Messari's Weekend Reads 😎 - Unqualified Opinions
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Your daily snapshot from our OnChainFX markets dashboard.
We’re wrapping up the week with our weekend reads and a shoutout to CZ and the team at Binance who managed to dominate the news cycle this week. It started with delisting BSV and ended with the launch of Binance’s very own blockchain. Along the way BNB managed to eclipse its 2018 all time high.
We put together some boards to track all the news and updates from BSV delisting to Binance Chain launch. Check them out and let us know what we are missing.
Think you have a board that the community would love? Tweet it to us and we will feature the best ones in our newsletter on Monday.
-Eric
And now onto our weekend reads. If you’re looking to take a break from screen time skip the reads and dig into out our 30+ episode library of Unqualified Opinions podcasts on iTunes and Spotify.
📚 Messari’s weekend reads:
On usability of blockchain applications - Alexander Skidanov
Crypto/digital asset regulation and consumer protection - Andrew Yang
15 months of fresh hell inside Facebook - Nicholas Thompson and Fred Vogelste
What types of organizations Should Be Autonomous - Amentum Capital
The threat of nuclear war is still with us - George P. Shultz, William J. Perry and Sam Nunn
Getting garbage collection for free - Hannes Payer and Ross McIlroy
Slack is not where 'deep work' happens - Nuclino
Have a good weekend, y’all.
- The Messari Team
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Messari Compression Algorithm
Content and thoughts from around the web as summarized by the Messari team.
🖋️ [Analysis] Bitcoin in Heavy Accumulation - Tuur Demeester and Michiel Lescrauwaet
A new report from Adamant Capital claims that Bitcoin ($BTC) is in the accumulation phase of the bear market and is therefore undervalued. Based on historical price and supply calculations the report puts unrealized profits and losses at 14% and 3% respectively. While capitulation hit hard in Nov. 2018 signs of hope are emerging. Looking at historical markets, Adamant believes that volatility should decline in future cycles as value investors replace speculative buyers, a trend that has been occurring for a few years now. Fundamentals continue to improve for bitcoin as new technologies, like like Lightning or federated sidechains have the potential to go mainstream. Furthermore, the report cites the "financialization" of Bitcoin, through Bitcoin futures and capital lending on wall street, as potential catalysts for a rising price. On a longer timeline Adamant believes that millennials, who tend to be more anti-authoritarian, are likely to latch on to Bitcoin once fully developed. While the report takes a bullish stance it acknowledges that exchange hacks, a macro-economic downturn, capitulation in secondary mining markets, future hardforks, or extreme regulatory crackdowns could have bearish implications. (share or read more)
⛏️ [Analysis] Bitcoin Cash SV Unprofitable to Mine? $2.1 Million in Losses Since the Fork
Recent BitMEX research shows Bitcoin SV ($BSV) miners have incurred a loss of $2.1 million since the hardfork in Nov. 2018. Using the price resistance level of $70 per coin BitMEX estimates sale proceeds of newly minted coins at $18.8 million compared to electricity costs of $20.9 million. These figures do not include overhead and other maintenance costs which could mean the actual loss is larger. With the recent price crash after the Binance delisting, Miner Update claims revenues could see another 14% drop. But as the author points out, miners like billionaire BSV proponent Calvin Ayre, who is thought to run the largest BSV mining pool, are likely motivated more by ideology than profits. (share or read more)
Quick Bits (Don't read that, I read it for you)
Choke Points (Exchange News)
👇 According to research from Reuters and Bloomberg, Coinbase missed its projected 2018 revenue by 60%. In 2018, the firm earned $520 million in revenue compared to a projected $1.3 billion. In 2017, Coinbase earned $923 million in revenue, down 44% year-to-year. (share or read more)
🧐 According to Bloomberg sources, Bakkt may be seeking a New York BitLicense as a solution to CFTC concerns with their futures application. The CFTC has cited custody for consumers as major hiccup. A state custody license like NY's BitLicense would be recognized by the CFTC, checking the box for Bakkt. Even if a license is granted, Bakkt would still need CFTC approval to launch. (share or read more)
Startup Signals (ICOs, Cryptos, and Startups)
⛓ Social platform Mithril ($MITH) has announced that it will migrate its token from the ERC-20 format to Binances new BEP2 token following the earlier launch of Binance Chain. Mithril, which partnered with Binance to be the first token to migrate to the new chain, highlighted the benefits of the Binance DEX as a reason for the move. (share or read more)
🚀 Corporate venture capital investments in crypto-related businesses are on track to outpace 2018 with $850 million already invested compared to $2.4 billion invested during 2018, according to Pitchbook. The median value investment is down to $6.5 million from $8 million in 2018. (share or read more)
The Powers That Be (Legal/Reg/Policy)
➕ Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has released an official statement on cryptocurrencies and digital assets, according to CoinDesk. Yang's campaign called for clearer regulatory guidelines to help promote and protect the digital economy with specific citations of both the Token Taxonomy Act currently before Congress and Wyoming's recent crypto legislation. If elected, Yang promised to define crypto taxonomy through legislation, assign regulatory duties to specific agencies, clear up tax concerns, aid consumer adoption through protection, and develop a national framework to supersede state regulations. (share or read more)
🔥 The New York State Department of Financial Services' executive deputy superintendent for banking, Shirin Emami, responds to Bittrex's explanation of their recent rejected BitLicense application in New York in an op-ed published by CoinDesk. NYDFS plainly says the exchange "continues to misstate the facts and it presents a misleading picture about the denial." Specifically, Emami counters Bittrex's explanation of the rejection with regard to transaction monitoring, missing or incomplete customer identity data, and unsatisfactory asset listing criteria. (share or read more)
Did I miss something?
Send me the link, your twitter handle and your best imitation compression algorithm write up. If I like it, I’ll include your bit next issue (with attribution).
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