June 24, 2020 | Issue #123

MUST READS

PayPal, Venmo to Roll Out Crypto Buying and Selling

According to people familiar with the matter, FinTech giant PayPal (who owns Venmo) is planning to roll out direct sales of cryptocurrency to its user-base. If this happens (looks like they are already hiring), 300+ million users will be given yet another opportunity to purchase Bitcoin.

Paypal likely joins a growing list of payment apps supporting crypto purchasing. CashApp, Square, Revolut, Robinhood... who's next?

Another Miner Seeks an IPO

Last week, China-based Bitcoin mining manufacturer, Ebang, filed an amended F-1 form, stating that it applied to list on the NASDAQ. If completed, Ebang will become just the second Bitcoin mining manufacturer to ever list on a U.S. exchange.

While just about everyone reading this is fairly bullish on Bitcoin... you might want to do your due diligence on these miners...

Canaan Inc. (CAN), the first Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer to list on a U.S. exchange, isn't doing all that great. In fact, their stock just plummeted below $2 last week – falling to its lowest price since going public last November.

As for Ebang, don't expect anything different. Here's a company that can't sustain any profitability... and it seems they don't have any plans of doing so in the near future.

Ebang had net losses of $11.8 million and $41.1 million in 2018 and 2019, respectively. And even in the first quarter of 2020, the company booked $2.5 million in losses, despite the rush for new ASICs following the halving. Making matters worse, the offering comes at a time of heightened regulatory scrutiny of Chinese firms in the U.S.

Projection: If Institutions Just Put 1% in Bitcoin

What would it look like if institutional investors followed Paul Tudor Jones and allocated a “low single-digit percentage” to Bitcoin?

Here’s what Ryan Watkins from Messari found after some estimates...

TL;DR: $50,000 per BTC.

Speaking of institutions, Yesterday KPMG announced they have built a suite of tools designed to help both traditional financial companies and FinTech startups provide tightly managed crypto-asset services.

'Project: Real Estate' Airs Tonight @ 8PM EST

Despite all the media hysteria around COVID-19 and riots, homebuying is soaring in America right now.

In fact, according to Redfin, "demand is more than 25% higher than pre-pandemic levels."

Meaning there couldn't be a better time for you to increase your real estate exposure – see more here.

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DEEP DIVE

The Compound Effect & The DeFi Yield-Farming Frenzy

Market frenzies like this remind us of the good ol' ICO days: A coin drops out of nowhere... everyone talks about it... new narratives and drama unravel... and retail investors, who are late the party, get wrecked?

Let's back up a bit.

What happened? Last week, Compound (COMP) announced users would begin receiving COMP tokens, marking the beginning of its life as a token protocol.
What is Compound? Compound is an algorithmic money market protocol that lets users earn interest or borrow assets against collateral... and is one of the largest applications built on Ethereum to date.
What followed? COMP, the protocol's native governance token, went from $16 to $381 all in a few days. Coinbase Pro announced it was listing the token, which only added to the hysteria... and COMP quickly became the most valuable token in DeFi. Once prices started pumping, so did the money market as new traders sought out to borrow and lend assets in order to earn the native governance token. (Total funds locked in Compound have increased from around $100 million to nearly $400 million in less than a week.)

What's this new money market? What exactly is liquidity farming? And can you actually make 100% annualized yields thanks to the COMP subsidy? We'll leave it to the pros explain.

TL;DR: This is risky business. But regardless of how crazy this past week was, Compound has set the stage for the future of DeFi.

Digital Alchemy: Do Coinbase Listings Turn Altcoins Into Gold?

If you're wondering about Coinbase's impact on token prices by touting the "possibility" of listing, CoinMetrics has you covered. Their recent data concludes that price reactions largely depend on the overall market sentiment during that time.

Wisdom of the Crowds

No news story here, but we did stumble across a pretty neat feature on OnChainFX. You can now let your opinion be known on any asset on OCFX using 8 different categorizations.

🗑️ Go ahead and check out the sentiment already pegged to XRP...

Overtime, this may help form a consensus opinion of users' perception of different assets. We'll definitely be keeping tabs on it.

Bitcoin’s Town Square

Mempools are the centerpiece of the entire Bitcoin economy... and they are totally underrated. Knox Custody just published an article exploring these bustling, brutal marketplaces... and their profound importance on price signals.

[Last Chance] Trump’s Bills Could Help You Become Cash-Rich

Trump recently signed two bills into law that can help promote opportunities for Americans to get cash-rich, without stepping out of the home.

In fact, you can get started immediately, but you will need to act quickly as this opportunity goes away next Monday, June 29th.

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REGULATORY FRONT

Bolton’s Book Says Trump Told Mnuchin to Go After Bitcoin

Former national security adviser John Bolton in his new book claims that President Donald Trump ordered the Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, to focus on a clampdown on bitcoin over negotiating a trade with China.

Trump reportedly told Mnuchin: “Don’t be a trade negotiator,” ordering him instead to: “Go after bitcoin [for fraud].”

🇻🇪 The Venezuelan Government is Allowing Citizens to Pay for New Passports Using Bitcoin

Venezuela plans to accept bitcoin (BTC) as a new payment method for individuals seeking a Venezuelan passport.

This developing news could reflect an evolution in the Venezuelan government’s stance towards the Petro. Maduro’s regime recently announced that almost 15% of all fuel payments across the country were made using the Petro.