February 17, 2021 | Issue #156

MUST READS

$50k BTC

Bitcoin is now the 6th... largest... currency in the world, just hit a new all-time high of ~$52.3k, and is creeping up on a $1T market cap. Shout out to all our readers who have been with us since 2017.

Week by week, we've watched this industry blossom. And thanks to you, we've been incentivized to learn more every step of the way. Power to the people and cheers to yet another milestone.

Falling Like Dominoes

Last week, Tesla shook the world by announcing they've acquired $1.5B worth of BTC to hold on their balance sheet. This week, as expected, more promising headlines followed suit, boosting crypto adoption even further. Here are the latest announcements and rumors worth keep on your radar...

Key Announcements:

- BNY Mellon, US's oldest bank, said it will hold, transfer and issue cryptocurrencies on behalf of its asset-management clients

- BlackRock's ($8.6T AUM) CIO of Global Fixed Income and Head of the Global Allocation Team, claims the company has "started to dabble a bit into" BTC 📹

- The Motley Fool announces plans to allocate $5M of its own cash to BTC

- Bill Miller plans to put 15% of the Miller Opportunity Trust's $2.25B assets into GBTC

- MSTR plans to sell $600M in convertible bonds and use the money to boost its BTC stash

The Next Wave:

- JPMorgan will offer BTC trading if there is client demand

- Morgan Stanley’s Counterpoint Global investment unit ($150B AUM) is considering placing a bet on BTC

- Uber CEO says the company will consider accepting BTC from customers 📹

- Twitter CFO discussed potentially adding BTC to its own books or using it for employees' salaries 📹

DEEP DIVE

Bitcoin Subsidizes Energy Production

The Texas power grid story from this week won’t be renewables vs thermal... even though that’s what everyone wants to argue about. Every power source (wind, solar, gas, coal, even nuclear) had issues. The question will be to what level of reliability should we build energy infrastructure.

And believe it or not, a solution exists all thanks to Bitcoin.

Further Reading:

- Excess energy can be productively used to secure the Bitcoin network

- The Solar-Bitcoin Convergence

Altcoin Market Cap is Now in Discovery Mode

Altcoin Market Cap broke its 2017 highs a few days ago.

Here's what happened the last time Altcoin Market Cap broke its old ATH just to help show how truly significant an event this really is...

NFTs Are Taking Off

We've touched on NFTs a bit over the last few months, but this week we are going to dive a little deeper and broader.

It’s tough to measure the size of the total NFT market because of the way NFT tokens are structured. Each NFT is a non-replicable digital asset and because there’s only ever one NFT, each asset is essentially its own market.

According to CryptoArt.io though, the total value of NFT-based crypto art is now above $100 million.

To show you how hot the sector is, here are a few stories from just the last week:

Yesterday, a single 'Cryptopunk' was sold for 78 ETH (~$143,000)
Dapper Labs, the creator of Cryptokitties, NBA Top Shot raised $250 million
Christie’s is set to Auction art from Beeple, the most profitable crypto artist globally as his NFTs have been sold for a combined amount of $8 million

Want to learn more? Here are some guides from Binance, Linda Xie, and Mirror.

REGULATORY FRONT

🇰🇵 U.S. Prosecutors Charge North Korean Hackers with Stealing More than $100M from Crypto Firms

The U.S. government has charged three North Korean hackers in connection with an array of cybercrime, including thefts from hundreds of businesses including several in the cryptocurrency sector.

"Targeting of hundreds of cryptocurrency companies and the theft of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency, including $75 million from a Slovenian cryptocurrency company in December 2017; $24.9 million from an Indonesian cryptocurrency company in September 2018; and $11.8 million from a financial services company in New York in August 2020 in which the hackers used the malicious CryptoNeuro Trader application as a backdoor."

Additionally, the DOJ's indictment outlines a scheme by the North Korean government to raise funds from investors via the so-called Marine Chain Token platform.

🇮🇳 Intent On Ban, India To Give Transition Time To Crypto Investors

India will go ahead with a complete ban on investment in cryptocurrencies, while providing existing investors a transition period to exit their holdings.

But before the ban, India is reportedly planning a short-term boost to its coffers by ensuring the nation’s cryptocurrency space is taxed before bringing in a ban on such assets.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Other Articles You May Enjoy

Bitwise launches DeFi Crypto Index Fund
Blockchain.com raised a $120M strategic growth round led by macro investors
Crypto exchange Coinbase was behind Tesla’s bitcoin buy
Blue Ridge Bank shares halted by NYSE after bitcoin ATM announcement
Jack Dorsey and Jay Z allocate $23.5M in bitcoin to fund development
The road to Uniswap’s $100B in trading volume
Candidate for mayor Andrew Yang plans to make New York City a bitcoin hub
It's time to have a conversation about Dogecoin
Join the waitlist for Ethereum 2.0 staking rewards on Coinbase

The CoinSnacks weekly digest is a manually curated newsletter that delivers fresh content covering cryptoassets and the evolving blockchain community for investors around the world. The digest is curated by CoinSnacks employees and sent once a week.

📌 $50k BTC, Altcoins Hit ATH, and Bitwise Launches DeFi Crypto Index Fund

MUST READS

$50k BTC

Falling Like Dominoes

SPONSORED

Insiders Win Again – Here’s How to Join Em’

DEEP DIVE

Bitcoin Subsidizes Energy Production

Altcoin Market Cap is Now in Discovery Mode

NFTs Are Taking Off

SPONSORED

Rare Gold Situation Unfolding Now

REGULATORY FRONT

🇰🇵 U.S. Prosecutors Charge North Korean Hackers with Stealing More than $100M from Crypto Firms

🇮🇳 Intent On Ban, India To Give Transition Time To Crypto Investors

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Other Articles You May Enjoy

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