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Health, Wealth, and Happiness

April 12, 2024

"Time is your friend; impulse is your enemy."

- Jack Bogle

Howdy, investors!


  • Taxes and fees are the two great enemies of crypto investors. There are ways to reduce fees and maximize your earnings; see today's updated guide.


  • It's not only institutions getting positive about crypto: the same is happening with consumers, according to a recent survey from Deutsche Bank.


  • Liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) have grown 13,800% in just under four months, but questions remain about their liquidity and safety.


  • Will DeFi remain decentralized? That question is being explored due to a pair of legal cases that could dramatically change how DeFi is viewed legally.


Read on to explore more!

Fee vs. Free: How to Avoid Crypto Fees

by Sir John Hargrave

Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard Investments, was a titan of investing -- but he wasn’t your typical wolf of Wall Street.


Born in 1929, the Depression instilled in Bogle a deep respect for saving. He was skeptical about the high fees charged by investment managers and banks, which silently ate away the returns they were supposed to generate for their clients and customers.


He founded Vanguard, which became an industry giant by prioritizing investor returns over company profits. Vanguard also launched the first low-cost index fund for everyday investors, democratizing investing for the people. (It’s the same fund we use in our Blockchain Believers Portfolio.)


Throughout his long career, Bogle challenged the industry's focus on beating the market, crusading instead for long-term, low-cost investing. The guy was obsessed with fees.


Bogle died in 2019 at 89 (read more about his remarkable life here). Today, we could use him for crypto, loaded with fees.


Even though crypto was founded on the idea that we could instantly send money around the world with no fees, the opposite is true. For ordinary users, using crypto is usually way more expensive than TradFi.


In today's updated guide, we'll explain what most people pay in taxes and fees and easy ways to reduce your fees and keep more of that money in your pocket.

Read on to learn easy ways to avoid fees >>

Premium Power-Ups

Level up your crypto investing game.


New Investor Scorecard: Render (RNDR)

Render Network serves as a decentralized platform connecting individuals or entities

in need of GPU computing power with those who have excess computing capacity.


Think about a 3D animator working on a Pixar-style film: instead of building a Pixar-scale rendering farm, which would cost millions of dollars, she could use the Render Network to render animations at a fraction of the cost.


The network is powered by the RNDR token, whose market cap has soared over the past year to chart in the top 50 tokens worldwide. But is RNDR a good investment, or is it riding on the AI-driven GPU hype wave?


Premium members can download the Render Investor Scorecard here to learn what our analysts say about investing in RNDR.


Are you not yet a Premium member? Sign up now to access our tools and tips for becoming a better crypto investor.

Must Read

Today's most important stories for crypto investors.

Deutsche Bank: Consumers are "More Positive on Crypto" (Decrypt)

In the first quarter of 2024, consumer sentiment towards cryptocurrencies has become more positive, according to a Deutsche Bank survey. This shift coincides with the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs and an upward trend in the general cryptocurrency market. Notably, 40% of respondents are optimistic about bitcoin's future, with less than 1% viewing crypto as a fad. This could point to a longer-term bull market for crypto when paired with institutional adoption.

How Liquid Are Liquid Restaking Tokens?(X)

Liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) have seen dramatic deposit growth, increasing by over 13,800% in just under four months. (See our recent guide to Staking on Steroids.) However, liquidity across different LRTs and the potential for market volatility are risks for investors. Even so, LRT adoption could eventually surpass traditional liquid staking tokens (LSTs) like stETH, particularly as they become more embedded in lending markets and offer DeFi investment opportunities.

The Very Soul of DeFi Is on Trial (Unchained)

This week has brought significant challenges to decentralized finance (DeFi), highlighted by debates around the core concept that "code is law." Avi Eisenberg, accused of exploiting Mango Markets for $110 million, tests this principle by arguing that his exploit was permissible under the code's design. Simultaneously, the SEC issued a Wells Notice to Uniswap Labs: legal action usually follows. The outcome of these cases could decide whether DeFi remains decentralized.

ICYMI
In Case You Missed It

Staking on Steroids

A look at restaking on EigenLayer and Ether.fi.


Using the DAU/MAU Ratio to Guide Investment Decisions

This little known ratio is surprisingly useful.


The 3 numbers for picking great investments

Here are our 3 most important metrics.


Should You Still Invest in UNI?

Our 2024 investor's guide to Uniswap.


Investor Alert: Best Blockchains by Active Users

Our best investment opportunities, rated by daily active users.

Thanks to our Sponsor

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Chart of the Day

Daily average fees for Ethereum

The Dencun update was supposed to deliver lower fees to users, but the truth is that fees on Ethereum remain as high as ever.


Fees over $20 per transaction aren't unusual, and we can still see fees spiking near $100 in some cases.


If blockchain is to deliver on its promise of sending money instantly with minimal to no fees, then something has to be done.


Sure, a $20 fee is great if you're sending $1,000,000+, but those large transactions are in the minority.


The current solution is to avoid moving money until the developers finally fix this. If we can make smart blockchain investments and leave them alone, we can build wealth faster. When there are no transactions, there are no transaction fees.

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