HOME

Senate Bill Classifying Bitcoin As A Digital Commodity To Be Introduced Today: Report

Leave a comment

Senate Bill Classifying Bitcoin As A Digital Commodity To Be Introduced Today: Report

by Shawn Amick 

 

The bill seeks to empower the CFTC to regulate bitcoin as a digital commodity while excluding securities from also falling under the same category.

  • A new bill classifying bitcoin as a digital commodity could be introduced today.
  • This move would empower the current watchdog of derivatives and future markets, the CFTC, to gain regulatory jurisdiction over bitcoin.
  • The bill seeks to expand on previous definitions in the bitcoin ecosystem while also excluding securities from being digital commodities.

Leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee (SAC) are planning to introduce a bill that would classify bitcoin as a digital commodity, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The category of digital commodity is fairly new. Currently the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) oversees the regulation for derivatives of commodities, rather than the underlying commodity itself. This bill seeks to empower the CFTC to regulate spot markets for digital commodities which means the regulator would be given the ability to regulate the underlying asset itself.

The bill will also exclude securities from simultaneously being labeled a digital commodity. Therefore, any and all cryptocurrencies labeled as a security would fall under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rather than the CFTC.

In fact, the SEC has already made multiple appeals to cryptocurrency exchanges suggesting they register with the SEC as security exchanges. This action would place exchanges in the same category as other securities trading platforms like the New York Stock Exchange.

Additionally, the bill will reportedly seek to regulate and define brokers, dealers, custodians, and trading facilities. While semantic, these designations go a long way towards curtailing previous attempts at regulating the ecosystem which resulted in mistaken definitions that could have made operating in the space as a transaction validator or service provider extremely difficult – as seen in the previously introduced infrastructure bill.

However, this bill reportedly includes an exclusion for “a person” if said person’s involvement in the ecosystem is “solely because that person validates digital commodity transactions.” While this could be a boon for those not directly involved in the trading of bitcoin, there is still room for these definitions to get dicey.

Furthermore, Democratic SAC Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow and leading Republican John Boozman of Arkansas plan to introduce the bill today. CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam, a former staff member for Stabenow, stated the regulator is “ready and well situated” to oversee spot markets related to digital commodities. 

 

amazon

Tim Moseley

HOME

Foundry Digital Donates 1 BTC To Developer Working On Bitcoin Mining Pools

Leave a comment

Foundry Digital Donates 1 BTC To Developer Working On Bitcoin Mining Pools

by Shawn Amick 

 

The developer will work on a sub-protocol of Stratum V2, a communications protocol meant to improve miner collaboration, increasing the global hash rate.

  • Foundry Digital has donated 1 BTC to a pseudonymous open-source developer – 4ss0.
  • The developer is working on Stratum V2, a communication protocol for miners and mining pools.
  • Specifically, the developer will improve the decentralization of block templates and strengthen censorship resistance on the protocol.

Foundry Digital, an institutional service provider for bitcoin mining, has donated 1 BTC to a pseudonymous developer in the bitcoin ecosystem by the name of 4ss0, who is working on Stratum V2, according to a press release.

Stratum V2 is an open-source communications protocol that allows miners, their proxies, and mining pools to better communicate with one another enabling larger contributions to the global hashrate of the Bitcoin network. The protocol seeks to provide higher levels of efficiency, security and decentralization to the proof-of-work consensus mechanism powering Bitcoin.

Stratum V2 changes the default messaging format from JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) to binary with an added encryption feature, thereby improving communication on the existing Stratum protocol. However, while this functionality is important, 4ss0 will actually be dedicating their time to the Job Negotiation Protocol (JNP).

JNP is a sub-protocol within Stratum that enables bitcoin miners to create their own block templates. These templates allow for streamlined cooperation by setting predefined attributes for participating miners while strengthening censorship resistance by decentralizing the creation of block templates.

"The Job Negotiator implementation will increase the decentralization of pool mining, enabling miners to mine their chosen transactions while preventing the censorship of transaction propagation by pools,” said 4ss0. “This will further allow people around the world to benefit from Bitcoin's borderless freedom."

In addition to Foundry’s donation, the company will offer 4ss0 access to bitcoin mining application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and hash rate data provided by the Foundry USA Pool team for testing purposes.

"The bitcoin mining industry has evolved rapidly in the past two years, while the underlying protocol that coordinates the miner and the pool has stayed stagnant," said Jay Beddict, VP of research at Foundry. "Foundry views Stratum V2 as a major improvement to the current Stratum protocol and is aligned with our mission of empowering decentralized infrastructure.”

Try Audible Plus

ama

Tim Moseley

HOME

The Psychology of Fear

Leave a comment

The Psychology of Fear

In the last two and a half years, perhaps, each of us experienced a surge of fear and did not escape the anxiety of a completely new situation that gripped the whole world. This is quite natural; the events touched the entire civilized world.

However, it is difficult to say what the given level and frequency of experiencing fear, apprehension, and anxiety is. Each will always be a unique cocktail in which they will most likely be mixed early, even prenatal experiences and personal settings, degree of sensitivity, genetic make-up, fulfillment or non-fulfillment of basic emotional needs in childhood, and others.

In addition, during our life, sometimes there comes a period of crises, rebirths, and changes when deep forces forcefully and without question penetrate through the shell of our consciousness. These periods can be accompanied by extreme experiences of fear, anxiety, and even terror.

"There is only one way to happiness, and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

        —  Epictetus

According to one medieval story, a pilgrim was walking along the road to the city and met Death. Recognizing her, he asks: "Where are you going and why?" "I am going to the city to kill a thousand people with the plague." "Well, if you have to, go," the pilgrim replies, slowly heading to the same city. When he arrives at his destination, he finds a dead city, tens of thousands dead, not a single living being anywhere. He goes back the same way and meets Death again. "You lied to me, Death. You killed all the people with the plague." "I didn't lie,” answers the Death “exactly one thousand inhabitants of the city died of the plague. Everyone else was killed by the fear of the plague."

This horrible story illustrates well the destructive nature of fear if we are overwhelmed by it and give up the fight. The instinctive reaction to a threat is not only an attack or escape, but if we evaluate the situation as hopeless, then also paralysis and surrender to a higher power.

 

This instinctive reaction is exploited by populist leaders – saviors who can frighten a crowd to the point that it gives up its own chances of solving the urgent sense of threat by its own forces and passively places power and salvation in the hands of a manipulative higher power.

Guidelines for Manipulators and Crowd Leaders:

A manipulator will systematically present people with messages, stories, and images that will create and spread a sense of threat, anxiety, and fear in society.

A larger part of society will stop verifying ghostly information, confronting it with a different point of view. They begin to have a great need to clarify and simplify the whole problem. It is enough to help them with the right stickers and directions, which will be simple and logically comprehensible.

Put more pressure on the saw and try to create the feeling that the situation has no solution. After the initial resistance, anxiety, and then resignation to one's own activity will probably come, but there remains hope for salvation from above.

Give them such salvation with a simple instruction – explain to the crowd (yes, at that point, society is mostly behaving like a crowd) that others are incapable, look where they got us, while you are not afraid and have a solution. In doing so, you will only be repeating ideas that you have already pushed on people before. This way, your ideas will seem familiar, logical, and therefore believable to them.

How to deal with the amount of information thrown at a person? 

Restrict message viewing?
Certainly yes, and watch the news only at certain times and only from specific sources.

Adequacy, not absence of concern. Realize that worry and fear are natural emotions that have an essential function. They mobilize us, orient our attention and show what we should change to prevent the possible negative consequences of what threatens us. It's not about not having such emotions at all but *keeping them within limits where they don't harm us*.

Mental hygiene is essential! Introduce (and if you do, intensify) important psycho hygiene exercises – intensive movement, physical exercises, physical relaxation (autogenic training, etc.), yoga, meditation, mindfulness exercises, walks in nature, etc.

You can prepare crisis scenarios –  and then put them away. If you are overly worried about the possible practical consequences of the current situation for your concrete, everyday life (energy crisis, job loss, financial matters, etc.), do not avoid these considerations, but go through them thoroughly once and conclude. 

Specifically: calmly (alone or with another person who is a reasonable advisor) discuss these concerns and devote yourself primarily to planning activities and measures that (then, if they arise) you can take. Think through contingency plans ("what would I do if") and alternatives. 

Do it once, thoroughly, when you are in a stable mood. For example, write down all the points on paper. And then hide it somewhere and close everything, both realistically and symbolically. Don't come back to it. If needed, you have plans made.

Remember – feeling afraid, nervous, and upset is normal in times of uncertainty.

The way people react to the news can be influenced by how it's presented. While you want to stay informed from credible news sources, you might need to set limits on your daily media consumption.

Fears from the point of view of human biology

Fear actually has a central location in our brain. The area is called the amygdala, and it is located deep on the sides of our head in a place called the temporal lobe. It gets its name from being almond-shaped. The amygdala serves us well and helps us to avoid fearful and anxious situations in our past, so we don’t continue to make the same mistakes or subject ourselves to dangerous situations. It keeps us on alert when we must be careful.

Your amygdala fires the stress/anxiety/fear warnings based on how you see the world. It is complicated because our brain is complicated, but imagine your eyes see a threat, and messages go throughout your brain telling you to run, fight, flee, or whatever response you might take. 

Part of the message goes to your amygdala for many reasons, including the emotional component. The more your amygdala is stimulated, the more easily it can get triggered. When a pandemic has a child or adult in fear all day, the amygdala repeatedly uses minimal stimulus to fire. Everything becomes a threat – and fear and anxiety are everywhere.

First things first, do not let any kind of negativity and hopelessness stop you from taking the necessary actions to care for yourself. Mild anxiety can be beneficial to boosting efforts and achieving a favorable outcome. Excessive anxiety can make it difficult to reason and cause extreme stress. It is helpful to understand what kind of behavior and emotions are normal and which should raise a red flag. 

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows but only empties today of its strength.” —  Charles Spurgeon

Sources:

 

 

About: Markéta Halova. (Czech Republic) A crypto enthusiast, keen online marketer and passion for photography. I love interacting with the community of Entrepreneurs at Markethive. I believe in free speech, liberty, sovereignty for all. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim Moseley

HOME

Gold gets slight safe-haven bid as risk aversion up-ticks

Leave a comment

Gold gets slight safe-haven bid as risk aversion up-ticks

Gold prices are modestly up in midday U.S. trading Tuesday and hit a nearly four-week high earlier, as some safe-haven demand is featured amid keener risk aversion in the marketplace today. October gold futures were last up $4.80 at $1,782.60. September Comex silver futures were last down $0.152 at $20.215 an ounce.

U.S.-China tensions are on the rise today as U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in and visited Taiwan Tuesday evening. China has vowed retaliation. Global stock markets were mostly lower overnight. U.S. stock indexes are mixed at midday.

Overnight news that the U.S. military killed the leader of Al Qaida in a drone strike in Kabul had little impact on markets.

JPMorgan dominates gold market as jury deliberates spoofing charges

The key outside markets today see Nymex crude oil prices higher and trading around $94.75 a barrel. Traders are awaiting an OPEC meeting Wednesday. The U.S. dollar index is solidly higher at midday and did help to knock down the precious metals markets from their daily highs.

Technically, October gold futures prices hit a nearly four-week high early on today. The gold futures bears still have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, recent gains have negated a price downtrend on the daily bar chart a fledgling price uptrend is now in place. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $1,800.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,720.00. First resistance is seen at today’s high of $1,794.80 and then at $1,800.00. First support is seen at this week’s low of $1,764.10 and then at $1,750.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0.

September silver futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, a price downtrend has been negated to suggest a market bottom is in place. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $21.50. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $19.00. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of $20.51 and then at $20.75. Next support is seen at $20.00 and then at last Friday’s low of $19.825. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0.

September N.Y. copper closed down 270 points at 351.50 cents today. Prices closed nearer the session high today. The copper bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, a steep six-week-old price downtrend on the daily bar chart has been negated and prices are starting to trend up. Copper bulls' next upside price objective is pushing and closing prices above solid technical resistance at 385.00 cents. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid technical support at the July low of 313.15 cents. First resistance is seen at this week’s high of 359.70 cents and then at 365.00 cents. First support is seen at today’s low of 344.85 cents and then at 335.00 cents. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

 

 

Tim Moseley

HOME

Web 30 – The Era of Decentralization Autonomy and Influence?

Leave a comment

Web 3.0 – The Era of Decentralization, Autonomy and Influence?

The Evolution of The Internet

In simple terms Web 3.0 refers to a third major iteration of the world wide web or internet as we know it, and in many ways it is still unfolding. But what is it and what does this mean for the individual and entrepreneur? To give proper context to its evolution let’s loop back and take a look at Web version one and two.

Web 1.0

Web 1.0 saw the inception of the world wide web which emerged in 1989 out of the shadows of Arpanet and Milnet, via the innovative influence of Tim- Berners Lee. You could connect to the internet, browse websites and access information in either ‘read only’ format, or downloadable format in many cases. It was a start of a proliferation of information, yet quite passive and static in nature.

Web 2.0

2004 saw an iteration of the internet, which Tim O’Reily supposedly coined. Web 2.0 saw a more interactive version of the internet whereby users could create content, meaning two way engagement. 

The main shift was a relational one rather than a technical one per se.  More web applications emerged and this is where big tech companies such as social media giants, Facebook and Google took center stage.

YouTube arose, Wikipedia and wikileaks also emerged with editable functions as new information replaced old information. Website architecture such as WordPress came into being, with its drag and drop features, making it simple to create websites without needing to know code in detail. Communication was more interactive and applications such as direct messaging apps increased connectivity. For many it became the prime choice for communication over email.

Web 3.0

If Web 2.0 was all about interactivity, collaboration and engagement, Web 3.0 marks an even greater shift, and it seems to have emerged off the back of the last recession in 2008.

Web 3.0 is more than just an iteration, and is still unfolding. It denotes a major structural shift toward the decentralization of money and data. Most importantly It seems to be heralding an age beyond information to one of autonomy and influence.

Concepts like the blockchain, cryptocurrency, DeFi, Smart Contracts, DAO and NFT are part of the landscape of Web 3.0.  Embodied in these concepts are the themes of user control over money, and data, as well the ability to influence their livelihoods and the construction of community projects designed to answer some of the most pressing issues of our times.


Image source: https://entethalliance.org/advancing-the-web-3-0-ecosystem

It seems like the debacle of the Northern Rock bank run here in the UK back in 2007 has jolted people into realizing that their assets can effectively be stripped in a time of economic slump without their permission. That is grand theft. Are we witnessing a return of power to the people and a leveling of the economic playing field? Time will tell.

What is Decentralization and DEFI?

Decentralization is all about moving the power of influence, control and consumerism away from a central source of control. To make it easier to understand, think of AirBNB and Uber.

AirBNB is an example of the decentralization of vacation accommodation, and the removal of huge overhead costs. It came to prominence in 2008. AirBNB is like a brokerage for homeowners across the globe, who choose to rent their homes out for vacation stays. It offers an attractive alternative experience to the traditional hotel stays.

At around the same time in 2009, Uber saw the decentralization of the transport industry, specifically taxis. In this example Uber acts as a brokerage between vehicle owners and users who need to book transport, as an alternative to the traditional taxi firms. Both are like consumer to consumer models of approach, providing more income opportunities for consumers minus a broker commission in the process.

DeFi stands for decentralized finance. It's all about the decentralization of money into the hands of the community and consumer. Related to that is that, not only does it give control of money and financial data back to the consumer, but the power to influence and contribute to the building of new community structures, according to their white papers.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency represents digital currency and is to be distinguished from CBDCs, which are digital currencies which are under central bank ownership. Whereas In a bank run such as the Northern Rock event of 2007 you can be denied access to your money, the opposite is true with cryptocurrency.

In 2009 the largest cryptocurrency to date, Bitcoin came into being. Now you can own and control bitcoin through your private wallet, and not be denied access unless you lose your private security keys. You can send bitcoin peer to peer from wallet to wallet, and buy more everyday items via debit cards as mass adoption increases. 

Over 10,000 cryptocurrencies have spawned the exchanges since bitcoin took stage, and you can see their status and key metrics in places like nomics and coinmarketcap. Not all coins and tokens are equal, and not all fare well for a variety of reasons. 

Many are seen as dud tokens or coins, here today and gone tomorrow. So due diligence is also important if you are looking to build any sort of digital portfolio. In all cases, for transactions to take place it needs an underpinning structure. Enter the blockchain.

Blockchain

 
Image Source: https://www.simon-kucher.com/en/blog/blockchain-and-its-impact-business-success

An important aspect of the decentralization of money and transactions is something called the Blockchain. This is like a huge digital ledger which is publicly available for all to see, use and verify transactions. This is where you see the description, ‘trustless’, which is the ability to verify without needing trust.

Its transparency and verification features mark a huge development in the area of money. Whenever you buy cryptocurrency at an exchange, and send money peer to peer from your digital wallet all transactions can be tracked on the blockchain. Speed of transaction and fees vary from blockchain to blockchain. Bitcoin transactions can be viewed on the bitcoin blockchain. 

Ethereum came into being as a blockchain in 2013 and also has its own token. One of its unique aspects is the ability for a developer to build applications such as smart contracts on its blockchain. 

This is basically an executable piece of code that gets activated when the criteria of that contract is met. It effectively takes out the middleman and removes lag time often seen in the manual process of bank or legal contracts, for example. The removal of a lot of bureaucracy may be eliminated in the future with SMART contracts.

Technological advances means that a developer can build their own blockchain as well if they have the technical expertise. You can put your website on the blockchain too. The possibilities are endless with the blockchain infrastructure.

The recent proliferation of DAOs and NFTs and Artificial Intelligence are further signs of a new way of relating to technological advances which puts more autonomy and control in the hands of the user. NFT stands for non fungible tokens, meaning each token cannot be duplicated, and are being used in a number of ways in business. The advert from Budweiser at the recent Superbowl is an example of this. DAO stands for Decentralized Autonomous Organization which involves voting and co- ownership of that particular community project. It gives more say and influence to its participants.

Artificial Intelligence is streamlining and compressing a lot of manual activities, which has implications for productivity and innovation. Of course, with autonomy comes the need for greater responsibility and wisdom where technology is concerned and this applies to life in general. The more power you have, the more responsibility and wisdom is implied.

Is Web 3.0 and DeFi here to stay? The volatile nature of cryptocurrency makes it difficult to make a statement one way or the other. Also the various governmental regulations touted add to that uncertainty, such as ISO 20022. Some predict that with the new ISO 20022 standard most cryptocurrencies will be wiped out. 

What is ISO 20022?

To keep it simple ISO 20022 is an algorithmic standard, a bit like SWIFT in the banking structures, which validates financial transactions and data across the globe. It is the proposed shift from SWIFT to ISO 20022 that has caused concern about the future of cryptocurrency because only a handful of cryptocurrencies are compliant with this standard.

Ripple, Algorand, Stellar Lumens, Iota, XinFin, Hedera and Quant are the confirmed ones. Regulations in general can be a double edged sword as Ripple [ XRP ] found out, even with its ISO 20022 status, as it does battle with the Securities Exchange Commission.

Summary

Whilst the volatility of cryptocurrencies makes its course less predictable, and regulations such as ISO 20022 and SEC may throw a spanner in the works, there are a lot of moving factors beyond this that can support or derail a cryptocurrency.  

Standards of good practice are essential. Yet many see regulations as a kickback from central authorities who do not wish to lose their power and status over the people, hence giving crypto users a hard time in terms of operating freely.

What is clear is that people are fed up of the old erroneous, incompetent and corrupted structures. Bitcoin continues to lead the way in gathering pace in mass adoption in the arena of supply and demand. Markethive is also an example of an ecosystem which is navigating the obstacles through its credits system.

The regulators may view bitcoin as a commodity but the issuance of debit cards to translate bitcoin into spendable money for everyday items suggests a more powerful use value.

Expenditure in relation to supply and demand may be a more predictive indicator. Billions are being poured into blockchain solutions, and businesses are expected to increase expenditure into blockchain technology significantly, suggesting that blockchain will be a central part of business moving forward. 

Image Source: https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2021/10/this-infographic-illustrates-10-biggest.html

Web 3.0 is continuing to be shaped by these new structures and concepts of decentralized finance, which means more autonomy and responsibility for the user and entrepreneur.  Like AirBNB and Uber it seems to be part of a wider trend that is here to stay as it looks to shape a new economy.

Now more than ever the opportunity exists for the entrepreneur to shape the destiny of their business with enabling technology. If privacy, autonomy and freedom of speech are important to you then you now have the possibility to move your website to the blockchain.

The shackles of constraint can come off your mind as you seek to evaluate how your business can benefit you and your audience with these new possibilities. I look forward to establishing my website on the blockchain for peace of mind. That’s just for starters.

If it all feels new and overwhelming, know that there are academies and education hubs like Bankless and Moralis Academy that are designed to walk you through and empower you with the necessary education to enable your business to operate with greater autonomy and influence as a force for good.

 

 

 

About: Anita Narayan. (United Kingdom) My life's work is about helping individuals to greater freedom through joy and purpose without self-sabotage, so that inspirational legacy can serve generations to come. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim Moseley

HOME

Gold silver see price gains on more short covering bargain hunting

Leave a comment

 Gold, silver see price gains on more short covering, bargain hunting

Gold and silver prices are higher in early U.S. trading Monday, with gold notching a three-week high and silver a four-week high. Short covering from futures traders is featured in both metals, with cash market traders also doing some perceived bargain-basement buying after gold prices hit a 15-month low and silver a two-year low in July. October gold futures were last up $7.70 at $1,779.20. September Comex silver futures were last up $0.243 at $20.44 an ounce.

Global stock markets were mostly higher overnight, on this first trading day of August. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward lower openings when the New York day session beings, on corrective pullbacks and pauses after posting a very good month of July. The U.S. stock indexes are in near-term price uptrends on the daily bar charts amid better trader and investor risk appetite in the marketplace.

In overnight news, China’s official purchasing managers index (PMI) came in at 49.0 in July from 50.2 in June. A reading below 50.0 suggests contraction in the sector. Meantime, the Euro zone July manufacturing PMI was reported at 49.8 versus 52.1 in June.

Growth stocks will make a quick comeback before crashing again – Chris Vermeuelen

The key outside markets today see Nymex crude oil prices down and trading around $96.75 a barrel. Traders are awaiting an OPEC meeting Wednesday. The U.S. dollar index is lower in early U.S. trading, which is also supporting the metals markets. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note is fetching 2.681%. The 2-year U.S. Treasury note yield is trading at 2.921%, to keep the yield curve inverted.

U.S. economic data due for release Monday includes the U.S. manufacturing PMI, the ISM report on business manufacturing, the global manufacturing PMI, and construction spending.

Technically, the October gold futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, a price downtrend on the daily bar chart has been negated and prices last Friday saw a bullish weekly high close that is one chart clue that a market bottom is in place. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $1,800.00. Bears' next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the July low of $1,686.30. First resistance is seen at $1,790.00 and then at $1,800.00. First support is seen at the overnight low of $1,764.10 and then at $1,750.00. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0

September silver futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. However, a price downtrend on the daily bar chart has been negated and prices last Friday closed at a bullish weekly high close, to suggest a market bottom is in place. Silver bulls' next upside price objective is closing prices above solid technical resistance at $21.50. The next downside price objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $19.00. First resistance is seen at $20.50 and then at $20.75. Next support is seen at $20.00 and then at last Friday’s low of $19.825. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.0.

By Jim Wyckoff

For Kitco News

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

 

Tim Moseley

HOME

Solana Premier NFT Marketplace: Magic Eden Launches a Web3 Gaming Investment Arm

Leave a comment

Solana Premier NFT Marketplace: Magic Eden Launches a Web3 Gaming Investment Arm

Magic Eden, the most significant non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on the Solana Blockchain, has launched an investment arm to support the Web3 gaming industry. The new entity, Magic Ventures, will invest in Web3 game developers and infrastructure builders, Magic Eden said in announcing the news on Tuesday 12th July. The company believes that gaming has the potential to bring millions of users to the blockchain. Tony Zhao, a former key member of Tencent Games, has been appointed as the head of game investment.

Jack Lu, co-founder, and CEO of Magic Eden said in the statement:

"The gaming world is a massive market that has just started to venture into the world of Web 3. We intend to deepen our relationships with both gamers and game developers alike to champion the future of games on the blockchain."

The company said that the creation of Magic Ventures and the appointment of Tony Zhao as head of gaming investments would enable Magic Eden to invest in promising games and gaming infrastructure that will fuel the growth of Web 3 gaming.

Tony Zhao will also be joined by Yoonsup Choi, Harrison Chang, and Matt Biamonte. They all deeply understand Web 3 gaming from their respective professional gaming and esports backgrounds. Yoonsup Choi and Harrison Chang are former League of Legends and Fortnite players, while Biamonte both launched NFT projects individually.

"By hiring Tony, Harrison, Yoon, and Matt, we are building a solid foundation on which we can continue to work with exciting innovators in the Web 3 gaming ecosystem. Eden Games is a rapidly growing company in our company sector. We look forward to continuing its growth,"  added Jack Lu, commenting on the new addition to the Magic Ventures team.

Magic Ventures has already made some investments and is planning more, Zhao said, but would not disclose which projects or startups it has invested in. He added that there is no set number in terms of the total dollar amount invested in projects, and the typical investment size is "pretty small" given the strategic nature.

"We're not here to fund the entire development [of games]," he said. "Our value-add is not capital—it's all of these infrastructure solutions and an NFT experience that no one else in the market can provide."

Web3 and Game Innovator Joins Together 

Along with the venture capital arm, Magic Eden's Eden Games division announced that it has entered into agreements with the makers of several Solana games, including Aurory, Mini Royale: Nations, and Genopets, to operate an in-game NFT marketplace. Once launched, players will be able to buy and sell NFTs in any game without having to travel to an external marketplace. It is designed to provide a seamless process for gamers, especially those unfamiliar with crypto wallets and self-custody assets. Zhao said that the infrastructure is available to developers, so they don't have to build integrations from scratch.

NFTs are blockchain tokens representing ownership of items such as art, collectibles, and interactive video game items. In games, NFTs can represent things like unique weapon designs, character avatars, and customizable virtual lots. As mentioned earlier, Magic Eden recently became a crypto unicorn with a valuation of over $1 billion. The company raised $130 million last month at a $1.6 billion valuation just nine months after the startup was founded.

The NFT marketplace plans to support more blockchain platforms beyond Solana in the future, although no specific chains have been announced.

Image source: Magic Eden

Magic Eden Joins in NFT Pursuit

Magic Eden's growing focus on Web3 gaming puts it in direct competition with Fractal, Solana's gaming-centric NFT marketplace co-founded by Justin Kan and co-founder of video game streaming platform Twitch. Fractal only focuses on interactive game assets, while Magic Eden also supports avatars and other types of NFT assets.

Zhao said that both Magic Eden and Fractal are focused on growing the Web3 gaming space. However, he believes Magic Eden offers a broader suite of solutions to launch and support Solana-based games and says the results boost his confidence.

He said, 

"We all want to expand the ecosystem. For game developers, we show them the data, right? It's up to them to decide who ends up choosing. The results tell developers that there are good reasons to work with us instead of Fractal."

Benefits of Launching NFT Marketplace on Solana

Solana is an open source decentralized blockchain that uses an innovative hybrid consensus model that enables swift transactions. Many digital content creators, investors, and entrepreneurs flock to Solana to create and showcase NFTs. The Solana blockchain enables a fully decentralized on-chain experience, while the Solana NFT standard and minting process provide creators with the highest level of customizability. Let's take a look at some of the business benefits of launching an NFT Marketplace on Solana.

Transactions per Second

The Solana blockchain is an ultra-fast blockchain that can process 710,000 transactions in 400 milliseconds and help transactions go through the market without delay. The average network latency for a bitcoin transaction today is between 12 to 15 seconds and takes about 10 minutes to verify on Ethereum.

Solana's block time is less than 1 second, which makes it one of the fastest decentralized networks available today! With the rapid increase in blockchain adoption and usage over the past few years, the need for faster and more efficient blockchain solutions is growing exponentially. It will continue to do so in the future as blockchain technology continues to mature and become increasingly mainstream.

Cost per Transaction

The Solana blockchain's high throughput and low transaction fees of $0.00025 make it the perfect solution for developing NFTs and NFT marketplaces of all shapes and sizes. The cost to create an item is also lower than other blockchains, making it a viable platform for developers needing quick and cheap development solutions while being able to scale easily with the platform's rising popularity.

No Memory Issues

Solana blockchain does not have mempool issues. The mempool is the waiting area for processed transactions waiting to be accepted. The result is an instant trade on the market. Solana does not have any of these problems that affect others who use Ethereum and are experiencing delays and high fees from the blockchains' inability to process the large volume of transactions in a short amount of time.

Expand the Ecosystem

The Solana ecosystem is expanding, which helps to handle large numbers of dapps and smart contracts and support more coins without network congestion. To do this, Solana added a second pool to handle all transactions, with an extra layer of security and redundancy for when the first pool goes down for maintenance or other reasons, which can happen very frequently during normal operation. This will also allow them to scale up further in the future as the community needs, without worrying about running out of capacity in the system as it grows each year exponentially!

Easy to Program

Solana blockchain is based on Rust software, which is easier to program and build different applications. This makes Solana a flexible platform for building NFT marketplaces, dapps, and more. Build your own preferred NFT marketplace on Solana and start earning with exemplary Solana NFT development services from the industry-leading Solana NFT marketplace development company.

Conclusion

The Solana NFT market is booming. The NFT marketplace and Solana blockchain impact today with their evolving advanced features and capabilities. From concept to design to delivery, Solana and the NFT market have seen significant growth in the market. The Solana network has been tested and debugged. It has grown from a prototype of an idea into a fully functional product used by hundreds of businesses worldwide today. Delivering on its promises of the best experience for all users across every device, platform, and browser, all in one place, and most importantly, on-chain! Solana will continue to focus on building the most extraordinary ecosystem on the planet as we look ahead to future releases.

 

 

 

About: Prince Chinwendu. (Nigeria) Rapid and sustainable human growth is my passion, and getting a life-changing opportunity into the hands of people is my calling. Empowering entrepreneurs provides me with enormous gratification. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tim Moseley

HOME

The Climate Maniacs

Leave a comment

The Climate Maniacs

by Lew Rockwell, lewrockwell.com

 

The Climate Maniacs

 

A Strange New Argument?

Brain-dead Biden and the gang that controls him are promoting an argument that is strange even by the low standards of that criminal gang. “It’s hot outside. Let’s shut down the American economy and go green.” It doesn’t make sense, and its purpose is to kill people and destroy America in the process.

If the temperature goes up, is this good or bad? As Matt Ridley points out, on balance it’s very good: “Global warming is real. It is also – so far – mostly beneficial. This startling fact is kept from the public by a determined effort on the part of alarmists and their media allies who are determined to use the language of crisis and emergency. The goal of Net Zero emissions in the UK by 2050 is controversial enough as a policy because of the pain it is causing. But what if that pain is all to prevent something that is not doing net harm?

The biggest benefit of emissions is global greening, the increase year after year of green vegetation on the land surface of the planet. Forests grow more thickly, grasslands more richly and scrub more rapidly. This has been measured using satellites and on-the-ground recording of plant-growth rates. It is happening in all habitats, from tundra to rainforest. In the four decades since 1982, as Bjorn Lomborg points out, NASA data show that global greening has added 618,000 square kilometres of extra green leaves each year, equivalent to three Great Britains. You read that right: every year there’s more greenery on the planet to the extent of three Britains. I bet Greta Thunberg did not tell you that.

The cause of this greening? Although tree planting, natural reforestation, slightly longer growing seasons and a bit more rain all contribute, the big cause is something else. All studies agree that by far the largest contributor to global greening – responsible for roughly half the effect – is the extra carbon dioxide in the air. In 40 years, the proportion of the atmosphere that is CO2 has gone from 0.034 per cent to 0.041 per cent. That may seem a small change but, with more ‘food’ in the air, plants don’t need to lose as much water through their pores (‘stomata’) to acquire a given amount of carbon. So dry areas, like the Sahel region of Africa, are seeing some of the biggest improvements in greenery. Since this is one of the poorest places on the planet, it is good news that there is more food for people, goats and wildlife.

 

Global Greening…Better Bury It…

But because good news is no news, green pressure groups and environmental correspondents in the media prefer to ignore global greening. Astonishingly, it merited no mentions on the BBC’s recent Green Planet series, despite the name. Or, if it is mentioned, the media point to studies suggesting greening may soon cease. These studies are based on questionable models, not data (because data show the effect continuing at the same pace). On the very few occasions when the BBC has mentioned global greening it is always accompanied by a health warning in case any viewer might glimpse a silver lining to climate change – for example, ‘extra foliage helps slow climate change, but researchers warn this will be offset by rising temperatures’.

Another bit of good news is on deaths. We’re against them, right? A recent study shows that rising temperatures have resulted in half a million fewer deaths in Britain over the past two decades. That is because cold weather kills about ’20 times as many people as hot weather’, according to the study, which analyses ‘over 74million deaths in 384 locations across 13 countries’. This is especially true in a temperate place like Britain, where summer days are rarely hot enough to kill. So global warming and the unrelated phenomenon of urban warming relative to rural areas, caused by the retention of heat by buildings plus energy use, are both preventing premature deaths on a huge scale.

Surely this will change in the future? Probably not. Britain would have to get much, much hotter for summer mortality to start exceeding winter deaths. Not even Greece manages that. And the statistics show that – as greenhouse-gas theory predicts – on the whole more warming is happening in cold places, in cold seasons and at cold times of day. So winter nighttime temperatures in the global north are rising much faster than summer daytime temperatures in the tropics.

Summer temperatures in the US are changing at half the rate of winter temperatures and daytimes are warming 20 per cent slower than nighttimes. A similar pattern is seen in most countries. Tropical nations are mostly experiencing very slow, almost undetectable daytime warming (outside cities), while Arctic nations are seeing quite rapid change, especially in winter and at night. Alarmists love to talk about polar amplification of average climate change, but they usually omit its inevitable flip side: that tropical temperatures (where most poor people live) are changing more slowly than the average.”

Brain-dead Biden says that we should respond to this good news by destroying the American economy through the Green New Deal. According to Joel Kotkin, “‘The interesting thing about the Green New Deal is it wasn’t originally a climate thing at all… ‘Do you guys think of it as a climate thing? Because we really think of it as a how-do-you-change-the-entire-economy thing.’ So said Saikat Chakrabarti, former chief of staff for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and generally acknowledged author of the Green New Deal.

Sometimes it is wise to find out what ideas’ originators actually think. That is true for documents that have lit up our lives, such as the US Constitution, as well as for those that have darkened them, such as Mein Kampf.

 

There's More Than One Way To Destroy An Economy!

This is true as well for the nascent Green New Deal, which President Joe Biden has essentially adopted as his own. Even if Congress fails to pass it entirely, Biden will seek to impose many of its goals through administrative diktats on gas-powered cars, land use, airplanes, any form of fossil fuel and nuclear power. Green New Dealers will also extend the welfare state, including to those who choose not to work.

As Chakrabarti indicated, the Green New Deal is not another environmental ameliorative, but something far more fundamentally transformative. The Biden administration’s embrace of it is somewhat surprising given that the likely economic fallout of this plan – particularly for the working class – made both Biden and House speaker Nancy Pelosi distance themselves from it during the fall campaign. But now the Green New Deal has resurfaced, having made the metamorphosis from a leftist fantasy into a serious political initiative.

Remarkably, despite this record of distortion, climate hysteria has become the abiding faith of the dominant media, universities and a large swath of the corporate establishment, particularly on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley. Some have even embraced the hardly capitalist notion of degrowth, an ideology which suggests, in essence, the Western working and middle classes must sacrifice comfort and aspiration to save the planet. (Often at the urging of the world’s wealthiest people, with their grand estates and private jets!)

Although most industrial unions backed Biden, the first clear victims of his embrace of the Green New Deal are obvious: people working in energy and fields that depend on reliable and affordable energy, such as oil workers, truck drivers, factory and logistics workers. For example, a move to ban fracking – which vice-president Kamala Harris has supported – would, according to a US Chamber of Commerce report, cost several million jobs. This will be made much worse by the green turn against nuclear power and natural gas, notes long-time environmentalist Ted Nordhaus.

Under the Green New Deal, displaced workers will be placed on the dole, or encouraged to take a job in the ‘green economy’. Yet these jobs, notes a recent Building Trades Union study, pay far worse, and are less likely to last long or be unionised, than those in the conventional energy industry. ‘It’s pie-in-the-sky bullshit about these green jobs being good middle-class jobs, because they’re not’, said Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, in conversation with Politico. ‘I’m concerned about union members and union families being left behind… and I think they’ve already been left behind.’”

 

So What Is The Real Plan?

Why do they want to do these horrible things to us? It’s part of the same plan as the deadly Covid vaccines to kill a large part of the world’s population and control what remains. Gary Barnett offers a good summary of their agenda:

“As of late, and after a global assault on humanity that is unmatched in history, expansion of the ‘reset’ (takeover) of society is ramping up to epoch proportions. With this will come an onslaught of claimed monsters to frighten the masses into even more panic; the leading one before and after the ‘Covid’ hoax is complete, will likely remain the ridiculously named fraud called man-made ‘climate change.’  In fact, this has already begun, but will vastly escalate over the next few months and beyond in my opinion. At some point, ‘climate change’ will likely be disclosed as the core issue at hand so far as those wishing to gain total control of the masses are concerned, replacing in importance in effect, the other fraudulent tools of tyranny such as ‘virus pandemics,’ but not eliminating them as part of the conspiracy of depopulation and control.

This scenario has been planned and played out for decades, but is now getting into a very advanced stage in this plot to alter life as we have known it; relegating humanity to a two-tiered societal shift that consists of a controlling class sometimes referred to as the global ‘elites,’ and a slave class made up of the masses. This is meant to culminate with the master class of claimed elites imposing a technocratic hierarchy so extreme as to eliminate freedom of the individual entirely. To accomplish this, it is required that collectivism of the majority be the prevailing manner of ‘thought’ and politics, and that individuality be destroyed in favor of a communistic approach. So describes the postmodern mindset that has consumed the so-called intellectual left for some time, but unfortunately, it is not specific or unique to just the left today, but filters into the thinking of the ruling class of all political levels of thought. Therefore, the façade of right and left being political opposites is exposed as a lie, but this truth is generally avoided at all cost, and this attitude allows for radical totalitarian policies to flourish. Hence, critical thinking, truth, honesty, logic, and reason, disappear from view to be replaced by mass ignorance and indifference. Because of this great paradigm shift in societal reality, we are left to either fend off at all costs this assault by the state, or simply accept our slavery voluntarily.

In the midst of ‘Covid’ insanity, the agenda of ‘climate change’ is first and foremost on the minds of the globalists. In fact, this fake pandemic is being used (as purposely planned) to advance that agenda, and as stated by Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum: ‘Climate action must stay top of the global agenda as we emerge from COVID-19.’ According to these monsters, ‘climate change’ is the real threat, and this ‘pandemic’ is ‘laying the groundwork for the efforts required to tackle climate change.’ In addition, the climate and ‘Covid-19’ are considered to be completely interconnected and a convergence of crises.

The United Nations is parroting this same line of propaganda in saying that in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, our challenges are interconnected and can only be addressed through reinvigorated multilateralism with the UN at the center of our efforts. They have pledged to strengthen global governance for the sake of present and coming generations. The UN’s Secretary General stated that: “The Covid-19 pandemic has served as a wake-up call and with the climate crisis now looming, the world is experiencing its biggest shared test since the Second world War.”

The fraudulent ‘virus pandemic’ has led the way to the future’s real and most major agenda being sought by the globalists, which is climate change legislation and mandated climate policy used to destroy the economic and monetary systems, to destroy farming and agriculture, to eliminate the individual, and to reshape the world into a complete technocratically controlled global society that will solidify the completion of the 2030 Agenda.

 

It's Up To Us…

While this may seem like the end of the so-called crisis to some, it is only the beginning of hell on earth. The next few months will tell the tale, as every manner of tyranny possible will be attempted, and the citizens responses to this assault on humanity will be gauged in order to see just how far and how fast this takeover plot can be driven.”

I am an optimist. I believe the American people will awaken to the danger and oust these monsters before it’s too late. But it all depends on you.

 

New Opportunities Are Emerging For Citizens of The World.

Freedom and democracy may appear to be struggling to stay alive in America, but there may be a knock-out punch ready to be released. The evolution of the blockchain-enabled metaverse is going to enable the 'Citizens of the World' to gain their own Freedom by democratizing power and creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.

Along with the major long-term trend of society towards decentralization and smaller-scale organizations, there are new opportunities developing to help 'Preparers' in the cryptocurrency sector. Businesses are beginning to issue their own Crypto Coins that can be traded on Cryptocoin Exchanges.

Markethive.com for example will be releasing its HiveCoin (HIV) in the coming weeks. It has tremendous upside potential that is outlined in a Video by Founder Tom Prendergast, "Entrepreneur Advantage…".

Not only that, if you go to their website and register as a FREE Member, you will be given 500 HiveCoins for "FREE" along with access to several Earning Opportunities and online tools to increase your HiveCoin balance.

Be sure to check it out today – Markethive.com

Markethive

Tim Moseley

HOME

How long the recession will last and how it will affect gold and silver

Leave a comment

How long the recession will last and how it will affect gold and silver

With the US Economy probably shrinking for the second consecutive quarter, the United States likely is now in a recession. CPM Group's Jeffrey Christian looks at some of the previous recessions to discuss how long this one may last, CPM Group's Economic Outlook, and what effect this all may have on Gold, Silver, Platinum, and Palladium.

By CPM Group

Contributing to kitco.com

Time to buy Gold and Silver on the dips

Tim Moseley

HOME

Report Reveals Market’s Pain In First Half Of 2022 Some Crypto Ecosystems Continue To Thrive

Leave a comment

Report Reveals Market’s Pain In First Half Of 2022. Some Crypto Ecosystems Continue To Thrive

The first half of 2022 was painful for the crypto market. This is mainly because of the events during the second quarter, such as Terra’s collapse and Three Arrows Capital’s insolvency. A recent report produced by the popular crypto price-tracking site Coin Gecko has examined precisely what happened during this chaotic second quarter and how it could affect cryptocurrency in the remaining half of this year. 

The following is some background about this report, summarizing what it says in simple terms and what it could mean for the crypto market going forward. 

The report begins with a note from Coin Geckos founders where they talked about how crypto lost more than half of its market cap during Q2 and how this was due to a combination of macro factors and Terra’s collapse. The founders also mention Three Arrows Capital and how its insolvency took down crypto platforms exposed to it, like Voyager Digital, and noted the gradual decline in the NFT market.

On a more positive note, the founders point out that many crypto ecosystems continue to thrive, despite the bear market. They note that most of the leverage has been flushed out by the recent crashes and that many crypto companies and projects, including Coin Gecko, continue to operate as usual. 

The Market Landscape

The first part of the report provides an overview of the crypto market. As mentioned in the report’s introduction, crypto lost nearly 56% of its market cap during the second quarter of this year and was 70% down from its November highs. Interestingly, trading volume during the second quarter was essentially the same as the first quarter, suggesting the same pool of traders and investors has stuck around since that time. 

The authors then turn to the market dominance of the top 30 cryptocurrencies. Market dominance refers to how much of the total market cap comes from a single cryptocurrency. BTC’s dominance remains the same, while Ethereum fell significantly in June. 

ETH’s decline may have something to do with the news that Ethereum developers had delayed Ethereum's “difficulty bomb,” which was interpreted by ETH investors as a sign that Ethereum’s merge to proof of stake was also delayed.

Another noteworthy thing in the report was that Bitfinex’s exchange token, Leo, was the only cryptocurrency that didn't end up in the red during the second quarter of this year. Some exchange tokens such as Binance have seen exponential growth, particularly in the last bull market. 

Because of token utility and perks that exchanges can offer traders, and because they use trading fees to buy back and burn their native tokens, often causing their prices to rise artificially, they’re holding their own in the current bear market. 

In the matter of the market cap of stablecoins, nearly $39 billion were lost as a result of Terra’s collapse. Tether’s USDT lost 20% of its market cap, with circle’s USDC picking up most of the slack. The report suggests that this is evidence that investors were cashing out of crypto completely during Q2. 

The analysts found that the top 30 cryptocurrencies by market cap strongly correlate to the S&P 500 stock index, stating that the correlation was high at 0.92, which increased from 0.72 in Q1 of 2021. They highlight that crypto assets’ correlation with traditional markets is not surprising given the perceived risky nature and suggest that stocks were the primary drivers of crypto prices in Q2. 

The authors provide an infographic of a timeline of the significant events in crypto during the second quarter of this year and include many important milestones for crypto. Such as Solana NFT launch, STEPN banned in China, Harmony Bridge hack, Grayscale’s ETF application denied by the SEC, Coinbase added to Fortune 500, and so on. 

Bitcoin Analysis

The second part of the report provides an analysis of Bitcoin that shows how BTC briefly fell below its previous bull market top of 20K in June. It recorded nine consecutive weeks of being in the red. Notably, the broader equity market also fell at the same time, which dragged Bitcoin along with it. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin's hash rate only continues to climb and even managed to set an all-time high on June 8th of this year, despite the downward trend. For those who don't know, Bitcoin’s hash rate measures how much computing power is connected to the Bitcoin blockchain. 

Bitcoin vs. Major Asset Classes

When comparing BTC to other major assets, the authors found that the only ones that saw any gains were oil and the US dollar. In comparison to the Q2 of 2021 return of oil at 22% and USD at -1% rose by 7% during Q2. The possible reasons are the current constricted oil supply and rising interest rates. It might also have something to do with the US dollar being backed by oil.

Interestingly, Bitcoin has simulated the behavior of US equities dipping in unison whenever the Federal Reserve announced a rate hike. The report states that the correlation between Bitcoin and other equities has been on an upward trend as the year progresses. Whether this trend will capitulate as we enter a recession has yet to be determined.

Ethereum Analysis

The third part of the report analyzes Ethereum and starts with an even scarier chart that shows how ETH fell by nearly 70% during Q2. The authors attribute this crash to Lido finance’s staked ETH token, notably its use in Terra’s now-defunct anchor protocol. Also, its use by alien crypto platforms like Celsius and its exposure to failed hedge funds, like Three Arrows Capital. 

Next, the authors provide an updated timeline for Ethereum, transitioning from proof of work to proof of stake, which is already a bit outdated but puts the merge in Q3 this year, which is technically correct. 

Interestingly, the authors found that the amount of ETH staked on Ethereum’s Beacon chain peaked at around 11% of ETH's total Supply. The authors also note that Lido Finance remains ETH's most significant single staker at over 32%. Then the authors show how much lido Finance’s staked ETH token deviated from its peg relative to ETH. But it's important to note that the peg was quickly restored after Ethereum developers confirmed a tentative date for the merge. 

The Aftermath Of Terra’s Collapse

The fourth part of the report provides some perspective on Terra’s collapse. It starts with UST’s disastrous de-pegging from $1 to $0. It had a $1.8 billion market cap at its peak and fell to a mere $807 million at the end of June. The de-pegging event resulted in a 99% drop in value, with UST hitting lows of $0.007 since rebounding to $0.05.  

The report referenced Jump Crypto, a crypto trading and VC firm heavily involved in the Terra ecosystem and rumored to have lost a lot of money defending UST’s peg. 

The UST de-pegging had a domino effect causing LUNA’s painful implosion from $120 down to zero. The authors also note that LUNA’s supply increased by a whopping 1.9 million% before Terra’s validators turned off the mint and burn mechanism.  

The report shows a detailed timeline of Terra’s collapse, but interestingly, it doesn’t mention the alleged attack on the 4pool on Curve Finance that occurred after the Terra team withdrew UST liquidity, the exact timing of which was not publicly known. 

Investigations by on-chain analytics platforms such as Chain Analysis suggest that this alleged attack caused UST's initial de-pegging. This is something that each subsequent investigation found was exacerbated by Celsius withdrawing massive amounts of UST from the Anchor Protocol out of caution. 

The authors of this crypto report seem to blame Terra’s collapse on the broader crypto market conditions, which also played a role. 

More Domino Effects 

The report displays an excellent infographic about the second-order effects of Terra’s collapse. On the left side, you have all the institutions which invested in Terra, including Jump Crypto. On the top left are the crypto projects and platforms exposed to Terra, such as Celsius. And on the bottom left are all the different stablecoins that were de-pegged. 

The right side shows Three Arrows Capital which was, of course, exposed to Terra, and on the top are all the different crypto projects and platforms exposed to 3AC. On the bottom right, you have all the crypto companies exposed to 3AC. The authors then provide more details about how Celsius, BlockFi, and Voyager Digital were affected by Terra's collapse and 3AC’s insolvency. 


 

Defi Analysis

The fifth part of the report analyzes the decentralized finance ecosystem. It starts with another unsurprising chart showing how the total Defi market cap fell by nearly 75% during the second quarter of this year, a crash mainly caused by Terra’s collapse. 

However, they don’t state which cryptos they count as part of their Defi market cap measure, but the silver lining to this gloomy statistic is that Defi managed to retain most of its users, with a decline of only a third. It stated there were multiple instances in Q2 where the need for Defi truly shined. 

What's fascinating is that the authors found that users flocked to decentralized exchanges when centralized exchanges were having issues with LUNA and UST. And users flocked to Defi protocols after Celsius paused withdrawals. In both events, where centralized entities failed, users have converged to enjoy Defi’s permissionless nature. 

They then reveal the different Defi categories, their share of the Defi market, and how much they dropped during Q2. Unfortunately, the authors don't provide specifics about individual Defi projects. The main takeaway seems to be that DEX's are the most significant slice of the Defi pie at 44%. 

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) Analysis 

The sixth part of the report provides an analysis of the NFT ecosystem, and it starts by shedding the spotlight on the massive decline in NFT trading volume since the start of the year.

The authors note that Solana, the latest contender to challenge Ethereum for the NFT crown, and BNB are becoming popular NFT chains because of STEPN; however, China’s ban on STEPN may put a dent into BNB’s numbers. 

The authors found that even though OpenSea is still the biggest NFT marketplace by trading volume, its dominance is declining due to new competitors like Magic Eden, an NFT marketplace on Solana. 

Some would argue that OpenSea’s decline is less due to competition and more due to the platform's controversial actions, such as freezing NFTs and blocking users in sanctioned countries. 

Regarding NFT trends, the authors believe that NFT investors are moving away from move-to-earn and silly NFTs with no utility and moving towards NFT profile pictures and NFTs that are actual art like those found on art blocks. 

This part of the report concludes by focusing on Solana's NFT ecosystem stating that OpenSea and Magic Eden have forged a gateway into the Solana ecosystem. They noted that despite the NFT market’s decline due to bearish macroeconomic conditions, Solana has been chipping away at Ethereum’s NFT Market share. 

Crypto Exchanges In A Sweet Spot

The seventh part of the report provides an analysis of cryptocurrency exchanges. It starts with a surprising statistic: trading volumes on centralized and decentralized exchanges only fell by 11% during Q2. The authors note that centralized exchanges are beginning to increase their dominance despite all the risks associated with centralized crypto platforms. 

This could be because traders and investors are using centralized exchanges to cash out. Alternatively, this increase in dominance could be coming from the fact that some exchanges like Binance recently slashed trading fees, which would explain why Binance's dominance increased significantly during Q2. 

FTX's dominance also doubled during this period, but the authors note that “no one can compete with Binance as they have grown their market share to capture almost 50% of the entire market.” 

By contrast, OKX and Crypto.com’s dominance decreased by 50% each. The authors note that Uniswap dominates the DEX market accounting for 60% of total DEX trading volume. They also note that Curve Finance’s trading volume increased significantly during Q2, likely due to both collapsed USTC pools and the flight to stablecoins. Curve Finance is a stablecoin DEX. 

Also, DEXs on Solana and BNB have increased or maintained their market share, signifying actual market activity on chains other than Ethereum. 

Traders’ Shy Away From Speculation

The authors examine derivatives such as Futures Trading, which involves speculating on the future price of a particular coin or token, often with leverage, in other words, debt. They look at funding rates which is how much money traders put down to cover their long or short positions. 

Interestingly, they note that crypto's recent choppy price action has put traders off from speculation, leading to more conservative stances on Bitcoin's direction, which is good news for crypto market volatility. 

The authors end the report by examining the assets under management for Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust and the Proshares Bitcoin Futures ETF, which was approved in October last year. 

The authors note that the assets under management for both institutional investment vehicles collapsed by more than 50% alongside BTC’s price, which isn't surprising. They also note that the GBTC discount fell below 30% after the SEC rejected Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF application. 

What Does This Mean For Crypto?

So the big question is, what do the findings of this report mean for the crypto market? If cryptos' current price action didn't make it clear enough, the massive purge we saw in Q2 has set the stage for a severe recovery rally, which we’re in, arguably. 

However, it's only a matter of time before the markets realize that all the macro factors which caused the recent crypto crashes haven't been resolved, and this could take crypto to new lows. 

You could argue that crypto hasn't seen peak capitulation, not just because many institutional investors like Kevin O'Leary believe that we haven't seen total panic yet. The millionaire investor says, “crypto markets need to hit total panic before revival.”

O'Leary thinks that the market bottom will be marked by “total panic,” at which point weak companies with “idiot managers” will be weeded out, and the industry can continue to grow. He added,

“It’s unfortunate that these companies have gone to zero, but you end up with much stronger species.”

It’s also indicated in the report that although crypto prices have taken a beating, the number of daily defi users has remained relatively stable by comparison. Also, trading volumes have barely budged, and Bitcoin’s hash rate continued to climb even while BTC’s price crashed. 

If what we saw over the last half year had indeed been the market bottom, then it stands to reason that all these metrics would have fallen by much more. For example, the Bitcoin hash rate fell by nearly 50% in previous bear markets but was only 10% off the most recent hash rate highs. 

Not only that, but consider that only two entities exposed to Terra and Three Arrows Capital have collapsed. As the infographic shows, there were nearly two dozen exposed entities, and we're still getting news about some of these running into serious trouble. And that’s apart from all the cryptos that 3AC could soon sell. 

If you're wondering when the current recovery rally could end, some posit mid to late September, when Ethereum’s merge is expected to occur. It’s also when the Federal Reserve will return from its summer holiday with what's likely to be a fresh rate hike to fight inflation. 

Cointelegraph points out that the current ETH rally could be a bull trap with the macroeconomic clouds darkening. A bull trap indicates that a declining trend in a crypto asset has reversed and is heading upward when it will actually continue downward.

With Autumn nearing in many parts of the world, people could start to face skyrocketing energy costs in anticipation of oil and gas shortages over the winter, something that would almost certainly damage assets across the board, such as oil, gas, and the US dollar. 

It’s still risky days ahead given the macroeconomic factors at play, so hang on to your hats and brave the storm. As the saying goes, “No pain, No gain.” The one constant is change, and I believe all these factors are contributing to a more robust, healthier cryptocurrency industry where genuine projects and communities will flourish. 

 

 

Editor and Chief Markethive: Deb Williams. (Australia) I thrive on progress and champion freedom of speech. I embrace "Change" with a passion, and my purpose in life is to enlighten people to accept and move forward with enthusiasm. Find me at my Markethive Profile Page | My Twitter Account | and my LinkedIn Profile.

 

 

 

 

 

This information is provided for informational purposes only. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice.

 

 

Tim Moseley

The Artist that came out of the Winter