May 12, 2021 | Issue #168

MUST READS

Check Your Financial Privilege

In the eyes of most Western elites, Bitcoin rates anywhere from an annoyance to a disaster.

Over the past decade, financial experts, reporters and policymakers have continuously pounded the narrative that Bitcoin is risky, dangerous, bad for humans and bad for the planet.

As Alex Gladstein states (who wrote a great piece we covered last week as well), they are wrong, and they are blinded mainly by their financial privilege.

These critics are all wealthy citizens of advanced economies, where they benefit from liberal democracy, property rights, free speech, a functioning legal system and relatively stable reserve currencies like the dollar.

So while Western headlines focus on Coinbase going public, Tesla buying billions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin and tech bros getting fabulously rich, there is a quiet revolution happening worldwide.

To learn more, Alex spoke to Bitcoin users in Sudan, Nigeria and Ethiopia, three countries with a combined population of 366 million, well in excess of the number of individuals living in the US. Here are their stories.

"The Fed is Playing With Fire"

Legendary macro investor, Stanley Druckenmiller, followed up a WSJ opinion piece titled The Fed is Playing with Fire with a CNBC interview in which he lays out the ramifications for the dollar given the Fed's QE persistence. He said that the dollar is "more likely than not" to lose its reserve currency status in the next 15 years, and calls out "crypto" as the replacement (note that Druckenmiller holds bitcoin).

The case he outlines in the interview is a very clear articulation of the long-term macro backdrop under which Bitcoin could thrive.

Bitwise Launches ETF of 30 ‘Pure-Play’ Crypto Firms

Bitwise has launched a new ETF (BITQ) that offers investors exposure to pure play (or as we at Coinsnacks like to call them: backdoor companies) in the crypto economy. Bitwise defines pure plays as:

"Companies that have either 75% of income derived from cryptocurrency or 75% of their net assets in crypto."

Readers of our recent report on "backdoor stocks" will recognize many of the 30 names in this ETF.

The top 5 holdings of the ETF are:

Coinbase (COIN): 11.6%
Microstrategy (MSTR): 9.1%
Galaxy Digital (GLXY): 8.4%
Riot Blockchain (RIOT): 7.2%
Voyager Digital (VYGR): 6.3%

DEEP DIVE

The State of Bitcoin: Q2 Reset

With so much happening in crypto, it can be easy to forget that the Bitcoin network is still growing at a rapid rate. Coinmetrics reports that given the positive momentum on most fronts, Bitcoin could be in for another surge during the second half of the year.

Introduction to Dfinity and the Internet Computer

The Dfinity Foundation recently announced the commercial launch of the Internet Computer – a highly-anticipated project that has been in development for five years, receiving $120M in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital, and many other VCs along the way.

ICP, the native utility token for the Internet Computer, was recently listed on Coinbase/ Coinbase Pro and has been a relatively hot topic ever since.

The problem is that, despite being one of the most tenured and well-funded smart contract platforms new to crypto, the project is insanely complex, abstract, and hard to understand.

That's why we're leaving it up to Messari to break down Dfinity's vision, the risks involved, and their big goals to “remake traditional internet.”

A Closer Look at the DarkSide Ransomware Gang

The FBI confirmed this week that a relatively new ransomware group known as DarkSide is responsible for an attack that caused Colonial Pipeline to shut down 5,550 miles of pipe, stranding countless barrels of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel on the Gulf Coast.

Here’s a closer look at the DarkSide cybercrime gang, as seen through their negotiations with a recent U.S. victim that earns $15 billion in annual revenue.

REGULATORY FRONT

SEC Crypto Crackdowns Top $1.7 Billion in Penalties

The SEC has settled 70% of its crypto enforcement actions for more than $1.77 billion in penalties, according to a report published by Cornerstone Research yesterday. Among the most frequent allegations were fraud (52%) and unregistered securities offerings (69%).

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Other Articles You May Enjoy

Vitalik donates $1.2B worth of $SHIB to an Indian COVID relief fund
Announcing the Bitcoin car
Goldman Sachs executive quits after making millions from Dogecoin
Are we at the precipice of the "suddenly" part of currency debasement?
Palantir Technologies is accepting bitcoin payments and may soon hold BTC on its balance sheet
Texas House passes crypto-friendly bill, now goes to Senate
Gary Vee's NFT project: VeeFriends
Block.one injects billions in crypto exchange
Announcing Bankless DAO
PayPal has held exploratory talks about launching a stablecoin
CryptoFees.info gets an upgrade
Uniswap V3 Mainnet Launch
eBay taps into NFT frenzy, allows sale on platform
Current state of Lightning Network privacy
Citi bank is considering launching crypto trading and custody services

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.

📌 Bitwise Launches Crypto ETF, Financial Privilege, and the State of Bitcoin

MUST READS

Check Your Financial Privilege

"The Fed is Playing With Fire"

Bitwise Launches ETF of 30 ‘Pure-Play’ Crypto Firms

SPONSORED

If You Didn’t Buy Bitcoin Below $1,000... Read This

DEEP DIVE

The State of Bitcoin: Q2 Reset

Introduction to Dfinity and the Internet Computer

A Closer Look at the DarkSide Ransomware Gang

SPONSORED

A Money Revolution Bigger Than Bitcoin

REGULATORY FRONT

SEC Crypto Crackdowns Top $1.7 Billion in Penalties

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Other Articles You May Enjoy

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