The DeGen Bible to Financial Freedom - Vol.43

Week 26 August -  31 August 2023

Don't rejoice yet. We haven't won - Mars Captain

🧠 Observations

• Quiet week with Greyscale winning against the SEC. 7% pump in a couple of hours, then retraced. The crypto world is a fiesta of masochist. A 60% decline followed by a 5% rise gets people rejoicing for the bull market is back. Captain is always happy to see grassroots wins against corrupted authorities, though it is hard to consider the size of Greyscale grassroots.  
• Summer's over now, we have another quarter to finish the year. What will happen next? ETF approval without QE won't take the industry far. There is no liquidity in the market. US stock is still high.

💵 Stablecoin & Market Landscape

• Stablecoin market share remains high in reference to the total crypto market capitalization. 11.04% of stablecoin (124B) on 1.12T 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 1.12T.  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

• This thesis is based on how BTC outperforms ETH so far in the year.
• Captain is doubtful as Vitalik doesn't even speak too much on Ethereum's development. I have mentioned this multiple times, since the Merge, Ethereum has no more narrative. It's only about getting faster and cheaper, whether this is achieved via Layer 2s or other innovations. Ethereum has reached a bitcoin moment already.

• Coinbase effect?
• Captain is still skeptical about Base's hype, if no all relevant to Coinbase.

• Unibot traffic looks quite organic.

🔢 Index

• From 30ish to 5oish in three days. Always happy to hear the authorities got defeated, but again, market has no liquidity. This pump can't last for another week. Please go back to 30 or lower.

• CBBI is more fair, moved up a few points, but not too much. Ultimately we will need $BTC to stabilise the financial system

📰 Current affairs

Starfish Finance:

Chapter 2— Flip Your Zero to Become A Hero

A flip a day keeps the bill away.

MediumStarfish Finance

Prediction Market — The First Game of Starfish’s Entertainment-Fi

Play to earn?

MediumStarfish Finance

BTC

Bear Market ‘Much Worse Than Expected’: Analysts Pitch New Bitcoin Economy Framework - Decrypt

How do you measure the “real economic weight of a Bitcoin”? A collaboration between Ark Invest and Glassnode researchers propose an answer.

DecryptPedro Solimano

What’s a Bitcoin Drivechain and Why Are Devs At Odds Over Its Proposal? - Decrypt

Developer Paul Sztorc explains his Bitcoin drivechain proposal and why he thinks it’s good for the world’s largest and oldest cryptocurrency.

DecryptAndrew Throuvalas

ETH

Ethereum Execution Layer Specification | Ethereum Foundation Blog

Here be EELS!

Ethereum Foundation Blog

Layer 1s/ Major DeFi

Colombian Peso Stablecoin Goes Live on Polygon, Aiming for $10B Remittances Market

Num Finance already issues stablecoins pegged to the Argentine and Peruvian local currencies.

CoinDeskKrisztian Sandor

Liquid staking is building momentum on Solana, say Bruder and Meegan

Chorus One CIO says “the more broken a staking model and design is,” “the more urgent a liquid staking solution is needed for that network.”

BlockworksDarren Kleine

Prime Trust Lost $8M in Doomed Terra Stablecoin Investment, CEO Says

A separate 2021 wallet bungle by the crypto custodian, taken into receivership in July, cost it $76 million, a court filing said

CoinDeskJack Schickler

DEX Traders Turn To Telegram Bots To Gain An Edge

Bot Users Near 90,000 As Spike in Memecoin Trading Sparks Demand

The DefiantOwen Fernau

EOS Receives Regulatory Approval in Japan, Expanding Adoption in East Asian Markets

The EOS token has been granted whitelist approval by the Japan Virtual and Crypto Asset Exchange Association (JVCEA). Read more about what this means.

EOS NetworkEOS Network Foundation

Coinbase outlines decentralization plan for Base with fault proofs and OP client diversity %

Coinbase-incubated Base has unveiled a plan to move its network to a decentralized model, focusing on several technical updates.

The BlockVishal Chawla

DeFi Sector Increasingly Sees Real-World Assets As Growth Area

With US Interest Rates Above 5%, DeFi Protocols Look To Address Demand For Lucrative Off-chain Yields

The DefiantJeremy Nation

Weird PEPE Transfers Spook Crypto Investors and Prompt Meme Coin’s 15% Plunge

On-chain sleuths noted troubling changes to the oversight of a key wallet.

CoinDeskDanny Nelson

FTX, BlockFi, Genesis Customer Data Compromised in Kroll Hack

A ‘cybersecurity incident’ affected Kroll, which gathers customer claim data on behalf of bankrupt companies.

CoinDeskJack Schickler

What is Shibarium, the SHIB-Backed Network that Tripled Wallet Numbers Overnight? - Decrypt

Shibarium is looking to showcase the potential of the Shiba Inu project beyond its origins as a meme coin.

DecryptDecrypt Staff

Twitter

NFTs

Collecting the Algorithm: A Primer for On-Chain Generative Art

A primer for on-chain generative art. Why collecting on-chain generative art is special and how Curated approaches collecting it.

CuratedBy

Macro econ/ Regulations

Nvidia shares close flat despite big earnings beat on down day for broader market

The AI darling has seen demand for its powerful GPU chips surge over the last year and it projects that demand will continue through next year.

CNBCRohan Goswami

BlockFi, FTX downplay data breach involving claims administration platform Kroll

The breach Thursday calls into question the security measures employed by the third-party vendor.

BlockworksSebastian Sinclair

LatAm Firm Hashdex Joins Bitcoin Spot ETF Scrum With Distinct Plan - Decrypt

Hashdex, with $435 million under management, touts itself as the first company to launch a crypto index ETF.

DecryptDonovan Choy

China’s yuan falls against dollar, raising questions about weaker currency to boost exports

China’s yuan has dipped briefly to a 16-year low against the dollar, raising questions about whether Beijing might weaken its currency to help struggling exporters and reverse a deepening economic slump

ABC NewsABC News

Bitcoin Dreams Are Coming True in Argentina and Turkey

It’s no surprise a BTC-backing candidate just won a primary election in Argentina.

CoinDeskTodd Groth

Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority Explores Regulatory Framework for Stablecoins

The HKMA aims to leverage distributed ledger technology (DLT) to tokenize bank deposits, with a seminar planned for the coming quarter.

BSC News

Court hands Grayscale win in long-running suit against SEC

A court opinion gave Grayscale a win in its case against the SEC over its application for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

The BlockSarah Wynn

Research reports/videos (DYOR)

Why Proof of Reserves is Vital for Real-World Asset Tokenization - Decrypt

Matrixdock has partnered with Chainlink to enhance the transparency of its STBT token, backed by short-term U.S. Treasury securities. (Sponsored post by Matrixdock)

DecryptDecrypt Staff

The Secret Weapon Hackers Can Use to Dox Nearly Anyone in America for $15

Most Americans have very little choice but to provide their personal information to credit bureaus. Hackers have found a way into that data supply chain, and are advertising access in group chats used by violent criminals who rob, assault, and shoot targets.

404 MediaJoseph Cox

Elon Musk’s Shadow Rule

How the U.S. government came to rely on the tech billionaire—and is now struggling to rein him in.

The New YorkerCondé Nast

Tornado Cash arrests spur privacy debate

The arrests of Tornado Cash founders have sparked a privacy debate about developers being liable for criminal uses of their technology.

BlockworksDarren Kleine