Brazilians bought $4.3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies in 2021
Brazil has set its own record and has already bought R$23.3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. The figures were released by the Central Bank in a report on Friday, and the total amount in dollar terms is $4.270 billion since January 2021.
The purchase value in August was $496 million, but crypto-asset purchases peaked in May, when Brazilians bought $756 million. That month, the Brazilian market broke a record, trading VTCs for R$826 million (or $146 million) in a single day.
Those numbers have since fallen ($695 million in June and $583 million in July), but they are still much higher than what they were at the beginning of the year in Brazil: crypto-active purchases totaled $386 million in February and $357 million in March.
Bruno Serra, director of monetary policy at BC, noted during a video conference hosted by Upon Global that there is potential for growth in the country's crypto turnover, and the numbers could reach 50 billion reais, or $10 billion, over the year.
However, the specialist made a caveat, clarifying:
"This is a one-way flow of crypto assets in Brazil. Because of the high cost of energy, the country does not produce cryptocurrencies, we are just importers and participants in international circulation."
The Central Bank of Brazil first conducted an analysis of imports and exports of crypto-assets in external sector statistics in August this year. At that time, BC President Roberto Campos Neto said that there was a significant increase in demand for cryptocurrencies.
In Brazil, as in most countries of the world, there is no clear legislative principle to regulate and track the movement of cryptocurrencies in the country. However, the Central Bank decided to follow the IMF methodological recommendation that cryptocurrencies are treated as commodities (non-financial and manufactured assets) in such a way that they should be recorded in external sector statistics, not included in commodity statistics.
Transactions in crypto-assets are valued based on foreign exchange contracts, a legal instrument that records negotiations between the buyer and seller of foreign currency, as required by the Central Bank.
Since August of this year, transfers of ownership of crypto-assets between residents and non-residents began to be reflected in the balance of payments account.
Brazil has set its own record and has already bought R$23.3 billion worth of cryptocurrencies. The figures were released by the Central Bank in a report on Friday, and the total amount in dollar terms is $4.270 billion since January 2021.
The purchase value in August was $496 million, but crypto-asset purchases peaked in May, when Brazilians bought $756 million. That month, the Brazilian market broke a record, trading VTCs for R$826 million (or $146 million) in a single day.
Those numbers have since fallen ($695 million in June and $583 million in July), but they are still much higher than what they were at the beginning of the year in Brazil: crypto-active purchases totaled $386 million in February and $357 million in March.
Bruno Serra, director of monetary policy at BC, noted during a video conference hosted by Upon Global that there is potential for growth in the country's crypto turnover, and the numbers could reach 50 billion reais, or $10 billion, over the year.
However, the specialist made a caveat, clarifying:
"This is a one-way flow of crypto assets in Brazil. Because of the high cost of energy, the country does not produce cryptocurrencies, we are just importers and participants in international circulation."
The Central Bank of Brazil first conducted an analysis of imports and exports of crypto-assets in external sector statistics in August this year. At that time, BC President Roberto Campos Neto said that there was a significant increase in demand for cryptocurrencies.
In Brazil, as in most countries of the world, there is no clear legislative principle to regulate and track the movement of cryptocurrencies in the country. However, the Central Bank decided to follow the IMF methodological recommendation that cryptocurrencies are treated as commodities (non-financial and manufactured assets) in such a way that they should be recorded in external sector statistics, not included in commodity statistics.
Transactions in crypto-assets are valued based on foreign exchange contracts, a legal instrument that records negotiations between the buyer and seller of foreign currency, as required by the Central Bank.
Since August of this year, transfers of ownership of crypto-assets between residents and non-residents began to be reflected in the balance of payments account.
Crypto exchange FTX raised almost $500 million in a recent funding round
Popular cryptocurrency exchange FTX in the last round of funding, which began in July this year, has attracted $420 million. It is known that against the background of this event, the total user base of the trading platform has grown by almost 50%. In addition, the volume of trading increased by an average of 75%. Due to all of the above, the total valuation of the crypto exchange today is $25 billion.
The funding round was opened by one of the trading platform's units - FTX Trading. Supported the exchange financially 69 investors. It is known that they included the Council of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Temasek, an investment company under the government of Singapore.
According to official data, in addition to little-known companies, large venture capital companies already known to the market also took part in the round of financing. Among them are such giants as Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Sea Capital, Ribbit Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Ramnik Arora, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange, said that raising new funds will allow the platform to significantly expand its capabilities in the market. To do this, by the way, they want to do through the issue of non-financial tokens, the conclusion of new partnerships and the issue of shares.
Recall, earlier our edition reported that the cryptocurrency exchange FTX intends to launch a platform for trading non-financial tokens for residents of the United States.
Popular cryptocurrency exchange FTX in the last round of funding, which began in July this year, has attracted $420 million. It is known that against the background of this event, the total user base of the trading platform has grown by almost 50%. In addition, the volume of trading increased by an average of 75%. Due to all of the above, the total valuation of the crypto exchange today is $25 billion.
The funding round was opened by one of the trading platform's units - FTX Trading. Supported the exchange financially 69 investors. It is known that they included the Council of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Temasek, an investment company under the government of Singapore.
According to official data, in addition to little-known companies, large venture capital companies already known to the market also took part in the round of financing. Among them are such giants as Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global, Sea Capital, Ribbit Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Ramnik Arora, CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange, said that raising new funds will allow the platform to significantly expand its capabilities in the market. To do this, by the way, they want to do through the issue of non-financial tokens, the conclusion of new partnerships and the issue of shares.
Recall, earlier our edition reported that the cryptocurrency exchange FTX intends to launch a platform for trading non-financial tokens for residents of the United States.
Singapore, China and Hong Kong topped the list of "NFT" searches on Google
According to statistics from Google Trends, early fall again saw a record number of "NFT" searches. The last time a similar number of citizens searched for information about non-substitutable tokens was in March last year. It is known that the highest interest to NFT in September 2021 came from the inhabitants of the Asia-Pacific region. In particular, such countries as China, Singapore and Hong Kong were in the top three.
According to the report of the above service, the first place among the countries actively interested in NFT is China. The index reached 100 points. In second place is Singapore with a score of 67 points, and Hong Kong in third place with 62 points. In addition to these most populous nations, the list includes countries such as the United States, New Zealand, Canada, the Philippines, Cyprus and Venezuela.
Based on the fact that China leads in the number of search queries "NFT", it is possible that the country may completely switch to the use of non-exchangeable tokens. Such opinion was expressed by an employee of a reputable business publication Bankless Times. The expert believes that this is due to the fact that at the end of September China completely abandoned the use of digital assets, so it is urgent to find an alternative.
According to statistics from Google Trends, early fall again saw a record number of "NFT" searches. The last time a similar number of citizens searched for information about non-substitutable tokens was in March last year. It is known that the highest interest to NFT in September 2021 came from the inhabitants of the Asia-Pacific region. In particular, such countries as China, Singapore and Hong Kong were in the top three.
According to the report of the above service, the first place among the countries actively interested in NFT is China. The index reached 100 points. In second place is Singapore with a score of 67 points, and Hong Kong in third place with 62 points. In addition to these most populous nations, the list includes countries such as the United States, New Zealand, Canada, the Philippines, Cyprus and Venezuela.
Based on the fact that China leads in the number of search queries "NFT", it is possible that the country may completely switch to the use of non-exchangeable tokens. Such opinion was expressed by an employee of a reputable business publication Bankless Times. The expert believes that this is due to the fact that at the end of September China completely abandoned the use of digital assets, so it is urgent to find an alternative.
Breakout week: LightCoin soars to a seven-month high
Lightcoin (LTC) rose this week to its highest level since mid-May 2021.
On the night of Wednesday, November 10, the cryptocurrency price soared to $273, its highest value since May 18. LTC's capitalization now exceeds $18.656 billion.
The increase in the value of the altcoin is seen against a backdrop of weak network activity. According to BitinfoCharts, the average daily number of transactions on the litecoin blockchain fell to 133,500 this week.
Last week, the network was processing more than 153,000 transactions a day.
Analyst Ali Martinez believes that the important event in this bull cycle was the overcoming of resistance at $217. The expert predicted the rise of LTC above $260 last Monday. In the end, he turned out to be right, and now traders expect the $260 mark to become a strong support zone for LiteCoin.
The cryptocurrency's surge was the result of capital inflows into the cryptosphere. As a reminder, bitcoin rose to an all-time high the day before.
The investment appeal of LTC will increase in the coming months if the developers launch a platform for NFT tokens. The Litecoin Foundation team issued a statement to that effect back in September.
Lightcoin (LTC) rose this week to its highest level since mid-May 2021.
On the night of Wednesday, November 10, the cryptocurrency price soared to $273, its highest value since May 18. LTC's capitalization now exceeds $18.656 billion.
The increase in the value of the altcoin is seen against a backdrop of weak network activity. According to BitinfoCharts, the average daily number of transactions on the litecoin blockchain fell to 133,500 this week.
Last week, the network was processing more than 153,000 transactions a day.
Analyst Ali Martinez believes that the important event in this bull cycle was the overcoming of resistance at $217. The expert predicted the rise of LTC above $260 last Monday. In the end, he turned out to be right, and now traders expect the $260 mark to become a strong support zone for LiteCoin.
The cryptocurrency's surge was the result of capital inflows into the cryptosphere. As a reminder, bitcoin rose to an all-time high the day before.
The investment appeal of LTC will increase in the coming months if the developers launch a platform for NFT tokens. The Litecoin Foundation team issued a statement to that effect back in September.
Popular NFT marketplace in the Tezos ecosystem unexpectedly shut down
The top Tezos-based NFT marketplace (XTZ) unexpectedly shut down.
Hic et nunc, one of Tezos' key markets for non-interchangeable tokens, has closed its business. The project's official Twitter feed is still up, but its administrators don't explain the reasons for the move.
It is still possible to use mirror sites for access - but users are warned: this may not be safe. One way or another, the NFTs have been retained by their owners - the data on the tokens is prescribed in the Tezos registry.
For reference:
Tezos is a blockchain platform whose idea was introduced in 2014. It was launched in 2018. The key feature is the ability to make changes to the blockchain functionality on the fly and with minimal edits through an agreement within the community.
The top Tezos-based NFT marketplace (XTZ) unexpectedly shut down.
Hic et nunc, one of Tezos' key markets for non-interchangeable tokens, has closed its business. The project's official Twitter feed is still up, but its administrators don't explain the reasons for the move.
It is still possible to use mirror sites for access - but users are warned: this may not be safe. One way or another, the NFTs have been retained by their owners - the data on the tokens is prescribed in the Tezos registry.
For reference:
Tezos is a blockchain platform whose idea was introduced in 2014. It was launched in 2018. The key feature is the ability to make changes to the blockchain functionality on the fly and with minimal edits through an agreement within the community.
DeFi protocols have lost $10.5 billion since the start of 2021
A study by Elliptic says users of projects deployed in the DeFi marketplace have lost $10.5 billion since the beginning of 2021 due to hacking and fraudulent schemes. Last year, the loss was only $1.5 billion.
According to DeFiLlama, in June 2020, the value of funds locked up in the decentralized finance marketplace was about $1 billion. This year, that amount ballooned to $250 billion.
In parallel, analysts remind us, the number of users of DeFi-protocols has risen sharply. The most popular blockchains for applications are Ethereum, Solana and Binance Chain. The most affected were protocols deployed on ethereum.
The researchers emphasized:
"Many projects were launched by startups with poor cybersecurity and transaction tracking. This factor is what made them attractive targets for attackers ranging from lone-wolf hackers to nation-states."
DeFi protocols based on etherium have lost about $8.6 billion. Binance Chain projects have suffered $2.5 billion in damage from cybercriminal activity since the beginning of last year, the Elliptic report noted.
A study by Elliptic says users of projects deployed in the DeFi marketplace have lost $10.5 billion since the beginning of 2021 due to hacking and fraudulent schemes. Last year, the loss was only $1.5 billion.
According to DeFiLlama, in June 2020, the value of funds locked up in the decentralized finance marketplace was about $1 billion. This year, that amount ballooned to $250 billion.
In parallel, analysts remind us, the number of users of DeFi-protocols has risen sharply. The most popular blockchains for applications are Ethereum, Solana and Binance Chain. The most affected were protocols deployed on ethereum.
The researchers emphasized:
"Many projects were launched by startups with poor cybersecurity and transaction tracking. This factor is what made them attractive targets for attackers ranging from lone-wolf hackers to nation-states."
DeFi protocols based on etherium have lost about $8.6 billion. Binance Chain projects have suffered $2.5 billion in damage from cybercriminal activity since the beginning of last year, the Elliptic report noted.
Omicron's DeFi-Protocol token goes up 10 times in price thanks to new strain of coronavirus
Omicron's DeFi-Protocol (OMIC) token went from $70 to more than $700 after the World Health Organization gave the same name to the recently discovered coronavirus strain B.1.1.529.
Omicron hit the market earlier this month, a few weeks before the events that caused bitcoin and global markets to fall last Friday. Although the developers couldn't have known about them in advance, the letters of the Greek alphabet are used to designate strains of the coronavirus, so it was logical to assume that Omicron would appear sooner or later.
The DeFi-protocol is based on the Arbitrum technology used to scale the Ethereum network and allows users to participate in income farming. OMIC is backed by a basket of assets, including the USDC Stablecoin, and is traded on the decentralized SushiSwap exchange.
"Bought OMIC for 9 ETH. I don't think it's a good choice, but I want to try my luck with a meme token for money that won't affect my life," one investor writes.
OMIC's issuance limit is 1 million tokens, but the current float is unknown, as is the market capitalization. Despite the impressive rate hike, OMIC's turnover in the last 24 hours is only $675,000.
Omicron's DeFi-Protocol (OMIC) token went from $70 to more than $700 after the World Health Organization gave the same name to the recently discovered coronavirus strain B.1.1.529.
Omicron hit the market earlier this month, a few weeks before the events that caused bitcoin and global markets to fall last Friday. Although the developers couldn't have known about them in advance, the letters of the Greek alphabet are used to designate strains of the coronavirus, so it was logical to assume that Omicron would appear sooner or later.
The DeFi-protocol is based on the Arbitrum technology used to scale the Ethereum network and allows users to participate in income farming. OMIC is backed by a basket of assets, including the USDC Stablecoin, and is traded on the decentralized SushiSwap exchange.
"Bought OMIC for 9 ETH. I don't think it's a good choice, but I want to try my luck with a meme token for money that won't affect my life," one investor writes.
OMIC's issuance limit is 1 million tokens, but the current float is unknown, as is the market capitalization. Despite the impressive rate hike, OMIC's turnover in the last 24 hours is only $675,000.
@PlanetSandbox Alpha Test Announcement
💥BREAKING NEWS: PlanetSandbox Alpha Test is READY TO PLAY.💥
As the staking program is going through audit process by CertiK, we decided to split the alpha testers into 2 phases: Early testers and Community testers.
Revised Timeline:
📍 NFT mystery boxes opening event: 2PM UTC 30th November
📍 Alpha test Phase 1 — Early testers: 2PM UTC 3rd December
📍 Staking program: TBA
📍 Alpha test Phase 2 — Community testers: TBA
Phase 1 - Early Testers:
🔸 NFT Mystery box owners
🔸 Top 100 $PSB holders
🔸 Game guild partners and KOLs
Phase 2 - Community Testers:
🔹Whitelist winners from staking program
🔹Airdrops and rewards for active members
Read the full details: https://planetsandbox.medium.com/planetsandbox-alpha-test-announcement-905fc4474d24
👉 Support our PSB's Tweet
__
🪐 PLANETSANDBOX 🪐 -
LET’S BUILD, PLAY, EARN TOGETHER ! 🤝
👉🏻 Follow all our channels :
💎 Website 💎 Medium
💎 Youtube 💎 Discord
💎 Twitter 💎 Telegram
💎 Announcement
💎 Whitepaper
💥BREAKING NEWS: PlanetSandbox Alpha Test is READY TO PLAY.💥
As the staking program is going through audit process by CertiK, we decided to split the alpha testers into 2 phases: Early testers and Community testers.
Revised Timeline:
📍 NFT mystery boxes opening event: 2PM UTC 30th November
📍 Alpha test Phase 1 — Early testers: 2PM UTC 3rd December
📍 Staking program: TBA
📍 Alpha test Phase 2 — Community testers: TBA
Phase 1 - Early Testers:
🔸 NFT Mystery box owners
🔸 Top 100 $PSB holders
🔸 Game guild partners and KOLs
Phase 2 - Community Testers:
🔹Whitelist winners from staking program
🔹Airdrops and rewards for active members
Read the full details: https://planetsandbox.medium.com/planetsandbox-alpha-test-announcement-905fc4474d24
👉 Support our PSB's Tweet
__
🪐 PLANETSANDBOX 🪐 -
LET’S BUILD, PLAY, EARN TOGETHER ! 🤝
👉🏻 Follow all our channels :
💎 Website 💎 Medium
💎 Youtube 💎 Discord
💎 Twitter 💎 Telegram
💎 Announcement
💎 Whitepaper
Top Gemini executive: SEC recognizes bitcoin as an asset class
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved three bitcoin futures ETFs, a policy that indicates that the U.S. regulator recognizes the cryptocurrency as an asset class. That's the view of David Abner, who represents the top management of the Gemini exchange.
He said on CNBC that the impact of the crypto market has grown so much that the SEC can no longer ignore or pursue repressive policies towards holders of digital assets.
And the representative of the trading floor does not exclude that by the end of this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission may even go to the recognition of the spot bitcoin-ETF.
ETF Trends CEO Tom Lydon is less optimistic. He predicts that the SEC won't rush to legalize a spot product focused on the leading digital currency. The regulator is still concerned about the volatility of the underlying asset and the manipulation of its price.
At the same time, the same expert shares the viewpoint of those who expect to reach $100,000 per BTC. But it will not happen in the first quarter, but most likely in the second quarter of next year, Lydon stressed.
Bitcoin was able to withstand the pressure at the end of last week and after falling was able to bounce back to $57,000 this morning.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved three bitcoin futures ETFs, a policy that indicates that the U.S. regulator recognizes the cryptocurrency as an asset class. That's the view of David Abner, who represents the top management of the Gemini exchange.
He said on CNBC that the impact of the crypto market has grown so much that the SEC can no longer ignore or pursue repressive policies towards holders of digital assets.
And the representative of the trading floor does not exclude that by the end of this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission may even go to the recognition of the spot bitcoin-ETF.
ETF Trends CEO Tom Lydon is less optimistic. He predicts that the SEC won't rush to legalize a spot product focused on the leading digital currency. The regulator is still concerned about the volatility of the underlying asset and the manipulation of its price.
At the same time, the same expert shares the viewpoint of those who expect to reach $100,000 per BTC. But it will not happen in the first quarter, but most likely in the second quarter of next year, Lydon stressed.
Bitcoin was able to withstand the pressure at the end of last week and after falling was able to bounce back to $57,000 this morning.
Hackers hacked Bitmart exchange and stole nearly $200 million
Peckshield, a company specializing in cybersecurity, recorded a hacking attack on the Bitmart cryptocurrency exchange.
As a result of hacking hot wallets on Etherium and Binance Chain, attackers managed to steal tokens worth up to $200 million.
Initially, experts drew attention to the hacking of the etherium wallet and the theft of $100 million. Then they recorded a similar attack on Binance Chain and the withdrawal of $96 million. Hackers managed to steal more than 20 cryptocurrencies, including Binance Coin (BNB), Safemoon and others.
Platform CEO Sheldon Xia acknowledged the hack on Twitter and stressed that the theft of funds was the result of a security breach in the hot wallets on Etherium and Binance Chain.
However, he said cybercriminals managed to steal about $150 million in digital currencies. He also promised to improve the software responsible for the security of trading platform users.
In 2021, the number of hacking attacks on cryptocurrency platforms has increased dramatically. According to StormWall, the number increased by 40% in January-March amid the rise in the price of bitcoin and other virtual currencies.
Peckshield, a company specializing in cybersecurity, recorded a hacking attack on the Bitmart cryptocurrency exchange.
As a result of hacking hot wallets on Etherium and Binance Chain, attackers managed to steal tokens worth up to $200 million.
Initially, experts drew attention to the hacking of the etherium wallet and the theft of $100 million. Then they recorded a similar attack on Binance Chain and the withdrawal of $96 million. Hackers managed to steal more than 20 cryptocurrencies, including Binance Coin (BNB), Safemoon and others.
Platform CEO Sheldon Xia acknowledged the hack on Twitter and stressed that the theft of funds was the result of a security breach in the hot wallets on Etherium and Binance Chain.
However, he said cybercriminals managed to steal about $150 million in digital currencies. He also promised to improve the software responsible for the security of trading platform users.
In 2021, the number of hacking attacks on cryptocurrency platforms has increased dramatically. According to StormWall, the number increased by 40% in January-March amid the rise in the price of bitcoin and other virtual currencies.
@HubbleProtocol is building next-gen MakerDAO on on Solana Blockchain.
Supercharge your crypto portfolio by minting #USDH.
$1,000 Community Giveaway is on!
Follow @HubbleProtocol to try out the DevNet first.
Supercharge your crypto portfolio by minting #USDH.
$1,000 Community Giveaway is on!
Follow @HubbleProtocol to try out the DevNet first.
Hubble Protocol
Introducing Hubble
The Solana ecosystem has grown rapidly and is beginning to stand out from the crowd with huge advantages over Ethereum and other layer-1 blockchains. Truly, it is the first web-scale protocol — owing to an ultra-fast, secure, and scalable network. Solana’s…
Instagram plans to integrate NFT
According to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, the platform is actively exploring ways in which it could give its users access to NFT.
Mosseri stated:
"There's nothing to announce yet, but we're actively exploring NFT and how we can make it more accessible to the general public. At the same time, we want to help content creators make money from their works."
According to Nonfungible, $335 million worth of NFT sold at auction in the last week alone. Since the beginning of the year, weekly volume is up 12.780% - in January that figure was only $2.6 million.
According to Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, the platform is actively exploring ways in which it could give its users access to NFT.
Mosseri stated:
"There's nothing to announce yet, but we're actively exploring NFT and how we can make it more accessible to the general public. At the same time, we want to help content creators make money from their works."
According to Nonfungible, $335 million worth of NFT sold at auction in the last week alone. Since the beginning of the year, weekly volume is up 12.780% - in January that figure was only $2.6 million.
https://twitter.com/AriDavidPaul/status/1474134130715762688
I tried writing hot takes in response to jack‘s web3 and VC criticisms, but twice gave up after the drafts turned into rambling incoherent essays. Spent some more time to be able to write less. Here are my thoughts: /1
2/ first, no, web3 today isn’t really web3. It’s far too centralized in many regards and it’s ‘buggy’ in every way from actual code bugs to UX and operational and game theory ‘bugs.’ That’s how new stuff gets built. Was bitcoin really “bitcoin” in 2011?
3/ as for the VC hate - as many others pointed out, it’s not like VCs just decided to own big stakes in web3. They bought the positions. Why were they able to buy so much? Two main reasons:
4/ A. Regulators. As many pointed out, teams are legally required to fundraise from AML/KYC’ed investors, and it’s far far safer and cheaper to fundraise from only accredited investors.
5/ while there are ways around this, those ways are either expensive and inefficient, or legally risky. The other reason is…gonna be unpopular, but here it goes -
6/ VCs allocated capital reasonably well. In a meritocracy (aka free markets), the best allocators will eventually own everything (absent taxes and other redistribution mechanisms.)
7/ why does Paradigm own so much UNI? Because they were smart enough to be large early supporters of a project that
jack and most others were completely dismissive off. Jack calls these “alt” projects worthless then complains when other people own them because they invested.
8/ there’s plenty of brilliant non-VC investors. But on average, the VCs own so much of Web3 because they bet fairly accurately. Retail owns doge and SHIB and a ton of outright scams and garbage (as well as the good stuff.) The VCs make plenty of bad bets, but overall…
9/ lastly, a common debate in crypto in 2017 was bitcoiners asking, “why does this thing need a token?” The answer was obvious then, but now we have real world proof. All of crypto is based on incentives. Shockingly…most people won’t work hard for free.
10/ so, the valuable stuff Jack is complaining about VCs owning got built where there were investable tokens. Bitcoin as sovereign money? If you want to trade or lend it trustlessly, you’ll need to use a project with a token like Rootstock or Blockstack.
11/ a few years ago, Jack and many bitcoiners said all this web3 stuff was just scams. Now that it works and generated hundreds of billions of $$ of value, he complains that VCs own it.
12/ let me turn to a positive note - I share Jack’s desire for maximum decentralization in web3 and crypto broadly. We need to reform US regulation to let retail compete on more even footing with VCs.
13/ an unexplored critical question in this whole discussion is: how important is ownership to control? That’s a very complex topic that varies based on the consensus mechanism, social contract, stakeholder incentives etc. if we can fork malicious miners off a PoW network,
14/ the same can be done with a malicious whale in a PoS network. It’s similar questions to evaluating equity - could the founders just restart the company under a different name with a new cap table? Depends on a long list of factors.
15/ TLDR: web3 today is comparable to bitcoin in 2011 - fairly centralized and buggy, but an amazing proof of concept. And we don’t want VCs to own the world…but whining about it doesn’t help. Gotta facilitate broader ownership.
I tried writing hot takes in response to jack‘s web3 and VC criticisms, but twice gave up after the drafts turned into rambling incoherent essays. Spent some more time to be able to write less. Here are my thoughts: /1
2/ first, no, web3 today isn’t really web3. It’s far too centralized in many regards and it’s ‘buggy’ in every way from actual code bugs to UX and operational and game theory ‘bugs.’ That’s how new stuff gets built. Was bitcoin really “bitcoin” in 2011?
3/ as for the VC hate - as many others pointed out, it’s not like VCs just decided to own big stakes in web3. They bought the positions. Why were they able to buy so much? Two main reasons:
4/ A. Regulators. As many pointed out, teams are legally required to fundraise from AML/KYC’ed investors, and it’s far far safer and cheaper to fundraise from only accredited investors.
5/ while there are ways around this, those ways are either expensive and inefficient, or legally risky. The other reason is…gonna be unpopular, but here it goes -
6/ VCs allocated capital reasonably well. In a meritocracy (aka free markets), the best allocators will eventually own everything (absent taxes and other redistribution mechanisms.)
7/ why does Paradigm own so much UNI? Because they were smart enough to be large early supporters of a project that
jack and most others were completely dismissive off. Jack calls these “alt” projects worthless then complains when other people own them because they invested.
8/ there’s plenty of brilliant non-VC investors. But on average, the VCs own so much of Web3 because they bet fairly accurately. Retail owns doge and SHIB and a ton of outright scams and garbage (as well as the good stuff.) The VCs make plenty of bad bets, but overall…
9/ lastly, a common debate in crypto in 2017 was bitcoiners asking, “why does this thing need a token?” The answer was obvious then, but now we have real world proof. All of crypto is based on incentives. Shockingly…most people won’t work hard for free.
10/ so, the valuable stuff Jack is complaining about VCs owning got built where there were investable tokens. Bitcoin as sovereign money? If you want to trade or lend it trustlessly, you’ll need to use a project with a token like Rootstock or Blockstack.
11/ a few years ago, Jack and many bitcoiners said all this web3 stuff was just scams. Now that it works and generated hundreds of billions of $$ of value, he complains that VCs own it.
12/ let me turn to a positive note - I share Jack’s desire for maximum decentralization in web3 and crypto broadly. We need to reform US regulation to let retail compete on more even footing with VCs.
13/ an unexplored critical question in this whole discussion is: how important is ownership to control? That’s a very complex topic that varies based on the consensus mechanism, social contract, stakeholder incentives etc. if we can fork malicious miners off a PoW network,
14/ the same can be done with a malicious whale in a PoS network. It’s similar questions to evaluating equity - could the founders just restart the company under a different name with a new cap table? Depends on a long list of factors.
15/ TLDR: web3 today is comparable to bitcoin in 2011 - fairly centralized and buggy, but an amazing proof of concept. And we don’t want VCs to own the world…but whining about it doesn’t help. Gotta facilitate broader ownership.
Twitter
Ari Paul ⛓️
I tried writing hot takes in response to @jack ‘s web3 and VC criticisms, but twice gave up after the drafts turned into rambling incoherent essays. Spent some more time to be able to write less. Here are my thoughts: /1
Two important lessons from 2021:
https://twitter.com/cryptocred/status/1474221877480542211?s=21
1. If something is strong, buy that thing. Looking for 'the next thing' because you missed the initial pump will often underperform buying the leader.
2. Experimentation is rewarded. Airdrops, new chains, NFTs, and so on. Use the tech.
It's 4AM and I can't sleep, so just going to add to this thread indiscriminately.
A better Cred would make a neat end-of-year article, but you have me instead, suckers.
3. Outright top signals become less...outright as adoption increases. Shit has to scale e.g. in the past any celebrity talking about crypto was scary (e.g. Katy Perry nails) but in '21 it took Elon on SNL to nuke DOGE. Adjust accordingly.
4. You don't have to catch the top. The idea is to have made so much on the way up, that it ultimately doesn't matter when the nuke comes. And it'll always come. Voluntary sellers on the way up beat forced sellers on the way down.
5. If you're looking for take profit signals, one thing I like to do is to add a couple of high time frame moving averages (Hull, some ribbon, 21W, 50W, whatever) and see how far away BTC is from those averages. Check where market is and ask: would I be happy to give back that %?
6. You're close to a local top when the only 'innovation' comes in the form of forks and clones. Seen it with DeFi, dog money, OHM, and so on. Same applies with dinosaur garbage coins pumping, which in itself is a form of anti-innovation. Good take profit signal, on average.
7. If you're a trader, go to where the volume is. If that also happens to be a strong performer, as is often the case, you make life a lot easier. High volume usually means cleaner technicals. Ideally 1 week+/clear rotation bid (SOLUNAVAX-style) and not a one-off pump.
8. In an uptrend, the best times to buy are either when it has already gone up (buy high to sell higher) or when it's forced lower (usually by a correlated market-wide pullback, often led by majors). Laggards, trendless coins, coins in 'accumulation' indefinitely = high opp cost.
9. Be cynical about narratives. DeFi went from the only thing being traded to nobody caring. During NFT mania, couldn't find a single chart for weeks. Now it's just loss porn. Remember BTC U.S. session infinite bid? Me neither.
When music (price+volume) is over, stop dancing.
10. Survivors win. There are infinite ways to 'make it', but all of them require not losing everything before and after you get there.
/End GN
https://twitter.com/cryptocred/status/1474221877480542211?s=21
1. If something is strong, buy that thing. Looking for 'the next thing' because you missed the initial pump will often underperform buying the leader.
2. Experimentation is rewarded. Airdrops, new chains, NFTs, and so on. Use the tech.
It's 4AM and I can't sleep, so just going to add to this thread indiscriminately.
A better Cred would make a neat end-of-year article, but you have me instead, suckers.
3. Outright top signals become less...outright as adoption increases. Shit has to scale e.g. in the past any celebrity talking about crypto was scary (e.g. Katy Perry nails) but in '21 it took Elon on SNL to nuke DOGE. Adjust accordingly.
4. You don't have to catch the top. The idea is to have made so much on the way up, that it ultimately doesn't matter when the nuke comes. And it'll always come. Voluntary sellers on the way up beat forced sellers on the way down.
5. If you're looking for take profit signals, one thing I like to do is to add a couple of high time frame moving averages (Hull, some ribbon, 21W, 50W, whatever) and see how far away BTC is from those averages. Check where market is and ask: would I be happy to give back that %?
6. You're close to a local top when the only 'innovation' comes in the form of forks and clones. Seen it with DeFi, dog money, OHM, and so on. Same applies with dinosaur garbage coins pumping, which in itself is a form of anti-innovation. Good take profit signal, on average.
7. If you're a trader, go to where the volume is. If that also happens to be a strong performer, as is often the case, you make life a lot easier. High volume usually means cleaner technicals. Ideally 1 week+/clear rotation bid (SOLUNAVAX-style) and not a one-off pump.
8. In an uptrend, the best times to buy are either when it has already gone up (buy high to sell higher) or when it's forced lower (usually by a correlated market-wide pullback, often led by majors). Laggards, trendless coins, coins in 'accumulation' indefinitely = high opp cost.
9. Be cynical about narratives. DeFi went from the only thing being traded to nobody caring. During NFT mania, couldn't find a single chart for weeks. Now it's just loss porn. Remember BTC U.S. session infinite bid? Me neither.
When music (price+volume) is over, stop dancing.
10. Survivors win. There are infinite ways to 'make it', but all of them require not losing everything before and after you get there.
/End GN
Twitter
Cred
Two important lessons from 2021: 1. If something is strong, buy that thing. Looking for 'the next thing' because you missed the initial pump will often underperform buying the leader. 2. Experimentation is rewarded. Airdrops, new chains, NFTs, and so on.…