The Breakdown First Five - Thursday October 5, 2023

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. Another Polygon Departure

Polygon co-founder Jaynti Kanani has left the project. Fellow co-founder Anurag Arjun had already announced his departure in March. Polygon outperformed expectations during this cycle, landing major partnerships and becoming a cornerstone of Indian crypto. There appears to be no rift in the team, with co-founder Snadeep Nailwal wishing Kanani well and stating that he was “emotional” about the departure.

4. Lewis Loses Credibility

Michael Lewis’s SBF book has been panned in most major reviews for being detached from reality. Beyond the literary criticism, Virtu Financial have bashed the book for being factually untrue. The book claimed Virtu lost $10M on FTX, but the firm claims they never lost any money. They said they “have no idea where Lewis got his $10 million figure, but it raises questions about his level of diligence.”

3. Miners Boost Output

Marathon, Riot and Cleanspark all increased Bitcoin output during September. Marathon outperformed, producing 1,242 BTC, 4.3% of total miner rewards for the month. That’s a 245% increase since this time last year. Despite the huge ramp up in production, critics said Marathon’s operating expenses remain way too high, dragging on profits.

2. Wow, Much Statue

Can a new Dogecoin stunt end crypto winter? The Dogecoin community previously sponsored the Jamaican bobsled team and a Nascar during the 2014 winter. This time around Doegcoin NFT holders have worked with local governments in Japan to install a statue of Kabuso, the original Doge. The statue will be erected on November 2 to honor Kabuso’s 18th birthday. The statue will be in Sakura Furusato Square, where Kabuso took walks in her younger years.

1. SBF: Caroline Didn’t Hedge

The SBF trial is now underway with opening arguments presented yesterday. The DOJ pressed on Sam’s lies, stating that he was conducting a “massive fraud” while assuring customers their funds were safe. The Defense claimed that Sam was acting in good faith and lacked criminal intent. A large portion of the argument focused on blaming Caroline for failing to hedge. The prosecution got through their first two witnesses, a customer and a college friend of Sam’s.

Thanks for reading -NLW