The DeGen Bible to Financial Freedom - Vol.41

Week 11 August -  17 August 2023

Can't be wrong - Mars Captain

🧠 Observations

• Inflation is not doing better, it is only going worse. If a normal family struggles to make their ends meet in a developed economy, those in developing economies are fighting a losing game. Countries like Argentina, Turkey, and most African states, their size is indeed size. Macro economy is looking quite gloomy.
• Captain believes the market has bottomed a while ago and we are living a long consolidation post-winter-pre-spring period. There is a rise of innovative tokenomics and products if we look closely. Just there is little need to follow every hype from Base to Sei. Hamster race and Rollbit aren't built on new ecosystems. Sometimes in life, the older the wiser ;)
• While Degenz chase Layer 2 narratives, there are many things going on in the stablecoin wars. Binance jumps from BUSD, to TUSD, to FDUSD, and is working on an algorithmic stablecoin; Singapore releases regulation framework for stablecoin issuer; Hong Kong is about to do something similiar. AAVE is experimenting the concept of LSD-Fi backed GHO. With all the unstable fiats, stablecoins nominated in USD will become more and more popular. The LUNA-UST need a heir. Who will win the throne?

💵 Stablecoin & Market Landscape

• Stablecoin market share remains high in reference to the total crypto market capitalization. 10.54% of stablecoin (124.4B) on 1.18T crypto market.

Reminder: Mid-NOV 2021, this percentage was around 4ish% with a 3T total MC. Now we are at 10ish% with a 1ishT total MC.

• Now at 1.18T.  Still hanging around on the 1T level. Going steady.

Reminder, June and Nov 2022 witnessed a bottom of 800ish B MC vis-a-vis the market’s top in NOV 2021 at 3T.

Infographics

• Trading BTC futures is most profitable on Tuesday.

• Captain said it multiple times already that BSC is the queen of EVM, and Binance FUD shouldn't be concerning the chain. People need to look at things relatively to know where the exact position they are sitting.
• Similarly, if we want to fight the king, we need to know who's the king; if we want to challenge the king and position as another king; or if we want to catch up with the king, and choose to be a queen or a prince.

• Rollbit team is dedicated to use the revenue their work generates to anchor their token value, which is the best practice so far we can see in relation to crypto economics. Even Uniswap wouldn't be as generous.
• The Starfish team has been studying such a model. Stay tuned!

• Crypto technologies have so many edges against corrupted fiat and state controlled monetary policies.
• Money wants to be free, and free market is the best circumstances to foster the most resilient product.

🔢 Index

• Finally declining, or shall we say, matching the market sentiment & price level?

• CBBI just renewed their algorithm, and the index is pumped to 41! Reminder, when $BTC was ATH in November 2021, it was at around 67-69. We should be watching this more closely!

📰 Current affairs

Starfish Finance:

Chapter 2— Flip Your Zero to Become A Hero

A flip a day keeps the bill away.

MediumStarfish Finance

BTC

Nothing much this week.

ETH

Visa Trials Ethereum Gas Fee Payments Using Cards - Decrypt

Global payment technology giant Visa has successfully completed a test that enables users to pay Ethereum gas fees using credit or debit cards.

DecryptAndrew Asmakov

Layer 1s/ Major DeFi

Solana cuts price of its Saga phone by 40% four months after launch

Solana said the price cut is “the next step to get wider adoption of mobile Web3 and continue to improve the experience for the Solana mobile community.”

BlockworksJames Cirrone

Aave DAO votes in favor of acquiring CRV tokens with USDT

This vote comes in the wake of a recent exploit, when Curve lost over $70 million due to a bug in the programming language Vyper.

BlockworksBessie Liu

Telegram to Integrate a Crypto Wallet Called TON Space

The waitlist for the integration of a self-custody wallet TON Space within Telegram Messenger is now available for developers.

Crypto DailyOlga Krasilnikova

Bitcoin wallet Xverse raises $5 million from Franklin Templeton and others

Xverse, a bitcoin wallet that supports ordinals inscriptions and BRC-20 tokens, has raised $5 million in a seed funding round.

The BlockYogita Khatri

Helium Mobile Debuts Crypto Wireless Network in Miami—For $5 a Month - Decrypt

Powered by the Helium network, the hybrid mobile carrier takes its first public steps with a cheap unlimited plan and crypto token rewards.

DecryptAndrew Hayward

MetaMask, Banxa Roll Out ‘1-Click’ Crypto Buys With Apple Pay - Decrypt

Crypto wallet MetaMask now offers an optimized Apple Pay option thanks to fiat-to-crypto onramp and fintech firm Banxa.

DecryptLiam J. Kelly

HarryPotterObamaSonic10Inu leads latest memecoin rally, surging 30%

In the absence of a strong catalyst driving large caps like bitcoin and ether, traders are flocking to memecoins.

The BlockBrian McGleenon

Twitter

NFTs

Polygon-based Y00ts NFTs to migrate to Ethereum, return $3 million grant

The move aims to ‘unite the DeGods and y00ts communities,’ the NFT project said.

The BlockTimmy Shen

‘Grand Theft Auto’ dev Take-Two’s first crypto game launching on Ethereum

Blockchain-powered video game from Take-Two Interactive Software launching with token mint later this year.

The BlockRT Watson

Why the MET Is Expanding Into the Metaverse With Roblox - Decrypt

“People are able to engage with and try on art and clothing pieces that would otherwise be kept behind a glass case.”

DecryptStephanie Hirschmiller

Coca-Cola unveils ‘Masterpiece’ NFT collection on Ethereum Layer 2 Base

Coca-Cola launched its “Masterpiece” NFT collection on Base, Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer 2 network, featuring iconic and modern artworks.

The BlockJames Hunt

Macro econ/ Regulations

French regulator tweaks crypto regulations to make them MiCA-ready

The AMF, the French stock market regulator, will subject crypto firms seeking a license to stricter registration requirements.

The BlockRyan Weeks

Chinese man sentenced to 9 months in prison for buying $13K in USDT

China has intensified its crackdown on crypto-related activities since the start of the year.

CointelegraphZhiyuan Sun

Europe’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF Lists in Amsterdam

Jacobi first won approval for the fund in October 2021 with plans to list it in 2022. However the firm opted to push back its plans due to inopportune circumstances elsewhere in the digital asset market.

CoinDeskJamie Crawley

Singapore’s Central Bank Releases Stablecoin Regulatory Framework

Stablecoins must hold minimum base capital 1 million Singapore dollars ($740,000) and provide redemption within no more than five business days of a request

CoinDeskJamie Crawley

Chinese stats show digital yuan usage dominated by business - Ledger Insights - blockchain for enterprise

Chinese statistics show a large proportion of the digital yuan’s volumes in currency terms is from enterprise, government CBDC transactions

Ledger Insights - blockchain for enterpriseLedger Insights

Elon Musk looking to build stock-trading hub inside X app: report

“Real-time information is a powerful force, especially in the world of investing,” X wrote in its pitch to several financial data firms.

New York PostAriel Zilber

SEC Likely to Approve Several Spot ETFs, Sparking Next Bitcoin Rally: Matrixport

A report from the firm cited how big Grayscale Bitcoin Trust was at its peak.

CoinDeskWill Canny

Kraken outpaces Coinbase as most liquid US exchange for altcoins: Kaiko

Kraken’s market share among exchanges supporting USD deposits has risen to 21.1% in July from 8.3% in August 2022.

The BlockFrank Chaparro

Prosecutors Lob New Allegations at FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried; Europe’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF

“CoinDesk Daily” host Jennifer Sanasie dives into today’s hottest stories in crypto, as Jacobi Asset Management lists Europe’s first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). Crypto custodian Prime Trust filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And, federal prosecutors are claiming that FTX founde…

Coindesk Logo

Coinbase Finally Wins Approval to List Crypto Futures in U.S.

The approval makes Coinbase the first crypto-first platform to offer regulated and leveraged crypto futures alongside alongside traditional spot trading

CoinDeskJamie Crawley

Research reports/videos (DYOR)

Banks get a downgrade from Moody’s. Here are the 10 lenders impacted.

Ratings agency says its also watching some of nation’s biggest lenders for possible cuts amid ongoing financial strain.

CBS NewsAimee Picchi

Understanding Crypto in Africa

Stablecoins reign supreme amongst a backdrop of Africans who are increasingly seeking employment online with the global community.

Cryptocurrency and FriendsPatrick McCorry

What do I think about Community Notes?