The DeGen Bible to Financial Freedom - Vol.42

Week 18 August -  25 August 2023

What's wrong with the East? - Mars Captain

🧠 Observations

• The expression of the elephant in the room describes the best the economic situation in China. $CNY is under a two-front war. The People's bank of China has a difficult time to decide between protecting real estate (by increasing interest rate) and protecting export (by devaluing the currency). So far, we can see the CCP has opted for the latter and as we see these Chinese real estate giants falling down one by one.  
• Captain has expressed his concern over $CNY in SEAN Times vol.37 using the Curve analogy. If this situation is mirrored in DeFi, all the traders now would heavily be shorting $CNY as everyone sees the on-chain movement of the central bank attempting to sell US bonds to support the currency value... Oops, not financial advice, guys. Please don't, it's fiat, it's not crypto. (Well, we were told that fiat is real? LOL!) I hope no traditional finance people read this post.
• The market is so dry that a fabricated friend.tech thing can shoot up the baby phase of Base to the moon. Come on. Arbitrum has the most organic retail traffic on L2, Optimism has the most enterprise level adoption (even Base is based on OP Stack). Are we that sure about friend-to-earn? We have seen StepN, and multiple similar failures. This is a good tactic to kick off the ecosystem, but DeFiLama isn't saying there is any other thing going on on Base... Watch your steps, Base Degenz.
• Yeah, SpaceX sold, but it was last year and some regular listed company practice. So, we see the size of Elon is size whether it's past or present tense. Did Singapore's stable framework or Hong Kong's Hashkey taking retail investors FOMO the market? Sorry, their size is not size, we are in crypto, not in TradFi, not in banking. Understand this will help us navigate opportunities more easily.

💵 Stablecoin & Market Landscape

• Stablecoin market share remains high in reference to the total crypto market capitalization. 11.36% of stablecoin (124B) on 1.09T crypto market.

Reminder: Mid-NOV 2021, this percentage was around 4ish% with a 3T total MC. Now we are at 11ish% with a 1ishT total MC.

• Now at 1.09T.  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

• If we look at the NFT market as an independent crypto cycle, we can see the old blue-chips like BAYC, Crypto Punk, Azuki as BTC, ETH, XRP, then you have Milady as the Dogecoin.
• If Captain's analogy makes sense, that means when Milady crashes, the other NFT OGs will still crash more. Memecoin is the last category to lead and crash. So NFT's abyss hasn't bottomed yet.

• Looks like we have some movements to keep a close eye on.

• Not that Captain is not convinced with Base. But, crypto is a grassroots movement. If some billionaire backed stuff can fight organic traffic, I mean, please do. Did you ever see human controlling the nature win? Arbitrum is where you see the nature, not Base. Sorry, Captain is just emotional about corporate monopoly, despite he has good feelings towards Coinbase.  
• Look, if we have faith in Base, we might as well look at the upcoming opBNB. The queen of EVM is fostering a princess or a price at least for layer 2.

• NFT isn't Captain's most favourable, though we do acknowledge its value. Looking at stats like this one simply reflects how difficult a nobody would be able to fight against corporate monopoly given the same technology.
• Winning isn't just about your having the sharpest sword. There is an invisible and intangible context, culture, history that your sword can never fight. This is what we think about NFTs, it's gonna make brands more profitable but not too much the grassroots.

• Basically, these RWAs are short term T-bills right...
• Data cosmetics, we like some graph and fancy visualisation, but we also needa question what is represented.

🔢 Index

• SpaceX sold BTC old news, + traditional media house amplifier, only pushed down 10ish points + 7% decline in $BTC price.
• The lesson here, is that crypto people should not underestimate the traditional media's power and a lot of us live in echo chambers of decentralisation and data sovereignty. If some WSJ or Bloomberg repost a 1-year old news can push down 7% of the elephant. Think how niche and small our market is for now.

• CBBI getting close to Fear index. What is the catch here?

📰 Current affairs

Starfish Finance:

Chapter 2— Flip Your Zero to Become A Hero

A flip a day keeps the bill away.

MediumStarfish Finance

BTC

Let’s talk Bitcoin staking: Babylon’s litepaper

Using Bitcoin to secure a proof-of-stake chain may sound impossible, but the team at Babylon Chain have utilized simple staking logic to make it a reality.

BlockworksBessie Liu

Bitcoin and Ethereum Are Now Less Volatile Than Oil: Kaiko Research - Decrypt

The summer doldrums are hitting Bitcoin and Ethereum hard, dampening the assets’ historic volatility to multi-year lows.

DecryptPedro Solimano

Trading volume for Bitcoin Ordinals falls over 97% since May: report

Bitcoin Ordinals’ trading volume has nosedived by over 97% since May 2023, a report claimed.

The BlockBrian McGleenon

ETH

Ethereum developers to debut new testnet ‘Holesky’ next month

Ethereum core developers are planning to launch a new testnet called Holesky in September to improve smart contract testing experience.

The BlockVishal Chawla

Layer 1s/ Major DeFi

Hacker creates memecoin after stealing $870,000 from RocketSwap on Base

RocketSwap, a decentralized exchange on the Base Layer 2 network, was hacked — losing 471 ETH.

The BlockVishal Chawla

Layer 2 Wars Heat Up As Coinbase Launches Base

Coinbase officially launched the public mainnet for its long-awaited Base layer 2 blockchain network on August 9. It is the first public company to release a blockchain.

ForbesLeeor Shimron

Crypto Lending Platform Maple Finance Raises $5M in Funding for Asia Expansion - Decrypt

Maple Finance will also put the new money to work building out its newly launched pure-play lending arm, Maple Direct.

DecryptLiam J. Kelly

Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin ‘Very Hopeful’ Dogecoin Moves to Proof of Stake - Decrypt

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin said that all blockchains, including Dogecoin and Zcash, looking to scale should move to proof of stake.

DecryptKate Irwin

Mantle Network crosses $40 million in TVL within a month of launch

Mantle Network, a Layer 2 blockchain network operating on Ethereum, has seen notable growth since its launch last month.

The BlockVishal Chawla

Membrane Finance Brings the First Euro Stablecoin to Solana – Along With Card Payments - EUROe

Read the article at euroe.com to learn more.

EUROe

PancakeSwap expands to Consensys-powered Ethereum Layer 2 Linea

PancakeSwap has launched on the Linea mainnet — the Consensys-powered Ethereum Layer 2 — as it continues its multichain expansion.

The BlockYogita Khatri

Linea Completes Public Mainnet Rollout

Users Can Now Bridge ERC-20 Tokens To Consensys’ Layer 2 Network

The DefiantSamuel Haig

Binance To Launch opBNB Layer 2 Network Later This Month

Early Users Can Claim Genesis NFT

The DefiantSamuel Haig

Aave stablecoin GHO struggles to hold dollar peg. ‘The focus on peg should come later,’ founder says

Since its launch, GHO has fluctuated between $0.97 and $0.99, but Aave’s founder says this could change soon.

DL News

Ethereum Layer-2 Arbitrum Sees Ongoing ‘Influx’ of New Users After ARB Airdrop: Nansen - Decrypt

Arbitrum has enjoyed continued growth even after the ARB airdrop, as new users pile into the speedy layer-2.

DecryptNivesh Rustgi

Meme Coins PEPE, SHIB Plummet More Than 20% Over the Week - Decrypt

It’s been a bearish week for crypto prices in general, but holders of meme coins PEPE and SHIB bear the brunt of the downturn.

DecryptTim Hakki

Pendle Finance Users Can Now Profit From Real World Assets

Pendle will use MakerDao’s boosted Savings (sDAI) and Flux Finance’s fUSDC in its first real-world assets (RWA) based product.

CoinDeskShaurya Malwa

Twitter

NFTs

Mark Cuban, Yuga Labs Lead Backlash Over OpenSea’s NFT Royalties Change - Decrypt

OpenSea investor Mark Cuban expressed disappointment in the marketplace’s move as creators plot potential boycotts and restrictions.

DecryptSander Lutz

Macro econ/ Regulations

Ledger launches PayPal integration for buying bitcoin and ether

Ledger and PayPal team up for payment integration designed to streamline U.S. customers purchasing cryptocurrency.

The BlockRT Watson

Fed Saw ‘Significant’ Inflation Risk That May Merit More Hikes

Federal Reserve officials at their policy meeting in July largely remained concerned that inflation would fail to recede and that further interest-rate increases would be needed. At the same time, cracks in that consensus were also becoming more apparent.

BloombergMatthew Boesler

Asia promotes crypto clarity amid regulatory uncertainty in the U.S.

Asia is promoting clear crypto rules at a time when large firms are facing regulatory uncertainty in the U.S., said industry observers.

CNBCSheila Chiang

Mastercard Deepens Tie to CBDCs as Nations Mull Issuing Digital Currencies

Some of the first partners in a new Mastercard CBDC forum include Ripple, Fireblocks and Consensys.

CoinDeskHelene Braun

Evergrande files for US bankruptcy protection as China economic fears mount

Embattled developer China Evergrande Group has filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection as part of one of the world’s biggest debt restructurings, as anxiety grows over China’s worsening property crisis and its impact on the weakening economy.

ReutersClare Jim

China’s army filmed apparently preparing for conflict in Taiwan strait

Propaganda video shows troops running past anti-landing barricades similar to those that dot Taiwan’s coast

The GuardianAmy Hawkins

China Is Taking Its Social Credit System to the Metaverse: Report - Decrypt

Officials in China have reportedly put forth a set of proposals for a “government-controlled internet” to a UN metaverse focus group.

DecryptPedro Solimano

How much worse can China’s economic slowdown get?

China’s economic activity data for July, including retail sales, industrial output and investment failed to match expectations, fuelling concern over a deeper, longer-lasting slowdown in growth.

ReutersReutersAugust 15, 202311:00 PM UTCUpdated ago

$370m data hosting and crypto mining center opens in Salalah, Oman

Second such facility in the country since November 2022

DCDGeorgia Butler

Research reports/videos (DYOR)

Crypto’s Oldest Use Case Is Back in the Spotlight. But Why Now? - Decrypt

One of the core promises of crypto is making headlines again. But why has tokenization all of a sudden made headlines again?

DecryptLiam J. Kelly

Chinese Tech Stocks Tumble as Beijing Defends Yuan

China’s economic woes increase the pressure on some of the country’s largest internet companies, including Alibaba, JD.com and Baidu.

BarronsCallum Keown

The Flippening: why the Ethereum crypto supremacy is only about …

Discover the imminent crypto revolution that’s beyond BTC bubbles! The flippening is so evident, it’s like debunking flat earth theories. Dive in! 🚀🌍

The Solana Reading List

Curated list of useful Solana resources.

Rotating Wordsmert

Being Onbrand, Onchain

By: Karen Shen, Collab+Currency

Collab+CurrencyKaren Shen