BMJ Reward Tokens: 38,190

Health, Wealth, and Happiness

April 22, 2024

"Opportunities multiply as they are seized."

- Sun Tzu

Howdy, investors!

Many investors use Coinbase to earn rewards on their crypto. In today's guide, we compare historical rates for both staking and USDC rewards.

The fourth bitcoin halving was completed over the weekend, ushering in the new era of 3.125 BTC rewards. See what that means below.

The IRS has released some forms for reporting crypto transactions and calculating taxes, but decentralized exchanges could raise concerns.

Is the SEC overreaching in its attempts to regulate blockchains and cryptocurrencies? Below, you'll learn how the agency is stifling innovation.

Read on to explore more!

Coinbase Staking vs. USDC Rewards: Which is Better?

by Anatol Antonovici

Longtime readers will be familiar with Earn on Coinbase, which allows users to earn interest on their crypto easily.

One option lets users directly stake seven different Proof of Stake coins on the exchange. Another option is to earn rewards on stablecoins like USDC.

Consider these facts about the platform:

Coinbase Earn supports seven coins for staking, with APY figures as high as 10%.

The platform pays an interest rate of 5.1%for simply holding USDC.

Staking involves more risks than USDC rewards, but the potential returns may be higher, especially during bullish markets.

Our new guide breaks down the two options for using your crypto, with historical rates and a breakdown of risks vs. rewards for each.

Click to learn more about yield earning opportunities >>

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Do You Need to "Buy the Dip"?

One common crypto advice is to "buy the dip" when prices are down. Given bitcoin's recent price action, that seems particularly relevant. But is that even possible?

Our Investor Mindset article and podcast series (only available to premium subscribers) examine the psychology of crypto investing.

Our Investing Bravely episode tackles the idea that you don't have to "buy the dip" to be successful and that there's a better mindset for investing in crypto.

Premium members can download the audio file and hear our thoughts on being brave with your investments.

Not yet a Premium member? Sign up now and get access to our complete library of tools and tips to make you a better crypto investor.

Must Read

Today's most important stories for crypto investors.

Bitcoin Completes Fourth Halving, Ushering in a New Era (Decrypt)

The halving happened! This means the reward for mining a bitcoin block has been cut in half, from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Halving is supposed to slow down the creation of new coins, create deflation, and potentially drive up the price of bitcoin in the long run. Investors could see this as a chance to buy a small dip for bigger rewards, but miners might not share that optimism.

IRS Releases Draft Form to Report Certain Crypto Transactions(The Block)

The IRS released a draft tax form for crypto exchanges and brokers to track digital asset sales and taxes owed. This follows proposed rules from last year that aim to regulate crypto transactions, similar to stocks. If finalized, crypto exchanges and wallets that allow trading would issue this form annually. There may be resistance from decentralized exchanges (DEXes) that don't collect user data, but the IRS may require them to comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) rules. A step forward.

SEC Crypto Oversight Risks Regulating Public Digital Systems (Bloomberg Law)

Is the SEC overreaching by regulating Ethereum and Uniswap, which can be considered public digital infrastructure? The SEC may be stifling innovation in Web3, with too broad regulations and an even broader interpretation. The authors argue that public digital infrastructure should be accessible to everyone, just like today's Internet. The upcoming SEC vs. Coinbase case could define how this digital infrastructure is regulated in the future.

Long-Term Wealth

$1K invested at today's market prices

This asset	invested 5 years ago	is now worth
Bitcoin (BTC)	$1,000	$10,351
Ethereum (ETH)	$1,000	$7,380
Uniswap (UNI)*	$1,000	$1,399
BNB Chain (BNB)	$1,000	$43,191

Note: The future may look different from the past. Please invest carefully.

* As UNI is less than five years old, we calculate from the launch date (Sep 2020).

Thanks to our Sponsor

With the Earn on Coinbase program, you could be getting up to 10% APY for your eligible crypto. Put your crypto to work, and earn rewards today at Coinbase Earn.

Chart of the Day

Layer-2 Daily Active Users

Layer-2 solutions are crucial in the blockchain ecosystem because they address a significant hurdle for blockchains: scalability.

Layer-2 chains provide faster transactions, an improved user experience, and the scalability needed for growth.

Base, the Layer-2 developed by Coinbase in 2023, is one of the newest players in this ecosystem, but it has quickly overtaken its competitors in terms of transaction counts, revenue, and developers.

In line with its promise to bring one billion users to blockchain, it has also closed the gap in active daily users. (See the top line.)

By providing lower transaction fees, ease of use, and broad support for apps and protocols, Base has grown incredibly fast. More importantly, growth is only beginning, and Base is poised to become the dominant L2 solution.

Unfortunately, there's no way to invest directly in this growth. Base has no native token, but you can invest indirectly through Coinbase stock ($COIN).

ICYMI