Your daily snapshot from our OnChainFX markets dashboard.
No time for banter from me tonight.
Little league kickoff, the Masters on CBS (Jim Nantz voice), Easter egg hunts, #YangGang on Sunday night (on CNN), and Game of Thrones for this guy.
(Luckily, I don’t have to worry about taxes because TokenTax made it so easy for me.)
What are you up to?
We’re keeping things light with our weekend reads, but you should really check out the Unqualified Opinions podcast on iTunes and Spotify if you haven’t already.
Recent episodes include conversations with Alex Adelman of Lolli, Muneeb Ali of Blockstack (who announced they’re doing a massive Reg A+ offering (Harvard is participating)), and Dave Balter of Flipside Crypto.
Check them out for your daily dose of crypto knowledge, and never miss a hot take.
-TBI
📚 Messari’s weekend reads:
The IEO phenomenon’s impact on markets and token models - Derek Hsue
The distributed computing update #3 - Dani Grant
Decentralized autonomous funding of blockchain projects - Richard Red
Valuing cryptocurrencies as . . . currencies? - Daniel Gorfine
Chasing 10X: Leveraging a poor memory in engineering - Jeff Shek
ABLE ARCHER at 35: Lessons of the 1983 War Scare - Robert E. Hamilton
Taproot is coming: What it is, and how it benefits Bitcoin - Aaron van Wirdum
Bitcoin is a Weapon - Hector Rosekrans
Have a good weekend, y’all.
- The Messari Team
P.S. Share. Subscribe. Tweet at Messari for feedback, comments, or questions.
Messari Compression Algorithm
Content and thoughts from around the web as summarized by the Messari team.
📉 [Analysis] The bitcoin flash crash to $0.01 in June 2011 - BitMEX Research
In June 2011, Bitcoin ($BTC) experienced a flash price crash on Mt. Gox, dropping from $32 to $0.01 per coin in a matter of minutes. While the true reason is unknown or undisclosed, speculation points toward the hacking of the previous Mt. Gox owner, Jed McCaleb's administrative account and ensuing account manipulation. Once the hacker accessed the account, they transferred hoards of coins to themselves, and snuck withdrawals under the $1,000 limit at the time. The hacker may have dumped a large supply of stolen Bitcoin into a thin market order book, and tried to steal even more if not for a bitcoin withdrawal limit most users were not even aware of. The hacker escaped with a mere 2,000 coins, and post-hack, order rollbacks became a contentious debate (along with the solvency of the exchange). The fiasco was settled with on-chain transactions conducted by Mt. Gox the following July to prove reserves, but the flash crash only foreshadowed larger problems down the line. (share or read more)
🔫 [Analysis] Bitcoin is a Weapon - Hector Rosekrans
History teaches us that cheap and ubiquitous weapons can often be used to beat out larger, more centralized systems. Think: the U.S. in Vietnam or the U.S.S.R. (or U.S. again) in Afghanistan. The invention of RSA did the same with electronic communications, creating simple, effective means of securing information for the masses. The digital commons of today are dominated by bulky and centralized systems, yet they remain bound to the laws of history. The invention of digital scarcity with Bitcoin ($BTC) and other systems alter the game, chipping away at the power of centralized entities. Real economic value can be transported through systems outside of the system, moving power over the financial commons slowly back to individuals. (share or read more)
Quick Bits (Don't read that, I read it for you)
Choke Points (Exchange News)
👩🏽💼 Bakkt announced that Mike Blandina has joined as its Chief Product Officer. Blandina was previously CTO of OneMarket, a retail technology startup, and held senior engineering roles at PayPal and Google. (share or read more)
💸 According to CoindeskKorea Upbit recorded a profit of over $120 million in 2018 and an operating profit of $253 million. The official audit report of Upbit published on the website of South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service showed that Upbit saw a 33 percent increase in profit in 2018. (share or read more)
Startup Signals (ICOs, Cryptos, and Startups)
😎 Blockstack, a software firm building a decentralized internet, will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a Regulation A+ crowdfunding token sale capped at $50 million. The token, Blockstack Stocks (STX), will be sold via subsidiary Blockstack Token LLC as a securities offering. (share or read more)
🍾 Crypto startups are pivoting from Intitial Coin Offerings (ICOs) to Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs), token launches backed by crypto exchnanges. Some $180 million has been raised in 23 IEOs to date, most happening in February. "It has the potential to be larger than the ICOs of 2017," said Bittrex's CEO Bill Shihara, "We are seeing significant demand both from our users and token teams." (share or read more)
The Powers That Be (Legal/Reg/Policy)
✒️ A letter written and signed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers has been sent to the head of the IRS, Charles Rettig. The IRS issued rules for crypto taxing in 2014, but has yet to post any updates. A similar letter was written six months ago which went unanswered. The current letter narrowed down updates to three points, asking how crypto taxes should rightfully be classified, identified, and updated, particularly in light of hardforks. (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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