DeFi easier for developers and everyday users. Developers are seeking to enable mainstream crypto and DeFi adoption wherever possible to open the floodgates to a whole new audience consisting of billions of people who are not using the new decentralized economy.
Clover Finance was launched on Coinbase Pro in the month of July 2021. Some benefits of Clover that have been communicated by the platform include:
Ethereum Virtual Machine Compatible: Its compatibility with DeFi’s originator and developer hub, Ethereum, is a huge advantage.
No Gas Fees For End Users: Removing gas fees for end-users and redistributing them elsewhere enhances adoption and simplifies DeFi for new users.
Streamlined Cross-Chain Experience: With the Clover app and wallet, users can send, receive, wrap, and unwrap cryptocurrencies across chains.
What Is the CLV token?
CLV is truly usable cross-chain as its unique two-way bridge allows for EVM-based Clover addresses and Polkadot-based Clover addresses to be bundled together. This is an incredibly useful development especially as the Clover app and wallet can connect and aggregate information from the user’s accounts on multiple DApps. This makes it easier for DeFi users to keep track of their multiple wallets, accounts, and holdings.
The CLV token is a multi-use asset in the Clover Finance ecosystem. It is used as the governance token to enable community voting on system upgrades. CLV can also be used to pay for transaction fees on the platform. Here are some other use cases for the token on the network:
Validation: Users can stake their CLV to validate transactions on the network’s validator infrastructure.
Treasury Access: Developers can apply to have their projects funded from the treasury.
Nomination: CLV holders can nominate their own node validators using a single-click deployment.
Deployment: Use CLV to deploy your smart contracts and DApps on Clover.
Final Thoughts on Clover Finance
Clover Finance has a growing number of strategic partners and backers, including like-minded projects like The Graph, Chainlink, Polygon, Bounce, Chainswap, and Crust. Many of these projects are also seeking to provide a more holistic blockchain experience for users that connects previously disparate elements.
Clover is a promising new blockchain layer that allows users to interact and transact with major networks, simultaneously. In combination with other new protocols and platforms, Clover can help to solve what may surmise is the major roadblock to mass adoption of DeFi: blockchain interoperability.