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Newsletter INSEAD Alumni Crypto club

This newsletter aims at giving links to some interesting papers, form main informations sites (and some other). You are receiving it since you expressed an interest for these topics. If you want to cease receiving it, or if you want to mention a mistake or react, or if you have been transferred this newsletter, and want to receive it (for free) directly, please write to olivier.lebel@insead.edu .

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Further down, a short lexicon, a (small) academia, some useful readings and permanent links, as well as all past weeks.___________________________________________________From December 22d to December 27th

Summary (links are an extract of links below)This is the last newsletter of 2021. I will have some days break this week. It’s the opportunity to look back on how this year was incredible for crypto.

I chose to cite Coindesk’s Michael Casey : « It was the year of crypto! Record high prices for multiple tokens; institutions, including hedge funds and even pension funds, buying into bitcoin and the dipping their toes into ether and decentralized finance (DeFi); El Salvador making bitcoin legal tender; the non-fungible token (NFT) phenomenon that’s attracted every major celebrity and media brand; Coinbase going public; the explosion of decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO); the sharpening of regulatory battle lines in the U.S.; and a mining crackdown in China that reshaped the entire Bitcoin network »

To support this opinion, here are some figures for 2021:Stablecoin supply: $140b (+388% from $29b in 2020)Centralised exchanges: $14 trillion in volume (vs $1.8 trillion in 2020)Decentralised exchanges: $1 trillion in volume (vs $115b in 2020) Companies fund raising: $25bM&A volume : $6.1b (+131%) (197 acquisitions)Cumulative inflows to crypto funds : $9.5bCrypto scam: $7.5b ($2.6b for the sole Thodex, Turkish crypto exchange, whose founder left taking out the cash)

Looking forward to 2022, my preference goes to the very well documented, although quite heavy (165 pages), Messari Crypto theses for 2022 (more predictions below). What emerge are clearly NFTs, DAOs and Web 3 and to some extent Layer2 solutions and rollups or Layer 1 alternative to Ethereum, as well as DeFi security.

This week has been rather quiet from a fund raising point of view, while M&A activity was good. A special mention to the merge between Rari Capital and Fei Protocol, a $2b merger between two Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAO), meaning that the merge had to be approved by token holders before taking place.

Some nice announcements of crypto adoption, like Xinhua, the official Chinese media agency, announcing it will issue NFTs (China, where is the ban?). NFTs are really trendy, and many brands have announced some (Pepsi, L’Oreal…), including Under Armour which is launching virtual sneakers. Even the traditional SWIFT isexploring how it may play a role in the blockchain.

Finally, on the regulation side, the Library of Congress has issued a detailed report on regulation of cryptocurrency around the world. The following map shows the situation of bans, probably correlated to inflation sensitive countries.

2021Main crypto letdowns in 2021In 2021, the world’s stablecoin supply grew by nearly 400%, to more than $140 billion. Crypto companies raised just over $25 billion in venture funding. Crypto industry M&A activity surged 131%. Bitcoin miners generated more than $15 billion in revenue. Centralized crypto exchanges saw over $14 trillion in trading volume. And decentralized exchanges saw over $1 trillion in trading volume.  

and 2022Pantera Capital’s partner 2022 predictions, include L2s and rollups, non-ethereum/bitcoin chains (such as Solana and Binance Smart Chain), composability and Web3, expansion of NFTs, DAOs, and Defi securityThe Block Research’s 2022 Digital Asset Outlook report

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2022 predictions from PwC’s Henri Arslanian

MarketsInterestingly, Bitcoin price is not correlated neither to stocks, to gold, to bonds, nor to commodities. And Alt-coins price has a low correlation with Bitcoin price either. A nice diversification for 2022?Still, in 2021, best returns went simply from buy and hold of BTC and ETH

Dec.20th: Ether call demand signals anticipation of year-end rallyDec.21st:

LUNA (Terra) rose 10% (after 31% monthly growth), surpassing BSC (Binance Smart Chain) as 2d chain in TVLNet exchange flows 90-day moving average is about to turn positive. Last positive turn occurred just before May crash

Dec.22d: NEAR jumps up 23%, after Terra said its UST stablecoins would be supported on Near networkSHIB went up 16% after a whale bought $136m of Shiba Inu

Dec.23d: BTC supply ices and Hashrate grows to an ATHDec.24th: Whales are increasing their presence as potential sellers; Bitcoin needs to clear $51k to reduce potential sell-off from whalesDec.27th: Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (MATIC) jump 10 and 8% as Bitcoin holds over $50k. UNI, AAVE, SNX were up 10%

BitcoinBitcoin PlanB’s stock to flow price model has failed

EthereumEthereum launches Kintsugi public testnet ahead of move to proof-of-stakeThe first two weeks of micro ether futures on CME showed a rather slow start

AltcoinsDogecoin foundation is working on the possibility of DOGE staking Uniswap 3 is now fully live on Polygon. MATIC (Polygon native token) to ATH. The deployment had been approved by UNI holders’s vote (UNI is the governance token of Uniswap, the leading decentralised exchange)Floki Inu (a new meme coin?) gathered $44m in 24 hours after launch on Inverse Fiance, despite initial rug pull partly affected the project at its beginningFounder Charles Hoskinson lays out 2022 plans for Cardano; improvement proposals caused ADA (Cardano token) price to jump 10% on Monday

Tokens and blockchainGoldman Sachs says blockchain is key to metaverse and Web3 development. « Companies who are dependent on centralized control of user identity will likely find their business models challenged by the adoption of blockchain, which is the only technology that can uniquely identify any virtual object independent of a central authority »Binance Coin (BNB) changes its burn mechanism from a quarterly base to an auto-burn protocolOne year after SEC lawsuit, Ripple CEO says 2021 was their best year yet (XRP is up 120% in 2021, but Garlinghouse - Ripple CEO- is at the center of SEC lawsuit for misinforming the market)What blockchain projects can do for social good (or How old PoGs can help)

StablecoinsStablecoin supply grew 388% this year (from $29b to $140b)

CBDCSome are making a case in favour of support to the US stablecoin industry, in

order to expand the reach of the US dollar, rather than developing a US CBDC

MiningBitcoin miners generated more than $15b in revenue in 2021 (an increase of 206% over 2020)Bitcoin mining profitability decreased in the last two months of 2021, and may continue to decrease in 2022, as competition and mining difficulty growTerawulf signed for 15,000 new mining machines from Bitmain. By 2025, Terawulf claims to get to an output of 23 EH/s (while its expected capacity by S2 2022 is expected to be 6 EH/s)(total world output is currently 200 EH/s). Terawulf raised $200m earlier this month and was expected to merge with Nasdaq-listed Ikonics last week (no announcement on the closing of the merger yet)Mining still continues underground in China (not surprising… it’s mining

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GamingZynga, mobile gaming giant, partners with software developer Forte to create blockchain-based games

NFTsNFTs are more popular than ever despite sour mood in wider crypto marketMoonPay’s concierge service for NFT is trendy among rich music artists. MoonPay’s CEO explainsVodafone auctioned an NFT replica of the code that sent the first ever SMS, a text saying « Merry Christmas » sent on December 3d 1992. The NFT sold for $121,000 in ETH; proceeds go to UNHCRFloor price of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs now surpasses CryptoPunks’s (53.9 ETH - $215k, to 52.69 ETH - $210k)Metamask prepares NFT integration for browser extension

MetaversePwC Hong-Kong acquired some LAND, virtual real estate on Sandbox

DEX (Decentralised EXchanges)DEX saw over $1 trillion in trading volume in 2021 (vs $115b in 2020). Uniswap dominates the market with a share over 75%.

ExchangesCentralized exchanges saw over $14 trillions in trading volume in 2021 (vs 1.8 trillion in 2020). Binance dominates the market with a share of 67% in volumeBitMEX, Mexican leading exchange, launches its own token, BMEX, with an initial airdrop to BitMEX usersKraken future NFT marketplace will offer loans based on NFTs as collaterals

DAOsTo get a flare of a nice example of a DAO, it’s good to give an eye to Friends With Benefits (although DAOs might be very diverse)Compound DAO used public bidding process to hire security auditor

Business newsCrypto.com strikes again in sport sponsorship, sponsoring ACFC, a Los Angeles-based women’s soccer team. This is the first direct sponsorship of a professional women’s sports team by a major cryptocurrency platform.FTX.US deals with DC-based MSE, owner of Washington Wizards of the NBA, as official crypto exchange of MSE. This increases FTX visibility in D.C.. As a reminder, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was one of Biden’s largest donors

Business news: M&ACrypto M&A volume in 2021 raised to $6.1b (a 131% growth over 2020), for 197 acquisitions.

Kraken acquires Staked. Kraken is one of the leading exchanges in the world. Staked is a non custodial staking platform. Non-custodial staking service enables users to earn yield from staking without giving up custody of their assets. This is a complement to the custodial staking service already offered by KrakenOne of the highest-profile DAO-on-DAO mergers has been consummated. Rari Capital and Fei Protocol token holders approve $2b DeFi merger

Business news: companies fundraising $25b in venture funding in 2021, among which $3.5b focused on institutional custody companies (nearly 5x 2020)VC funds flow at 98% to non-bitcoin based companies (a quite harsh, and somewhat overstated, point of view on crypto VC)

$60m for Multichain (formerly AnySwap), a cross-chain bridge builder$30m for Render Network, a metaverse infrastructure startup, in a token round. The startup offers shared rendering over idle GPUs$15m for Arcade, NFT curator, to develop NFT-collateralised lending$7m for SPACE, a virtual world for arts and commerce

Business news: fundsA decentralised platform allows creation on non-custodial pools where investors can allocate capital without giving up direct custody to the managerSevenX venture raised $30m fund to invest in Polkadot, NEAR and Arweave ecosystemsAfter cumulative inflows of $9.5b this year, crypto funds have seen a weekly outflow of $140m last week.

Business news: peopleBig twitter fight this week between Jack Dorsey, former founder of Twitter and main supporter of bitcoin, and Andreessen Horowitz, founder of a16z VC firm, on the role and gains of VC firms in the crypto industryAdam White, Bakkt’s president, leaves the company, three months after going public via a SPAC

Crypto adoption: companiesSwitzerland's SEBA Bank wants to use Aave's institutional DeFi platformSWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is exploring how it may play a role in the nascent asset tokenisation market, acting as an interconnector between tokenisation platforms and various cash-leg payment typesXinhua, the official China news agency, announced it will issue NFTs (!)Radioshack wants to go fully cryptoPwC acquired some virtual land on SandboxMeme’s alliance: GameStop to accept payment in SHIB and DOGEUnder Armour, the sports apparel brand, enters the metaverse, issuing NFT’s replica of Stephen Curry’s sneakers. Meanwhile, L’Oreal is using NFTs in a

campaign celebrating women, Pepsi launched a free NFT collection, and Poshmark launched a celebratory NFT for its ten-year anniversary

RegulationMixed signals from Russia. The latest aims at allowing crypto investments, only via foreign firmsBinance has signed an agreement with the Dubai World Trade Centre authority. The exchange will help the authority to develop crypto regulations. Binance gained Bahrain approval to become crypto asset managerIndia’s crypto law might not be ready before May 2022. In the meantime, uncertainty remainsTurkey may soon have a crypto lawJapan’s taxes on crypto firms are leading some to leave the country (up to 55% on gains for individual investors)The library of Congress has published an interesting report on regulation of cryptocurrency around the world. The report shows that 103 countries are now applying tax laws or anti money laundering or anti terrorism financing laws, and that over 50 (mostly different from the previous) are banning cryptocurrencies (implicitly or absolutely)

Crypto scamsScammer’s revenue sum up to more than $7.5b in 2021. Rug pulls made a good share of this ($2.8b, note that $2.6b came from the sole Turkish exchange Thodex). An interesting and well documented study by Chainanalysis, explaining some mechanisms, such as $60m AnubisDAO rug pull or $1.5b Finiko’s Ponzi scheme$500k stolen using a new technique, a botnet that replaces wallet adress during an actual transaction. Victims are mainly from Ethiopia, Nigeria and India

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Permanent links

Information sites (every site has its own newsletter)CoindeskThe largest one. Many interesting newsletter (I recommend Money Reimagined, or Crypto Long and short). Note that, due to major site update, all links in the present document previous to July 2021 lead to error 404

CointelegraphBritish information platform. Maybe targeting a large audience. Efficient and short newsletter

The BlockInformation platform (mostly on subscription), with an efficient newsletter, including most of fundraisings informations.

HackernoonInformation platform on technical topics (not only crypto)

The DefiantVery much focused on DeFi, sometimes technical, sometimes provocative.

Bitcoin magazineSimple information platform, including tutorials

CryptoVantageRater commercial information platform. Includes tutorials and comparison of tools (sponsored?)

CryptoastEn français (le seul?). Bien fait avec des tutoriels et des informations.

Platforms with newslettersMessariA chart and information platform, with rather sharp and well chosen papers, although often sponsored

CoinmarketcapThe best platform on coins and tokens

ChainanalysisOn (expensive) subscription only deep information platform. With an interesting free newsletter

NewslettersEspresso Daily, on market status (seems to be inactive since mid-October)

myFTThe Financial Times delivers focused newsletter, but papers are available on subscription only

_____________________________________________________________________________________________Lexicon(To be extended) * are cryptocurrenciesATH: All Time HighBTC: Bitcoin*CBDC: Central Bank Digital CurrencyDAO: Decentralised Autonomous OrganisationsDDEx: Digital ExchangeDeFi: Decentralised FinanceDEX: Decentralised ExchangeDLT: Distributed Leger Technology

E-CNY*: electronic Chinese YuanETH: Ethereum*Hodl: crypto slang for hold (thus, hodler)ICO: Initial Coin OfferingIDO: Initial DEX OfferingIEO: Initial Exchange OfferingINSEAD: Unknown

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, but best Business School in the worldITO: Initial Token OfferingLTH: Long Term Holder (>155 days)MRV: Measurement, Reporting and Verification (not crypto, but blockchain can help)NFT: Non-Fungible TokenNUPL: Net Unrealised Profit/Loss (see STH-NUPL and LTH-NUPL)Oracle: External source of information for a smart contractSAFT: Simple agreement for future tokensSlippage: difference between the expected price of a trade and its executionSTH: Short Term Holder (>155 days)STO: Security Token OfferingWeb 3.0: decentralised internetWhales: xtra large holders (such as passing orders for more than $500k)XRP: Ripple*

Also check the DeFi glossary and more broadly Investopedia___________________________________________________________________________________________References (academia)(To be completed)

dApps: What are dApps (Decentralized Applications) and why are they needed?DeFi: WSJ Video for rookies: How DeFi hopes to disrupt traditional financeForensics: not all blockchains are equal in transparencyGovernance: Governance and utility tokensHash-rate is a measure of the computational power per second used when mining. World hash rate is determined form the number of blocks being mined and the current block difficultyLiquidity pools (includes Lending pools, AMM Pools, options collateral pools)Metaverse: On Metaverse OSNFTs: All you want to know on NFTs: The Big Picture on NFT, Beginners Guides, & FAQsNFTs: The ABC of NFTs: nice basic papersLiquid staking: a way to get extra utility from assets that are currently being stakedOptimistic Rollups: layer 2 constructions that do not run on Ethereum’s base layer but on top of itPrivate, public and consortium blockchainsReflection mechanism: Built-in reward contract (deep but well written)Stablecoins: everything you need to know on stablecoins (to start with)

Staking: staking is a way to put your crypto to work and earn rewards on itWallets: All you want to know on wallets. The battle of crypto walletsWhat are the most challenging problems cryptocurrencies are facing (by Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum) (long and technical, on cryptography)Yield farming (for beginners)

A16z’s crypto canon (readings and resources)Lightspeed venture Web3 Ecosystem guide (why, how, and many useful references)

Les cryptos monnaies pour les nuls (un article de base pour ceux qui veulent comprendre les bases) (en Français)___________________________________________________________________________________________Useful readings

Welcome to the non-fungible, memeified, cryptodenominated, degenerate future of finance (nice article on money meaning, although somewhat provocative)In the same vein, on DOGE: Dogecoin and the New Meaning of Money

Seven main takeaways on crypto markets: What I’ve Learned in the Past Five Years

An introduction to digital assets world: Why digital assets will transform our societies? (Summary of BlockchainPartner by KPMG report, in French)

Bitcoin+Ether, an Investor’s perspective, Coindesk Report (download link)How Businesses Can Reap The Benefits of CryptocurrencyOn DeFi (rather extensive, while somewhat skeptical) #DeFi - All of The Problems, Some of The Solutions

On NFTs (video, in French)

On DAO’s governance: DAOs Prepare for the Next Crypto Winter With Treasury DiversificationWhat is staking (rather technical)

On CBDC stakes (a wide geopolitical view): ‘They Starve’: The Ugly Side of the US’ KYC-AML ObsessionOn e-yuan local and geopolitical consequences: Carnegie Endowment for Peace report on the impact of China’s state-sponsored digital currency

5 Best DeFi Trading Platforms Compared

A collection of papers on Altcoins (or blockchains)Shiba (DOGE killer), BTT (BitTorrent coin), Dent(Digital network operator), IOST

(Fast blockchain network), XVG (decentralised payment network), DOCK (Decentralised Linkedin), WINK (formerly TRONbet), SIA (Decentralised storage), Holo (network for hosting DApps)

Memes Mean Money (memes are coins or stocks raising through social networks influences)

For the fun and the culture: Crypto Anthropology

Des lectures utilesSur le sens de l’argent (un bel article, qui part de la provoc pour nous ramener à l’essentiel?)Et inspiré du précédent, en l’extrapolant à la performance du DOGE

Sept choses à retenir sur les marchés de crypto: Cinq ans d’analyse des marchés crypto

Une bonne intro au monde des cryptos: Pourquoi les crypto-actifs vont-ils révolutionner nos sociétés? Une lecture du rapport de Blockchain Partner by KPMG

Pour comprendre le point de vue des investisseurs sur le Bitcoin et l’Ether, ce qui les lie et les différencie (rapport Coindesk à télécharger)Pour découvrir les principes de base des crypto-monnaies, et ce qu’elles peuvent apporter au monde du businessPour comprendre ce qu’est la DeFi (Decentralised Finance), mais avec une vision plutôt négativePour comprendre les dApps (Decentralised Applications)Pour découvrir les NFT (vidéo)Tout ce que vous voulez savoir sur les NFTPour comprendre la nouvelle gouvernance des DAOs, et ce qu’elle peut offrirPour comprendre le staking (Un peu technique)Sur quelques plateformes de trading DeFi (à ne pas confondre avec les exchanges, centralisées)

Sur certains enjeux des monnaies numériques de banques centrales (en anglais CBDC), et notamment l’enjeu politique autour de la suprématie dollar (un panorama géopolitique assez complet)

Une série d’articles très bien faits sur plusieurs Altcoins (ou blockchains)Shiba (DOGE killer), BTT (BitTorrent coin), Dent(Digital network operator), IOST (Fast blockchain network), XVG (decentralised payment network), DOCK (Decentralised Linkedin), WINK (formerly TRONbet), SIA (Decentralised storage), Holo (network for hosting DApps)

Sur les « meme-stocks » (des coins ou des stocks qui montent par l’influence des réseaux sociaux)

Pour se divertir, et peut-être devenir Holonaute_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________(Past weeks)

__________________________________From December 14th to December 21st

Summary (links are an extract of links below)

This week is the last one before holiday’s break. It is the occasion for looking back at 2021, and looking forward for trends in 2022. 2021 has been an incredible year for crypto, from nearly all point of views.

From an investment side, venture firms have invested probably as much as $30b (investments stand at $20b in October). This week has been announced the biggest-ever fund raising, $1b for NYDIG, an institutional bitcoin broker, valued at $7b. And there are rumours of a fund raising at a valuation of $1b for Dune Analytics, a Norwegian blockchain analytics startup, which raised its serie A only four months ago. Just to give you an idea of how active is the market, here is a list of the fundraising I spotted this single week (more below): $350m for Anchorage, $130m for Brinc, $110m for Figment, $100m for Braintrust, $75m for Nansen, $70m for Ledn, $60m for Lambda265, $52.7m for Ramp, $40m for TassatPay, $17m for Aztec, $17m for Silverflow, $12m for Gear technologies, $10m for HEIR. More surprisingly, there are now cross-over operations between traditional finance and crypto finance. Two weeks ago, we saw the impact of acquisition of two traditional London City’s derivative platforms by crypto.com, a leading exchange. This week, we see Robinhood, the popular app, acquiring Cove Markets, a cross-exchange crypto trading firm; and on the reverse, we see BCB group, a London-based crypto payments company, acquiring Sutor Bank, a small traditional German bank. It’s worth giving an eye to a (biased?) comparison between the two worlds (ancient and modern).

It is also clear nearly all major companies are giving an eye or investing into crypto or blockchain. This week announcement went from Nike (acquiring RTFKT), to Siemens (using JP Morgan’s blockchain for automating internal money transfers), to Adidas (launching its own NFT platform, collecting $23m in a single day), to Instagram (« actively exploring the NFT industry), even to the old German Sparkassen (to launch a pilot to allow 50 million customers to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum directly from their accounts). On the CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currencies), it’s worth noting that Banque de France is among the first to complete the first stage of its experiments into a wholesale CBDC)and plans to move on to the next phase, focusing on cross-border payments.

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NFTs have definitely be 2021 main breakthrough, together gaming and Metaverse. Not all are directly linked, and NFTs in gaming are still subject to controverse. While Ubisoft was the first major to include NFTs in its new game, backlash from gamers are to be taken into consideration. NFTs ran high in 2021, first for the arts, then for gaming. In 2022, they will continue, for music NFTs, and possibly for virtual lands (some foresee a metaverse real estate boom).

Crypto mining is now over $30b industry. Bitcoin mining has been rocked in 2021, from Chinese ban in the spring. But this has proven positive for Kazakhstan and North-America based companies. While margin are still incredibly high in this industry (up to 90%!), it is a highly fragmented market. The 20 listed companies together only hold 12% of market share, which led to foresee possible large M&As in 2022. Among mining, staking (proof of stake) already generates $9b of revenue annually; JP Morgan estimates it will grow 45% p.a. to $40b in 2025.

Last 2022 major trend (at least from a social point of view) might well be DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations). The phenomenon appeared with the creation of Constitution DAO, which raised more than $40m from 8’000 participants in less than 10 days, aiming at acquiring a rare sample of the original US constitution. It’s now a militant tool in many ways.

Finally, to change point of views, you might give an eye on how crypto might help immortality… (not sure I agree with that

😉

).___________________OpinionWinners and losers of the crypto industry in 2021, a short summary of the main events of the nearly ending year

MarketsDec.14th:

While most crypto went down, lead by Avalanche and Cosmos, DOGE gains 25% after Musk confirms Tesla will accept it for paymentsADA has a potential of 30% raise, according to graph analyticsBitcoin CME futures slip into ‘backwardation’ as bearish sentiment grips market

Dec.15th: As Fed will reveal future financial policy moves today, Bitcoin struggles to hold $47kKraken CEO drops its $100k target for BTCAfter FED announcements Bitcoin leaps over $49,000, while ether and other altcoins also rise, led by Solana

Dec.16th: Whales are selling, retail investors are buying

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Bitcoin bullish breakout possibly ahead, as shown by momentum indicator

Dec.17th:YFI (Yearn Finance) gains 46% in four days, and still appears undervaluedLUNA one of the few cryptos higher, while bitcoin and others slide

Dec.19th:Bitcoin tests yearly moving average

Dec.20th: Ether drops to $3.8k as over $12.5m in futures get liquidatedBitcoin should retain $40,000 in fresh price dip as gloom descends on macro marketsDon’t expect retail sell-off to crash Bitcoin price

Bitcoin0.01% of Bitcoin holders control 27% of all circulating coins

Ethereum8,641,954 Ether (worth $33.5b) trapped in a Beacon Chain contract, unable to be spent until complet merge of Beacon Chain into Ethereum mainnet, which will not be completed before Q1 or Q2 2022Ethereum underwent the Arrow Glacier had from on Dec.9, with the sole purpose of delaying the ‘difficulty bomb’ to June next year. The difficulty bomb is a mechanism to force the proof-of-work network to stop producing blocks, making mining unprofitable and disincentivizing miners from keeping the chain alive after the network merges to proof-of-stake

Alt-coinsTesla to accept DOGE as paymentThree layer 1 projects that could see deeper adoption in 2022 (Algorand - which runs USDT and USDC -, Tezos - which has a carbon footprint as low as 17 people, and Elrond - which can process 15,000 transactions per second at a cost per transaction of $0.001)

StablecoinsUSDT market share is rapidly decreasing. USDC is growing. Both are now deployed on Avalanche blockchain which recently added USDC

Tokens and blockchainAave’s community votes for Business Licence to prevent forks, in a move away from Open Source traditionBank of America report says Avalanche’s scaling capability offers viable alternative to EthereumThe first five parachains on Polkadot went live. Acala, Moonbeam, Parallel Finance, Astar and Clover are focused on a variety of topics from DeFi to investments and loans. Polkadot is a framework for connecting various blockchains, a challenge for the future.

CBDCThe Banque de France said it completed the first stage of its experiments into a wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) and plans to move on to the next phase, focusing on cross-border paymentsUkraine will test an electronic Hryvnia in 2022, on the Stellar network

MiningMining has grown to a $31b industry. Staking already generates $9b of revenue annually, and JP Morgan estimates it will grow to $40b in 2025. But what is Staking-as-a-service (STaaS)? (A nice and complete Messari paper, a bit technical)‘Green’ Bitcoin miners may actually drive the climate crisis, warn expertsCleanSpark, sustainable mining company, claims 2021 revenu growth of 400% to $50m, but with a loss of $21.8m (adjusted EBITDA of $9m). Its current computing power is 1.3 EH/sApologies for the low quality of the following market share graph showing the publicly listed mining companies, accounting for 21 EH/s, 12% of total capacity. Full quality would require an expensive subscription. The graph is still quite interesting. This shows that the capacity outside publicly listed companies is

still extremely large, and that the market is widely fragmented

Mining market will encounter large M&A in 2022, probably led by companies that have recently raised funds, such as Marathon or Hut 8 Mining. Miners will also face decline margins (currently they sit at 90%…)

ExchangesWazir-X, Indian biggest exchange, witnessed record-breaking activity in 2021, to $43b (1’735% growth over 2020), as investors from smaller cities jumped on the digital-assets

DeFiAn interesting paper on the battle of banks vs DeFi, and its advantage for the crypto investorA nice paper (but technical) on Decentralised Exchanges and how Layer 2 solutions compare (between Optimistic Ethereum and Arbitrum, on Uniswap and SushiSwap)Coinbase offers crypto yield everywhere but USDeFi showed resilience during the recent pullback across crypto markets, with only a tiny portion of loans getting liquidated on platforms like Aave and Compound. Indeed, it proved to be rather low leveraged

NFTKraken to launch its own NFT platform. This move follows rival Coinbase, FTX and BinanceMusic NFTs are set for an explosive 2022Adidas collected $23m on the launch of its NFT collection on FridaySotheby’s NFT sales in 2021 amount to $100m

Gaming

Audius, a streaming platform, has built an FM radio tower on DefiLand, to give players access to millions of songsIntense backlash from gamers caused GSC Game World, to drop its project of including NFTs in its new STALKER2 game. Its not the first case where backlash caused even the death of a project; reasons seem to be the perceived environmental impact (while NFTs often rely on PoS chains, and not on energy consuming PoW) and risks of uncontrolled property (while NFTs precisely have the capacity to give control to their author)LARPing is the new gameBored Ape Yacht Club to launch play-to-earn NFT game

MetaverseGet ready for the 2022 metaverse real estate boom

DAOsThe lifecycle of a DAOThe rise of Decentralised Organisations

Business newsEduDAO will support students researches and design blockchain innovations. The new DAO is created by BitDAO, Mirana ventures, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Berkeley, Tsinghua and other universities or research organisations. BitDAO plans to allocate $11m annually to EduDAOInfinite world, a metaverse company, to go public in a $700m SPAC merger. InfiniteWorld helps brands create and monetize digital assets and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and engage with consumers and fansBinance and MDI ventures (Indonesian telecom company venture capital arm) to create a joint venture aiming at creating a new Indonesia-based exchangeFTX sponsors The Golden State Warriors in a $10m multiyear contractCoindesk creates the Digital Asset Classification Standard

Business news: M&ARobinhood acquires Cove Markets, a cross-exchange crypto trading firmBCB Group has acquired Sutor Bank, a traditional German bank. BCB is a London-based crypto payments company with $40b 2021 volumes

Business news: peopleJustin Sun, Tron’s founder, steps down from his role as CEO of the Tron foundation, to become Grenada’s ambassador to the World Trade OrganisationNovi’s exodus continues (Novi is the crypto department of Meta - formerly Facebook). Rally, social token platform has hier Rob Collier, formerly head of consumer legal for NoviRay Dalio holds ether

Business news: Companies fundraisingVenture capital firms have invested $21.4 billion in crypto and blockchain companies as of Oct. 1 this year, according to data from PitchBook.$1b (!!!) for NYDIG, valued at $7b. NYDIG is an institutional bitcoin broker. The size of the fundraising will give it ability to be everywhere bitcoin is needed, through partnerships, integrations and infrastructure, in a AWS way$350m for Anchorage, a US chartered crypto bank; KKR led the round, which is the first direct equity investment of KKR in crypto$130m for Brinc, an accelerator. The raised amount splits between own needs and $100m for investments in startups$110m for Figment, a staking provider. Figment monthly revenues are currently around $10m, rapidly rising. The raised valued Figment at $1.4b$100m for Braintrust, in a token sale purchased by Coatue and Tiger Global$75m for Nansen, a blockchain analytics firm, at a $750m valuation

$70m for Ledn, a crypto lender, having developed bitcoin-backed mortgage loans, allowing its client to use equal amount of bitcoin and property collateral as part of the mortgage loan$60m for Lambda265, blockchain arm of South Korean Dunamu exchange, to invest in blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) products. Valuation is $300m$52.7m for Ramp, crypto payments startup, in a serie A round, initially set for $30m at a valuation of $300m. Ramp offers non-custodial payment infrastructure. It styles itself as the ’PayPal for crypto’. It raises $9m in seed in June$40m for TassatPay, a blockchain platform for B2B payments$17m for Aztec, ethereum privacy startup$17m for Silverflow, a payments startup$12m for Gear technologies, developing smart-contracts on Polkadot$10m for HEIR, a Web3 platform to connect with their supportersThe amount is yet unknown, but the valuation will be $1b for Dune Analytics, a Norwegian blockchain analytics firm, which raised $8m in a Serie A four months ago

Business news: fundsSeven Seven Six (Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian venture firm) and Polygon Network have created a $200m initiative to invest in social media and Web3-based projects, aiming at projects that explore better ways for humans to connect onlineSolana Ventures announced a $150m fund to invest in Solana-based gaming startupsGala games and C2 ventures launch a $100m fund to invest in play-to-earn games and metaverse environmentsKraken Ventures raises $65m for early-stage fund investing in financial infrastructure, Web3, DeFi, AI and ML startupsChapter One raised $50m for a new fund investing in projects that make Web3 more human (like ENS - Ethereum Name Service) with a focus on design. The fund is led by Tinder, Stripe and Instagram veterans

Crypto adoption: companiesNike buys RTFKT, a virtual sneaker maker. In November, Nike launched its Nikeland world in the metaverse, where users can outfit their game characters in digital Nike itemsGerman Sparkassen to launch a pilot to allow 50 million customers to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum directly from their accountsSiemens will use JPMorgan’s Onyx blockchain for automating money transfers between internal accountsInstagram’s CEO said they are « actively exploring » the NFT industry

Crypto adoption: peopleMelania Trump launches an NFT platformShrina Kurani, a Democrat running for a House seat in California, drops 2022 Solana NFTs as part of campaign, In a seek to engage crypto community on

legislative issuesTwo-third of crypto rewards cardholders spend less with cash-back cardsTurkish citizens have converted more than $10b in crypto, mainly on Tether (USDT) and Shiba Inu (SHIB)When crypto billionaires invest into immortality

Crypto regulationUK watchdog bans crypto ads from Coinbase, Papa John’s and eToro as well as 4 other. All seven ads were “banned for irresponsibly taking advantage of consumers’ inexperience and for failing to illustrate the risk of the investment,” the ASA said.US federal regulator says Credit Unions will be allowed to buy and sell cryptocurrenciesRussian central bank seeks ban on crypto investmentThe Bank of England needs cooperation through the Financial Stability Board, a G-20 organization. The Bank is facing challenges in finding the information it needs on institutional exposure to crypto, and plans to ramp up the pace of international talks on establishing a regulatory regime for the assets

Crypto scam$30m theft from Grim Finance, a yield compounding tool, in Fantom tokens$2.8b were ‘lost’ in ‘Rug Pull’ scams this year (37% of scam in 2021 vs 1% in 2020). Thodex Turkish crypto exchange accounted for more than 90% of the total ($2.6b).

Fight crypto scamA Canadian, a French, and a Romanian citizens have been arrested in connection with ransomware attacksGartner predicts: criminal cryptocurrency transactions will drop by 30% by 2024

__________________________________From December 7th to December 13th

Summary (links are an extract of links below)

Hard to write after a week with rather sideways markets in a rather frightened ambiance. This night BTC price went down to $45672.75, but recouped immediately to $47k at the time of writing. It seems the market is waiting for FED meeting tomorrow.

In a broader perspective, what struck me was the large bunch of announcements from top companies adopting a strategy vs crypto. This goes from WhatsApp lauchnind a cryptocurrencies payment pilot, to Visa launching crypto consulting services and to Kickstarter building a crowdfunding platform on blockchain. In investment, both Amazon and Microsoft invest in crypto companies and Mastercard teams up with five crypto startups to « solve global

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blockchain challenges ». Finally, HSBC and Fargo announced they will use a blockchain-based solution for settling their Forex transactions. As it is said in the crypto world « It’s probably nothing ».

Beside that, on the business side, we can mention one noticeable acquisition from Polygon for $400m (this also possibly shows a weakness of crypto unregulated market, since MATIC - Polygon token - price surged 40% before the announcement) and one weird announcement of a « vampire attack » from Enso finance on six targets. A vampire attack is a fork in an open-source code, offering superior incentives to entice users to move their deposit from one platform to another; the best known case being the attack of SushiSwap on Uniswap, which moved billions of dollars from Uniswap to SushiSwap in 2020. The attack from Enso was announced to take place on December 9th (and was announced two days earlier). At this moment, no noticeable effect have yet been announced.

Finally, in the gaming industry, Ubisoft is the first major gaming company to launch in-game NFTs. However, this announcement has been unevenly welcomed, especially from gamers, although gamers are supposed to gain control from NFTs, being able to sell them in a wider way, including other games. And indeed, Twitch co-founder Justin Kan announced he will launch a gaming NFT marketplace.If you want to know more on NFT in 2021, the Chainanalysis market report is worth giving an eye (or listening to the webinar).

MarketsDec.7th:

Bitcoin technical indicator suggests low probability of ‘Santa rally’Metaverse tokens hammered in crypto’s market sell-offAn unknown whale, already holding a total of $6b, bought $137k in BTC

Dec. 8th: Bitcoin rebounds to $50k at the bullish opening of Wall StreetThree Arrows Capital was reported having bought $400m worth of ETH (97,477 ETH) over the weekend.

Dec.9th: Terra (LUNA) becomes top-10 crypto. Graphs show a bull pennant structure, yielding a prospect of hitting $100 (currently around $70)Dec.10th: Bitcoin under pressureDes.12th: Ethereum price can drop below $3K by the end of 2021Dec.13th:

Waiting for Fed meeting on Wednesday, Bitcoin flows out of exchanges (a net outflow means hodlers are stocking up)SUSHI jumps 10% after top developer proposes joining and restructuring

Blockchains and tokensEOS community’s revolt. How voting members of the EOS blockchain decided to stop payment ($250m) to the EOS creator, Block.one, and wants to acquire the rights to its intellectual propertyReddit is going fast on the blockchain. Having tested a pilot with Community Points token, Reddit has decided to offer willing subreddit to create its own token to reward its community active membersBitcoin reaches 90% of total supplyWells Fargo and HSBC announced they will use a blockchain-based product for settling Forex transactions USD, CAD, EUR, GBP

MiningHash rate hit an all-time-high to 181,77 EH/sArgo Blockchain (LSE: ARB) mining revenues increased 15% in November, as it grows its capacity to 1.6 Eh/sFortress Technologies changes its name to Cathedra Bitcoin. Its ticker will become TSXV:CBIT. Cathedra expects to reach 729 PH/s by the end of 2022FoundryX is a marketplace to match buyers and sellers of second hand bitcoin minersEthereum miners outpaces Bitcoin miners in revenue

How centralised is bitcoin mining really? A nice, but not enough documented studyBitcoin hash rate approaches full recovery from China crackdown

NFTThe NFT artist Pak sold 266’000 tokens for $92m. These tokens will be combined to form dynamic NFT collectiblesThe 2021 NFT market explained (Chainanalysis report, also in recorded webinar)DraftKings launches gamified NFTs. Draftkings is the official daily fantasy and sports betting partner of the NFL, NBa, MLb, NHL, PGA Tour and UFC,. Draftking’s NASDAQ market cap in $24.5bRarible will support Tezos NFTs (it already support Ethereum and Solana NFTs)ERC-721 nominated as #1 most influential person in art this year (ERC-721 is one smart contract support for NFTs)

GamingUbisoft becomes first major gaming company to launch in-game NFTs. They will start with Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint leading game. Ubisoft’s Quartz NFT platform runs on Tezos. This move was unevenly welcomed, especially form gamersTwitch co-founder Justin Kan to launch a gaming NFT marketplaceAnimoca Brands will help Bored Ape Yacht Club to launch its blockchain based game

DeFiCoinbase offers access to DeFi yields, through DAI, a stablecoin and Compound, a DeFi lending platform. In October, Compound returned an APY between 2.38% and 5.39%

Business newsOpenSea, the leading NFT platform, was seen as having plans to go public. It hired former Lyft CFO. After fierce backlash, OpenSea denies IPO plans.Ledger launches a crypto debit card, and partners with FTX, Coinbase and RaribleCryptocurrency lender Nexo will work with Fidelity digital Assets to provides products and infrastructure for institutional investorsCoinbase to integrate Ledger’s hardware walletsEmbily to launch a prepaid debit card top up in crypto, joining Visa’s fast track program.

Business news: M&APolygon acquires MirProtocol for $400m. Mir is an Ethereum scaling startup that utilises zero-knowledge proof technology (ZK-proof) to make ZK-rollups (to process transactions without posting all data on Ethereum, thus enabling scale and reaching fees). Before the announcement, MATIC (Polygon’s token) price surged 40%Enso Finance, annouces « Vampire attack » to be launched on Thursday Dec.9th on six platforms (a vampire attack is a fork in an open-source code, offering superior incentives to entice users to move their deposit from one platform to another; the best known case being the attack of SushiSwap on Uniswap). Index Coop, the main target, claimed it wasn’t worried on Wednesday. At publication, The attack hasn’t yet shown major resultsAvast acquires Evernym, self-sovereign identity firm. Avast aims at creating decentralised digital identities.

Business news: peopleEric Schmidt, former Google’s CEO, joins Chainlink Labs as strategic advisor. Chainlink is an oracle solution provider (oracles are information delivered to smart contracts, such as the price of an asset).

Business news: companies fundraisingSilvergate crypto-focused bank, which went public in November, is looking to raise $461m$100m for Assembly. Launched bi research and engineering Berlin-based IOTA, Assembly aims at being the anchor for DeFi$100m in token sale for Braintrust, web3 job platform$60m for TRM labs, blockchain investigations firm. The series B wa sled by Tiger Global, with the contribution of American Express, Visa and Square (now Block). In September, Mastercard bought CipherTrace in the same field.$36m for Mysten Labs, to launch a new generation NFT-platform. Mysten was founded by veterans of Novi, the crypto division of Facebook. Mysten develops open protocols, such as Narwhal, scalability-focused, to deploy on Celo and Sommelier networks$35m for Paradigm, at a valuation of $400m. Paradigm provides a platform for dealers and market makers to execute large trades in options and futures to

settle across a wide-range of venues. Paradigm facilitates $10b in volume traded per month and captures 30% of the crypto option market$27m for Palm, NFT studio, the round being led by Microsoft venture$15m for Earnity, to launch a marketplace for tokens, in a series A led by mining company BitNile$15m for Slingshot, DeFi trading platform$6.5m for Rainmaker, a new Play-to-Earn game$4.1m for Router Protocol, aimed at connecting multiple blockchains

Business news: funds10T holdings to raise $500m in a new fund for digital assets ecosystem. The firm has already raised $750m in other crypto-funds this yearParaFi raises another $200m for its Digital Opportunities Fund

Crypto adoption: countriesChile may be the next Latin America country to embrace Bitcoin. It also works on a CBDC projectEl Salvador USD debt enters distressed territory, possibly linked to bitcoin bonds

Crypto adoption: companiesWhatsApp launches cryptocurrency payments pilot with the Novi (Meta) wallet and Pax stablecoinKickstarter is building a crowdfunding platform on the Celo blockchainAmazon invests in Dibbs, a marketplace for fractionalized NFTs linked to physical sports trading cardsMicrosoft leads $27m funding round for Palm NFT Studio Visa launches crypto consulting servicesMastercard is teaming up with five startups to solve global blockchain challenges. The ‘Start Path Crypto’ program, launched in 2014, will be working with smart-contract builder Ava Labs (known for its Avalanche blockchain), banking app Envel, peer-to-peer savings platform Kash, bitcoin banking app LVL and crypto rewards platform NiftyKeyBancolombia to allow a select group of clients to trade crypto, through a partnership with GeminiDtravel, decentralised travel site, has 250k homes available to book using cryptos

Crypto adoption: peopleDAOs are the new crowdfunding gold rush

GivingA Swiss foundation uses blockchain to allow its donors vote for projects to be fundedThe Bitcoin water trust has reached its objective or collecting 100 Bitcoins, which it commits to hold until January 2025

Regulation An report from the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) claims that DeFi’s decentralisation is an illusion, its flaws being potential leads for regulationThe Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approaches crypto-related activities…very carefully, in its semiannual risk report The US House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing on digital assets on Friday 10th, including hearing six executives from the crypto community. Here is a short summaryFidelity Digital Assets received UK’s FCA approval for its crypto businessAustralia to reform rules around digital payments and cryptocurrenciesJapan to impose new regulations on stablecoin issuers, in line with US OCC report

Crypto scamCybersecurity experts tracing money paid to Russian ransomware gangs say it has passed through one of the most prestigious adresses in MoscowMatt Stoller considers cryptocurrencies are just a huge scamTwitter bots posing as customer support are trying to steal your crypto$140m theft from Vulcan Forged, the gaming platform, through private keys steal$77m hacked from AscendEX, an exchange

Fight crypto scamGoogle announces lawsuit, technical action against blockchain botnet Glupteba

__________________________________From November 28th to December 6th

Summary (links are a selection of below)This week, with rather « sideways » markets, have seen many big industrial moves. Acquisitions announcements were high, from Blockchain.com acquiring Latin American SeSocio for hundreds of millions of dollars (undisclosed), to Crypto.com to rock London city acquiring two derivative platforms (in « traditional » finance), or Coinbase realising its twelth acquisition with Israeli Unbound Security crypto custody firm, and Coinshares acquisition of French Napoleon SAS (for $15.7m). The list of companies fundraising (16 companies this week listed below) is also impressive, especially when considering the huge project of FTX to raise $1.5b! In funds field, the activity is high as well, with Hivemind Capital Partners launching a new $1.5b fund (more below).

NFTs were also at the frontline, with Miami’s ArtBasel show going digital. For those willing to know more on NFTs, it’s good to read NFTs’ story. NFTs are not only visual arts, but also music, and some predict it might disrupt the music industry, as soon as 2022. And, because this is an INSEAD alumni newsletter, I have to underline that INSEAD students are also active in NFTs, having raised money for the scholarship fund via an NFT sale.

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CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) is always a more technical concept. However, it’s without doubt the future of money. It’s good to have and idea of what are their basis concepts, their main benefits and concerns, and to get to know the state of main projects.

Finally, after the name change of Facebook to Meta, it’s the turn of Square, the leading payment app, to change its name to Block, assuming a blockchain focused strategy. It’s worth noting that this is correlated to the announcement of the leave of Twitter and Square’s founder Jack Dorsey. In June Dorsey said that, if he leaved, it would be to focus on crypto.

MarketsNov.29th:

Crypto out of « extreme fear ». But weak hands could fuel a BTC price dipMicrostrategy purchases $414m worth of Bitcoin. Its total BTC balance (121 044 BTC) is worth $3.5b

Nov.30th: SHIBA INU (SHIB) gains 30% as Kraken announces its listing Bitcoin tops 58k, with the shape of a bull flag

Dec.1st: Bitcoin met the start of US trading with a bangBitcoin correction weakest of 2021 so far, as hopes of Santa Claus rally rise

Dec.2d: Bitcoin long-term holders have distributed 5.8% of the supply accumulated Dec.3d: Will Ethereum go ‘parabolic’ against Bitcoin?Dec.5th: BTC rebounded to near $50kDec.6th:

Crypto has had a rough few days. The biggest test is still to come, Morgan Stanley strategists sayLarge-volume trader moves point to concerns that a fresh Bitcoin price dip could still occurEthereum bulls retain hopes of $10K despite ETH price chart bear flag

This graph is probably the best summary of the recent events, including the huge drop and bounce on Dec.4th (17% within one hour). Here is a good analysis, including the effect of liquidations

BitcoinRemember the 150’000 BTC Damocles’ spade? Here is a full history of Mt Gox scamIn the trial between Craig Wright and Dave Kleiman heirs, the latter claiming that they were part of Satoshi Nakamoto, and thus should be entitled to share the many billions in bitcoin Wright is holding, the jury declared Wright not liable.

Ethereum1 million of ETH ($4.3b) have been burnt since AugustVitalik Buterin outlines ‘endgame’ roadmap for ETH 2.0

Alt-coinseToro to delist Cardano (ADA) and Tron (TRX) for US customers by the end of the yearVCs might back Polygon (MATIC), with an investment of between $50m and $150m

CBDCHow CBDC could transform the world economy. A thorough analysis of CBDC basis, benefits, concerns, and a description of the state of main projects. Quote: « The  benefits of CBDCs are manifold: lower-cost transactions, higher-speed settlements, and an improvement in the ways in which billions of people pay. So while CBDCs may be years away, research is moving forward at a brisk pace. And with China’s digital yuan making its debut at the Winter Olympics in 2022, open questions about CBDCs’ powers and problems may soon be answered »How stablecoins and CBDC interact

GamingGenopets is a new game project, a Solana-based play-to-earn game that

rewards players for staying fit, both physically and mentally

NFTOver the past twelve months, the NFT landscape emerged from a small ecosystem with a few hundred million in sales volume to a multichain ecosystem amassing billions in capital. It’s good to read NFT’s storyOver $100m invested in Metaverse’s lands within a week, on platform such as Sandbox and DecentralandScorsese’s fil producer creates NFT Studios, to fund a series of films through the sale of NFtsINSEAD students raised $3,000 for scholarship fund via an NFT saleHow to display your NFTs in a Decentralised Curation Museum (Museum Of Crypto Art: MOC△)NFTs and crypto culture take over Miami as Art Basel goes digitalWill NFTs disrupt the traditional music industry? Some made this prediction, as soon as 2022NFT wallets on Solana and Cardano

MiningMarathon Digital to extend is hosting capacity to 100,000 machines. 77% of its operation is carbon-neutralDMG Blockchain purchases 1800 S19XP Bitmain miners, bringing its capacity to over 1Eh/sBitFuFu migrates from Kazakhstan to the US due to power rationing

DeFiDecentralized Finance (DeFi) has grown exponentially over the past year from $17.06B to $202.73B in gross total value locked (TVL)

DEX volume reaches $100b in November

Gas fees keep small traders away from DEXTornado Cash, a mixing protocol, improving transaction privacy, now ready to run on Arbitrum, at a cost around 50 times lower than on EthereumBorrowing and lending at fixed rates in crypto?Wallets? Non custodial wallet Metamask above 10m monthly active usersOlympusDAO, assumed Ponzi

Business newsSquare changes its name for BlockCoinDCX, India’s first crypto unicorn, plans to go for a public listing, once regulations permit it do soCoinbase Cloud has $30b in crypto assets stakedCanadian crypto exchange Bitbuy secures regulatory approval as marketplace and restricted dealerFTSE Russell plans to develop crypto index with 43 digital assetsA new ETF by Defiance aims to track the BITA NFT and Blockchain Select Index, composed of NFT, blockchain and crypto stocksBitcoin Capital, a subsidiary of Zug, Switzerland-based investment manager FiCAS, has listed actively managed exchange-traded products (ETPs) that offer exposure to bitcoin and ether on the SIX Swiss ExchangeGriid Infrastructure, a mining company, to list on NYSE through merger with a SPAC, for a total value of $3.3b under ticker GRDI

Business news: M&ACoinbase to acquire Unbound Security, and Israeli crypto custody infrastructure firm. Coinbase has acquired over a dozen firms since its inception in 2012. Most recently, it has acquired crypto wallet provider BRD, crypto data aggregator Zabo, crypto data and analytics platform Skew, staking infrastructure firm Bison Trails, and AI-powered customer support platform AgaraBlockchain.com acquires SeSocio, one of the largest crypto currency business in Latin America, offering crypto savings and management services. The

undisclosed amount would be in hundreds of millions of dollarsCoinshares acquires Napoleon Group, the French crypto fintech company, for $15.7mCrypto.com acquires two derivative platforms (« traditional » finance) for $216m

Business news: peopleJack Dorsey, Twitter and Square founder and CEO, quits Twitter. In June, he said he would leave the companies to focus on bitcoin if neededDavid Marcus, co-creator of the Diem (former Libra) digital currency leaves Meta (former Facebook)SushiSwap CTO threatens to quitFormer Lyft executive joins NFT marketplace OpenSea as CFO

Business news: companies fundraisingFTX looking to raise $1.5b, through is US affiliate, FTX.US. This would value FTW at $32bGalaxy Digital issued $500m of convertible bonds @3%, with a maturity on Dec.15 2026. Galaxy Digital (TSX:GLXY) is a Toronto-listed crypto currency conglomerate$400m for Fireblocks, the digital asset custody firm, at a valuation of $8b. Fireblocks last fund-raising round was in July 2021, for $320m at a valuation of $2b$200m for Terawulf, bitcoin mining company, in debt and equity$175m for 1inch Network, a project of 1inch app to serve institutional customers, providing « permission pools » for institutions $150m for Zepeto, a fashion metaverse ecosystem, fully subscribed by SoftBank. Zepeto attracts more than 2 million daily active users, mostly popular among females aged from 13 to 24.$112m for Payhawk, an expense fintech$80m for CertiK, a blockchain and smart contract auditing firm$50,3m for 2TM, Brazilian parent company of exchange Mercado Bitcoin, as an extension of its $200m fundraising in July. Mercado Bitcoin claims 4 million users$35m for Stacked, a crypto investment platform, registered with the SEC as registered investment adviser$34m in token sale for Hxro, Solana-based decentralised derivatives platform$27.7m for Iron Fish, aiming to create a cryptocurrency as private as cash$20m for Structure, a trading platform, to develop a mobile app$4.3m for Solice, a Solana-based metaverse VR game $4.2m for Praxis, « a movement of optimistic pioneers building a new city » (SIC). Praxis seems to aim at « using tokens as a social coordination mechanisms » to « build new cities which represent trillions of dollars of real assets » (?)$2.7m for MetaMundo, an NFT market place focused on meta verses

Business news: funds

Hivemind Capital Partners launches a $1.5b venture fund on cryptocurrency related investments. The fund is led by Matt Zhang, former Citigroup Inc. executiveBorderless capital launches a $500m fund to help develop projects on the Algorand blockchainBinance Smart Chain and Animoca Brands launched a $200m program to invest in gaming projects built on BSCHashed, South Korean VC, launches a $200m fund, to invest in Web3 startups (metaverse, blockchain gaming, NFTs, and DeFi)Maven 11 capital closes its second crypto fund for $120m, to invest in DeFi protocols and Web3 appsParaFi capital, an investment firm focused on blockchain and DeFi, with $1b AUM, has raised $30m for a new fund

Crypto adoption: companiesThe 28 millions users of Mercado Pago, Brazilian fintech, can now buy crypto, through Paxos partnershipFidelity Digital to accept bitcoin collateral on cash loans for institutionsDiesel creates a new division to design products and experiences for games and the metaverseKonzum, Croatia’s largest supermarket chain accepts crypto

Crypto adoption: countriesThailand wants to attract crypto millionaires for tourism

Crypto adoption: peopleA new DAO for a somewhat debated auction. PleasrDAO has been created to bid on the sale of the Free Ross NFT, an NFT linked to writings and artworks by Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road marketplace, a place where users could buy drugs online with cryptos. Arrested in 2013, Ulbricht was sentenced to a double life sentence. The Free Ross organisation campaigns to release him.Diplo, DJ Khaled, Future and Martin Garrix have new NFTs as profil pictures. They used MoonPay’s concierge service

GivingTuesday 30th was the crypto giving TuesdayIt’s time for the philanthropic sector to embrace digital currenciesKimball Musk launches BigGreen DAO, a Web3 charity, with the goal to overhaul the philanthropy industry with the use of blockchain-based tooling

RegulationGermany’s new ruling coalition (Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats) calls for joint European supervision of cryptoDenis Beau, deputy governor of Banque de France, calls for new regulatory changes - especially on DeFi-, pointing out that European directive MICA does not contain any provisions specific to DeFiUK crypto exchanges will pay 2% tax

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Vladimir Putin says cryptocurrencies 'bear high risks'South Korea delays plans to tax crypto to 2023

Crypto scamCrypto currencies were far more traceable than fiat. Unfortunately, due to crypto mixers, this may not anymore be the case$200m hacked from BitMart. BitMart’s CEO plans to compensate users out of BitMart’s pocket$31m stolen from MonoX, a DeFi platform that offers liquidity poolsDeFi protocol BadgerDAO exploited for $120 million in front-end attack. Celsius Network confirms it lost money in the hackA fraudulent ICO operator charged by SEC

From November 22d to November 27th

Summary (links are a selection of below)« Another rainy week in Bitcoin city ». Markets are rather shaken, by COVID-nu, by options expiry, or by previous gains. Regulators are mixed between a will of protecting the stability of the economy (for example European MICA and DORA), and a temptation to simply ban cryptos (China). India is a good example of this mix: after announcing a will to ban, its discussion with crypto actors lead to a regulation / ban project (see previous weeks), although a pure ban project is still planned.

With a longer perspective, leading crypto sectors are DeFi (Decentralised Finance), and NFT/gaming:

NFTs (word of the year) and gaming, or mixing the two, are growing rapidly. A new game, called WolfGame releases new NFTs, creating $52m sales in 5 days. The concept is quite realistic, with wolves exploiting sheeps, and possibly stealing their wool… In Axie Infinity (leading play-to-earn game) a virtual land was sold for 140 ETH (nearly $2.4m). If you want to understand the impact of blockchain on gaming, it’s worth reading how blockchain gaming shifts power from game studios to the player; it’s a deep and clear paper on gaming, its structure, its evolution and future, as well as its infrastructure.DeFi shows nice token increases, such as Baba or Cronos, both reaching $1b in TVL (total value locked).

On the business side, we’ve seen some big moves, with Coinbase taking over BRD, a 10 million user crypto wallet, or Celsius, the lending platform, increasing its investments in the mining sector, noticeably in two structures about to go public; Celsius finances it via an oversubscribed capital increase ($700m instead of $400m). Even on DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations, whose governance is shared amongst governance token holders), its worth noting the tentative merge between two DAO (lending protocol Rare and

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stablecoin protocol Fei) which may lead to a $2.4b TVL structure. The token merger has to be agreed upon by each’s DAO governance (new version of general assembly).

« It’s probably nothing » is a typical crypto expression meaning it’s something major. And DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations) might well be « the place to be » in 2022. The fashion started with Constitution DAO, this crowdfunding initiative to buy a rare sample of the US constitution (see previous weeks). Together, its members collected more than $40m. They finally were overbid by Citadel CEO, but the amount and the move were sufficiently important to generate new initiatives. Now, it’s interesting to see that, after hesitation, Constitution DAO offered its members, either to be reimbursed (minus fees) or converted into a new governance token called PEOPLE. Speculators went in, and PEOPLE raised 200%. At the same time, the only organisation that really made money in this story, is the crowdfunding platform, with the nice name of Juicebox (!), which made at least $2.35m. The background is a fight between centralisation - a dominant concept of the beginning of this century - and decentralisation - one of the rallying concept of crypto fans -. In metaverse for example, Zuckerberg vs Winklevoss (the revenge?) might be the decade’s fight.

Finally, El Salvador adoption of bitcoin as legal tender becomes a terrain of opposition between willingly independent small countries and large economies. The IMF warning to El Salvador, with a $1.3b at stake is a good example. El Salvador replies with its intention to issue a $1.3b backed by Bitcoin.

OpinionFor Thanksgiving, 5 reasons fro crypto to be thankful

MarketsNov.22d:

Polkadot leads way as larges currencies dropBitcoin stays volatile as BTC jumps $2.9K in 15 minutes before Wall St. openEthereum ‘huge Cup & Handle pattern’ reaffirms $6.5K ETH price target

Nov.23d: After 260% gain in November, SAND might be in a bull trapBitcoin whales are moving large amounts to exchanges as prospective sellers

Nov.24th: Bitcoin stagnates as Ether races higherSHIB down 60% in 4 weeks Bitcoin metrics (RSI, NTV) are hinting at a price rise

Nov.25th: Bitcoin bulls at risk upon Friday’s BTC options expiryNov.26th: BTC loses almost $6’000 after concern over COVID-19 new

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variant. BTC Black Friday?Nov.27th:

BTC falls below $55’000$53k BTC triggers ‘extreme fear’

BitcoinWhen will the 150’000 BTC from Mt Gox be released?Bitcoin blockchain processes higher levels of value than Paypal

EthereumSoutheast Asian financial institutions turn to the Ethereum blockchainIs Ethereum abandoned by its supporter, under the pressure of VCs, promoting more centralised, less expensive, coins? A (long) summary of crypto twitter activity last weekend

Alt-coinsEthereum is not the only layer 1 blockchain where gas fees might reach high levels. Avalanche fees reached $20 per swapBoba reached $1b TVL, beating Optimism or Looping. Boba is a Layer 2 Optimistic rollupCronos (Crypto.com) near $1b TVL, with a 350% jump in token priceConstitution DAO’s token (PEOPLE) up 200%. Members had to choose between being reimbursed or converted to the new token. The main winner is the crowdfunding platform, Juicebox (!), which made at least $2.35m.SHIBA INU now held by one million world-wide

CBDCBrazil to launch a pilot for e-real, planning the final version in 2024Tanzania has begun the process of launching its own digital currency

MiningHaving raised $400m last month, Celsius, the lending platform, adds $300m to its mining investments. Earlier this year, Celsius invested $200m in mining equipment and equity of mining firms (Rhodium Enterprises - which has filed for a US IPO -, Core Scientific - which announced in July its goal of going public via a merger deal -, and Luxor Technologies).Xive, crypto mining company, shut down a mining plant in Kazakhstan due to electricity shortages. Kazakh electricity consumption raise 8% since Chinese ban and mining migration.

DeFiThe craze of liquidity mining initiated in 2020’s “DeFi summer” kickstarted the endless opportunities in DeFi, which continued to attract liquidity throughout 2021. The net value locked in DeFi protocols skyrocketed from $16.11 billion to $100.37 billion this year, with the majority of crypto assets allocated to lending protocols and DEXes.

MetaverseThe metaverse could one day deliver $1 trillion annual revenue, according to Grayscale Research. The virtual gaming sector is currently worth approximately $180b, and might be $400b in 2025. The market cap of Web 3.0 metaverse crypto networks stands at $27.5b, far from Facebook’s $900b.Facebook’s centralised metaverse, a threat to the decentralised ecosystem?« Crypto-states » (DAOs) will compete with corporates in the metaverse

NFT« NFT » is the word of the yearNFL All Day: the new football version of BNBA top shotMoonPay has set up a concierge service to help celebrities buy NFTs.

GamingGameFi (Game and Finance): a deep and clear paper on gaming, its structure, its evolution and future, as well as its infrastructure and how blockchain gaming shifts power from game studios to the playerWolfGame releases new NFTs, creating $52m sales in 5 days. Wolves exploit sheep, and may steal their wool…Fold launches Pokémon GO-like game that rewards players in bitcoinAn Axie Infinity’s virtual land plot sold for $2.4m

Business newsPolkadot CEO and founder left the company

Business news: M&AAn interesting project of a merge between two DAO may leads to a $2.4b TVL structure. Combining lending protocol Rare and stablecoin protocol Fei, a token

merger has to be agreed upon by each’s DAO governanceCoinbase acquires BRD, a crypto wallet company, with 10 million users. Price of BRD’s token rocketed 500%.

Business news: companies fundraisingCelsius extended its fundraising to $750m due to over-subscription (in October, it was $400m)$555m for MoonPay, a facilitator for buying or selling cryptos using conventional payment methods (MoonPay is often compared to Paypal for crypto). The deal values MoonPay at $3.4b$400m for Gemini, valued at $7.1b, to develop a decentralised metaverse, to fight Facebook. It’s noticeable that this is the first time the Winklevoss’ firm raised money (nice to read their story)$55m for Royal, NFT music rights company$20m for Orygin Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organisation, developing an NFT-based authentication system for luxury goods$18m for Avocado Guild, a blockchain gaming startup. It was looking to raise 5-8 millions, but it was heavily oversubscribed$13.5m for Crowdcube, a UK crowdfunding platform. The round has been subscribed by Circle, the payment infrastructure company$6m for Swan, a bitcoin buying app$5m for Blockade Games,

Business news: fundsPantera Capital is raising $a new fund to invest in venture equity, crypto tokens that have launched and tokens in development. So far, the fund has raised $600m, and aims at $1b in March 22. Pantera has $4.7b AUM.

Crypto adoption: companiesFidelity, UBS and State Street Global Advisors have confirmed that, like rivals BlackRock and Invesco, they are looking into launching products that offer exposure to cryptocurrenciesMercadoLibre (Argentinian e-commerce giant) to allow crypto investments through digital wallet for Brazilian customersGivenchy drops 15 NFTs on OpenSeaPanini to launch NFTs with the NFLAdidas Original announces partnership with Coinbase

Crypto adoption: peopleAnother NFL star is getting his salary in BitcoinA new DAO aims to buy an NBA teamLaunching of crypto stamps caused a crash on Swiss Post website

Crypto regulationECB extends PISA framework to cover crypto and electronic walletsIndia plans law that will prohibit private cryptocurrencies, with « certain exceptions ». This caused a 3% discount in Bitcoin price on Indian exchanges

China's crypto censorship reaches over news outlets and mining poolsEnglish and Welsh law can apply to smart contracts, says Law CommissionCouncil of the European Union moves forward on two crypto proposals. The MiCA directive creates a framework for the issuance and services related to transferrable crypto assets. The DORA act creates information and communication technology risk management mandates. Both will be discussed in the Parliament for further adoption.After having promoted its course for free to Iranian students, Consensys suddenly bars Iranian students.IMF warns El Salvador of bitcoin-related risks. A $1.3b loan agreement is at stake. This triggers bitters reactions.

Fight crypto scam

Even British citizens may face extradition to the USCanadian police make arrest in $36m crypto heist

From November 16th to November 22d

Summary (links are a selection of sections below)This has been a rather tough week, not only because of the slide of Bitcoin price to a lowest of $55’600, probably due to short positions in the derivatives market, but also because of important regulatory news. President Joe Biden Infrastructure Bill indeed includes specific crypto tax reporting clauses, creating concerns in the industry. India also chose to ban payments in cryptocurrencies, while finally authorising and regulating digital assets.

While the regulator issues laws, the industry keeps on announcing new heights. On the Unicorn side, it looks like a rush, between those actually raising (Gemini at $7.1b, Consensys at $3.2b, Starkware at $2b) and those preparing it (Bitdeer at $4b - in a planned IPO via a SPAC-, Copper at $3b, Anchorage at 3b), and OpenSea, which is not planning to raise, but would have been offered up to a valuation of $10b. The graph below gives a view of actual sectors (details are on ‘The Block’ subscription only):

On the financial side, are the announcements of the first on-chain syndicated loan in the DeFi space, and the raise of $1b worth of Bitcoin governmental bonds (by El Salvador of course) signs of maturity or excess?

There seems to be a race in crypto mining as well. While world total bitcoin mining capacity raises to around 180 EH/s (Exahash per second, that are 10^18hash per second, a measure of the mining capacity), Iris Energy announces to have signed a contract with Bitmain (equipment manufacturer) to grow its capacity to 14.5 EH/s, vs 0.7 EH/s currently; the contract amounts to $533m, over 2 years, and is partly financed by convertibles issued in October @12%p.a. 1 year maturity, and $231m via an IPO which occurred on Nov.19th.

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(opens above the price, and fell sharply right after). Although this may seem very promising, Nvidia (the graphic chip manufacturer, used in mining) Q3 report reveals a sharp decline in crypto mining sales. On Q3 results Hive, Canadian crypto miner reports revenues up 305% for same period last year, with EPS rise of 433%, while Riot Blockchain revenues missed analysts estimates, and profit shows a loss.

On crypto adoption, it’s worth noting the move of some citizens, who created ‘Constitution DAO’, a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation, to take part in an auction sale for a rare sample of the US constitution. They together raised more than $40m. While they finally were overbid, and the sample went to Ken Griffin, Citadel CEO, it says a lot on new citizens governance in a crypto world. It’s also worth seing how Turkish inflation pushes its citizen toward bitcoin. Also, we should not underestimate the significance of Barbados government’s move to create the first virtual embassy in the metaverse; it might really matter.

Finally, for rookies, the WSJ video « How DeFi hopes to disrupt traditional finance » is clear and well made. Also, it’s important to be aware of a possible down pressure on BTC price, since 150’000 BTC will soon be released after final decision on Mt Got bankruptcy case._____________

OpinionsTurkey makes the case for BitcoinWhy Barbados’ metaverse embassy matters

MarketsNov.16th:

BTC price drops nearly 10% in 24 hours, below $60’000, as USD jumped to its best level in sixteen months. This might be due to the infrastructure bill signature and better-than-expected retail sales indicator. The position of Twitter’s CFO, ruling out crypto investment for Twitter, might also have influenced the marketETH may fall under $4’000

Nov.17th:Metaverse related tokens (AXS, ETHV, SAND…) seeing gains while BTC and ETH diveBTC hesitates around $60k

Nov.18th: While ETH bulls buy calls at $5k or $6.5k, BTC shows signs of weaknessCRO, Crypto.com cryptocurrency, hit an ATH after announcement of its win on naming rights to Los Angeles’Staples Center

Nov.19th: BTC slide in price is the result of short positions in the derivatives market

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○Fear returns to BitcoinShiba Inu in danger of ‘topping signal’ as SHIB price loses 50% in 3 weeks

Deleveraging? The latest decline in bitcoin prices may be due not to deleveraging so much as just a lack of demand for leveraged-long positions

BitcoinAfter final justice decision in Mt Gox trial, 150 000 BTC may soon be « released », possibly driving prices down

BlockchainFederal Emergency Management Agency will launch a platform to streamline disaster reimbursement based on blockchainThrough blockchain, Hic et Nunc NFTs survived platform crashWhat are the most challenging problems cryptocurrencies are facing (by Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum) (long and technical)

CBDCNearly half a million of Nigerian downloaded their e-Naira digital wallet in 3 weeks (NB: this has to be compared with 140 million of Chinese in the same situation, as mentioned two weeks ago)Chinese local government warns of digital yuan fraud. 11 people arrested fro using e-Cny to launder money from CambodiaWhen a crypto evangelist talks about the dark future enabled by CBDC

MiningAustralia-based mining company, Iris Energy to raise $231m in IPO on nov.18th, a month after having raised $115.5m in convertible (@12%pa). The firm, which currently has a capacity of 0.7 EH/s, has signed contract with Bitmain (equipment manufacturer) for $533m (!) over 2 years, to grow its capacity to 14.5 EH/s (8% of actual world capacity)Canaan to increase its mining hash rate to 1.8 EH/s. Canaan is a Chinese mining hardware manufacturer, that also has its own mining plants, currently producing 0.85 EH/s. NB: World hash rate currently is about 160 EH/s (Exahash per second, that are 10^18hash per second)Some Texan raise concerns over power grid as bitcoin mining growsNvidia’s Q3 report reveals a sharp decline in crypto mining chip sales

NFTThe US National Football league launches NFT tickets from selected NFL gamesGoogle searches for NFT spike to record highs

GamingWemade, a small Korea-listed gaming company, saw a 400% surge in its share price after releasing MIR4 blockchain game, downloaded 1 million times. This brought Wemade market cap at $5b.

MetaverseAn agency to buy and sell virtual landTIME launches TIME100 Companies Metaverse, and will host educational resources on its website as well a a metaverse-focused newsletter.

DeFiHow DeFi hopes to disrupt traditional finance (WSJ video, DeFi for rookies, clear and well made)Maple Finance and Alameda Research launch the first on-chain syndicated loan vehicle in the DeFi spaceAcala wins the first slot on Polkadot parachain auction, with $1.3b committed, although Moonbeam had gathered $1.36b

EchangesCryptoexchanges: aren’t they rather brokers or even banks?Decentralised exchanges (DEX): ready for derivatives?

Business newsCanadian crypto miner Hive reported revenue of US$52.6m in last quarter, up 305% from same period last year. EPS rose 433%Riot Blockchain mining company Q3 revenue missed average analysts estimates ($64.8m to $67.1m), with a EPS in loss of $0.16, while analysts expected a profit of $0,35. Shares were down 11%Voyager Digital, a crypto exchange posted Q3 revenue of $65.6m. AUM currently near $7bCrypto.com, a Singapore-based crypto exchange, known for its involvement in sports sponsoring (Formula One, UFC, Italy’s Serie A, Paris Saint Germain, Montreal Canadiens) will pay $700m over 20 years to rename the LA Arena, home of the Lakers.Bitdeer, a mining outfit company, is planning to go public at a valuation of $4b, via a merger with a SPACBitso offers a new payment product for US-Mexico cross-border transactionsBinance US will be closing a pre-IPO funding round in the next one to two months

Business news: companies fundraisingDCG, the owner of Grayscale, raises $600m in debt. End of October, DCG had been valued at $10b, in secondary trade of $700mCopper seeks to raise $500m, at a valuation of $3b. Copper helps financial institutions trade cryptocurrenciesGemini, the crypto exchange, raised $400m, at a valuation of $7.1b$200m for Consensys, from investors including Coinbase and HSBC, at a valuation of $3.2b. ConsenSys is known for its plethora of blockchain products, including developer tool Infura and wallet browser extension MetaMask$50m for Starkware, Ethereum Layer 2 developer, on a valuation of $2b. In March, Starkware rose $75m.

$10m in seed private token sale for pSTAKE, liquid staking protocol based on Cosmos$13m for Nym, a privacy startup, aiming at obscuring trails of crypto transactions, even from NSA$10m for CyberConnect, developing tools fro Web3 social media, gaming and metaverse apps, through a « decentralised social graph protocol » (social graphs include followers and following data). Letting users own their social graph and switch applications while taking their network with themselves is one of the core public services web3$5m for Irreverent Labs, a blockchain gaming company$4m for Snapshot Labs, to build DAO governance solutions$3.1m fro Mem Protocol, a startup willing to create a Web3.0 version of Quora, using social credit scoreAnchorage to raise a series D (unknown amount) at $3b valuationInvestors offer OpenSea $10b valuation (the platform isn’t yet raising funds)

Business news: fundsValkyrie Investments to launch a $100m DeFi fund, to be invested on-chain, aiming at participating in the upside while gaining additional yield from lending, liquidity pools, faming and stakingOasis launches $160m fund to seed projects building on OasisKuCoin Labs launches $100m fund to invest in Metaverse, Gaming, NTF and decentralised infrastructure projectsOsprey funds launches a new fund, to raise hundreds of millions (?), to invest in NFTs

Crypto adoption: countriesEl Salvador to issue $1b worth of bitcoin bonds, to finance Bitcoin city, including digital education and geothermal energyVenezuela’s La Guaira digital program may include scholarships holders training in NFT, mining and trading

Crypto adoption: companiesTIME magazine to hold ETH on balance sheet. TIME will launch a metaverse-focused newsletterMacy’s to include NFTs in its Thanksgiving paradeBanksy’s paintings were sold for 3’093 ETH ($12m) on Thursday at Sotheby’sRoyal Bank of Canada sees blockchain technology having evolved enough to meet the critical demands of at « least certain segments in the banking and financial markets », including mortgage-backed securities and student loansOCBC, second largest bank in south-east Asia, thinks of creating its own crypto exchangePerth Heat, Australian baseball club, sets Bitcoin as standard for payments and payoutsNBA team Houston Rockets to integrate Bitcoin rewards and payment options for fans

Crypto adoption: peopleConstitution DAO is a group of crypto investors trying to collectively bid on a rare copy of the U.S. Constitution. The group raised more than $40m, but failed to win the auction, that went to a private bidder for $43.2m, which reveals to be Ken Griffin, Citadel CEO. Started by a group of 10 friends, the DAO grew to more than 10’000 members, saying much about new governance modelsBinance CEO says he intends to donate up to 99% of his wealthThe Ethereum Foundation is allocating $1m in grant funding to organisations that educate governments about Ethereum and blockchain technology

Crypto regulationThe infrastructure bill, signed into law by President Joe Biden, includes specific crypto tax reporting clauses (the link points a deep and clear analysis of the constraints, and mentions also some possible advantages). Some senators have also introduce new bills projects trying to amend or precise the infrastructure bill on crypto tax reporting.After hesitation, India has decided to authorise and regulate digital assets, to ban payments in cryptocurrencies, and to ban ads for cryptoSwedish and Norwegian officials call for a crypto mining ban, to meet Paris Climate Agreement goals

Crypto scepticThe Reserve Bank of Australia thins it’s plausible that crypto becomes « niche », once stablecoins and CBDCs are in full forceHillary Clinton calls on nation-states to keep a tab on rise of cryptocurrencies

Crypto giving(A new section this week)Edinburgh Dog and Cat home received 26 ETH ($100k) from Pawthereum, a crypto organisation supporting animal welfare charitiesHuman Trafficking Institute to accept Bitcoin donations

Crypto scamA web site claims to allow its users to « steal » NFTs

Fight crypto scamA Russian entrepreneur has been arrested during his vacations and is now facing extradition to the US, on charges that he helped the Ryuk ransomware group launder payments, responsible for attacks last year targeting US hospitals during Covid-19 pandemic.How investigators use blockchain analysis to fight cybercrimeU.S. to partner with Israel to combat ransomware attacksVictims of Bitconnect fraud scheme might be compensated through $56m seized cryptocurrency The founder of Sirin Labs, blockchain smartphone startup, has been arrested for suspicion of fraud, misleading investors, theft and money laundering

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Steve Bannon arrested for promoting a strange $27b ICOIn its 2021 annual report, IRS mentions that cryptocurrencies seizures represent 93% of all seizures, for an amount of $3.5b (see page 8)

From November 9th to November 15th

OpinionLove them or loathe them, influencers are an established part of the crypto spaceHow crypto becomes moneyNot everything needs to be on the blockchain

MarketsNov.8th: BTC passes Tesla market cap as Musk announces selling 10% of his Tesla holdings; ETH at ATH approaches $5kNov.9th: Open interest in ETH call options is twice more than that in putsNov.10th:

(Morning) BTC below $67k as Apple denies crypto plans and Tesla lost up to 12%Kraken predicts $96k BTC price(Evening): BTC hits a new ATH in minutes, coinciding with news that US inflation hit a 30-year high in OctoberHyland believes BTC target at $223k

Nov.11th: Bitcoin retreats from ATH, ETH followsBTC price loss was good, creating a « shake-out » in derivatives positions

Nov.12th: BTC due to hit $90k? Taproot soft fork will be released on SundaySEC rejected VanEck's spot bitcoin ETF. The decision, initially expected on Sunday was said to possibly have a strong negative effect on BTC price.ETH soon at $5K?

Nov.15th:

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Is BTC an inflation hedge? Not sureBTC falls from $66k highs

Trading volumes and open interest on CME increased significantly in October as a consequence of futures-based ETF launches

BitcoinHow African refugees used bitcoin to build their own grassroots economyTaproot is live! Taproot gives developers an expanded toolbox to work with as they continue to ideate, iterate and build on Bitcoin

AltCoinsNov.9th: Ethereum Name Service (equivalent to the web DNS) launched its governance token, ENS, on Monday; ENS reached a market cap of $586m in a few hoursNov.10th: Tether’s USDT launches on Avalanche (AVAX), as ninth available blockchain (AVAX hit its ATH on Monday 8th)Nov.12th: Ethereum Burn Rate Surges as DeFi Tokens Post Mixed PerformanceNov.15th:

The Bloomberg Galaxy Solana Index is now live on Bloomberg's TerminalLiteCoin (LTC): double top, to $200 or bull pennant, to $ 350?

How Facebook’s name change to Meta influences decentralised meta verses currenciesWhat token can I buy in Q4 2021, that will make 100x in 5x10 years time?How Twitter influences alt-coins prices

Blockchain

A blockchain to help tracking climate changeCrypto sustainability and green solutions highlighted at COP26

CBDCSwiss National Bank to be the first country to launch a wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) (limited to clear and settle wholesale payments) possibly in January 2022, using licensed Six Digital ExchangeBank of China is preparing an access to digital yuan for foreigners

NFTBored Ape Yacht Club story, by Rolling StoneChina’s current NFT landscape, as seen through AlibabaThe social token network: music producers and sports stars are monetising themselves; brands are next: marketers should take noticeA sculpture from Beeple, that comes with an NFT was sold for $29mGender inequality in NFTsAn imprisoned Russian artist is selling NFTs to support his familyNFT art sales at lowest since January, while NFT gaming sales take over

Metaverse(A new section this week)The metaverse is the next big investment theme and some stock sectors are already benefitting, Morgan Stanley says. The strategist also highlighted the importance of South Korea and how its more than 400 tech companies could accelerate the interoperability of metaverseKingship, a virtual band based on Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT avatars, formed by Universal will release music and perform in the metaverseIs metaverse the ultimate surveillance tool?

Gaming58% of video game developers are already using blockchainMars 4, a play-to-earn game to acquire virtual land on Mars and leverage token

yield famingSouth Korean gaming studio NCSoft stock price spikes 30% amid plans to launch NFT games in 2022Are the economic and social risks that games have long demonstrated improved when they are built with a blockchain backbone?

MiningSpot bitcoin mining hardware prices are lagging behind BTC's rally because of a rack space crunchDCG’s subsidiary Foundry USA pool has now grown to the third largest Bitcoin mining pool. Foundry now launches staking business

NYC launches NYCCoin, a CityCoin; MiamiCoin has already brought $21m to Miami city. Residents mine the tokens and revenues are shared 70% to residents, 30% to the municipalityNumber of ETH node validators drops as ETH price rises

Exchanges(This is a new section this week)The Cryptocurrency Exchange Landscape Is Consolidating. Which Exchanges Win?The largest is not the more liquid. FTX, fourth by volumes, ranks first by liquidity, in front of Coinbase, Kraken and BinanceWazirX, the Indian exchange, said its user base has grown by over 10 times this year to 10 million

DeFiConsensys Web3 report Q3 2021 is full with data and infos on DeFi market and more (including governance, NFTs, gaming…) and trendsDecentralised Exchanges (DEX) grew x5 in one year, while centralised exchanges steadily decline (as smaller projects shut down)

Metamask might get its own token. The leading token swap aggregator is making over $1m daily revenueKatana, Axie Infinity’s AMM passes $1b TVL, one week after its launch. Users load in liquidity to farm the Ronin side chain RONPreparing for Polkadot’s parachain auctions, $800m in DOT tokens have been contributed via crowd loans. (Parachain are « mini-blockchain » running on Polkadot relay chain, meant to minimise congestion by moving computationnaly intensive applications to parachains. Parachain slots will be leased in a series of auctions. Crowdloans are financed by DOT holders, locking their tokens to support a particular projet). Having raised $600m, Acala is likely to winRocket Pool aims at allowing staking with as low as 0,01 ETH instead of 32 ETHGrowth hackers are over. Welcome to NFT marketingL’essor de la finance sans banque (une présentation simple de la DeFi, en français)

DAO (decentralised autonomous organisations)Nice a16z’s partner view on web3, DAO and parallel with Venice success, through investment in Friends With Benefits

Governance« Scammy tactics » to get control of Curve (technical)

Business newsGrayscale now has $60b AUM ($43.6b in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, $14.9b in Ethereum Trust)BitGo, the cryptocurrency provider (part of Galaxy Digital group) has seen its Assets Under Custody (AUC) grow x4 in less than a year (from $16b in dec.2020 to $64b in nov.2021)(NB: Coinbase has $223b AUC)Galaxy Digital, the publicly listed crypto conglomerate, reports Q3 earnings of $512m, an increase of 1146% from Q3 2020 earnings of $41.5mCoinbase reported a fall of 30% in Q3 trading volume, due to declining currencies prices at beginning of Q3. Quarterly trading volume fell to $327b, and revenue to $1.31b (down 41%). EPS $1.62. Coinbase traded at $357.39 on Nasdaq on Tuesday 9thFTX, the leading Decentralised exchange, Q3 daily trading volume soared 512% to $360m (still a tenth of Coinbase)Bakkt, the digital asset platform, known for its partnership with Mastercard, reports Q3 revenue at $9.1m, and a loss of $24.1mNexo, crypto currency lender, invests an undisclosed amount in Texture Capital, a SEC licensed broker for digital asset securities B2C2, crypto liquidity facilitator, claims first crypto NDF (non deliverable forward)Voyager Digital, cryptocurrency broker claims 1 million funded accounts (x23 over last year)Infura, a blockchain development tool, now has over 350,000 users (up 250% over last year)

Binance’s ambitions for its France HQInsurance for crypto holdings?Mizuho goes to Neutral on Coinbase stockToward an integration of Metamask into Discord?

Business news: companies fundraisingHow DAOs are challenging VCs in the race to fund Web3 projects43% of $3.4b VC deals in October focused on games or NFTs (The Block research, for subscribers only)

$725m in Serie B (!) for Forte, a blockchain gaming platform. The round, led by Sea Capital and Kora Management includes crypto players (a16z, Cosmos, Polygon Studios and Solana Ventures), as well as game and media publishers (Animoca brands, Big Bets -Huge games-, Overwolf, Playstudios, Waner Music and zVentures -Razer-). Forte’s platform is used by gaming publishers to incorporate blockchain technology into their games. Frote raised $185m in May 2021.Marathon, US mining company, intends to raise $500m in debt to buy BTC and miners$50m for CoreWeave, cloud service provider and Ethereum miner$40m in private token sale for Neon Labs, developer of an Ethereum virtual machine on Solana$32m for Agaric, smart-contract platform$30m Serie A for WOO, a crypto exchange, focusing on liquidity$20m for MineOne, NY-based mining company, created a month ago, and now looking for another $200m round$7.5m for Saddle, an AMM, to reduce slippage in DeFi trading$6.8m in a follow-on round for Jet Protocol, a lending DeFi protocol$4.4m for JPYC, a yen-pegged stablecoin issuer. Circle Ventures participated in

its first capital deployment, in an effort to establish a larger footprint in Asia$2m for Pulsr, an NFT discovery social space

Business news: fundsParadigm to invest $2.5b in crypto companiesCircle, the company issuing USDC stablecoin, launches Circle Venture for early stage blockchain projectsIn the competition for layer 2 solution, Metis launches a $100m fund to support projects including DeFi, gaming and DAOs.

Crypto adoption: companiesDTCC, the largest securities settlement organisation, launches a solution to digits privately held stocks, possibly with security tokensMastercard to launch crypto-linked payment cards in Asia PacificMight Twitter, Discord and Reddit join forces to move Web3?The consequences of Reddit moving its community points system (for a community of 500 million active users) to Arbitrum (an Ethereum layer 2 rollup) may have huge consequences (currently 100 millions of users have purchased coins or tokens on an exchange)E-commerce giant JD starts accepting China’s digital currency on Singles Day for the first timeUniversal Music Group has formed Kingship, a virtual band based on Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT avatarsSotheby’s to hold real-time bids in ETH for Banksy art auction. The auction will be hold at Sotheby’s digital headquarter in Decentraland. It is the first time the art house will prioritise crypto as payment over fiat currency.Bumble, the dating and friendship app, is exploring how to integrate metaverse. Tinder is also considering it, via a Korean project called Single Town

Crypto adoption: countriesZimbabwe may be the next country to embrace Bitcoin as legal tenderUkraine wants to become a crypto capital (NYTimes)Barbados to become first sovereign nation with embassy in the metaverse

Crypto adoption: peopleInteresting report by UK’s Financial Conduct Authority on crypto assets ownership in the UK16% of Americans say they have ever invested in, traded or used cryptocurrencyTim Cook owns cryptoReddit founder to invest $100m for building a decentralised social media on SolanaChurches too, accept bitcoin

Crypto regulationNigeria's central bank freezes accounts of suspected crypto tradersUS Federal Reserve’s report on financial stability highlights a range of

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vulnerabilities in the financial sector, including a section on stablecoins, comparing their risks to money market fundsUS infrastructure bill makes crypto tax-reporting failures a felonyHuobi to close its Singapore accounts to comply with local regulationsAustria adopts new tax rules, taxing tokens as securities Regulating stablecoins: a hinder or a boon?Russian lawmakers prep legislation and form working group to address growing bitcoin mining industryIndonesia’s national Islamic council declares Bitcoin haram (forbidden under Islamic law)

Crypto scamThe Biden Administration continues its blitz on ransomware with new designationsEuropol: Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment 2021Netherlands: €25 million in cryptocurrencies seized in money laundering investigation

From November 2nd to November 8th

MarketsNov.1st :

Whales indicator shows no sign of end of bull periodMany Altcoins are posting high weekly gains in a week, such as SHIB (+80%) or MANA (+270%)

Nov 2d: $62,500 eyed for BTC price bounce, ETH and DOT (Polkadot) new ATHNov 3d: SOL surged by 7%, beating ADA for market capNov.4th: Comparison with 2017 yields a $253k BTC peak priceNov.5th: Bitcoin Dominance Weakens as Altcoins RallyNov.7th: ETH and BTC options volumes grew x15 in one yearNov.8th:

Bitcoin Tops $66K, resuming uptrend as real bond yields slidetotal crypto market cap reaches $3 trillions (x4 in 2021)

« If not long, may be short », Bloomberg Crypto Outlook November 2021 edition

BitcoinIs ‘Bitcoin season’ real?Who is Satoshi Nakamoto, and owns $66b in BTC?

EthereumNice approach of Ethereum’s tree of life (technical)The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is set to launch micro ether futures on December 6

AltCoinsAn unknown adress bought for $3,400 of SHIB in August 2020. It’s now worth $1.55b XRP holders to get huge airdrop of new blockchain Songbird, launched by Flare, late entrant in blockchain interoperabilityThe next 8 winners, according to Nasdaq (in French)

CBDCJPMorgan report says CBDCs can save firms $100B a year in cross-border costs140 million Chinese have opened digital yuan walletsmBridge, a multilateral project by four monetary authorities to build infrastructure for connecting central bank digital currencies, revealed 15 use cases and 22 participants for the project

NFTThorough analysis of how blockchain, play-to-earn, and meta verse, is disrupting the gaming industry (with 2.4b gamers in the world)For the fun, a worm in Times SquareReview of NFT marketplaces OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace, hits $10b in daily traded volume

Gaming(This is a new section this week)Will play-to-earn blockchain gaming reshape traditional gaming?Solana labs, Lightspeed ventures and FTX finance a studio for games

MiningCompass Mining to increase its capacity from 30MW to 170 MW within a year. Hash rate will be increased from 760 PH/s (petahashes per second) (0,5% of current total Bitcoin hash rate) to 3 EH/s (exahashes per second). It claims to powered by 95% clean energy.Argo mining reveals new Texan facility could cost up to $2b to build, while its revenue rose 32% in OctoberWhen Chinese firm are trying, not so successfully, to diversify into mining

DeFiIt’s worth taking a closer look at Decentralised Autonomous Organisations’ treasury. You might be surprised by the real situation of Uniswap.Review of some cryptocurrency lending platformsReview of some crypto credit cardsDecentralised identification is picking up. Goldfinch, a DeFi lening hub, launches UID NFTs (Unique Identity NFTs) in an attempt to bring a solution to the KYC questionAxie Infinity launches its own DEX (Decentralised Exchange), called Katana, for its Ronin blockchain. In the first 10 hours alive, 25,000 people interacted with it,

locking $115m in assets.Is issuing liquidity algorithmically considered DeFi 2.0? (How DAI, MakerDAO decentralised stablecoin can interact with its secondary market on Aave, changing its interest rates) (Technical)Borrow $1.4 million with an NFT as collateralCardano hits 2 million wallets, and claims a future processing capability of 1 million transactions per second, due to Hydra NodesHow Yield Farming on Curve Is Quietly Conquering DeFi

Governance(This is a new section this week)Using a reputation system to rebalance power in DAO votingHow governance token may interfere with yields? (Or should early deposits get equity?)

Business newsDCG, owner of Grayscale and Coindesk, sells $700 million in stock deal, nabbing $10 billion valuation. The deal was led by Softbank, being joined by Alphabet’s growth fundBitMEX, one of the leading crypto exchanges, bought $100k worth of carbon credits, in order to offset its carbon footprint for one yearCoinbase is testing a subscription service with zero trading fees and prioritised supportBinance invests €100m in a research and development center in France, with French Fintech, a non profit focused on promoting financial technology in France. It will also create a decentralised ledger technology accelerator and an online education programGalaxy Digital Holding grows from $1b under management at beginning of 2021 to more than $3b currently, mainly due to the growth of its Ethereum ETF, that has amassed over $1bSquare bitcoin revenue drops from prior quarterModular Asset Management, a Singapore-based firm, is developing an ESG framework for investing in cryptoCoinshares, European asset manager, with $3.9b AUM, reports Q3 earnings gain to $120.2m (£88.8m)Huobi, the China-born exchange, to move spot trading services to Gibraltar, after moving significant portions of its operations to SingaporeTotal value secured of Chainlink has climbed 10x in one year to $75b (TVS is the value of smart contract dependent on Chainlink data, called oracles)

Business news: M&ACoinbase acquires machine learning startup Agara for over $40m. Aside from Agara, this year’s acquisitions for Coinbase included crypto startup Zabo, blockchain node provider service Bison Trails, and crypto data aggregator Skew.According to data intelligence platform Tracxn, the firm has completed a total of 18 acquisitions prior to the Agara deal, investing in sectors such as

cryptocurrencies, human resource technology (HRTech), blockchain infrastructure, and moreCelsius acquires GK8, an Israeli cybersecurity company, for $115m

Business news: companies fundraising$150m for Mythical Games, in Series C led by a16z, at a $1.25b valuation$93m for The Sandbox, leading metaverse startup, with up to 500’000 wallets$50m for AscendEX, Singapore-based crypto trading platform, with 1 million clients and $200m daily trading volume$50m for Matter Labs, owner of the layer 2 protocol zkSync$21m for Faraway, a gaming studio$18m for Upland, metaverse game digital property trading platform, at a valuation of $300m$17.4m for Faze Technologies, to launch International Cricket Council NFTs$15m for Solidus Labs, a crypto market surveillance firm$10.2m for Notabene, a NY-based crypto compliance startup$9.5m for CoinMENA, a crypto exchange for the Middle East, with a Bahrain license$7.5m for Spruce, Y-Combinator backed decentralised identity startup

Business news: fund fundraisingTron foundation and APENFT launch a $100m fund to support NFT projects and digital artistsSfermion announces the closing of a $100m fund to invest in MetaverseEnjin creates a $100m fund to support gaming and NFT developersAvalanche launches fresh $220 million investment fund. Avalanche’s foundation hopes the new investment program, named Blizzard, will attract developers focused on DeFi, enterprise applications, NFTs and culture. The program will assist promising projects with equity investments, token purchases and other kinds of operational support.

Crypto adoption: peopleAaron Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers quarterback and three-time NFL MVP, announced today that he's the latest professional athlete to take a portion of his salary in BitcoinNYC and Miami mayors to take paychecks in Bitcoin, and willing to turn their cities as crypto hubs. NYC mayor also wants crypto taught in schools. Ted Cruz wants merchants on Capitol Hill to accept cryptocurrency payments

Crypto adoption: companiesAustralia’s Commonwealth Bank (CBA) plans to offer crypto trading, in partnership with GeminiMicrosoft enters the metaverse race via Teams, with avatars and immersive meetingsGoogle invests $1b in Chicago Mercantile Exchange group, the exchange responsible for many crypto derivative products Sequoia Capital invests in crypto

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FC Barcelona joins NFT rush

Crypto adoption: countriesSingapore to position itself as global crypto centerEl Salvador to build 20 bitcoin schools with surplus from bitcoin trust

Crypto regulationEurope’s MiCA directive on crypto may be finalised soon (but not operational before 2022 or 2023). It create a portable passeport for the 27 European countries, while stressing tough rules for stablecoin, that may impair euro international role. It does not say anything on DeFiBiden administration’s report on stablecoins calls for limitations on stablecoin issuers to insured depository institutions. Pro crypto senators reactedA group of Indian cryptocurrency exchanges and trade groups calls on the government to provide regulatory guidance to the crypto industryShould DeFi embrace regulation or resist?Kazakhstan sets limits to retail investors investments in crypto to 10% of their annual incomeThe Spanish financial authority is asking banks to report on their business relationships with crypto service providers and exposure to crypto

Crypto scam Hundreds of Salvadorian faced identity theft to get their $30 BTC walletDubbed SQUID, a cryptocurrency used in a play-to-earn game inspired by, but not related to, the TV show Squid game, scammed investors in a $3.38m « rug pull » scheme$55m stolen in private key leak on bZxOsmosis, a DEX, is working on a way to prevent front running and the extraction of MEV

From October 25th to November 1st

MarketsOct.25th:

ETH with a bullish look, may rally against BTCBitcoin’s MVRV Z-score shows the bull market is not over

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Oct.27th: BTC dips to $59k amid signs of excess leverageMany similarities with 2017 BTC price chart

Oct.28th: While opinions were beginning to flip bearish, BTC pulls to $61kOct.29th: Ether Reaches Record High of Over $4.4K as Shiba Inu Becomes a Leading ETH BurnerNov.1st: Bitcoin Eyes Fed Meeting After 40% Monthly Price Gain

How a single-strategy crypto algorithm made 36 205% (theoretically) in 10 months

ETHNice wrap on the state of Ethereum, with impressive numbers, such as the 511% YoY revenue growth (from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021) or the volume of transactions settled on the network, up to $536.48 b in Q3 2021 (up 398%). Here are some figures (first one is clearly not in billions, but still impressive) (special thanks to Gabriel for having mentioned this paper)

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Altair upgrade, the last before « the merge » (between the Beacon chain and Ethereum main net, which will launch the change to proof -of-stake - PoS), goes off smoothly

AltCoinsOct.25th: SOL up 35% in seven daysOct.26th:

Secret, Curve and Shiba Inu gains suggest that altseason is comingAfter monthly 574% price growth, SHIB’s rally near exhaustionFrax’s governance token, FXS, surges 80% on supply squeeze

Oct.27th: SHIB briefly beats DOGEOct.28th:

Traders rotate SHIB profits into DOGE, causing a 44% jump in priceCrypto miners and El Salvador are accumulating bitcoin, creating a supply shock

Oct.29th: SHIB Indian frenzy created delay on WazirX, the main Indian exchangeMANA, AXS, SAND and other meta verse related token rallied after Facebook announcement to be « meta verse first ».

CBDCNigeria to be the first (large) country to launch a digital currency (the real first one are Bahamas)Saudi Arabia rejects passing out cashMastercard is preparing its network for CBDC

NFTNice comparison of advantages and disadvantages of centralised vs decentralised NFT exchange platformsA 14-year old NFT artist sold for $1.4m of NFTs, and donated $200k to charitiesA half-billion-dollar NFT “sale”? On-chain analysts say it may have just been an elaborate publicity stunt

DeFiDEX and whales, an analysis on how decentralised exchanges deal with liquidity (also promotion of Integral, a protocol focusing on whales market)SmartAlpha, or how senior owners can lower volatility, foregoing possible upsides, trading with leveraging juniors.Abracadabra claims to lever up 20% fixed yield on UST stablecoin from TerraJustin Sun, Tron’s founder, withdrew billions of dollars from DeFi lending platform Aave’s lending pools.Tokemak Decentralized AMM Hits $1B TVL

Business newsAustralian Iris Energy mining firm filed for IPO on NasdaqFrench company Crypto Blockchain Industries will list on Paris Euronext stock marketA few days after going public via a SPAC, the announcement of Partnership with MasterCard caused Bakkt shares (NYSE: BKKT) to surge 180% (Bakkt is a digital asset platform)Tether (USDT) partners with Notabene to combat money laundering in cross-border transactionsFloki, a new coin, posts ads in London’s transportation networkUniswap, the most popular decentralised exchange, has traded over $500b, since its inception in Nov 2018Microstrategy’s (Nasdaq: MSTR) bitcoin holdings are worth over $7b (as of Oct.29th), while its entire capitalisation is roughly $7.4bSuperLayer Labs is a new crypto venture studio, spin-off of Rally, a blockchain network that allows internet creators such as streamers and artists to monetise their relationships with their fanbases. SuperLayer Labs is backed by Paris Hilton, Richard Ma, Joe Montana, Nas and others. It will be run by Rally’s cofounders.

Business news: M&AFTX acquires Ledger X, the futures exchange (not the crypto custody company)NYDIG, New-York based crypto company, has acquired British payments startup Bottlepay. The deal is worth between $280 to $300m, payed in NYDIG shares.

Business news: companies fundraisingIn Q3 2021, over 300 crypto funding rounds raised a total of $8.2b, Centralised finance accounted for half of it (with huge rounds showing market maturity,

such as FTX $900m).

Alchemy, service provider to DeFi, NFT and crypto projects, raised $250m Serie C at $3.5b valuation, while not having yet touched its cash from $80m series B, because of profitability. Alchemy is compared to the blockchain’s version of AWSAnchorage, cryptocurrency custody firm, is raising money, on a valuation between $2 and $3b, backed by venture funds raising interest in crypto infrastructure.CoinList, a token listing platform has raised $100m Serie Alt a $1.5b valuationAlameda Research, a trading firm, has invested $75m in cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital (listed on Toronto exchange: TSX: VOYG)Osmosis, a DEX in the Cosmos ecosystem, raised $21m in token sale, in a round led by Paradigm, the fund led by Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam$12m Serie A for Elementus, a crypto intelligence platform$10m in SAFT for Ardana, Cardano based DeFi protocol$5.5m to Immunefi, a bug bounty platform (helps DeFi to launch programs to reward white hat hackers finding security flaws)$5m in token sale to Tulip, a Solana-based yield aggregator$3m in seed to Artnome, an NFT infrastructure project

Business news: funds fundraisingCMCC Global, a Hong-Kong VC, is targeting $300m of assets in its latest crypto fund, attracting billionaire Richard Li.Crypto VC Sino global raises $200m with backing from FTX. It aims at focusing more on Solana and Ethereum ecosystems, with key market focus in Asia, with a special focus on India.

Business news: grantsNear Protocol announces $800m in grants, including $100m for startups and $350m for DeFi

Findora, a privacy-centric blockchain, announced a $100m fund to support new applications and infrastructure in its ecosystem

Crypto adoption: peopleCoinbase hits number 1 spot on Apple's US App StoreTokenised litigation finance goes live, with the first tokenised lawsuit fund

Crypto adoption: companiesMastercard will allow banks to issue debit or credit cards that let people pay with bitcoinVisa invests in Deserve, a credit card that allows rewards in bitcoin, in partnership with BlockFi. Mastercard previously invested in Deserve in June 2021.Facebook teases NFT support in its plans for a 3D Metaverse. The company will indeed change its name to MetaWharton launches a 6 weeks program on the Economics of Blockchain and Digital assets. Students can pay with ETH, BTC or USDTAdobe to offer antitheft feature in Photoshop « prepare as NFT » functionalityBurger King to give crypto rewardsGSA, $2.6b quant hedge fund joins the rush to cryptoValour Inc, Swiss issuer of digital asset-based ETP, launched the world first ETP tracking Uniswap’s governance token.Ubisoft will seek to invest in and create blockchain games

Crypto regulationThe US Financial Action Task Force has released its finalised crypto guidance. They consider that NFTs are not per se virtual assets, and thus do not need to be regulated, unless their usage are. They also consider that DApps (decentralised applications) are not covered by this guidance, but that operators of protocols are.The Commodity Futures Exchange Commission (CFTC) investigates Polymarket, a decentralised prediction market.US crypto lobbying is boomingSEC facing a lawsuit from Terraform Labs CEO

Crypto scam$130m stolen from DeFi Cream Finance protocol$60m drained from Anubis

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3 millions email adresses from CoinMarketCap breached to darknessIranian gas stations network hacked$4.9m seized by international police from darknet drug traffickersUkrainian police detain gang related to Russian hacking groups215 seized bitcoin on sale on German state’s auction platformInvestors suing Binance for $140m

From October 5th to October 24th

OpinionsFacebook is declining, crypto is raising, and beware « Blue Sky », Twitter’s decentralised project.‘Only the Little People Pay Taxes.’ The Pandora Papers and the Case for CryptoNFT are to the internet what property rights are to capitalism: a game changer

MarketsSome think BTC is « programmed » to reach $200k in 2022

Tuesday 5th: RSI confirms bull market, toward BTC at $200’000BTC went up as Facebook went downWorth giving a look at futures markets

Wednesday 6th:BTC roars above $55k, together with many alt coins.

Thursday 7th:BTC confirms bullish trend, with pickup in volumes and whales accumulation. Futures show a support at $50k, while net flows confirm bullish trend.ETH futures (exp.8th): bulls may pocket $115m from bears

Friday 8th: BTC hit a resistance at 56k, but hodlers accumulate Saturday 9th: BTC price holds $55K despite several bearish indicatorsSunday 10th:

Weekly review and forecasts

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One buyer bought $1.6 billion (!) of BTC in few minutesThursday 14th: ETH/BTC to two months low, due to BTC rallyFriday 15th: Almost no resistance to BTC bull runMonday 18th: charts suggest ETH can reach $6.5k in Q4Tuesday 19th: The first day of US allowed Bitcoin ETF, BTC passes $63k, en route to ATH, while Grayscale confirms it will convert its $40b Bitcoin fund to an ETFWednesday 20th:

BTC at ATH!

BTC surpasses Swiss franc, in market capFriday 22nd: BTC down 6% to $60kSunday 24th: a dive into BITO structure, the new BTC futures ETF from ProShares, that has amassed $1.2b in three days

BTCWhy we should avoid Futures-backed ETF, and prefer spot-market backed ETF, especially on bitcoin (yearly costs as high as 28%)

ETHEthereum might be used for decentralised Login identity, challenging the harmful traditional methods via Facebook, Google or Apple.

AltCoins(Oct.4): AXS at ATH, giving Axie Infinity the fifth market capitalisation in the video game world(Oct.4): Polygon (MATIC) triples its number of users, to a TVL of $4b, with NFT and gaming users looking for cheaper transaction fees(Oct.5): LUNA Hits All-Time Highs After Terra Network Columbus-5 Upgrade (allowing Inter-Blockchain communication)(Oct.5): Shiba Inu (SHIB) rallied +400% in seven days, with extremely high

activity, and maybe sings of decline. The rally was triggered by end of large salesSome info on Fantom and Avalanche (in the middle of the post)(Oct.13): Binance Coin (BNB) booms toward $560(Oct.14): Polkadot (DOT) breakout to $75, as shown by the graphical inverted head and shoulders(Oct.15): After 14,200% YTD growth, Solana (SOL) on a breakout to $275(Oct.18): Shiba Inu (SHIB) in a bull pennant with a 90% breakout

Binance destroyed $640m worth of BNB token in its largest-ever burn (Oct.19): Cardano (ADA) has formed a deadly « death cross »

StablecoinUS stablecoin issuers may be regulated as banksBIS (Bank for International Settlements) issues three reports on stablecoinsG20’s FSB points out « gaps » in stablecoins regulations implementationA thorough review on stablecoins and stability mechanisms (fiat-backed, crypto-backed, or algorithmic), together with possible regulatory constraints, and a special focus on Celo, a stablecoin aimed at money transfers for unbanked populations.

MiningUS mining companies see a 82% raise in production from Q2 to Q3, and hold their mined BTC, while pledging them to pay for their expenses. The total hold exceeds now $1b.

New York and Texas are leading US mining activityMining hash rate has largely recovered since summer decline due to Chinese ban

Mining activity in China is officially to zero.Singapore headed Atlas Mining, bitcoin mining arm of Shangai based crypto and blockchain fund Fundamental Labs, invests in a new US based mining capacity, in a 100 megawatts base, aimed at producing 3.7 exahases per second (EH/s)Russian oil industry asks regulators to let them mine crypto using wasted flare gas« Massive earnings upsides » expected across the mining sector

BlockchainA blockchain for a decentralised messaging network (to replace WhatsApp?)XDEFI, a new cross-chain wallet

CBDCThe international role of the US dollarFederal High Court of Nigeria approves eNaira CBDC rollout

NFTSorare signs with Bundesliga to bring video-based NFT moments Socios, the fan tokens platform, has signed with large clubs, including Brooklyn nets, Barcelona, Manchester, and PSG, where Messi is partly paid in Socios fan tokensCollateralised your NFT! You might get up to 50% of its value, at a yearly rate of 20 to 50% (!!!). The platform has been launched in June 2021 and has done $12 million in volume since, with a default rate of 20% (!)Compare Sandbox and VALT meta verses, and find out more on metaverses, NFT and gaming.Are NFT securities? The financial services company Republic considers they are, and creates musical NFTs in which you can invest, expecting returns.

Coinbase release its own NFT marketplaceComparison of 10 NFT marketplacesLucky Duckies combine digital NFT and physical peg.Coinbase to launch an NFT market place. Already nearly 1 million of pre-subscriptions.In its last report « Disruptive innovations VIII, Ten more things to stop and think about », Citigroup points NFTs as disruptive: « The introduction and increasing popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) coupled with the transition of retail into the metaverse highlights the blending of fintech with both consumer and gaming » (see pages 54-57 to learn on Metaverse Mall, and D2A / D2M new evolution of commerce)Bored Ape Yacht Club signed with Britney Spears and The Weeknd talent manager.A Bored Ape sold for a record of $2.7m

DeFiDecentralised Exchange dYdX beats Coinbase on spot markets, up to $4.3b per dayAbracadabra beats MakerDAO in fees generated, with a fifth of the supply of its rivalIndia to be the main DeFi hub in raising central and southern Asia crypto markets

Decentralised collateralisation of assets is thereDecentralised derivatives trading is operational (second point in the post)DeFi and DEX (Decentralised Exchanges) volume grow due to Chinese ban

Decentralised identity is key to trust

Business news: fundraisingEuropean investments in crypto and DeFi have surpassed quarterly records, in less than three first weeks of Q4, for a total of €793 millions (led by 2x400m of Celsius Network and MoonPay)

Consensys, owner of Metamask, plans funding round at $3b valuationCopper, the London-based provider of crypto services for institution, is in a $500m funding roundFTX, the crypto exchange group, raised $420m, valuing it at $25b (some months after a $900m series B round). It aims at making acquisitionsCrypto-friendly remote hiring company Deel raised $425m at a valuation of $4.5bCelsius Network, crypto lending firm, raises $400m (led by Québec Caisse des Dépôts)$400 m for MoonPay, crypto payment startup $298m for TradingView, a charting platformCoinSwitch Kuber, an Indian exchange, raised $260m (valued at $1.9b), backed by Coinbase Ventures and a16z, after having raised $25m (valued at $500m) in April and $15m in JanuaryAxie Infinity raises $150m (valued at $3b), after having raised a series A for $7.5m in May. Axie Infinity has now the fifth market capitalisation in the video game world, mostly on one single gameUS Bitcoin mining firm Stronghold raises $127 million in IPO$100m for Candy Digital, an sports-focused collectible NTFs, as Series A roundElliptic, cryptocurrency risk management firm, raises $60m$30m for BitOasis, Emirati crypto exchange$30m for Ramp, Polish « PayPal for crypto »$27m for XanPool, Honkong based payments infrastructure firm$25m for Worldcoin (valued $1b), a controversial project, created by Sam Altman, former Y Combinator president, asking people to « gaze into the

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Orb », scanning your retina in exchange for crypto, in a crypto twist on Universal Basic Income$23m for Sommerlier Finance, a crypto project that helps automate DeFi trading. Sommelier was founded by Zaki Marina, former lead developer of the Cosmos protocol$20m for Sotheby’s Metaverse, the NFT startup of the auction firm$19m for Chingari, Indian TikTok rival, with 78 millions of users$17m for Makor Group a brokerage and investment banking firm$14m for Plum, savings and investment app$12m for Aurora Labs, an Ethereum-compatible development platform that runs on NEAR protocol$12m for Futureswap, a decentralised exchange for trading perpetual swaps$10m for SheeldMarket, French crypto prime broker$8.5m for Strips Finance, to launch interest rates trading platform$8.5m for zkLink, a cross-chain decentralised exchange$4.2m for Synchrony, Solana-based asset management platform$4m in SAFT for Stader Labs, an Indian staking project$3.75m for ThorSwap, a cross-chain DEX$3m for MonkeyBall, Solana-based play-to-earn NFT game$2.5m for Sublime, a lending platform based on digital identity and reputation

Business news: fundsParadigm is raising an investment fund between $1.25b and $1.5b to invest in startups (!)Binance launches $1b fund to support Binance Smart Chain ecosystem, including $500m for incubation and investmentNFX (led by Morgan Beller, Libra co-creator) raised $450m for seed investment (that means quite a good chunk of investments)Galaxy Digital, of Mike Novogratz, raised $325m to invest in blockchain video game and art, « at the intersection of content, finance and technology » Multicoin Capital is raising $250m for a third venture fund aimed at crypto startups, exploring opportunities in DeFi interest rate markets Variant closes $110 million fund to invest in the so-called ownership economy, referring to companies that enable users to share in the ownership of goods and servicesBitkraft raised $75m to invest in blockchain gamingArca, an asset management firm, raised $30m for investments in start-upsMeta4 Capital for investing in NFT

Business news: M&AHaving raised $100m in June, Chainanalysis makes its first acquisition with cybercrime investigations firm Excygent, aside with investing some of its cash into Bitcoin

Chicago board options exchange (Cboe) to acquire ErisX, crypto spot and derivatives marketplace.

Business newsAustrian fast growing exchange platform BitPanda will extend its services to Italian banks and fintechs, using its white label platformDue to Chinese ban, Huobi has lost market shares vs Binance (from 24% in January to 16% in September, vs 60 and 67% for Binance).

Coinbase might show Q3 activity with 18% raise in volume and 11% in profitBitfury, Dutch mining company, plans to go public, at a valuation of $1bVoyager Digital, the US cryptocurrency border, chose France to get into the European market, and is the first non European from to get AMF approval.Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has replaced Binance as the world’s biggest futures platform, thanks to the strong investor appetite for the recently launched ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which has amassed $1.2b worth of assets in the first three days.

Crypto adoptionNorthern and Western Europe now world’s biggest crypto currency economy, with UK at first place and France at second, led by large institutions.

US Bank, fifth largest retail bank in the US, launching cryptocurrency custody service for institutional investors.Georges Soros’ family office hold some crypto currenciesAt least 20 publicly traded United States companies have digital assets exposure, according to Bank of America study.Bitcoin may become legal tender in BrazilVisa to launch a Universal Payment Channel, enabling deposits, authorizations, settlements, cross-border payments and even support a “marketplace for digital currencies.”Swiss Flowbank plans to offer customers the ability to directly hold and trade cryptocurrencies and digital assetsMoneyGram, the cross-border payments giant, launches a pilot using a blockchain for instant money transfersCaisse d’Epargne Grand Est signe un accord avec Deskoin pour commercialiser des cryptomonnaies (in French)Societe Generale refinances a $40m (in DAI, MakerDAO stablecoin) covered bond token, issuing new tokens (detailed description)Finally, after years of expectation the US SEC might approved 4 BTC ETFs (they are plenty in other countries)The first US Bitcoin ETF starts on NYSE on Oct.19. It started with $1b daily volume.7 crypto billionaires in the new Forbes 2021 400 richest list (including Sam Bamkman-Fried, aged 29, whose fortune is estimated at $22.5b)Paypal processed $145m on Oct.20th (its crypto services are available only in the US and UK), its highest volume since BTC May crash.ViacomCBS gets into NFTsWe should keep an eye on Ñeripeso (« close friend » in Urugayan slang), a kind of local currency based on a blockchain with a rapidly growing community (5’000 at this moment), without any support. The only paper in English is a paper from The Block, for subscribers only. The link above is a brief description in Spanish. This seems also a good paper, although in Brazilian Portuguese.

Sotheby’s has launched its curated NFTs platform called « Sotheby’s Metaverse »The Economist front cover of its September 18 edition sells as an NFTGerman WWF to raise money releasing an NFT collection called « Non-fungible animals »Facebook to launch a pilot on crypto wallet Novi

Crypto regulationCrypto cooperation with Dubai police Circle, the stablecoin-focused crypto company, still under scrutiny from SEC, while SEC’s chair, Gary Gensler, faces questions from House of Representatives, as well as a a new bill aiming at creating a safe harbour for digital assets.Answering questions, Gensler mentions he has no plans to ban cryptos, but is willing to regulate them, especially stablecoins, which he considers presenting a major systemic risk, and exchanges (including decentralised exchanges).Ukraine’s president has rejected the parliament bill to legalise digital assets, asking the parliament to amend it in order for the Ukrainian securities commission to regulate cryptosMobilisation to support crypto. Understand existential threat, and mobilise (how to support crypto)!Switzerland want its operator to increase KYC for smaller crypto clientsGermany enforces rules on KYC for crypto transfersFrance might change taxes for crypto (en Français)Vladimir Putin says he accepts crypto’s role in making paymentsChinese ban: buy the dip or cause for concern?Having already revoked 70% of crypto licenses, Estonia wants to revoke the remaining licenses, to start licensing all over again.New York attorney general ordered two crypto lending platforms to cease their activities (probably Nemo and Celsius Network)Sorare under scrutiny by UK gambling regulatorFormer Chancellor Philip Hammond advocates for UK to take on crypto opportunity instead of creating complications. On the other hand, Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor of financial stability at the Bank of England, calls for speeding up regulation.China chases public servants using public installations to mine cryptocurrenciesTether to pay a $41m penalty for false declarationUS Treasury publishes sanctions guidance for crypto businessesIMF warns about possible instability due to « cryptoization »

Crypto scamHaving sold NFTs for $138,000, an artist work had been stolen during delivery.If an exchange gives you $80 millions by mistake (bug), should you return them? Moral or legal question?Ransomware actors arrested, the action involved French law enforcement agency)

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US Department of Justice is launching a crypto crime-fighting team‘Evolved Apes’ NFT creator allegedly absconds with $2.7 millionBinance.US exchange created a one minute « scam wick », with a 87% drop in BTC price.

From September 20th to September 26th

MarketsMonday:

liquidations, wide majority long

Big drop in the market (BTC-7,89%, ETH -8,51%), due to Evergrande default risk

Friday:

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as $2b BTC options expired at 8:00 UTC, the result balances between bulls and bears, while hodlers accumulate, creating a supply squeezeWhile ETH is in a low supply - high demand bullish modelBitcoin Drops $2K as China Declares Cryptocurrency-Related Business Illegal

Monday (27): surprisingly, DeFi Tokens surge after China ban

BTCSmartcontracts on Bitcoin, the next step?

MiningMining at home?

AltCoinsThree alt-coins ETNs on the Deutsche Börse, for TRON, SOL (Solana) and DOT (Polkadot)Solana has started funding new projects, such as Larix, a lending protocol, whose total value locked raised from $1.7m to $119m in 2 days.Hedera (HBAR) has earmarked $5b (!) to boost network adoption in DeFi, NFTs, CBDCs and gamingHighs and lows of Tezos, Kathleen and Arthur Breitman’s coineToro launches a basket on 11 coins linked to DeFi

DeFiA thorough presentation of DeFi for non-specialists (The Economist’s paper, free if signed-in).You know hot to get a yield? Find out yield aggregators (warning, somewhat technical)

StablecoinsThe NY Times gives a nice overview on existing US stablecoins, their potential risks and possible regulations

CBDCThe European Central Bank experiments, but hesitatesE-dollar, lagging behind? (A thorough Time magazine’s paper on CBDC stakes and risks, from a geopolitical and economic point of view)Bhutan aims to bring its population to 85% financial inclusion by 2023, partnering with Ripple for e-ngultrumItalian payment giant Nexi « engaged » with European Central Bank for designing digital euro

NFTSocial tokens disrupting athlete economyOn social and creator tokens (again, but rather clear)What happens to a social token when its creator dies?

$650m NFT sales for charities

Business news: fundraisingEuropean Football NFT Platform Sorare Raises $680M Series B$431m for Genesis Digital Assets, mining firm.$250m for Dapper Labs (valued $7.6b), the owner of NBA Top Shot$200m for DeSo, Nader Al-Naji’s (founder of BitClout) new framework for social networks$130m for TrueLayer - valued $1b - an open banking platform$50m for Delta Blockchain fund, an investment fund in « multi-chain » world, let by ex Consensys Ventures head Kavita Gupta$40m for Cobo, Asian crypto custodian$18m for Orca, a DEX (Decentralised Exchange), automated market maker based on Solana$5m for RCRDSHP, a music NFT platform

Business news: M&AUmbrella network, a bridge between off-chain data feeds and smart contract, takes over Lucidity, a tool to increase transparency in ad spending for digital advertising (Lucidity is an « oracle » taking off-chain data stored in multiple centralised databases and moving it to the blockchain).

Business newsCoinbase, whose Q2 volume reaches $462b (!), goes into prime brokerage for institutional investors, having acquired execution platform Tagomi last MaySolo Music launches Solana’s first music marketplaceInvesco and Galaxy Digital to launch physically-backed crypto ETFsCambrian AM to launch new quantitative funds on BTC and ETHHighly profitable Hive Blockchain mining company posted net income of $42.5m for year ended March 2021 (showing a 75% margin!).

Crypto adoptionAlso in DubaiFinally on Robinhood, tooYou’ll tip twitts using Ligthning…Nigeria shows the highest adoption rate in the world, to fight inflation, corruption and government repressionCrypto investors are asking fiat institutions for loans against their virtual assetsNew carbon neutral tokens

Crypto regulationCoinbase drops plans for lending product after SEC tussle Binance halts derivative products in Australia, due to regulator pressure.A Czecho-Russian platform banned from the US for having facilitated ransomwareJP Morgan and DeutscheBank opposed to Basel Committee’s proposed rules on crypto capital requirements Joe Biden intends to nominate Saule Omarova, a crypto septic, to run the Office

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Joe Biden intends to nominate Saule Omarova, a crypto septic, to run the Office of the Comptroller of the CurrencyCanadians regulate advertising on social medias for crypto exchangesChina reinforces anti-crypto rulesIn South Korea, only a few exchanges will remain open

Crypto fear$12m stolen from pNetwork platform$35m stolen from Vee FinanceHow Chainanalysis helps the police tracking ransomware authors

From September 13th to September 19th

Speculation drives innovation in crypto

MarketsMonday: BTC and inflation: A sell-off on BTC could materialize if the the US CPI for August - scheduled for release at 18:00UTC on Tuesday, prints above 5% annualized.

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Wednesday: New opinions in favour of BTC at $100’000 at the end of 2021

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But it first have to manage the « golden cross »Thursday: Bitcoin’s Blockchain Data Indicates Renewed Institutional Appetite But Macro Risks PrevailFriday:

bullish but cautious on BTC, bullish on ETHBTC won’t go below 39K again?

BTCLightning, the solution to save Bitcoin payments?

ETHEthereum hash rate at an All-Time High

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MiningWhere do Chinese migrants miners settle?Miners have already used more electricity this year than in all of last year

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BTC hashrate is up 50% since its low in June 2021, and it’s not finished

AltCoinsDue to BTC drop on Tuesday 7th, most alt coins went into freefall, price analysis for BTC, ETH, ADA, BNB, XRP, SOL, DOT, DOGE, LUNA, UNI, and XTZ after its 250% rallyALGO, up to 1 million transactions per day. What will it be worth in 2025? (In French

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)Being under attack, Solana out of service for 20 hours, causing a drop in confidence, while the Ethereum network resisted to a simultaneous attack.HBAR (Hedera) at ATH, having a lower energy consumption than all Algorand, Cardano, Ethereum 2.0, Polkadot and Tezos, due to its disrupting consensus process, being neither proof-of-stake nor proof-of-work

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Two weeks after launch, Arbitrum near $3b in TVL (Total Value Locked) (at the time I write)Solana timed at 200’000 TPS (transactions per second), while Visa runs at 24’000, and Ethereum at 30 TPS. Nice, however at security price

StablecoinTheter (USDT) et Circle (USDC) could be at risk in case of Evergrande defaultFurther, Theter claimed not to hold any Evergrande paper, but holds $30.8 billions in commercial paper of others.Stablecoins issuance under scrutiny of US authorities. A meeting, including Janet Yellen , Jerome Powell and Gary Gensler set the base of a report on Stablecoins.

NFT« Upgradable » NFTs?

CBDCSpeedwallets to be implemented for the e-naira, Nigerian CBDC projectOffshore Digital YuanBank of Russia to test digital ruble in January 2022

Bank of Russia to test digital ruble in January 2022

DeFiDeFi and anonymityYearn Finance, a yield-aggregator platform, publishes its quarterly report, showing $16.4m EBITDA. An insight on profitable DeFiAlso worth giving a look to Token Terminal, showing revenues from many tokens.

Business news: fund raisingEU to invest $177b (!) in blockchain and other novel technologies (maybe it would be cheaper not to over regulate the sector)$2b (!) in bonds for Coinbase (10yr @3.625%, so-called junk)Avalanche, the proof-of-stake blockchain promising the industry’s fastest smart contracts, has raised $230m in a token sale$60m for Immutable, NFT trading protocol specialist$50m for Recur, a NFT platform$15m for Amberdata, a crypto data startup$10m for Floating Point, algorithmic trading services$8m for X-Margin, providing credit risk information while protecting privacy of borrowers

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Audius, a blockchain based music platform, raised $5m from artists and industry leaders

Business news: M&AHaving raised $12.5m from A16z and others, TrustToken operator of decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocol TrueFi and stablecoin TUSD, has acquired Web3 development firm EthWorksIs this the first hostile take-over attempt in the DeFi?

Business news: IPOArgo Blockchain, a mining company quoted on LSE, floats on Nasdaq.

Crypto adoption: companies:Revolut paid its Wework membership in Dallas, to underscore its commitment to crypto

Crypto adoption: investorsFidelity 2021 institutional investors Digital Assets study shows that the 2020 market conditions increased the likelihood of investing in digital assets for 44% of institutional investors; and for Asian investors, already 70% of them are currently invested in digital assetsFranklin Templeton ($1.5trillion asset manager) to create a blockchain venture fundFinfluencers are making more money than bankers (also in crypto)

Crypto adoption: countriesEl Salvador, a new crypto tax heaven?

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El Salvador, a new crypto tax heaven?

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El Salvador, Bitcoin as legal tender is not a long and quiet roadEl Savador’s bitcoin adoption has immediate implications for rating, according to S&P globalEl Salvador installs ATMs in the US to facilitate money transfers

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Africa, a 1200% growth, driven by remittances

Crypto regulationAnother DeFi lending platform under SEC scrutiny

Crypto fearZabu Finance, an Avalanche-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, has been exploited for $3.2 millionA fake news caused a 35% surge in LTC price, and a drop 20 minutes later.An OpenSea’s executive used insider knowledge when buying NFTs. Still some space for improvement.$3m stolen from a NFT auction on Thursday (further returned)Inner Mongolia still chasing miners

From September 6th to September 12th

MarketsReports:

Numbers to be known: futures and options volumes Standard Chartered expects bitcoin to increase up to 3x from current levels, while it sees ether going up to 10x, based on global banks market capitalizationETH vs BTC: has the flipping begun?

Monday: BTC should avoid going under $47’000Tuesday: $8,000 loss in minutes for BTC

Tough day for BTC, which loses -13%, the same day Salvador adopts it as legal tender.

Wednesday: Bitcoin’s sharp fall from $50K linked to stronger US

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Wednesday: Bitcoin’s sharp fall from $50K linked to stronger US dollar, gold — Correlation showsThursday: Liquidation of leveraged positions was the cause of BTC drop on Wednesday Friday:

SOPR says BTC is bull…BTC reaching moving average

Mining Great time for American minersBitmain (mining hardware manufacturer) hosts miners in Georgia stateMining still highly profitable

AltcoinsLINK dépasse les 15 milliards de dollars de capitalisation

StablecoinsAre stable coins really stable, even when BTC loses 13% in one day?

DeFiStrong competition to attract projects away from Ethereum: at least four major blockchain alt coins are spending each around $300m : Harmony, Algorand, Fantom, and Avalanche (the smallest, with « only » $180m)

BlockchainBlockchain to fight climate change

CBDCNigeria wants to launch e-naira

NFTBuying crypto loot for non existing crypto gameTrends in NFT include NBA stars, gaming and poker, all for the metaverse The Metaverse needs an Open Source Operating SystemBig drop in NFT sales this week

Social tokens (a new entry this week) (also called Crypto Social)Understanding Social Tokens, an interesting (although rather long) blog post from Outlier Ventures, full with interesting links…

Business news: fundraising$25m for a new fund to invest in the meta verse, backed by Huobi Ventures$4.1m for gaming in DeFi on Solana (three major trends together)$25m in loan for a mining center, backed by Bitcoin holdings$9m for SubQuery, in SAFT sale series A, after having raised $1.8m in March.$17.4m in seed (token sale) for Eden, priority transaction network for Ethereum$750m for 10T investment fund in digital assets

Business news: M&AMasterCard invests in crypto cyber security, taking over CipherTrace

Crypto adoption: publicGoing to the Post Office to buy crypto

Crypto adoption: businessesSwiss SIX got FINMA approval for trading digital assetsBlackrock to use blockchain for equity swapsInvesco creates a new fund in India, mainly to invest in Elwood Global Blockchain UCITSVisa to introduce cryptocurrency services into traditional banking system in Brazil (in Portuguese)

Crypto adoption: sponsoringCrypto.com sponsors PSG (Paris Saint Germain football club)

Crypto adoption: countriesBeside the fact that Tuesday was the first day of Bitcoin as legal tender in Salvador, forcing even Mac Donald’s to accept payment in bitcoins, the week has been quite full with announcement, with Panama legalising payment in crypto as an alternative, Ukraine passing a legislation to recognise digital assets, and Russia thinking of hosting mining activities.

Crypto fearEuropean Securities and Market’s Authority (ESMA) rated crypto assets as top financial innovation, as well as a threat to sustainable finance due to its “soaring” environmental costBenoit Coeure, head of innovation at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) calls on central banks to act fast over the rising crypto and DeFi spaceOpensea accidentally destroyed $100k worth of NFTs

Crypto regulationTough times for US crypto lending?SEC investigation toward Uniswap Labs and othersSEC Chair Gary Gensler speach to the European Parliament points out his concerns around DeFi, stable coins and disclosures.

From August 30th to September 5th

MarketsFriday: ETH above $4,000: soon an ATH? And BTC above $50,000.Maximize your crypto investment: old rules (and some new ones) applyLeverage: will the decrease in leverage mark the end of extreme swings?Technical: a look to Capital flow

AltcoinsMinor alt coins book 50% gains, following BTC and ETH new highs.Solana’s SOL Replaces Dogecoin as 7th Largest CryptocurrencyHaving lost 90% of their investment value, Chia owners try to sell their hard disksFierce competition between BSC, Terra, Polygon, Avalanche and Solana (layer 1 native tokens) for gas fees, boosted by NFT activity.

BlockchainBraintrust, a decentralised talent network, uses an Ethereum blockchain token to reward quality vetting.

NFTNFT market volume in August nearly ten times higher than any other month, with OpenSea platform contributing for more than 95% from the total

NFTs are currently really fashioned. See Tapscott’s What’s on Tap And if you want to discover what is NFT, you can read Clément Bourcart’s paper NFT for dummies (note that at the end, Bourcart is promoting his own platform, Melon).If you already know what is NFT, and think you can’t afford them, maybe you’ll

If you already know what is NFT, and think you can’t afford them, maybe you’ll be interested in ERC-20, fractionalized NFTs And, to (partly) understand some mechanisms linked with NFT value, think of the relationship between art and community.For the first time, Apple has accepted to open Apple Store for direct payments to small developers, using NFT for gaming.Hollywood signing for NFTs crypto punks rights rocks its community.Three Arrows Capital launches Starry Night NFT funds, showing a growing interest for Institutional NFT interest.

DeFiMetamask (non-custodial digital wallet) doubled its number of users in August vs July.

CBDCThe Bank of International Settlement (BIS) supports Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa to Trial CBDCs for Cross-Border PaymentsChina to create an international clearing and settlement network for mobile payments, using the digital yuan.

Business news: fundraisingAfter having raised $20m in April, Offchain Labs, a Layer 2 solution developer, raised $100m, at a valuation of $1.2b.Singapore-headquartered digital asset exchange Zipmex has completed its $41 million Series B funding round

Business news: M&AFTX.US, world leading crypto derivatives business, enters the US crypto derivative market, taking over LedgerX.

Crypto adoption: businessesThe Big Four are now quite active in the crypto world How cryptos can help charitiesStandard Chartered to Launch Blockchain Trade Finance Platform

Crypto adoption: statesTexas, already a mining friendly states, now moves to amend Bitcoin into state constitution

Crypto adoption: sponsoringInter Milan Signs $100M Sponsorship Deal With Zytara Labs

Crypto regulationArgentina concerned with crypto being used to avoid Exchange controlsMore investigations on Binance: Singapore

Crypto fearIs Russia the leading country for scams?

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Is Russia the leading country for scams?DeFi lending pool Cream Finance suffered its second flash loan attack of the year, with more than $25 million drained from its vaults.

From August 23d to August 29th

MarketsThursday: $2b of options on BTC to expire on Friday: analysis (proven to be right, as BTC raised since)Friday: BTC at 30k or 100k end of year? The stock to flow model is back

BitcoinFor Bitcoin, hash rate is a key indicator. Its recovery, led by Chinese miners migration and US miners capacity expansion, may still take six months.

AltCoinsPlenty of papers around Cardano (ADA) this week, seen at $3 within days. Also generates the raising of a new Cardano specialised Decentralised Exchange, as well as many new Cardano millionaires.Tezos (XTZ) is also seen as one of the major crypto for the future of DeFi (with joined forces between three Swiss actors, including CryptoFinance and the Zurich bank InCoreBank for tokenisation of financial products), causing a monthly raise of 85% of XTZ.

CBDCIndia to launch trials probably by December this yearThailand to launch Pilot CBDC beginning 2022, with well planned policyUkraine considering using pilot CBDC for paying staff salaries

NFT« Metaverse » has to be known, as a new popular NFT application with huge future. DeFiDeFi is still used by early adopters. The growth potential is huge.

Business newsMore and more crypto Unicorn, with huge amounts being invested

New fund raising: $263 million for Bitpanda, valued at $4.1bn, while its previous $170m fundraising, in March, valued it at $1.2bn, and the previous one ($52m, unknown valuation)only occurred in September 2020. Pether Thiel, cofounder of Paypal, leads the fundraising through Valar Ventures.$210m for FalconX, a cryptocurrencies and digital assets trading platform$210 million for Blockstream (a blockchain hardware infrastructure manufacturer), now valued at $3.2bn. Blockstream has acquired Israelian mining chip manufacturer Spondoolies$130m for Taxbit a crypto asset tax software provider, valued at $1.3bn

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$130m for Taxbit a crypto asset tax software provider, valued at $1.3bnNew ETP

While US drags its feet to even BTC ETF, Europe is leading the way with many listed ETF, and soon an ETP on BTC futures

Crypto adoptionCountry adoption

Cuba is considering the BitcoinBusiness adoption

Microsoft is awarded US patent for crypto token creation serviceDeloitte’s 2021 Global Blockchain Survey foresees a « seismic shift » in the Financial Services Industry (FSI). More precisely, having interviewed 1280 respondents, among which 320 FSI leaders, they identify three main areas that will be affected or play a major role, namely custody, payments and moreover access to funding. Consequently, FSI leaders identify three new fundamentals, namely, the rise of blockchain scalability, a great competitive advantage for those who will lead the way, and a new revenue streams.

Crypto rejectionStill tough times for crypto in China

Late July and beginning of August (up to 22d)(Rather scarce, due to holidays, most from recent days)

GeneralAugust 15th, is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Bretton Woods currency system. Since then, US dollar is still acting as the main reserve currency. However, competitors are growing up. Will dollar be substituted by Yuan, Yen, Euro or even Bitcoin?

MarketsJuly 23d (short after the BTC bull run’s start): Bloomberg expects BTC at 60kWhich from ETH and BTC will be the first to All Time High? May be ETH due to sell-side liquidity crisis.August 16th: BTC in the 45-50’000$ range. 5 things to watch.

ETHOn August 5th occurred the « London » hard fork (EIP 1559), a major change in fees for Ethereum based smart contracts. If it fails, this may come in favour of Cardano or Binance Smart Chain. And Cardano has subsequently announced the release of its smart contracts functionnality, causing a jump in Cardano price.

AltCoinsSolana is leading the market this week with a 60% increaseCardano (ADA) now third most valuable crypto currency

MiningUS mining capacity is still increasing (in French)

DeFiCan DeFi stay decentralised, unregulated, or will the regulator quash it?

NFTThe blockchain is transforming the creator economy allowing content share with fans, and monetisation.

Business newsCoinbase Q2 profits reaches $1,6 billion (!)

Business news: going publicCircle going public may bring clarity in stable coins (see second part of the paper)

ToolsYield or hash rate? Depends on the currency.

Crypto adoption In the first half of 2021, VC funds invested more in crypto companies than in the whole 2020.

55% of the world’s top 100 banks reportedly have crypto and blockchain exposureNot surprisingly, as China and US drop in ranking, emerging economies dominate crypto adoption (Chainanalysis report), as measured per peer-to-peer exchanges, on-chain cryptocurrency value received and on-chain retail

peer exchanges, on-chain cryptocurrency value received and on-chain retail value transferred.Can crypto help Afghan women?Why charities should open the way for crypto

Crypto regulationMuch Ado About Nothing in US Senate and crypto.

Crypto fearOn August 10th, an anonymous hacker or group stole some $600 million worth of crypto from Poly Network. It has still been returned « as a lesson » and the hacker has been offered a reward (declined) for having found the flaw. Also a paper from The Guardian on the same topic, showing the raising interest for the crypto world

Week from July 4th to July 10th(From now on, only English will be available there)

MarketsSunday: Another month in crypto winter Whyckoff diverse readings?Tuesday: Bitcoin Trims Gains as PBOC Steps Up Crypto CrackdownWednesday: Bitcoin Price Consolidation May Be Nearing the End, Indicator SuggestsThursday: Bitcoin Sell-Off pushes BTC below the $34,000 support to $32,000. BTC Could Stabilize Around $30K Support, while ETH outperforms BTCFriday: Some foresee BTC at $24-29k, with a « cup and handle » configuration, and ‘Reflation’ Rethink Keeps Bitcoin Under Pressure

BTCWhy is it positive to see less bitcoins in exchanges? (In French)On the importance of « bitcoin halving »

ETHGoldman Sachs thinks ether, the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain, could overtake bitcoin in becoming the dominant "store-of-value" crypto

CBDCA very deep paper on e-CNY (electronic Chinese Yuan), its pilots, its consequences, stakes for small and private banks, as well as geopolitical consequences (7 pages, but worth the reading)Lottery and utility, a Chengdu e-CNY pilotBank of England chief economist: CBDCs could fundamentally disrupt centuries-old banking modelThe central bank of France has tested a cross-border CBDC transaction with Singapore, marking the first use of a smart contract-based, automated liquidity pool for the digital EUR/SGD currency pair; this was done using a technology

developed by JPMorgan.New Zealand is considering CBDC

BlockchainHonduras Farmers Access Global Markets Using Blockchain, with the help of IBM Food Trust

NFTTwitter gave out 140 Ethereum NFTs that can be seen on Rarible

DeFiCoinbase launched a new savings account service that lets users earn 4% annual percentage yield by lending out USDCJPMorgan foresees $40b revenues in staking in 2025Eleven new projects on HECO (Huobi) blockchainYields have started to contract as DeFi activity declines (technical)

MiningGPUs price drops as miners dump on second hand marketsComplaints about a mining facility in New York’s Finger Lakes regionMiners outside China benefit from Chinese ban

Business newsThe seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and his wife, the Brazilian-born supermodel Gisele Bündchen, will each be taking an equity stake in FTX (an exchange), which, in turn, has committed to spending over $350M on sports partnershipsAfter sponsoring Coppa Italia (soccer) and Montreal Canadiens (Hockey), Hong-Kong based crypto.com is sponsoring the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Business news: fund raising$100m for Amber Group, a financial services startup catering to professional crypto investorsCrypto Insurance Platform Coincover Raises $9.2M as Big Firms Seek Safety

Business news: IPOAfter Coinbase a month ago, Circle (the company backing USDC stable coin (#2 USD stablecoin) is going public, via a SPAC (Concord Acquisition Corp NYSE: CND, run by several former Wall Street veterans), at a value of $4.5b. It is worth giving a look at the revenue mix of Circle, USDC being only the second contributor to the EBITDA, while « Transaction and Treasury services » being first (and Seed Investment third).

Crypto adoptionSoros Fund management is now trading Bitcoin sourcesAn interesting graph from Bloomberg to sum up banks’ positioning

Visa crypto-cards users have spent more than $1b in S1 2021.82% of institutional investors intend to increase their exposure to crypto by 2023

Crypto fearRansomware hacking group REvil has launched new attacks toward at least 200 U.S. companies on Friday and is now demanding $70 million in bitcoinCompanies are writing off losses due to BTC and ETH dropsBinance temporarily stops deposits via SEPAA Chinese software maker closed for providing software for virtual currency transactions. This might have caused a drop from $35’000 to $34’000 in BTC price.

Technical cornerInside the Curve war (fight for governance in DeFi)

The Fate of Ethereum Miners When There’s Nothing Left to Mine (future of Ethereum mining after the Merge; EIP 1559 is to occur on August 4, while the Merge is estimated to be ready for activation early next year)

Semaine du 27/6/21 au 3/7/21(English below: week 27th June 21 to 3d July 21)

MarchésLundi: toujours dans l’attente, le bon moment pour partir en vacances?Mardi: Le « Multiple de Puell » donne-t-il un signal d’achat ou est-il lié à la baisse du hashrate chinois?Mercredi: depuis un mois, c’est le mardi que le marché du BTC se retourne…Jeudi: une baisse du ratio put/call, la fin d’un marché baissier ou des stratégies de vente de calls?$445m d’options à échéance ce vendredi. Les baissiers sont positionnés à $33’000 et les haussiers à $34’000Vendredi: Une baisse du BTC liée à une hausse du dollar

ETHL’Eth 2.0 approche les 6 millions d’ETH en stake

AltCoin$30Mds d’ADA staked en vue du fork Alonzo (smartcontract), ce qui fait de Cardano la cryptomonnaie la plus staked (devant ETH qui n’est « que » à $12,2Mds)

StablecoinsLe vice-président supervision de la FED pense que l’usage d’une stablecoin sur le dollar pourrait renforcer la présence internationale du dollar et se déployer plus vite et avec moins d’inconvénients qu’une MNBC.

CBDCLa Russie et l’Espagne avancent sur les CBDC

MiningLes prêteurs victimes de la chute du hash-rate chinoisLe hashrate et les transactions BTC en chute libreUne commande de $100m (TeraWulf) en machines de mining et une autre de $66m (Hive Blockchain Technologies)Argo Blockchain, une société de mining, emprunte $20m pour ouvrir une usine au TexasLe Blockchain Mining Council (mis en place en mai avec le soutien d’Elon Musk), annonce que 56% de l’énergie utilisée par les miners est d’origine renouvelable… Mais certains émettent des doutes.

DeFiLa DeFi en difficulté?

Quelques graphes pour voir que la demande sur la DeFi est revenue au niveau de décembre 2020Le premier fonds DeFi régulé par les autorités de marché (Allemagne)La DeFi sur Bitcoin est différente de la DeFi sur Ethereum (Podcast: sur Spotify, sur Apple Podcasts)La DeFi 6 fois plus productive que BlackRock?

BlockchainUne blockchain pour faciliter les KYC interbancaires dans les Emirats

ESGGreen washing?

NFTBinance ouvre sa place de marché NFT$2m chez Christie pour FEWOCiOUS, une collection de NFT inspirée par un artiste de 18 ans

ExchangesEncore des ennuis pour Binance, en Thaïlande, aux Iles Cayman et à Singapour, alors que Coinbase obtient une licence de dépôt de cryptos en Allemagne et que les nouvelles règles sur les dérivés de Huobi force ses clients à chercher des alternatives, et que BTTChina ferme ses activités sur le BTC en Chine

Actualités des entreprises: introRobinhood, rendue célèbre par son rôle dans l’affaire GameStop, puis retardé par des investigations de la SEC, entre enfin en bourse

Actualités des entreprises: levées$200m pour Mercado (exchange brésilien)$139m pour Animoca Brands, une société de commercialisation de NFT pour les objets digitaux des jeux vidéos$105m (de deux F.O.!) pour une société de mining qui recycle les déchets du charbonMorgan Stanley lead une levée de $48m pour Securitize, une place de marché pour actifs numériques, notamment utilisée pour lever du capital$25m pour Blockware Mining$25m pour un crypto lender$24m pour Kaiko (la startup française d’analytics)$14m pour une plateforme de NFT$13m pour Mintable, une plateforme NFT, un des 4 investissements de Mark Cuban dans le domaine$12m pour Nansen, une firme de blockchain analytics

Actualités des entreprises: M&AL’achat de Tink ($1.8Mds) par Visa serait-il guidé par la volonté d’être présent sur les transferts de compte à compte, boostés par la directive PSD2, et très

pertinents pour les cryptos?BlockTower (une firme d’investissement en crypto) achète GammaPoint (un fond crypto market-neutral) pour $35m

Crypto adoption (masse)Les Cryptos ont atteint le point de bascule sur la courbe de l’adoption en masseLes Security tokens (des jetons basés sur des actifs) sont de retour, cette fois pour de bon

Crypto adoption (banques)24 millions d’américains pourront acheter des cryptos sans ouvrir de compte sur un exchangeVisa renforce son équipe cryptoARK Management dans la course à l’ETF BTC approuvé par la SECLa bourse allemande (Deutsche Börse) achète les deux tiers de Crypto Finance, l’exchange suisse pour offrir des services à ses clients institutionnels, pour une somme « en bas d’une somme à trois chiffres en millions de francs suisses »La première banque coréenne rejoint le « Blockchain Governance Council », la plateforme de messagerie su blockchain du géant de messagerie KakaoLe broker anglais TP ICAP se joint à Fidelity et Standard Chartered pour lancer une plateforme de trading de crypto La banque singapourienne DBS utilise un système d’émission de titres sur blockchain développé par la société anglaise Nivaura

Crypto adoption (pays)En Allemagne, les fonds « spéciaux » pourront allouer jusqu’à 20% de leur actif aux cryptos, ce qui représente un potentiel de €350Mds

Crypto régulationL’Iran saisit 7’000 miners illégaux, mais autorise 30 fermes Les fournisseurs de crypto non approuvés par la FCA (UK) bientôt interdits de pub sur GoogleLe ministre des finances mexicain, Arturo Herrera, réaffirme que les cryptomonnaies sont interdites dans le système financier mexicain. Ce rappel survient peu après que les milliardaire mexicain Ricardo Salinas ait annoncé dans un tweet que sa banque prévoit d’accepter les bitcoins De plus en plus d’entreprises abandonnent la procédure d’agrément britannique

Crypto sécuritéRegrouper les informations des portefeuilles pour mieux tracer

Crypto doutesLa banque centrale de Russie pense que ce sont les CBDC, pas le BTC, qui sont le futur des paiements L’autorité des marchés australienne a des doutes sur les ETP basés sur des cryptos

Insight Investments, filiale de BNY Mellon (qui développe des services sur les ETF cryptos), a des doutes sur le BTC comme moyen de paiement

Crypto manipulationUne organisation d’e-sports (FaZe Clan) révoque un de ses membres et en suspend trois pour manipulation de cryptos

Week from 27th June 21 to 3d July 21

MarketsMonday: This Bear Market May Not Last LongTuesday: Bitcoin’s ‘Puell Multiple’ Flashes Misleading Bullish Signal as China Bans MiningWednesday: Coincidence? Bitcoin saw its highs and lows on 'Turnaround Tuesdays' in JuneThursday: Bitcoin’s Sliding Put-Call Ratio Points to Weakening Bearish Sentiment: Analysts$445m options expire on Friday. Narrow window between $33’000 bears and $34’000 bulls.Friday: Bitcoin Remains Depressed as Dollar Rallies Ahead of U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls

ETHEthereum 2.0 approaches 6 million staked ETH milestone

AltCoin$30b of ADA staked in anticipation of Alonzo fork (allowing smart contracts), making Cardano the most capitalised cryptocurrency in terms of staked value (ETH is « only » at $12.2b)

StablecoinsRandal Quarles, the Federal Reserve’s vice chair for Supervision considers that stablecoins “could encourage [international] use of the dollar by making cross-border payments faster and cheaper, and it potentially could be deployed much faster and with fewer downsides” than a central bank digital currency (CBDC)

CBDCRussia and Spain are moving toward CBDC

Mining Hashrate and BTC transactions to their lowest levelPoolin halts payout for BTC, ETH hash rate tokens after China's crackdownThe Blockchain Mining Council (established in May with the support of Elon Musk) says renewable energy accounted for 56% of mining… but some have doubts.TeraWulf orders for $100m of new mining machines while Hive Blockchain Technologies purchased $66m worth of graphics processing units

Bitcoin mining firm Argo Blockchain takes $20 million loan to build out Texas facility

DeFiDeFi Shows Cracks as User Growth Slows in Crypto Hot SpotSome graphs to see that DeFi demand is back to its December 2020 levelBaFin-Licensed DeFi Firm Swarm Starts Onboarding $15M of Pledged LiquidityDeFi on Bitcoin differs from DeFi on Ethereum(Podcast: on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts)DeFi 6 times more efficient than BlackRock?

BlockchainBlockchain used for HSBC KYC in UAE

ESGGemini pledges to offset 350,000 tons of bitcoin-related carbon emissions

NFTBinance to launch NFT marketplace with sale featuring works by Warhol and Dali$2m for FEWOCiOUS, a NFT collection inspired by 18 years old artist.

ExchangesSome more troubles for Binance, in Thailand, in the Cayman Islands and at Singapore, while Coinbase gets a crypto custody license in Germany, and Huobi’s Tighter Derivatives Rules Leave Chinese Traders Scrambling for Alternatives. BTCChina closes its BTC operation in China

Business news: introRobinhood, famous for its role in the GameStop story, and then delayed by SEC investigations , will go public soon

Business news: fund raisingSoftBank Invests $200M in Brazil Crypto Exchange Mercado Bitcoin$139m for Animoca Brands, an NFT platform for digital properties in video gamesBitcoin mining company that repurposes waste coal raises $105 million in fundingMorgan Stanley co-leads $48 million Series B for blockchain firm Securitize$25m for Blockware MiningFinnish crypto lender Tesseract bags $25 million Series ACrypto data firm Kaiko closes $24 million Series A funding roundRarible aims to take NFTs mainstream with new funding, Layer 2 adoption$13m for Mintable, an NFT platform, one out of four Mark Cuban’s investments in this fieldA16z Leads $12M Investment in DeFi-Native Crypto Tracing Firm Nansen

Business news: M&AIs Tink acquisition ($1.8b) by Visa guided by a strategy toward peer to peer transfers, facilitated by the new PSD2 directive, an opportunity for cryptos.$35m paid by BlockTower (crypto investment firm) to acquire GammaPoint, a market-neutral crypto fund, « among a tremendous market neutral opportunity » in search for yieldDeutsche Börse Group said it will buy a two-thirds stake in Crypto Finance AG, enabling the stock exchange to offer custody and other crypto-related services to clients, for an undisclosed amount

Crypto adoption (mass)Crypto has reached adoption tipping pointSecurity Tokens Are Back and This Time It’s Real

Crypto adoption (banks)$6 Billion NCR Opens Bitcoin Purchases To 650 Banks And Credit UnionsVisa makes five strategic crypto hires and placementsARK Management has joined the race to get a BTC ETF approved by the SECKorea’s First Bank Joins Messaging Giant Kakao’s Blockchain Governance CouncilInterdealer broker TP ICAP is launching a crypto-trading platform alongside Fidelity Investments and Standard CharteredSingapore’s DBS Bank Enlists Nivaura’s ‘One-Click’ Blockchain Security Issuance

Crypto adoption (countries)German Law Allowing $415B Investment Into Crypto Takes Effect

Crypto regulationIran authorities seize 7,000 crypto miners in largest haul to date, while Iran’s Ministry of Industry Issues 30 Licenses to Crypto Mining FarmsGoogle to Limit UK Financial Ads to FCA Approved CompaniesMexico’s finance minister, Arturo Herrera, reiterated Monday that cryptocurrencies are banned in the country’s financial system. This comes after Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego said in a tweet on Sunday that his bank plans to accept bitcoinCrypto Firms Are Giving Up UK Regulatory Registration Bids: Report

Crypto safetyBlockchain analytics firm creates API that pools data from Elliptic, Ciphertrace

Crypto doubtsGovernor of Central Bank of Russia: Crypto Is The Most Dangerous Investment Strategy | LightBlocks Cryptocurrency and Blockchain NewsAustralia’s Financial Watchdog Says Bitcoin ETP Could Create ‘Risk’, Seeks Feedback

BNY Mellon Subsidiary Doubts Bitcoin as Payment Solution Contrasting Parent’s Offerings

Crypto scamE-Sports Organization FaZe Clan Drops 1 Member, Suspends 3 Following Alleged Crypto Scam

Semaine du 20/6/21 au 26/6/21

MarchésDimanche: « ca va couper chérie! »‘Big Short’ Fund Manager Warns of ‘Mother of All Crashes’ in CryptoMardi: dans l’expectativeAnalysts Divided on Bitcoin’s Price Prospects as $30K BeckonsOu, avec une baisse des volumesContinued SilenceMercredi: le BTC rebondit sur son plus bas à $29’000Bitcoin Likely to Be Range-Bound After Rebound From $29KCe qui plait aux bullishBitcoin bounce from $28.8K activates century-old financial model's bullish thesisJeudi: quand l’effet de mode joue négativementGrayscale 'Unlockings' Poses Downside Risk to Bitcoin Price, JPMorgan SaysVendredi: le BTC remonte de 5% quand le président du Salvador annonce une distribution massive de wallet de $30Bitcoin Jumps 5% as El Salvador Braces for Crypto Law, $30 E-Wallet AirdropSamedi: toujours des fluctuations, mais de l’intérêt pour les fondamentaux de l’industrie (voir aussi la deuxième partie sur une certaine baisse de la volatilité)Money Reimagined: Price Swings Versus the Long Term

StablecoinsIl y a deux ans, Facebook annonçait le Libra. Cette annonce a profondément transformé le monde des cryptos, et probablement forcé les banques centrales à avancer sur le sujet des CBDC.Reflecting on Libra’s (Regulatory) Legacy

AltcoinsDes difficultés techniques sur Coinbase entraîne des écarts avec les autres exchanges et une hausse brutale de Polkadot (70% en 4 heures)Polkadot on Coinbase Went Up More Than 70% in the Midst of Crypto Market Sell-Off

BlockchainLa blockchain pour le back office bancaire Goldman Sachs Taps JPMorgan’s Private Blockchain for Repo TradeToute la bourse australienne sur blockchain en backofficeThe head of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has thrown down the

gauntlet to cryptocurrency’s $1.3 trillion market during a virtual technology summit.

MiningUne belle analyse de ce qui se passe en Chine, et pourquoi les mineurs s’en vontGo West, Bitcoin! Unpacking the Great Hashrate MigrationLe Kazakhstan, nouvel Eldorado?ASIC Maker Canaan Diversifies Into Bitcoin Mining in KazakhstanChinese Bitcoin Mining Company Delivers First Machines to KazakhstanMais aussi vers le MarylandChinese Logistics Firm Airlifting Bitcoin Mining Machines to Maryland

DeFiIl vaut mieux conserver passivement des ETH que de les placer passivement dans la DeFi, mais si on place activement c’est mieux (un article très détaillé)

DeFi Uncovered: Does DeFi Outperform ETH?La DeFi pour tous?Wirex Eyes Mainstream DeFi With Fireblocks IntegrationDes tensions dans la DeFiCustodian Prime Trust Cuts Ties With Crypto Lender CelsiusDes données de change pour les smart-contratsSolana-Based Pyth Network Adds Institutional Crypto Exchange LMAX as Data ProviderLe premier gagnant des enchères sur Polkadot (ou plus précisément Kusama) est Kurama, dont les utilisateurs ont misé $100m.DeFi Network Karura Wins First Auction Slot on Kusama

NFTLes NFT pour sauver la Chine?Ant Group Says NFTs Are Not Cryptocurrencies After Digital Artwork Sells OutAcheter des terrains virtuelsUn lot de terrains du monde virtuel Decentraland (MANA) s’est vendu près de 1M$

Actualité des entreprisesUne levée record de $2,2milliards pour a16zAndreessen Horowitz Rakes In $2.2B for Third Crypto Venture FundUn nouveau mineur au NasdaqLa société de mining Hive Blockchain admise à une cotation au Nasdaq$300m pour un fonds d’investissement en crypto; le premier investissement de PayPal en la matièreVisa, PayPal Join Crypto VC Blockchain Capital’s New $300M Fund$230m pour BitDAO, un exchange de dérivés cryptos

Peter Thiel, Alan Howard back BitDAO's $230 million raise$100m pour Chainanalysis, à une valo de $4,2MdCrypto Sleuthing Firm Chainalysis Raises $100M, This Time at $4.2B Valuation$70m pour Bitwise, un gestionnaire d’actifs cryptos, émetteur d’ETF cryptoBitwise raises $70 million from new Wall Street investors, including Henry Kravis and Dan LoebDCG rachète pour $50m du fonds Ethereum Crypto Trust, profitant d’une baisse de 70%DCG to Buy $50M in Shares of Grayscale’s Ethereum Classic Trust$49m de plus pour Block.one (et $100m à investir)Novogratz-Backed Cryptology Asset Group Invests $49M More in Block.one$14m pour TRM, une société de blockchain analysisBlockchain analytics firm TRM Labs raises $14 million Series A$9m pour un outil d’onboarding simple pour les débutants, avec la participation d’un aréopage de BA de haut niveauGalaxy Digital and NfX lead $9 million raise into Ramp$6.3m pour des outils interopérables entre blockchainsUmee raises $6.3 million to fuel push to become 'cross-chain hub' for DeFi toolsCocorico: les français choisissent les françaisCrypto wallet app Ledger Live integrates its first DeFi platform, ParaSwapLes sociétés de crypto chassent dans les financièresCrypto Firms Fight for Top Talent With Hundreds of OpeningsLes SPAC facilitent la cotation de sociétés dans la crypto (ici Bullish, mais aussi eToro en mars et SoFi en janvier)Peter Thiel-Backed Exchange Bullish Is in Talks to Go Public in SPAC Merger

Crypto adoptionAu Paraguay, on pourra payer certains restaurants ou clubs en cryptosParaguay Entertainment Group to Accept Bitcoin, Ether, SHIB Next MonthDeutsche Telekom facilite le paiement mobile en investissant ses propres réserves de cryptoA16z Joins Forces With Deutsche Telekom in Staking CELO Tokens

Adoption politiqueQuand le bitcoin devient une promesse politique aux USNYC Mayoral Front Runner Eric Adams Says City Will Become ‘Center of Bitcoins’

Adoption dans les paysArrivée de Coinbase au JaponCoinbase Enters Japanese Market After Completing Registration With Financial WatchdogLa Colombie suit l’exemple d’autres pays d’Amérique du SudColombia’s Capital Unveils $2.8B Blockchain Investment Plan1500 ATM au SalvadorAthena to Install 1,500 ATMs in El Salvador Following Bitcoin Law

Au Salvador, l’opposition essaie de contrer le présidentDeputy of El Salvador’s Opposition Party Files Lawsuit Against Bitcoin Legislation

Adoption bancaireGoldman SachsGalaxy Digital fournira de la liquidité pour les contrats à terme sur Bitcoin de Goldman SachsDu Venture Capital Journal: le Bitcoin n’est pas green, mais beaucoup de projets sur la blockchain méritent d’être regardésCryptocurrency may not be ESG compliant, but its moment is yet to comeLe moyen orient aussiMideast Joins Bitcoin Craze With First Dubai Crypto ListingPermettre aux banques d’offrir des services cryptos à leurs clientsNYDIG expands its play to bridge bitcoin and banking with new partnershipsCitibank, enfinCiti Launches ‘Digital Assets Group’ Within Wealth Management DivisionA l’inverse: des actions tokenisées sur les plateformes d’exchangeFTX Follows Binance’s Lead With Move Into Tokenized Stocks

Crypto regulationLa Corée du Sud récupère des impôts en saisissant des cryptomonnaiesSouth Korea Seizes $47M Worth of Crypto for Back Taxes

Crypto rejectionGoldman Sachs : faites ce que je dis, pas ce que je faisCrypto Not a ‘Viable Investment,’ Goldman Sachs SaysFin de partie en Chine?En Chine les transactions en cryptomonnaies sont finiesLa BIS (Bank of International Settlement) émet un avis négatif sur le BTC et des recommandations de précautions sur les CBDCBIS Says Bitcoin Has Few Redeeming AttributesBinance opérerait au Japon sans autorisationJapan’s Financial Services Watchdog Issues Binance Warning

Crypto fearDe faux ledgerDes hackers envoient de faux portefeuilles Ledger par courrier pour dérober vos cryptomonnaiesSécurité informatique: vol de plusieurs dizaines de millions en FranceCryptomonnaie : enquête ouverte après la disparition de millions d'euros chez un gestionnaire françaisLe casse du siècle? $3,6 milliards envolés!South African Brothers Vanish, and So Does $3.6 Billion in BitcoinUn malware, lié à des téléchargements illégaux, fait du mining à l’insu des propriétaires, et aurait rapporté $2m, en «Monero » une crypto monnaie moins traçable que le bitcoin

Monero-Mining Malware ‘Crackonosh’ Has Infected 222K ComputersLe Hamas recevrait des financements en cryptomonnaies52 US Representatives Are Backing a Bill Targeting Hamas Financing

Semaine du 13/6/21 au 19/6/21

ContexteTout converge?Government and Regulatory Breakdown

MarchésDimanche: Musk annonce que Tesla acceptera à nouveau des paiements en Bitcoins… quand les miners seront à moitié verts

🧑🎤

. Et le BTC gagne 9,66%.Tesla Will Resume Taking Bitcoin as Payment Once Miners Go 50% Green, Musk SaysLundi: Paul Tudor Jones recommande l’achat de BTC si la FED n’annonce pas mercredi de mesures contre l’inflationPaul Tudor Jones says ‘go all in on the inflation trades’ if Fed keeps ignoring higher pricesMardi: Dans l’attente de la conférence de Jérôme Powell mercredi soirThree Things to Watch for Before Calling a Bitcoin BottomMercredi: l’attente, de plus en plus flat…Bitcoin Enters Wait-and-See Phase Ahead of Fed StatementJeudi: la FED a parlé… mais cela n’a pas eu d’effet sur le BTC (un court instant -5%). Les analyses divergent: les fondamentaux parlent d’une hausse, mais les graphistes parlent du death cross à venir vendredi.Bitcoin Holders Become Net Buyers for First Time Since October as Death Cross LoomsVendredi: toujours rien de nouveauBitcoin Remains Relatively Resilient Post-Fed as Fiat Currencies Drop Against DollarSamedi: la hausse du dollar entraîne une baisse du BTCEye on the Dollar

BitcoinStripe pourrait reprendre les paiements en BitcoinStripe Co-Founder Is ‘Enthusiastic’ About Bitcoin, 3 Years After Ending Its Support

ETHVoulez-vous valider avec moi?The Challenge of Decentralized Staking Pools on Eth 2.0Comment l’ETH1 (PoW) fonctionnera-t-il avec l’ETH2 (PoS)?Charting The Path To Proof of Stake Ethereum (un peu long)

BlockchainBackoffice bancaire

15 Banks Form New Company to Process Letters of Credit in India Using Blockchain TechLa blockchain pour éviter le travail forcé Examine Blockchain for Ways to Stop Forced-Labor Goods, Australian Committee Says

DeFi20% de rendement annuel. Avec quel risque?Crypto Die-Hards Built a $90 Billion Wall Street on the InternetUn superbe article de Mark Cuban, dans lequel il explique à quel point les banques devraient avoir peur de (ou investir dans) la DeFiThe Brilliance of Yield Farming, Liquidity Providing and Valuing Crypto Projects (un peu long, mais cela en vaut la peine)Qui sera leader dans la DeFi (Ethereum, l’actuel, ou Polygon, le challenger)Institutional Investors Have Arrived on Polygon Amid Rising Ethereum Layer-2 DemandPour avoir une idée du fonctionnement de la gouvernance de quelques tokenDeFi Governance Updates for May 2021Pour jeter un oeil à des protocoles très innovants (mais complexes) dans la DeFi‘Weird DeFi’ Gets WeirderOù l’on commence à avoir des doutes sur la propriété intellectuelle de certains protocoles de DeFiCurve DAO Contemplates Its Intellectual Property

NFT‘Covid Alien’ CryptoPunk NFT sells for over $11.7 million to billionaire buyer in Sotheby’s auctionUn NFT pour acheter un morceau de news de CNNWant to Own a Piece of CNN’s News History? There’s an NFT for That

CDBCLes enjeux géopolitiques de la suprématie US et le dollar digitalDC’s Digital Dollar ChoiceDes enjeux d’un euro numérique pour les petits pays européens Digital Euro Could Deplete Bank Deposits by 8%, Morgan Stanley Says: ReportUn dollar digital (ou un dollar token, ou une CBDC?) pour l’inclusion financièreDigital Dollar? Get Real, Financial Inclusion Advocates Tell Congress

La Banque de France réalise une nouvelle expérimentation de monnaie numérique de banque centrale

https://siecledigital.fr/2021/06/23/la-banque-de-france-realise-une-nouvelle-experimentation-de-monnaie-numerique-de-banque-centrale/?utm_source=Newsletter+Siècle+Digital&utm_campaign=05c7f3c789-newsletter+quotidienne&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3b73bad11a-05c7f3c789-259721918

Actualité des entreprisesLe premier merger de l’histoire des DAO? Keep et NuCypher merge leurs tokens et protocoles mais gardent leurs équipes et leurs activités séparées. Les « AG » (par jetons de gouvernance) ont approuvé le 11 juin. Non de code KEANUKeep and NuCypher have agreed to merge their protocols into a DAO. Coming soon: a more capital-efficient version of Keep's bitcoin-on-Ethereum token, tBTC.Une introduction en bourse à venir pour Hut8 une société de miningHut 8 Mining’s Shares to Be Listed on NasdaqDeux levées autour des DEX de dérivésCrypto derivatives exchange builder dYdX raised $65 million from crypto investment firm ParadigmDecentralized finance (DeFi) derivatives exchange SynFutures raised $14 million in a Series A funding round led by Polychain CapitalStake Technologies lève $10m pour participer aux enchères à venir sur les slots de Polkadot Stake Technologies Raises $10M Ahead of Polkadot and Kusama Auctions

Crypto adoptionLes anglais préfèrent les cryptos aux actions?More Brits bought crypto than shares last year new survey suggests

Crypto adoption, banques et marchés312md$ en 2026 en crypto dans les hedge fundsHedge Funds See 7.2% of Assets in Crypto by 2026Sygnum, une banque suisse, qui proposait déjà à ses clients une rémunération sur une stable coin en francs suisses, offre maintenant à ses clients des produits de DeFiSwitzerland’s Sygnum Bank Gets Into DeFiGoldman Sachs offrira des produits dérivés sur les cryptosGoldman Sachs plans to offer ether futures, options to its clients Des ETC sur des « metal-coins »Based Tokens Backed by Nickel and CopperEn Chine, une banque lance des ATM pour convertir du cash en digital-yuanChinese Commercial Bank Enables Digital Yuan-Cash Conversion at Over 3,000 ATMsLa plateforme de paiement Signet accepte des paiements en StabledollarSignature Bank Taps Tether Rival TrueUSD for Payments PlatformBBVA offre des services de trading sur le bitcoin à ses clients suissesSpain’s BBVA Opening Bitcoin Trading Service to Private Banking Clients in SwitzerlandUn fonds pour investir dans des startups crypto en Afrique, mais aussi pour transformer l’activité de VC (?)

New Crypto Venture Fund to Invest in African Startups

Crypto adoption, paysAprès le Salvador, la Tanzanie?Tanzania’s President Urges Central Bank to Prepare for CryptoL’Afrique du Sud favorable aux cryptosSouth Africa to revise national policy position on cryptocurrencyTout un village teste le concept du Salvador

Crypto regulationLe ministre des finances des Pays Bas préfère surveiller plutôt que d’interdireCrypto Monitoring ‘More Effective’ Than Outright Ban, Dutch Finance Minister SaysPression en Corée du SudSouth Korean Exchanges Halt Trading on Certain Cryptos as Regulatory Pressure MountsEt ban du mining dans des régions chinoisesQinghai province ordered all crypto miners to shut down.Yunnan cracking down on miners’ “misuse of energy.”City in China’s Sichuan Province Orders Crypto Miners to Shut Down for Inspection

Crypto fearL’adoption du bitcoin pourrait être négatif pour le Salavador?Steve Hanke warns BTC could 'completely collapse the economy' of El SalvadorEt la banque mondiale refuse d’aider techniquement le SalvadorWorld Bank Denies El Salvador’s Request for Technical Assistance on BitcoinOn peut aussi tout perdre en quelques secondes avec la DeFiIron Finance’s Titan Token Falls to Near Zero in DeFi Panic SellUne bonne analyse de ce qui s’est passé Paying the IRON Price: Fractional Reserve Banking on a BlockchainLe Titan n’est pas le seul à avoir des soucisDeFi Crash Accelerates With Some Once-Hot Investments Losing 50%Un fonds suédois, piloté par l’IA, considère que le Bitcoin reste hermétiqueAI-Driven Hedge Fund Rules Out Bitcoin for Lack of ‘Fundamentals’Les stable coins, pas si stable que ça?Crypto Lode of $100 Billion Stirs U.S. Worry Over Hidden Danger

Semaine du 6/6/21 au 12/6/21

Le rapport de juin de Bloomberg sur les cryptos vient de paraître. Où l’on voit un BTC possiblement à $100’000 en 2021, une capitalisation de l’ETH qui rejoindrait celle du BTC, et surtout un USD qui écrase tout, via l’US-DT (Theter), alors que la fiat américaine perd du terrain dans le monde.

Marché

Samedi (5): Toujours la peur de la ChineBitcoin, Other Cryptos Fall After Weibo Blocks Rekindle Fears of China CrackdownDimanche: Un hedge fund qui préfère le BTC à l’or.“We’re going to stick to Bitcoin and crypto because we just think there’s more upside” (Troy Gayeski, CIO SkyBridge)Lundi: une baisse des volumesNumber of daily bitcoin transactions falls to 2018 levelsLundi: Microstrategy veut profiter du creux, en empruntant 400m$ pour compléter ses 3,4Md$ déjà en BTCMicroStrategy wants to raise $400 million via debt and buy more bitcoin with itMardi: Toujours l’incertitude, avec des signaux peu clairsPareidoliaMardi: les BTC quittent les exchange, ce qui est plutôt un signal de hausse (les investisseurs stockent le BTC dans leurs wallet)Crypto Exchanges See Biggest Bitcoin Outflow in 7 Months. A Reason to Cheer?Mercredi: après un plus bas à 31k, le BTC repart à la hausse sur fonds de hausse de l’inflation en ChineBitcoin Jumps Most in 2 Weeks to $36K After El Salvador Passes Currency LawMercredi: JPMorgan prévoit un marché en baisseJPMorgan says there’s weak bitcoin demand from big investors and a crypto bear market could be on the wayMercredi: Certains y voient un « bear-trap »Bitcoin’s Steep Price Discount Seems Similar to March 2020 BottomJeudi: Un marché toujours incertain, mais une reprise de l’activité Long/shortBroken RecordJeudi: un pessimisme qui se traduit sur une convergence spot-futuresBitcoin Futures Market in Capitulation Mode as Traders Turn BearishJeudi: les baleines grossissentBitcoin’s ‘Rich List’ Continues to Snap Up Cheap Coins

BitcoinDes prises de paroles ou annonces à la Bitcoin 2021 ConferenceTwitter CEO Jack Dorsey reiterated his commitment to make bitcoin “the native currency for the internet"El Salvador's president announces legislative proposal to declare bitcoin legal tenderMais le FMI ne voit pas cette annonce d’un bon oeilEl Salvador’s Bitcoin Bill Raises ‘Issues’: IMF SpokespersonEl Salvador offre de l’électricité géothermique bon marché pour le miningVolcano-Powered Bitcoin Mining Goes From Twitter Idea to State Policy in El SalvadorPour l’originalité de l’idée: le Bitcoin comme batterie?Bitcoin Is a Better BatteryTrump a aussi son avis« Bitcoin, it just seems like a scam. I don’t like it. I want the dollar to be the

currency of the world »

EthereumL’ETH et le BTC s’envoient en l’airUne fusée de SpaceX envoie le premier nœud Ethereum à bord de l'ISS

CBDCAlors que les US songent de plus en plus à faire une MNBC, Elizabeth Warren tackle le Bitcoin sur sa volatilité et son coût énergétiqueElizabeth Warren, US Lawmakers Put Bitcoin on Trial in Senate CBDC HearingLe Nigeria pourrait lancer une MNBCNigeria’s Central Bank May Launch a Digital Currency Pilot in 2021Et Hong Kong y songe (de 0:10 à 0:50)Et que le Brésil retarde son projetBrazil’s Central Bank Pushes Back Target Date on CBDC by Two Years

NFTSotheby’s, qui accepte depuis mai des cryptomonnaies en paiement et a facilité la vente de NFT, a ouvert une réplique virtuelle de ses galeries londoniennesSotheby’s Opens Virtual Replica of Its London Galleries in DecentralandLes NFT pour redonner le pouvoir aux musiciensNFTs Shift Power to Artists as the Music Business Evolves

DeFiJPMorgan, en route vers la DeFiRemember JPM Coin? Next Step Is Programmable Money, Bank Exec SaysEt le NYSE aussi?One of NYSE's largest market-makers is joining a Solana-based data project

BlockchainLa blockchain au secours de la pêcheHook to plate: how blockchain tech could turn the tide for sustainable fishingL’UNICEF finance 7 projets de blockchain autour de l’inclusion financière (à partir de 2:32)

Actualités des entreprisesTout va bien pour les miners (au moins pour leurs fournisseurs d’équipement)Canaan Forecasts Second-Quarter Revenue as High as $250MLa blockchain Solana lève 450m$Solana is raising as much as $450 million in bid to take on EthereumLedger lève 380m$Ledger Gets $380M in Series C Funding RoundBlockdaemon lève 28m$ pour le stakingBlockchain Staking Firm Blockdaemon Raises $28M in Series A Funding14m$ pour tracker le bilan carbone dans la supply chain (à quand pour Ivan? ;)Sustainable Supply Chain Technology Company Circulor Closes $14M Funding Round

L’ex-responsable blockchain de Paypal crée une startup et lève 2,3m$ pour sécuriser la commercialisation des NFTData privacy-focused NFT startup raises $2.3 million in seed fundingAprès Coinshares et Ledn, le fonds Brevan Howard investit 25m$ dans Copper et 4m$ dans KikitradeAlan Howard Adds to Crypto Spending With Investment in Two Startups

Crypto banalisationLe Salvador est le premier pays à imposer le Bitcoin comme moyen de paiement légal; la banque centrale couvrira en USD.It’s Official: El Salvador’s Legislature Votes to Adopt Bitcoin as Legal TenderEt le Paraguay pourrait s’y mettreParaguay May Be Next to Court Crypto Businesses With July BillCertains y voient un avenir radieux pour l’Amérique LatineLegalization of Cryptocurrency will Kickstart Economic Development in Latin AmericaLe Texas autorise les banques à fournir des services sur base cryptoTexas State Regulator Greenlights Banks to Custody CryptoPour les enchèresAuction House Phillips to Accept Crypto for Banksy Artwork Worth MillionsEt encore des produits cotés sur base crypto21Shares to List Bitcoin ETP in London on Aquis ExchangeCoinShares Issues Three Crypto ETNs on Deutsche BörseUn quatrième noeud Ethereum dans l’espace: dans quel but?SpaceChain Empowers Customers With Highly Secure On-orbit Ethereum Multisignature Transaction Services on the International Space StationUn mall virtuel sur base blockchainBoson Pays Record $704K for Decentraland Plot to Create a Virtual MallTwitter pourrait intégrer des micro-paiements en Bitcoin Layer 2 (Lightning) (un système de paiement rapide sur base Bitcoin)Jack Dorsey Suggests Twitter Likely to Integrate Lightning Network

Crypto sécuritéLe bitcoin est traçable: la plus grande part de la rançon de Colonial a été récupéréeColonial Pipeline’s Bitcoin Ransom Mostly Recouped by U.S.Comment le FBI s’y est-il pris?How A New Team Of Feds Hacked The Hackers And Got Colonial Pipeline's Ransom Back

Crypto regulationVers un Bâle IV pour la crypto?Basel Committee Proposes Banks Set Aside Capital to Cover Bitcoin ExposureAprès la Mongolie, le Xinjiang et le Qinghai, le Yunnan interdit le miningYunnan Province in China Expected to Ban Bitcoin Mining

Crypto fear

Le theter (USDT) est-il correctement sécurisé?Disruption in Tether’s Value Could Be Crypto Equivalent of ‘Breaking the Buck’ Il ne faut pas se voiler la face, mais chercher des solutionsRansomware Is a Crypto Problem

Semaine du 30/5/21 au 6/6/21

Un bel article de fondWhat I’ve Learned in the Past Five Years

Marché Toujours dans l’expectativeWhen to Strike (un peu technique)L’expectative entraîne une baisse de l’activité institutionnelle et du volume des futuresOpen Positions in CME-Based Bitcoin Futures Slump to 5 1/2-Month LowElon recommence!Bitcoin Drops After Musk Tweets of BreakupLe BTC, un refuge contre l’inflation, ou un substitut du cuivre?Goldman Sachs Analyst Says Crypto Is an Alternative to Copper, Not GoldL’expectative fait-elle les beaux jours du staking?Kraken Users Are Staking More Than $1B in Crypto

Alt coins‘DubaiCoin’ Leaps 1000% Within 24 Hours after False Claims

CBDCEuro-numérique, avantages et inconvénientsLes Etats-Unis s’inquiètent de la montée des stablecoin privéesFed’s Brainard Breaks Down CBDC Policy Considerations, Sees Price Pressures Waning in the FutureLa Chine poursuit sur son avanceА Pékin, l’équivalent de 5 millions d’euros vont être distribués en yuan numérique aux habitants de la villeLa Thaïlande se lance (mais sur 3 à 5 ans)Thailand’s Central Bank Taps German Payments Giant to Design CBDC PrototypeLe Ghana aussiGhana at ‘Advanced Stages’ With Digital Cedi, Central Bank Governor Says

NFTCrypto exchange Korbit launches NFT marketplace in South KoreaCrypto exchange FTX launches NFT marketplace

DeFiMai, le mois de la DeFiDeFi protocols generated more than $370 million in revenue during May

Investir dans la DeFi, à travers une plateforme qui sélectionne les projetsNew DeFi DAO Relies on ‘Talent Hunters’ to Vet Yield-Farming Projects

Actualité des entreprises et des marchésLe branding aussi pour les exchangeCrypto exchange FTX spends $210 million to rename the most valuable pro e-sports team100 millions pour les fonds crypto et les entreprises de la cryptoAngermayer Firm Eyeing $100M Investment in Crypto Funds2md$ pour Andressen Horowitz a16z Crypto Funda16z Crypto Fund Balloons to $2 Billion400m$ de levéeUSDC Builder Circle Raises $440M46m$ pour un fonds de crypto à la stratégie peu claireCowen Investment Arm Raises Over $46M for New Digital Assets Fund30m$ pour des projets sur la blockchain PolkadotMaster Ventures Launches $30M Polkadot Fund21m$ pour des projets sur Polygon (Ethereum niveau 2)AU21 Capital Opens $21M Polygon Ecosystem FundIls lèvent 14m$ en série A, mais se voient déjà comme BlackRockWhat we aim to be is the BlackRock of crypto7 m$ en seedDeFi Project Impossible Finance Raises $7M in Seed RoundDBS’s 15 m$ STO via its DDEx (voir le lexique)DBS Issues $15M Digital Bond in First Security Token Offering (DBS, ex Development Bank of Singapore, now Digital Bank of Singapore)Comment se préparer pour l’hiver, et acheter du runwayDAOs Prepare for the Next Crypto Winter With Treasury Diversification

Crypto banalisationLa Bourse de Paris se lance dans les cryptomonnaiesStandard Chartered s’y met aussiStandard Chartered to launch institutional crypto brokerage and exchange in EuropeLe fonds Guggenheim Macro Opportunities aussiGuggenheim Registers Fund That May Seek Exposure to CryptoRay Dalio (Bridgewater) admet posséder des BTCRay Dalio: ‘I Have Some Bitcoin’Carl Icahn annonce un investissement potentiel de 1,5Md$Billionaire Carl Icahn Eyes Potential $1.5B Crypto InvestmentEt en IndeInvestors Cheer After RBI Clarifies Crypto Trading Isn’t BannedSingapour se voit comme une future place libre des cryptos?Alibaba, Google Among More Than 300 Companies Seeking Singapore Crypto LicensesAux PhilippinesPhilippines Leading Mobile Wallet Explores Possible Crypto Offering

Au NebraskaNebraska Legislature Approves Framework for Digital Asset Banks

Crypto regulationCrypto currencies : commodities or securities? That is the questionWith Poloniex action, Canada's securities regulators get serious about crypto exchange oversightEn Suède, le gouverneur de la banque centrale est plutôt réticentRiksbank Governor Sees Good Reason to Believe Regulation of Crypto Will HappenWhile UK is softening its rulesUK Regulator FCA Extends Registration Deadline for Crypto BusinessesEn Chine, c’est permis mais pas recommandéChinese government mouthpiece says people have the freedom to trade bitcoin — at their own risk

Crypto fearUn édito Bloomberg! Qui fait (à tort?) le lien entre cyber attaques et cryptosHow Crypto Abets Ransomware AttacksEt l’administration s’en saisit (Executive order)Biden Administration to Probe Crypto Use in Ransomware Attacks

Et si ce n’était pas le BTC mais l’USDT (Theter) qui servait des flux douteuxTether Talk

Semaine du 23/5/21 au 29/5/21

OpinionL’hiver serait de retour?Crypto Winter Again? Time to RegroupOu le temps serait suspendu?Zero Gravity

MarchéUn « outil » graphique. Quand acheter ou vendre du BTCBitcoin Investor Tool: 2-Year MA MultiplierOu un autreRelative Unrealized Profit/LossSur l’impact sur le marché de l’effet de levier (attention: technique)The Final FlushLe manque de liquidité aurait causé le creux à $30’000 sur le BTC?We are Not Out of The WoodsComparer les futures et le spotNo Man's Land: Backwardization and WaypointsEt une inquiétude sur l’impact du levierLeveraged crypto trading threatens banking system, says Korea central bank governor

Le retour des baleinesWhales bought $3 billion of Bitcoin when its price fellVendredi, la correction n’est pas terminée?Bitcoin Remains in Corrective Phase Below $40K; Further Downside ExpectedBitcoin Slumps as Traders Brace for a Volatile Long Weekend

Bitcoin et énergieGreen Mining La société de mining Argo achète deux data centers alimentés en énergie hydrauliqueMusk se rachète?Musk seems to back effort to burnish token’s green credentials

Alt-coinsPour ceux qui veulent aller au delà de BTC et ETHThe 5 Crypto Projects I’m Most Excited About After the May 2021 Pullback

DeFiLa DeFi, prochaine génération des services bancaires?What ING Bank Might Steal From DeFi

CBDCA review of what had been said by US regulators at Binance Consensus eventWhat Regulators Said at Consensus 2021Fed’s Lael Brainard pushes digital dollar as central bank currency race heats upFed’s Brainard Breaks Down CBDC Policy Considerations, Sees Price Pressures Waning in the FuturePWC reportHow digital currency could change the global financial landscapeUn point de vue plutôt précis, hostile aux cryptomonnaies mais favorable aux CBDCPourquoi la Banque centrale européenne veut numériser l’euroUne mise en garde sur le pouvoir (excessif?) que cela pourrait donner aux banques centralesCentral Bank Digital Currencies Will Fix Bad PolicyLa Suède serait le second pays au monde, derrière la Chine, le plus avancé pour une CBDC (ceci sans compter Maurice)The Riksbank will partner with Handelsbanken to test how the e-krona might work in the real world

Actualité des entreprisesL’échange FTX, spécialisé en futures, valorisé 20 mds$FTX set to raise up to $1 billion at $20 billion valuationLes levées se poursuiventBlockchain lending firm Figure raises $200 million, pushing its valuation to $3.2 billionBlockchain Platform Chia Raises $61M From a16z, Others at $500M Valuation

Crypto lender Ledn raises $30 million Series AEt les acquisitions aussiGalaxy Digital Continues M&A Streak With Vision Hill AcquisitionEt des intentions d’introduction en bourseCrypto Exchange Kraken ‘Still On Track’ for 2022 Public ListingOù l’on apprend incidemment que Harvard, Yale et Stanford investissent leurs fonds dans les sociétés de crypto (voir 5e alinéa - l’article cité n’est accessible qu’aux abonnés)Paradigm taps trading, communications talent as the crypto VC firm pursues next growth phaseDe l’intérêt des blockchain analyticsOFAC wants to use blockchain analytics tools from ChainalysisDavos et la cryptoCrypto Impact and Sustainability Accelerator

Crypto regulationsWill Wyoming host the Crypto Valley?Wyoming Bill to Recognize DAOs as Companies Approved by Senate CommitteeWhile SEC seems cautiousWall Street’s New Cop Signals More Scrutiny of CryptoDu lourd chez CoinbaseCoinbase hires former Goldman Sachs executive as chief policy officerL’objectif du contrôleInside China’s Effort to Create a Blockchain It Can ControlCeux qui cherchent à contournerHow crypto-savvy criminals skirt OFAC sanctions

Crypto banalisationEt pendant ce temps…Will Apple Get on The Crypto Train?Pros and ConsArk’s Wood Says Bitcoin Can’t Be Shut Down, Rebuts ESG FearsKuroda Joins Chorus of Central Bankers Casting Doubt on Bitcoin

TechniquePour les codeursAnalyzing Dogecoin Tweet Sentiment in Real Time

Semaine du 16/5/21 au 23/5/21

MarchéMusk, suite…Bitcoin Drops After Musk Suggests Tesla May Sell Holdings, Says It Hasn’t YetMais aussi la ChineTrois organismes chinois lancent un avertissement sur les investissements en cryptomonnaiesEt le leverage

Crypto Lenders Say Wednesday’s Crypto Crash Cleaned Up ‘Excessive Leverage’Et voila pour mercredi, dans les EchosKrach mondial des cryptos (abonnés)Ou sur Coindesk, avec 8 milliards de dollars d’échanges sur les futuresBitcoin Drops Below $31K Before Rebounding; $8B in Liquidations TriggeredUn krach qui a entraîné des fermetures de certains ExchangeTop Crypto Exchanges See Technical Issues Amid Market CrashEt une lecture intelligente des causes, enjeux et conséquencesAs bitcoin lurches, Wall Street plots its way into cryptolandUne revue complète de ce qui s’est passé, et des conséquences sur les alt-coins et la DeFiCapitulation City as Bitcoin Dumps to $31K, ETH to $2K Before ReversalDès le 18, on voyait des retraits du BTC en faveur d’alt-coinsCrypto Funds Hit by Redemptions as Investors Retreat From Bitcoin

Et certains en profitentAs Newbies Panic in Latest Bitcoin Correction, Old Pros Appear to Buy on the Dip

BitcoinLe bitcoin consomme la moitié de l’énergie consommé par le système bancaire (mais les volumes ne sont pas comparables)Galaxy Digital Claims Banks Use More Than Double The Energy of BitcoinLe bitcoin serait plus « vert » que le pétrodollarBitcoin ‘Greener Than Petrodollar’: Human Rights and Energy AnalystsEt le patron de Twitter pense que le Bitcoin peut rendre le monde plus vertJack Dorsey Says Bitcoin Can Make the World Greener. Could He Be Right?C’est aussi l’avis de Michael Casey, de CoinDesk (dans une approche qui ne

manque pas de me faire penser à la 3ème Révolution Industrielle de Jérémy Rifkins)Hey Elon, Bitcoin Can Green the GridOù l’on découvre ce que c’est que le « hashrate » et que les mineurs migrent aussiBitcoin hash rate drops as Sichuan miners face short-term power capLe débat autour de la consommation du Bitcoin donne des idées de promotion à certainsCrypto Derivatives Exchange BitMEX Pledges to Become Carbon NeutralEt les futures bientôt dans un ETFETF provider Teucrium Trading to launch an ETF, benchmarked by bitcoin futures

Ethereum200 fois moins d’énergie consommée avec le Proof of Stake! (Et des comparaisons intéressantes)A country's worth of power, no more!

AltcoinsSuivre les altcoins sans les détenir directement, avec des ETPSwiss Asset Manager Valour Launches Cardano and Polkadot ETPsPourquoi brûler 6 milliards de dollars?Vitalik Buterin Burns $6B in SHIB TokensEt pour comprendre la trilogie des alt-coins (shit coins?), une analyse assez complète$ASS Coin Billionaire: Tales From the Fringe of the Crypto Craze

CBDCBeaucoup d’intérêt (About 80% of Central Banks Are Exploring CBDC Use Cases), sauf à la BCE

NFTNot only for arts, but also for brands. NFT for disintermediation?NFTs Are Trending Up. Here Are The Opportunities For Brands And RetailersDes NTF F1L'écurie de F1 de Red Bull fait équipe avec Tezos (XTZ) et se lance dans le monde des NFTsEt sur InstagramInstagram to Host Panel for NFT Creators

Actualités des entreprisesCrypto Custodian Copper Raises $50M in Series B RoundDeskoin et Just Mining obtiennent le statut PSAN, ce qui porte à 17 le nombre de structures agréées en France (liste)Zapper lève 15 millions de dollars et prévoit un « App Store » pour applications décentraliséesCoinbase in Talks to Buy Asset Manager Osprey Funds

Crypto cultureQu’est ce qu’un grand singe et le jeton BANANA?Avec la tendance actuelle du marché, jusqu'où ira la « Ape » ?

Crypto banalisationEt on peut maintenant aller dans la lune avec des crypto monnaiesSpaceX dévoile la mission lunaire DOGE-1, financée grâce au DogecoinDéposer ses tokens dans une banqueSygnum Becomes First Bank to Offer Custody of Dfinity's ICP Token

Crypto SuspicionBinance fait l’objet de deux enquêtes de la part de trois agences américaines.

Crypto fearCrypto Exposure May Impact Financial Firms’ Risk Profiles: AllianzIran Cracks Down on Crypto Miners Using Household ElectricityIndian crypto traders are receiving account closure notes from banks and exchanges see issues with bank transfersLes faux Elon Musk ont déjà volé 2 millions de dollars en cryptomonnaie

Semaine de 9/5/21 au 16/5/21

MarchéUne méthode pour prédire le cours du BTC (le modèle prévoit un BTC à $288’000 d’ici 2024, mais avec une année 2022 très flat)?Prédire l'évolution du cours du Bitcoin avec le modèle Stock-to-Flow – Est-ce toujours pertinent ?Comment les baleines influent sur le cours du BTCBitcoin Pullback Risk Rises as Whales Resume SellingL’ETH toujours plus hautEther Touches $500B Market Cap for First Time, Overtaking JPMorgan and VisaElon Musk joue-t-il à manipuler les cours?Elon Musk annonce qu’il n’acceptera plus de bitcoins pour payer ses Tesla et bouscule la cryptomonnaie (abonnés)Bitcoin Makes Weak Bounce After Tesla Blow But Pullback May Not Be Over: AnalystOu Musk cherche-t-il à s’enrichir personnellement avec ses DOGE?Dogecoin Jumps 22% as Elon Musk Hints at Improving Network’s Transaction EfficiencyEt le BTC vraiment au plus bas?Bitcoin Sell-Off Could Stabilize Around $42K Support

BitcoinLe bitcoin (monnaie BTC) est aussi le Bitcoin (technologie), et il fait l’objet d’innovationsWhy Bitcoin’s Taproot Upgrade Matters

Un bitcoin vert?Green Bitcoin? Ninepoint ETF Uses Fees for Carbon OffsetsIs bitcoin a hedge against inflation?How the Fed Could Fail

DOGE (altcoin)DOGE: pour en savoir (beaucoup) plusDogecoin: Everything You Wanted To Know About This Memecoin Faut-il arrêter le DOGE?Dogecoin: From Shiba Inu to ScapegoatEt pour être bien averti (un article un peu plus ancien, du 20/4)Want to Buy Dogecoin? Read This FirstouWhy You Should Be Careful Investing in DogecoinOu encore (le lien est bon, voir la seconde partie de l’article)Dogecoin is getting people worriedEt un DOGE killer?Chinese Crypto Traders Are Pouncing on SHIB Coin Known as ‘Doge Killer’

StablecoinStable or at risk?Tether’s First Reserve Breakdown Shows Token 49% Backed by Unspecified Commercial PaperDiem (ex-Libra)Facebook-Backed Diem Partners With Silvergate Bank to Issue US Dollar Stablecoin

NFTMême sur eBayEbay Allows Sale of NFTs on PlatformDes « vignettes » NFT pour 17,9m$Rare CryptoPunk NFTs Fetch Almost $17M at Christie’s AuctionEt quand on combine NFT et série ABig Time Sudios closes a $10.3 million in series A to bring NFTs in AAA video gamesAussi dans le New York TimesThe Untold Story of the NFT Boom

BlockchainDisney sees blockchain replacing watermarks to fight film piracy

Startups et acquisitionsUne startup à 10 milliards!Thiel, Novogratz Back $10B Funding for Block.one’s New Crypto Exchange SubsidiaryEt 50 millions pour les DeFi…Brooker Group to Invest Almost $50M in DeFi, Dapp Startups

Crypto cultureSI vous êtes fauchés, utilisez un crypto faucet (jeu de mots douteux)What are Cryptocurrency Faucets?Après les ICO, STO, IEO, voici les IDO (Initial DEX Offering)…IDOs: Crypto Fundraising, Reinvented

Crypto banalisationOù l’on voit que 35% des 18-50 ans désirent renforcer leurs investissements en cryptomonnaiesEtude Anaxago Les Français et leur argentAussi des dons en crypto (et même en DOGE!)You can make donations to the American Cancer Society with @dogecoinEt dans le sport aussi, du côté des joueurs (certains se font payer en crypto), et du soutien aux clubs (New York Giants, Montreal Canadiens, ou coupe d’Italie)Banalisation de CBDCLe yuan numérique disponible sur les services financiers d’AlibabaDans les banques, UBS aussiUBS Exploring Ways to Offer Crypto to Wealthy ClientsEt en Amérique latine, c’est l’explosionCrypto Is Booming in Brazil, but Regulations Lag Behind12000 points d’échange fiat-crypto aux USMoneyGram to Allow Bitcoin Buying and Selling Across Retail Network

Semaine du 2/5/21 au 9/5/21MarchéAnalyse graphiqueLe Bitcoin (BTC) poursuit son range pendant que l'Ether (ETH) consolideGoldman Sachs and Bitcoin derivativesGoldman Offers New Bitcoin Derivatives to Wall Street InvestorsUn record de 482m$ de souscriptions cette semaine (weekly report from Coinshares to be downloaded)L’or et le bitcoin dépendent de la FED?Gold Rallies as Bitcoin Languishes Around $56KL’Ether à $8000 en juin (actuellement à 3600)?Ether Traders Load Up on $8K Call Options in Bet Price Will Double by JulyQu’est ce qui pousse l’Ether? La DeFi?Ether tops Bank of America on Market Cap

AltcoinsDogecoin Price Finally Tops 69 Cents, Flips XRP to Become Top-4 Crypto

Startups et acquisitionsCoin Metrics a levé 15 millions de dollarsLe réseau social pour NFTs Showtime lève 7,6 millions de dollars

Galaxy Digital rachète le service de garde BitGo pour 1,2 milliard de dollarsDes « Secret NFTs »?Secret Network Raises $11.5M to Further Privacy and App DevelopmentLa première crypto licorne d’Amérique latine$2.2B Bitso Becomes First Crypto Unicorn in Latin America

CBDC5 projets pilotes

DeFiDeFi More Disruptive to Banks Than Bitcoin, Says ING

Dark cryptoWho said blockchain is untrackable?

Crypto électricitéLe Bitcoin consomme plus que la NorvègeMais certains sont d’un avis contraireMinting Your Meme NFT Won’t Burn the PlanetEntre mining et coupures d’électricitéBitcoin Mining Difficulty Sees Largest Downward Adjustment of the YearEt pour en avoir le coeur netDoes Bitcoin have an energy problem? (CoinDesk report to download)

Crypto banalisation4 personnes sur 10 déclarent qu’elles prévoient de payer en crypto-monnaiesSelon Mastercard, l'usage des cryptomonnaies pour le paiement gagne du terrainAcheter Banksy en BTCLa maison de vente aux enchères Sotheby's accepte le Bitcoin et l'EtherPaypal et cryptoLe géant du paiement PayPal envisagerait de lancer un stablecoin

PratiqueFiscalité et cryptomonnaies : comment remplir votre déclaration de revenus ?

Semaine du 25/4/21 au 2/5/21

Marché Volatile, disiez-vous?The Pattern in Bitcoin’s VolatilityAnalyse graphiqueEn range, le Bitcoin (BTC) donne l'occasion à l'Ether (ETH) de s'envolerLes ventes de Bitcoin par Tesla (272 m$) comptent pour 1/4 de ses profits en T1 2021 Elon Musk’s Tesla Sold Bitcoin in Q1 for Proceeds of $272MOu We just learned a lot about Tesla’s Bitcoin bet

Et finalement, l’entrée en jeu prochaine de JP MorganJPMorgan to Let Clients Invest in Bitcoin Fund for First Time: Sources

Bitcoin (et géostratégie)Le bitcoin, ultime refuge contre l’inflation?Bitcoin’s time to shine is fast approaching (Fortune)Où l’Iran utilise le bitcoin pour contourner l’embargo USIran’s Bitcoin Bet and the Money Wars to ComeAfrique, crypto et inflationMore Africans Walk Towards Financial Freedom Due To Cryptocurrencies

AltcoinsDogecoin, vu par les EchosDogecoin, une plaisanterie à 36 milliards de dollars (Abonnés)

Startups et acquisitionsAnoma, a layer one blockchain in development, raised $6.75 million from Polychain Capital, Electric Capital and Coinbase Ventures. Wallet provider ZenGo closed a $20 million Series APaxos Raises $300M, Joins Crypto Unicorn Club at $2.4B ValuationPolygon Launches $100M Fund to Support DeFi AdoptionUK Asset Manager Baillie Gifford Invests $100M in Blockchain.comCoinbase acquière Skew, une plateforme d'analyse de données sur les cryptomonnaies

CBDCLes Etats-Unis ne cherchent pas à battre la Chine?US Will Not Race China to Develop a CBDC: Fed Chairman PowellMais Mastercard s’y intéresse quand mêmeMastercard to Explore Applications It Can Build on Top of CBDCs

NFTSur un ton plus léger, vous collectionnez les Pokémon?Des cartes Pokémon pour riches ? : ces comics devenus objets de spéculationDe nouvelles plateformes NFT (qui prennent 80% du montant des transactions -voir l’article précédent)5 Up and Coming NFT Platforms to Keep Your Eye on

DeFiDeFi Is Now a $100B Sector

BlockchainCardano (ADA) : un partenariat avec le gouvernement éthiopien pour l’identification des étudiants

Crypto banalisation10 000 taxis britanniques accepteront bientôt les paiements en cryptomonnaies

Le géant sud-américain Mercado Libre accepte désormais les paiements en BitcoinCoinbase permet à ses clients américains d'acheter des cryptomonnaies avec PayPal

Semaine du 18/4/21 au 24/4/21

MarchéLe 18 avril: Le Bitcoin (BTC) plonge de 10% et liquide 5 milliards de dollars de position - Pourquoi cette chute brutale ?Le 22 avril: Jusqu'où ira cette correction pour le Bitcoin (BTC) et l'Ether (ETH) ? (analyse graphique)Le 23 avril: Bitcoin Leads Price Sell-Off Across Crypto Markets as Biden Tax Plan Bites

DOGEEt l’évènement de la semaine, c’est le comportement à contre courant du DOGE (voir aussi dans l’article plus haut le graphe « off the charts: Doge and the Goliaths »)Dogecoin Eclipses XRP as 4th Largest Cryptocurrency Ahead of ‘Dogeday’Mais ne perdons pas de vue l’origine du DOGE (« The ultimate meme »)Dogecoin Is a Joke, Get Over It

CBDC(Central Bank Digital Currencies)Le yuan numérique en test à Shanghai et plusieurs provinces de ChineChristine Lagarde repousse à nouveau la prise de décision pour l’euro numérique (Article du 1er avril…)

StablecoinLe Tether, la plus grande des stablecoins, pas si stable que ça?During Bitcoin’s Latest Price Crash, ‘Tether Premium’ Shows Where Money Went

BourseD’autres introductions en vueUn trust lié à la famille Rothschild investit dans KrakenUn souci momentané sur CoinbaseL'opérateur de la Bourse de Francfort va retirer l'action de Coinbase de ses marchés

BlockchainSécuriser les produits de luxeLouis Vuitton Owner LVMH Is Launching a Blockchain to Track Luxury Goods (Article du 26 mars)

Semaine du 12/4 au 18/4/21

ActualitésCoinbase entre en bourse, et le monde des crypto ne sera plus le mêmeMoney Reimagined: The Coinbase CatalystCoinbase inscrit un message dans la blockchain de Bitcoin le jour de son introduction en BourseCoinbase, symbole d'une finance qui bascule dans le numérique (Abonnés)

Monnaie Numérique de Banque CentraleCrypto et géopolitique:Crypto Long & Short: Peter Thiel Defines Bitcoin’s Accidental Role in Global PoliticsSur l’euro numériqueEuro numérique : quésako ? Sur leș craintes US face au Yuan numériqueAux États-Unis, la peur du yuan numérique s'installe - L'hégémonie du dollar est-elle menacée ?A quand?Riksbank Says Sweden Could Have a Digital Central Bank Currency in 5 Years: Report

Applications de la blockchainPour le vote électronique Une synergie entre la blockchain et la biométrie est-elle la solution idéale pour le vote décentralisé ?

Backoffice bancaire et blockchainJPMorgan Testing Blockchain Solution to Improve Transfers With Taiwanese BanksNew Ethereum-Based Derivatives Trading Platform Wins EU’s MIFID LicenseLinux Foundation, Insurance Group Roll Out Platform to Cut Costs Using DLT

NFTMême chez Mac Donald’sMcDonald's France annonce la sortie d'une collection de NFTsPour les fous de footSoccer Icon Pelé Becomes Latest Sports Star to Enter NFT Craze

Le monde des start-upsCryptio lève 1 M€

FiscalitéFiscalité française. Des zones d’ombresComment le législateur pourrait-il clarifier la fiscalité applicable à certaines opérations sur les crypto-actifs ?

La référence: l’article 150 VH bis du CGI

Éléments de marché BTC au plus haut (le 13/4)Bitcoin, Ether Hit New All-Time Highs on Eve of Coinbase ListingRelations inflation - BTC (le 16/4, le BTC baisse, peut-être en raison du ban turc)Bitcoin Price Drops as Turkey Bans Crypto Payments Amid Currency CrisisSur la liquidité du BTC (un peu plus technique, mais instructif: pour rappel, la quantité de BTC est fixe)The Liquidity Crisis - Part One: BTCEt pour la polémique (ou les influenceurs de marché)…The Rollerball Cryptocurrency Hypothesis

Alt-coinsSur le BNB (le token de Binance)Binance brûle 595,3 millions de dollars de BNBLe cours du DOGE est-il l’objet de manipulations?Le Dogecoin (DOGE) atteint un nouveau record absolu