Your daily snapshot from our OnChainFX markets dashboard.
We get it, the crypto markets are, ummm, not great.
Believe us, weâre big, big believers and HODLers at Messari, and are feeling the pain. But we need to be sustainable, which is why we paywalled most of our content. If youâre wondering where your Tues-Thurs UO editions are, then youâve gotta make the investment!
Weâve missed you, and youâve missed a lot this week, fam. Some bear market goodies:
Re the Basis wind-down: âItâs not really $133 million. A lot of this was earmarked to stabilize the currency at launch. If the team didnât deliver the protocol, the plan was to refund the collateral all alongâŠ.This outcome isnât surprising, either. The [Basis] design was such that private investors Iâd spoken with (telegram is gonna get so many people in trouble, man) were openly discussing how it was a no-brainer for the VCs because they could make money early, exit, and have none of the long-term tail risk associated with a stablecoin blow-up.â
Re Augurâs latest challenge: âA dude with 190 followers and a cat avatar is currently stress testing REP as a prediction market. I shit you not.â We identify the prediction market veteran challenging the REP design on a smart contract technicality, and how it could impact one of the few live and useful decentralized marketplaces.
Re at least *some* good crypto regulatory news: a SEC commissioner empathizes with us: âWe cite the Howey Test for determining whether something is a security as if we expect every crypto-entrepreneur to know what it is and how courts and the Commission have applied it over the years.  Even the securities lawyers many of these entrepreneurs cannot afford are struggling to apply the testâŠ[E]nforcement actions ought not to be the means by which we tell the marketplace what we are thinking.â Usual fire from KWu.
Itâs the holiday season, so make sure you help out your less fortunate crypto brethren and give them (or ask Santa for) a gift subscription to Unqualified Opinions.
For every annual gift subscription you share this holiday season, Iâll personally donate $50 to a US-registered charity of your choosing. (Max $20,000, lest some of my whale enemies attempt to bankrupt me.)
Just email me the confirmation, and Iâll make it happen.
Messariâs Weekend Reads
Itâs Friday, which means weâre keeping things light and teeing up our weekend reads and listens.
On our podcast this week, Katherine sits down with Circle Research's Ria Bhutoria to talk about her research process (how long it takes to write her excellent reports, and what the most frustrating parts of the process are), and Circleâs latest report on prediction markets. What are prediction markets, how do they work, what are the advantages and challenges of decentralized prediction markets, and what does current usage look like. (15 min)
Listen and subscribe to all of our podcastsâ on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here, and Google play here.
đ Messariâs weekend reads:
Why Transparency Literally Pays Off - Institutional Investor (Alternative investment funds that offer more transparency to investors also tend to have significantly higher performance - 10 *points* higher IRR, actually.)
The Rise of the Stablecoins; Will They Be The Next to Endure Regulatory Scrutiny From The SEC? - Gerald Fenech
Reject Nocoiner Orthodoxy - Elaine Ou
Lightning's Crazy Fast Growth - LongHash
Peer Review: CBC Casper - Muneeb Ali
Basecoin (aka the Basis Protocol): the worst idea in cryptocurrency, reborn - Preston Byrne
The State of Bitcoin: Long-Term Value Potential & Analysis - Delphi Digital
2nd Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study - University of Cambridge
The (Future) Most Valuable Company In The World - Andrew Steinwold
Did we miss a topic our broader community should know about? Let us know!
Have a good weekend, yâall.
- The Messari Team
P.S. Share. Subscribe. Tweet at Messari for feedback, comments, or questions.
News & Analyses
Messari Compression Algorithm
Content and thoughts from around the web as summarized by the Messari team.
đ [Analysis] Bitcoin and the Promise of Independent Property Rights - Su Zhu and Hasu
In Part 3 of their "Framework for Skeptics" Bitcoin series, Su and Hasu explore why civilizations created corporations and centralized institutions, the requirements for a stable "institutional stack" of protections and assurances, and how Bitcoin can iterate on the inefficiencies and deficiencies of existing centralized institutions. Su and Hasu argue that corporate institutions streamline certain human interactions, but Bitcoin carries those benefits to a more advantageous level by enabling "the highest form of property rights of any socio-economic institution in the history of man." (share or read more)
đ [Analysis] Cambridge 2018 Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study
Support for self-regulation, a multi-coin industry future, and decentralized mining is growing and shaping the future of digital assets, according to the University of Cambridge's Judge Business School. They released their second global cryptoasset benchmarking study in December 2018 with data from more than 180 cryptoasset companies and individuals covering 47 countries. This comprehensive analysis offers critical insight into the state of mining, exchange, storage, and payments for digital assets. (share or read more)
Quick Bits (Don't read that, I read it for you)
Choke Points (Exchange News)
đ Binance is expanding its venture arm beyond San Francisco. Binance Labs, plans to launch new incubator programs in Berlin, Buenos Aires, Lagos, Singapore, and Hong Kong starting in March 2019. (share or read more)
đ€ Security token platform TokenSoft is launching a FINRA registered broker-dealer in order to expand its advisory services for new token offerings. Under the new entity, TokenSoft will be able to advise, manage, and provide marketing support for new token offerings. (share or read more)
Startup Signals (ICOs, Cryptos, and Startups)
đ Approximately $25 million in funding from a December 2017 token sale has been made available to Blockstack. As part of the initial sale, Blockstack structured its funding to only allow access to funds once certain milestones are hit. (share or read more)
đ” Blockchain project Orbs has raised a $15 million round led by South Korean app provider Kakao. Orbs will focus on research and building the technology with a planned mainnet launch in April 2019. (share or read more)
The Powers That Be (Legal/Reg/Policy)
đ California-based Pantera Capital Management recently told investors that around 25 percent of the blockchain projects they have invested in could be found to be in violation of U.S. securities laws. In that case, Pantera expects that the projects may need to return money to investors. (share or read more)
đœ A total of 36 BitLicense applications had been received by the New York State Department of Financial Services since 2015. Of those, five were denied and ten had been granted by November of this year. The agency has been approving applications at a more rapid rate after receiving criticism earlier this year. (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, Iâll include your bit next issue (with attribution).
Podcast Recap
đ§ ICYMI on the Messari podcast, Katherine discussed decentralization with Zcash Foundation executive director Josh Cincinnati. Josh shared his thoughts on what it means to be decentralized and the utility of non-profit foundations in the cryptocurrency space.
Listen and subscribe to all of our podcastsâ on Apple Podcasts here, Spotify here, and Google play here.
Shameless Plugs
We want your feedback!
We know Messari can feel like a couple different products right now, and we're working to unify our features into one overarching whole. To that end, Weâve made a Trello board to take in any and all of the feedback you have for us! Have at it đ
We're Hiring:
We need data engineers who want to bring transparency to crypto!
Join a fast growing team in NYC; work with crypto OGs, and former Bloomberg/Palantir engineers; & access a network that sets you up for the rest of your career. Apply here!
Join Our Community:
If you are interested in helping us crowdsource token project details, or want to join our community to share your expertise, weâd love to have you on board! Take a second to fill out an application and we will get back to you soon.
Going forward, weâll be capping new members at 15 each week to keep things running smoothly. If you havenât heard back, you are probably in the queue.
Like what you read? Share it! Hate what you read? Let me know @MessariCrypto.