The DeGen Bible to Financial Freedom - Vol.46

Week 16 September - 29 September 2023

Better, Faster, Stronger - Mars Captain

🧠 Observations

• The last two weeks witness some concluding statements of major crypto nukes last year, Celsius, BlockFi, FTX, they all are having some progress to certain degree of solvency. This is good, at least it is not getting worse, good market bottom indicators.
• Captain loves grassroots, so adoption in Nigeria, Turkey, South America is my best friends. Singapore? (Did you see FTX and 3 arrows?) Hong Kong? (LOL, JPEX, what a joke.) Japan? (More hopeful, but shall we forget Mt.Gox?) Any adoption is grassroots, the top down approach is just to tax mature market/business, bottom up is a true evaluation of success. Regulation cheerleaders, good luck working for the governments.
• At this point, Binance FUD size is no size. If LUNA had been less cocky and held like Binance, the algorithmic stablecoin alchemy would have been too big to short. After all these dear lessons in crypto experience, we all have to realise that landing a big idea isn't shiney, it's scars and tears. When people loot you with guns, you need to swallow the pain and keep whatever to grow more distributed and decentralised. That's how the French built their nuclear power independence and the Chinese built their atomic bomb. You are a winner as long as you are standing, not defeating others.  

💵 Stablecoin & Market Landscape

• Stablecoin market share remains high in reference to the total crypto market capitalization. 11.05% of stablecoin (123.5B) on 1.11T crypto market.

Reminder: Mid-NOV 2021, this percentage was around 4ish% with a 3T total MC. Now we are at 12ish% with a 1ishT total MC.

• Now at 1.11T.  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

• Until now, Captain is convinced that SOL won't be defeated easily just because of FTX selloff, as much as BNB won't collapse as it's itself an ecosystem.
• In case that happens, it could be a great chance to ape in Solana.

• So, the US alone may be bigger than all of other combined. India and Indonesia might have huge population, but the GNP is not worth mentioning.
• The interesting countries here are Vietnam and Nigeria. (Starfish is also very popular among these two countries.) Vietnam is small, while ranking high. The country is experience something that China experienced 25 years ago benefiting from all the big industry de-globalisation, getting away from China. Nigeria is a strong economy in Africa with a huge population and the best crypto adoption in the entire African continent. Recently, Celo has supported many developers in the country and its latest alumnus is the minipay wallet, integrated to the Opera browser.

• Sorry, not a fan of Friend Tech, though the social aspect and viralness is definitely worth us learning.
• Captain's doubts are mostly related to the actual support of Friend Tech from the deep state behind the doors. What happens if Elon decides to cut their traffic and promotion? How many actual Web3 natives are there in the ecosystem?

• The funny thing about this situation is that despite the real revenue is increasing and the team's committed to a buy-back schedule, the token value is dropping. It's like a listed company's stock dropping before people learning about the quarterly earnings report, sounds familiar?
• Just this is crypto, and on-chain data is transparent

• Captain's a fan of this growth. Surely the individual size of these individuals is small. But it matches the crypto spirit of being grassroots. Captain is liking it. Grow, Africa, flip the table with crypto!

• Alright, so let's see if history repeats and $BTC moons in Q4. That'll be a great prelude for the bull market.

🔢 Index

• Please drop lower, it basically didn't change.

• Captain has no comment, but keep this up please

📰 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

Can Spiderchain help bring Ethereum functionality into the Bitcoin-verse?

Spiderchain offers a two-way pegged sidechain for Bitcoin, helping to enable Ethereum-like functionalities on the Botanix EVM Layer 2.

The BlockJames Hunt

This Update Could Change Bitcoin Development Forever - Decrypt

Meet libbitcoinkernel: An under the radar project that seeks to lower the cost of experimentation on the Bitcoin network.

DecryptAlyssa Hertig

ETH

Ethereum’s Holesky Testnet Fails to Launch, in Rare Tech Misstep for the Blockchain

Developers of the Ethereum blockchain say there was a misconfiguration in the genesis files of the test network, and now they plan to try again in about two weeks.

Yahoo FinanceMargaux Nijkerk

Ethereum Developers Debate New Standard For On-chain Audit Reports

Developers From Prominent Web3 Security Firms Collaborate On Proposal To Make Smart Contract Audit Reports Easily Accessible On-chain

The DefiantSamuel Haig

Layer 1s/ Major DeFi

Telegram adds self-custodial crypto wallet worldwide, excluding the US | TechCrunch

Telegram, the popular chat app with 800 million monthly active users, is getting a self-custodial crypto wallet. The move is set to solidify its presence

TechCrunchRita Liao

Sui Network launches Google, Twitch and Facebook logins for DApps

The Sui Foundation has announced the launch of zkLogin, allowing users to access DApps on the Sui Network with pre-existing social logins from Google, Facebook and Twitch

CointelegraphTom Mitchelhill

Polygon Emerges as Suitor for Celo’s New Layer-2 Blockchain, Competing With OP Stack

Celo, which is ditching its standalone blockchain in favor of a new “layer-2” network atop Ethereum, had originally signaled plans to rely on Optimism’s OP Stack, a similar customizable kit to Polygon’s but using Optimism’s “optimistic” technology.

CoinDeskMargaux Nijkerk

PancakeSwap integrates Transak for fiat onboarding on multiple chains

According to its development team, Transak is integrated into over 350 Web3 apps.

CointelegraphTom Blackstone

DeFi protocol Linear Finance reports attack that drained ℓUSD liquidity

Hong Kong-based DeFi protocol Linear Finance reported an attack on Thursday that drained liquidity of its Linear USD token.

The BlockMK Manoylov

MobileCoin, which powers Signal’s anonymous crypto payments, appoints new CEO | TechCrunch

MobileCoin, the startup known for building Signal’s crypto payments feature, has appointed a new CEO as it works on expanding its encrypted money transfer

TechCrunchRita Liao

Friend.tech’s daily earnings exceed Ethereum’s, metrics hit new highs

Friend.tech’s top key, belonging to pseudonymous co-founder Racer, is now worth nearly 40% of the BAYC floor price.

The BlockJames Hunt

Circle’s EURC Stablecoin Launches on Stellar Network - Decrypt

Circle’s EUR-pegged stablecoin on Stellar now means that EURC is live on three different blockchains including Ethereum and Avalanche.

DecryptAndrew Asmakov

Canto, Astar blockchains plan expansion to Ethereum ecosystem as layer 2s

Layer-1 chains Canto and Astar have announced plans to expand beyond Cosmos and Polkadot to Ethereum over the last week, re-establishing themselves as a zero-knowledged powered layer 2s.

CointelegraphBrayden Lindrea

Solana Friend.tech Fork Friendzy Volume Edges Towards $1M After Just One Week - Decrypt

A Friend.tech clone has emerged on Solana, generating nearly half the weekly trading volume of the leading incumbent.

DecryptNivesh Rustgi

BNB Chain’s L2: opBNB Mainnet Goes Live

We’re thrilled to announce a significant milestone in the BNB Chain ecosystem: the public launch of opBNB’s mainnet on September 13, 2023!opBNB is the L2 of BNB Smart Chain.

BNB Chain BlogLouisa Choe

Metis aims to become Ethereum’s first fully decentralized Layer 2 in 2023

Metis aims to become Ethereum’s first decentralized Layer 2 infrastructure this year, with its community taking over centralized elements.

The BlockJames Hunt

OKX teams up with Solana Mobile over web3 expansion

Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange OKX has partnered with Solana Mobile, the Web3 smartphone platform powered by the Solana blockchain.

crypto.newsJuan Frers

Twitter

NFTs

A lonely metaverse as Sandbox, Decentraland active users drop | The NFT Unicorn

The metaverse, one of the pillars of the blockchain industry, has lost traction in the past few months as the crypto winter continues. Most of the flagship metaverse platforms have seen their users and their tokens plummet by double digits. Similarly, companies like Meta Platforms that were betting…

The NFT UnicornSawah Imported Press

Nouns Fork: Disgruntled NFT Holders Exit With $27 Million From Treasury - Decrypt

The Nouns NFT collective on Ethereum, which is building open-source IP by funding creative projects, fractures after a widely supported fork.

DecryptAndrew Hayward

Bored Ape Yacht Club Reveals BAPE Streetwear Collab - Decrypt

Streetwear brand BAPE is teaming up with the Bored Ape Yacht Club, with an apparel drop first launching during ApeFest Hong Kong.

DecryptAndrew Hayward

Macro econ/ Regulations

Ant to Pull Out of $100 Million Fund in Retreat From Crypto

Chinese fintech behemoth Ant Group Co. is planning to unwind its investment in A&T Capital, retreating from a $100 million vehicle that was central to its bet on a turbulent digital-asset arena, according to people familiar with the matter.

BloombergZheping Huang

Celsius acquires Texas mining site from Core Scientific for $14m

Core Scientific CEO Adam Sullivan expressed his satisfaction at the resolution, stating he was pleased to resolve “all existing litigation” with Celsius Mining.

crypto.newsBralon Hill

Japan to let startups sell digital tokens to venture capital funds

Rules have restricted domestic investment in burgeoning Web3 field

Nikkei AsiaStaff Writer

Israel’s land registry plans tokenized real estate exchange - Ledger Insights - blockchain for enterprise

Israel’s land registry is planning to launch an exchange for tokenized real estate after publishing a blockchain tender

Ledger Insights - blockchain for enterpriseLedger Insights

Bitcoin gains legal recognition as digital currency in Shanghai, China

Despite a hostile national policy in China, several courts in the country have recognized Bitcoin and other digital assets as legal properties protected by law.

CointelegraphPrashant Jha

AI’s New Backer: Stablecoin Tether Makes A $420 Million Bet On Cloud GPUs

The so-called stablecoin has bankrolled German bitcoin miner Northern Data’s pivot to powering AI startups with a purchase of 10,000 of Nvidia’s top of the line AI chips.

ForbesIain Martin

Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged: What the Experts Are Saying

The Fed hit the pause button again but still sees rates staying higher for longer. The Federal Reserve made the widely expected move of leaving interest rates unchanged when it wrapped up its regularly scheduled two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. If there was any sort of surprise, it was that poli…

Yahoo Financedan.burrowsfuturenet.com (Dan Burrows)

Vitalik Buterin says projects should consider how long Hong Kong’s crypto friendliness will last

Crypto projects should consider how stable Hong Kong’s friendliness will be, Buterin said today in Singapore.

The BlockTimmy Shen

Stanford University to Return Over $5.5M in ‘Gifts’ from FTX - Decrypt

Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents are accused of using their influence within FTX to channel millions of dollars to their employer, Stanford University.

DecryptMattis Meichler

Circle and Grab Pilot Web3 Experiences in Singapore

Circle announced a partnership with Grab to pilot Web3 customer experiences in Singapore through the integration of Circle’s Web 3 Services platform in the Grab app.

Circle Internet FinancialTeam Circle

Google Cloud teams up with Web3 startup to make DeFi mainstream

DeFi’s biggest challenge comes from the entry barrier and the security issues that have plagued the ecosystem for a long time.

CointelegraphPrashant Jha

Binance participated in MiCA discussion with European Banking Authority

Some of the conversation centered on whether stablecoin operators can get a grace period when applying for EMI licenses.

The BlockMK Manoylov

Brazil’s central bank seeks tighter cryptocurrency regulation, brokerage oversight

Brazil’s central bank governor Roberto Campos Neto on Wednesday said policymakers are aiming to tighten cryptocurrency regulation and subject brokerages to their supervision.

ReutersReutersSeptember 27, 20236:04 PM UTCUpdated ago

Research reports/videos (DYOR)

Are We There Yet?

(Any views expressed in the below are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions.) In the dark ages before TikTok and Instagram entertained us with duck lips and a…

Crypto Trader DigestArthur Hayes

The “Dark Brandon” meme — and why the Biden campaign has embraced it — explained

How “Let’s Go Brandon” and “Dark MAGA” combined to celebrate Joe Biden’s policy wins.

VoxAja Romano

What the Fed’s rate choice, outlook could mean for crypto markets

The Fed’s decision to either raise or pause rates on Wednesday may not significantly impact the crypto market, say industry watchers.

BlockworksBen Strack

Sub-Saharan Africa Crypto Adoption Trends and Analysis

Cryptocurrency has penetrated key markets in Africa and become an important part of daily life for many residents. Read to learn how and why.

ChainalysisChainalysis Team

Liquid Restaked Token (LRT) - A Playbook for the New Ponzitokenomics Era.

And three protocols worth checking out.

Ignas | DeFi ResearchIgnas | DeFi Research

The L2 Pivot on Bankless

The competition settles on Ethereum

BanklessJack Inabinet

Bitcoin’s Culture War - Discussion With Udi Wertheimer | BitMEX Blog

Abstract: We look at the recent apparent cultural schism in Bitcoin, in particular the so-called laser eyed Bitcoin maximalists and the accusation from “anti-maxis”, that this section of the community are too close minded and too dismissive of new ideas. We speak to a key proponent of this criticism…

BitMEX BlogBitMEX Research