Monday, December 7th, 2020
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Your Weekly Update On All Things Crypto |
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US Congress Seeks Control of the Stable Coin Industry |
On Wednesday, three U.S. congressional Democrats announced the STABLE Act, an 18-page bill that would require, among other things, Stablecoin issuers to acquire banking charters, get approval from the Federal Reserve and hold FDIC insurance. This topic was also discussed in detail by Nathaniel Whittemore on the Breakdown last week.
The bill’s Democratic sponsors claim Stablecoins represent a continuation of the shadow banking system that preys on poor communities. However, much of the crypto community vehemently disagrees with this statement. Many in the crypto industry argue this overly burdensome bill would not only stifle innovation but ensure the only players in this new space are the deep-pocketed fin-techs with the resources for compliance.
“The STABLE Act would represent a huge step backwards for digital currency innovation in the United States, limiting the accelerating progress of both the blockchain and fintech industry.”
“Forcing crypto, fintech and blockchain companies into the enormous regulatory burdens of Federal Reserve and FDIC regulation and supervision is inconsistent with the goals of supporting innovation in the fair and inclusive delivery of payments that comes from stablecoins.”
If this bill were to get passed the House of Representatives, the Senate, and signed by the President of the United States, the consequences could be dire for crypto innovation in the US, however the good news is that is still a long and difficult undertaking. If enough people speak up in disagreement of the bill, we can properly educate elected officials on the consequences of their proposal, and we can build a regulatory environment that allows innovation to flourish.
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Cardano Launches Smart Contract Development Networks |
Thursday marked a major leap forward for IOHK, the company behind the Cardano blockchain. Cardano is a third-generation blockchain platform that combines pioneering technologies to provide unparalleled security and sustainability to decentralized applications, systems, and societies. It is widely renowned as the biggest threat to Ethereum in the market today, and thier announcement on Thursday brought it one step closer to that goal. After years of development since it's launch in 2017, IOHK, the company behind Cardono announced the launch of two new development environments to allow developers to write smart contracts for Cardano:
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The ‘KEVM’ devnet will allow developers to deploy existing or future Ethereum-based applications on Cardano, meaning 140,000+ smart contracts will be compatible with the blockchain.
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The ‘IELE’ devnet will be the first large scale beta test to allow non-blockchain developers to start to build smart contracts on Cardano without needing to learn a blockchain-specific programming language.
As Cardano builds new pathways that make it easier for developers to build and transfer their assets from Ethereum to Cardano, the competitive landscape for the smart-contract ecosystem intensifies. One of Cardano's largest competitive advantages is its interoperability with other blockchains. As more and more projects enter the space, the ability to freely transact between chains will be crucial to the long term success of any smart-contract protocol. While Ethereum is still the hands-down leader in the space, with the most smart-contract applications and a loyal following, these updates by Cardano surely tighten that race.
For more information on this release, watch the video from Cardono Founder, Charles Hoskinson, here.
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Crypto.com Secures Australian Service License Through
The Card Group Acquisition
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Leading cryptocurrency exchange, payment, and debit card provider Crypto.com acquired The Card Group last week. The Card Group develops wearables, prepaid cards, and mobile solutions for its clients. The exact amount is undisclosed, but the acquisition has been approved by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board, and provided Crypto.com a license to work within the countries legal regulatory framework.
Kris Marszalek, Crypto.com's CEO, said "We are committed to accelerating the world’s transition to cryptocurrency; working within the regulatory frameworks of the markets we operate in is a key pillar of achieving our mission."
Crypto.com recently announced support for Australian dollar transfers by allowing users to directly deposit the currency into their Fiat Wallet via the app. In-line with this is their acquisition of The Card Group, an Australian Prepaid card, mobile and cash-back reward solutions company looking to harness cardholder engagement. With the license and framework in place, Crypto.com looks to launch it's debit card in Australia.
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"Dollar plummets on U.S. stimulus hopes; Bitcoin hits all-time peak" |
Our analysis on Bitcoin this week focuses less on its technical analysis and more on its narrative story. On Tuesday of last week, Reuters posted the headline "Dollar plummets on U.S. stimulus hopes; Bitcoin hits all-time peak." Alone, this headline is enough to catch any macro trader's attention, but little did this reporter know, their sentiment would be immortalized in history. Soon after the article went to press, that headline was hashed into block 659,678 of the Bitcoin Blockchain. This can be looked back on by future generations as a relic of the times we are living through today. We are witnessing the death of the dollar in real-time, and simultaneously, Bitcoin is soaring to all-time highs.
The addition of this quote is an homage to Satoshi Nakamoto's Easter egg in the Genisis Bitcoin block that read "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.” Satoshi saw Bitcoin as a way to opt-out of the corruption and instability of the current monetary system. While the financial windfalls that will result from an emerging asset like Bitcoin are enough to entice institutional and retail investors alike, it is important that we remember Satoshi's vision for a more inclusive and democratized financial system. A sentiment well expressed by Square founder Jack Dorsey, "Bitcoin is direct activism against an unverifiable and exclusionary financial system which negatively affects so much of our society.”
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Alt-Coin's On Shaky Ground As Investors Prepare for
Bitcoin Sell-Off
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The alt-coin market has never been for the faint of heart, and we have seen exactly why over the past few months. Following a 23% market dominance decline from September to November, alt-coins rocketed back up, reaching 20% market share in only 4 days.
Now, the alt-coin market lays on shaky ground as investors prepare for a short-term sell-off in Bitcoin. Leveraged funds trading Bitcoin futures on the CME have been adding to their short positions over the last two weeks (meaning they are expecting a drop). When bitcoin drops in price, alt-coins tend to drop faster and lose value relative to Bitcoin. If these leveraged funds are right, and Bitcoin does correct, we could see alt-coin dominance drop to its critical line of support around 32-33% market dominance. The fate of alt-coins lies in the balance as Bitcoin hovers near all-time highs. Check out the trading view here.
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Chainlink is the leading oracle solution in the cryptocurrency space. An oracle is a mechanism that can bring real-world data, on-chain. It is the hallmark application that initiated a Cambrian explosion of decentralized finance applications and will be crucial in building out future applications in the blockchain space such as insurance, betting markets, and news verification services. Chainlink has seen an explosion in price this year, surging from less than $2 per LINK to over $20. It has seen a recent pullback, but all signs point to more explosive growth for LINK as the use of decentralized applications continues to trend upwards.
Chainlink has been consolidating since mid-August into a falling wedge pattern. This is a bullish formation. Watch this for a breakout to the upside.
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Uniswap is the largest and most used decentralized exchange in the cryptocurrency space. It was developed in November of 2018 but only launched its governance token a few months ago. The token was airdropped to users of the platform and allows users on voting rights for distribution of fees and governance of the platform. According to Defi Pulse, Uniswap currently has over $1.3B in value locked on it's platform. It is the clear leader in the decentralized exchange space and still has plenty of upside in 2021.
UNI dropped 84% vs. Bitcoin in the last three months and remains 77% down from its all-time high. As long as Uniswap remains a central fixture in the Defi space, UNI looks like a bullish bet.
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Not our first listing from this industry leader. Their platform currently serves over 30 million accounts in more than 100 countries, and their advocacy for blockchain technology helps bring mainstream awareness and adoption of cryptocurrency around the globe. If you have years of communications experience and are extremely passionate about the Cryptocurrency environment, we highly suggest applying.
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Manager, Communications
💲 Undisclosed
🌐 San Francisco, CA (Remote)
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Looking to launch next year, Libra is Facebook's own cryptocurrency. Libra's goal is to provide people everywhere with access to safe and affordable financial services. You will work with a talented and dedicated group who are passionate about changing the world while helping launch and grow Libra.
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Product Manager
💲 122-220K
🌐 Menlo Park, CA
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None of the content or opinions expressed in this newsletter should be consider financial advice. We highly recommend that you do your own research before investing in any project within or outside the cryptocurrency space. |
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