The Breakdown First Five - Friday April 28, 2023

5. Last day for First Republic

The banking crisis continues with the failure of First Republic. The troubled bank was seized by the FDIC early on Monday morning and immediately sold to JP Morgan Chase in a deal struck overnight. This is now the second largest bank failure in US history, surpassing Silicon Valley bank’s collapse last month. FDIC says “we should acknowledge that bank failures are inevitable”.

4. Venmo me some Bitcoin

Paypal continues to knock down the walled garden, announcing that on-chain Crypto transactions from Venmo Accounts will become available this month. The feature was already present in Paypal accounts. Next up? TradFi crypto wallets are quickly moving to allow transfers due to intense customer demand.

3. “We are absolutely at war”

That’s what Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said about the industry's current relationship with regulators and lawmakers. SEC Chair Gensler and Senator Warren’s anti-crypto army are at the top of Smith’s list. The good news? Smith thinks the Crypto wars won’t go on forever, seeing an armistice coming after 18 months. Regime change?

2. Ordinals drives record highs

Ordinal inscriptions have driven the Bitcoin network to all-time highs in usage. Daily transactions have spiked, particularly over the last month. Love them or hate them, Ordinals encapsulate the uncensorable nature of Bitcoin. No one can stop a wizard jpeg being enshrined forever.

1. Plan B out in Central Africa

After one year the Central African Republic has abandoned its initiative to allow Bitcoin as legal tender. The small African nation will resume using the colonial CFA franc as its primary currency while allowing its citizens to continue using Bitcoin as they wish. Central Bankers rejoice.

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Thanks for reading -NLW