December 1, 2021 | Issue #197

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MUST READS

Jack Dorsey-led Square Changes Company Name

After Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey resigned this week to focus on his other company – financial payments firm Square – many wondered what the move would mean for either companies' crypto ambitions.

Today, Dorsey gave us a clue to that answer.

Square announced that the company has renamed itself to Block, in an apparent reference to blockchain, the technology that got us of all into this mess. As part of the name change, Square Crypto – a wing of the company that propels Bitcoin use cases – will be renamed to Spiral.

"Block is a new name, but our purpose of economic empowerment remains the same. No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.”

In a sense, the announcement is comparable to Zuck's META switcheroo; Different holding company, and no organizational changes (Square, Cash App, and TIDAL, will continue to maintain their respective brands).

Funding & Acquisitions

Omicron in America... Inflation pumping... Twitter shakeup...

Regardless what's happening in the macroeconomy, crypto funding and acquisitions continue to happen at record levels. Here's a few highlights from this week:

SoftBank invests $150 million in South Korean metaverse platform Zepeto
Brazil’s 2TM raises $50.3 million in second Series B
Blockchain auditing firm CertiK raises another $80 million
South Korean crypto VC Hashed launches new $200 million fund
Galaxy Digital to Raise $500M for New Fund, Mining Operations

Coinbase to acquire leading cryptographic security company, Unbound Security
1inch Network closes $175 million Series B, aims to serve institutional customers
Former Citi Top Trading Executive Launches Hivemind, a $1.5B Venture to Institutionalize Crypto Investing
Crypto.com splashes $216 million to acquire two US-based derivatives platforms

And in public company news, Bitcoin mining firm Griid is set to go public via $3.3 billion SPAC deal.

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DEEP DIVES

A Step-By-Step Roadmap For Scaling Rollups

Surging Ethereum gas fees have been a cause for alarm among investors who had found themselves paying significantly higher fees to carry out transactions on the blockchain.

In light of this, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a way for fees to be reduced.

DAO Lay Lo Mo

Why were the English and Dutch able to become global empires for centuries when the Chinese were not? The limited liability joint-stock company.

The advent of companies allowed for a wide variety of individuals – both rich and not so rich – to participate in the global expansion of trade by having ownership. A system that includes as many individuals as possible in the pursuit of a dream is more likely to succeed because it can raise a larger amount of capital.

So what is the new company? The DAO... at least according to Arthur Hayes and his essay in which he attempts to illustrate the various ways that a DAO can usher in new, independent financial markets.

All Eyes On The Ratio

Ethereum has recently made another leg up against Bitcoin as the ETH/BTC chart, which tracks the value of ETH as denominated in BTC, just tagged its highest level since May 2018.

Why The Recent Uptick?

EIP1559 has burned over 1M ETH. We’re almost at 1% of the total ETH supply burnt and EIP1559 only launched in August. Taking it a step further, the network is projected to burn $20B in ETH in the next year
The Merge is around ~6 months away. Right now, 50% of issued ETH becomes burnt, but after the merge, about 200-300% of issued ETH will be burnt
NFTs, one of the major forces behind the ETH burn, are also doing fantastic marketing on behalf of Ethereum, and more and more people are learning about the connection between NFTs and ETH

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REGULATORY FRONT

Fidelity Launching Spot Bitcoin ETF... In Canada

Fidelity Investments is launching a spot Bitcoin ETF in Canada this week. The fund will be called Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) and will roll out on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

While Bitcoin ETFs are already available to investors in several countries around the world, including Canada, Brazil, and Dubai... Fidelity, with over $4 trillion in AUM, will easily be the biggest asset manager to date with a bitcoin ETF.

In the bigger picture, however, it's just another slap in the face for U.S. retail and institutional investors. It says a whole lot that one of America's biggest, most storied names in investing is forced to go up North to serve its clients.

The U.S. SEC has so far rejected each and every application for a Bitcoin spot ETF, which would offer direct exposure to Bitcoin. Instead, the SEC has only greenlighted ETFs tied to Bitcoin futures contracts.

Related: Bitwise’s Intentions for a Crypto Index ETF

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Dorsey Goes All In, Fidelity's BTC ETF, & The New LLC

Jack Dorsey-led Square Changes Company Name

Funding & Acquisitions

A Step-By-Step Roadmap For Scaling Rollups

DAO Lay Lo Mo

All Eyes On The Ratio

Fidelity Launching Spot Bitcoin ETF... In Canada

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