June 30, 2021 | Issue #175

MUST READS

Let's Talk Hashrates...

Over the past two months, Bitcoin’s hashrate has dropped by almost 50% — a seismic shift in the network that will be written about decades from now.

What happened?
The best explanation for the precipitous fall in hashrate is the ban on mining in China. This has forced a number of sizable operations to unplug and attempt to relocate their equipment across borders or, in some cases, across the globe.

Let's back it up though. So what exactly is a hashrate?
Bitcoin’s hashrate is the number of computations the network makes every second to secure and verify transactions and produce new BTC. It's a key metric used to estimate the total processing power of the network and a good proxy for the overall health of a proof-of-work blockchain, like Bitcoin. The higher a network’s hashrate, the more secure and resilient to attacks it becomes.

What does this mean going forward?
There will be massive winners and losers that emerge from this seismic shift. Regardless, it's going to be a time-consuming process. Experts predict it will take a considerable amount of time (12-18 months) to get all of these machines back up and running.

Despite the news spooking some investors, the Great Mining Migration does have some major upsides. Advocates of decentralization, sustainability, and economic freedom however are all happy to see mining spread more evenly around the world.

NCR Opens Bitcoin Purchases To 650 Banks And Credit Unions

Large centralized banks are tired of losing out on cryptocurrency exchange fees to companies like Coinbase, so they've decided to do what any rational business would do: Take advantage and capture the value.

A recent partnership between enterprise payments company NCR and digital-asset management firm, NYDIG, will allow an estimated 24 million customers to buy, trade, and sell cryptocurrency through mobile applications built in by their bank.

In total, NCR also serves 180,000 restaurants, retail chains and more, including Fifth Group Restaurants in Georgia and the Metropolitan at The 9 hotels in Ohio—all of which could eventually be opened to bitcoin payments if everything proceeds according to plan.

As investor sentiment and risk-appetites dwindle due to the recent selloff, it's quite refreshing to foresee swathes of adoption led by traditional banks and institutions.

Crypto Giant FTX Buying Stake in Stocktwits

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX has signed a series of splashy sports and entertainment deals this year. Now, according to multiple sources, FTX and its exuberant founder Sam Bankman-Fried are making a foray into media by taking a stake in Stocktwits, a popular social investing site.

According to two sources, the deal will involve an initial investment by FTX of around $20 million with an option to buy Stocktwits outright.

The deal makes perfect sense as Stocktwits' engaged user base and social media following (900,000 followers on Twitter) would provide new reach and marketing opportunities for FTX.

Related: Tom Brady is taking an equity stake in FTX + Crypto.com Inks $100 Million Partnership with Formula 1

a16z Launches $2.2 Billion Crypto Fund

As new investors are worried about the latest pullback, a16z is flexing a new $2.2 billion fund to invest in crypto projects.

"The size of this fund speaks to the size of the opportunity before us: crypto is not only the future of finance but, as with the internet in the early days, is poised to transform all aspects of our lives."

In addition to the fund, a16z's crypto business has been hiring aggressively:

Anthony Albanese (from the NYSE and will now be COO)
Bill Hinman (former director at the SEC)
Rachael Horowitz (previously top communicator at Coinbase)
Tomicah Tilleman (joining the firm as global head of policy after serving as a senior advisor to President Joe Biden)

DEEP DIVE

Beauty is Not in the Eye of the Beholder

Goldman Sachs (GS) recently released a report on the state of crypto dubbed Digital Assets: Beauty is Not in the Eye of the Beholder, which covers topics like bitcoin investing, blockchain technologies, and Web 3.0.

Key Highlights:

Social Networks, Arts & Entertainment, Ticket Sales, and Web Browsers are areas most likely to be affected by Web 3.0 development.
Dfinity’s Internet Computer (ICP) reportedly jumped 15% following its inclusion as an “innovative technology” in the report. GS gave the nod to many other crypto projects in the report including BAT, VET, ALGO, SOL, DOT, and ETH.
Despite a positive sentiment on crypto, Goldman nonetheless maintained that they "do not believe that cryptocurrencies are a strategic asset class that adds value to our clients’ portfolios."

Megabank competitor Morgan Stanley, on the other hand, has been increasingly active in the cryptocurrency space to meet increased demand from its clients. The bank just purchased 28,289 shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust through its Europe Opportunity Fund, according to a recent SEC filing.

5 Metrics That Will Make You Smarter On Cryptocurrency

Chainalysis breaks down five of the most useful market intel metrics and shows readers how they reveal actionable trends in cryptocurrency markets.

Fighting Monetary Colonialism with Open-Source Code

France controls 15 African nations and 180M+ people through the CFA franc currency and the details are shocking.

Can bitcoin be a way out?

Here's another epic piece from one of the best writers in the game, Alex Gladstein. (For the TLDR thread, go here)

REGULATORY FRONT

The State of Crypto Regulation

CoinShares gives us a closer look at all the recent regulatory developments this summer, catching us up on:

What was discussed at the G7 Summit and in the recent Bank for International Settlements (BIS) paper
Gradual European acceptance
Insights on regulation and bitcoin volatility (More regulatory uncertainty = more bitcoin volatility)
Why the UK seems to be doing its own thing
The latest chart depicting digital asset legal statuses per country.

Britain Bans Binance's UK Ops in Latest Crackdown

Right after Japan's regulatory warning to Binance for operating without a license, the UK has stepped up and completely banned Binance from undertaking any regulated activity in the country.

Binance Markets Limited and the Binance Group must halt all regulated activities by today but may still retain their unregulated services.

In the UK, crypto-assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) are unregulated, but certain trading products related to them, such as futures and options trading, are regulated.

South America Follows El Salvador's Lead

This week, El Salvador announced that all of the country's citizens are eligible to receive $30 in BTC from the government. Now, as El Salvador races toward broad Bitcoin adoption (including a new initiative to install more than 1,500 Bitcoin ATMs), are other Latin American countries looking to catch up?

Paraguay sparked rumors on July 17 after the president tweeted support for bitcoin
Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego says his bank will be the first in Mexico to accept bitcoin.
Brazil has launched S. America's first bitcoin ETF

📌 UK Bans Binance, Banks Give Access to BTC, and the Largest Crypto Fund Ever

MUST READS

Let's Talk Hashrates...

NCR Opens Bitcoin Purchases To 650 Banks And Credit Unions

Crypto Giant FTX Buying Stake in Stocktwits

a16z Launches $2.2 Billion Crypto Fund

SPONSORED

Titan Crypto - The first actively managed crypto product available to all U.S. investors

DEEP DIVE

Beauty is Not in the Eye of the Beholder

5 Metrics That Will Make You Smarter On Cryptocurrency

Fighting Monetary Colonialism with Open-Source Code

SPONSORED

The Only Escape Route Left For Your Money

REGULATORY FRONT

The State of Crypto Regulation

Britain Bans Binance's UK Ops in Latest Crackdown

South America Follows El Salvador's Lead

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