The Breakdown

News broke of Venezuela exploring whether they could use bitcoin and ether as reserve assets, prompting questions about what the potential impact of widescale adoption of bitcoin as a tool to evade sanctions might be. Libra continues to spur central banks to action. This week, the project saw some support from the UN while the ECB called it a 'wake up call' for governments. Finally, we look at the second week of Fed injections into the overnight repo markets and what it means for bitcoin. 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/nathanielwhittemorecrypto

News broke of Venezuela exploring whether they could use bitcoin and ether as reserve assets, prompting questions about what the potential impact of widescale adoption of bitcoin as a tool to evade sanctions might be. Libra continues to spur central banks to action. This week, the project saw some support from the UN while the ECB called it a 'wake up call' for governments. Finally, we look at the second week of Fed injections into the overnight repo markets and what it means for bitcoin.

Bitcoin (and the rest of the markets) absolutely cratered yesterday, with BTC dropping from nearly $10k to under $8k before resetting a bit. Is it Bakkt backlash? Bitmex margin calls? Or a fat load of who the hell knows? Speaking of crashes, Adam Neumann is out as CEO of WeWork, the fall guy in what appears to be the beginning of a larger market reset on technology company valuations. Does that reset have implications for the crypto markets? Finally, a number of new financings including for Fold, a cashback-in-bitcoin app that keeps your data private. 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/nathanielwhittemorecrypto

Bitcoin (and the rest of the markets) absolutely cratered yesterday, with BTC dropping from nearly $10k to under $8k before resetting a bit. Is it Bakkt backlash? Bitmex margin calls? Or a fat load of who the hell knows? Speaking of crashes, Adam Neumann is out as CEO of WeWork, the fall guy in what appears to be the beginning of a larger market reset on technology company valuations. Does that reset have implications for the crypto markets? Finally, a number of new financings including for Fold, a cashback-in-bitcoin app that keeps your data private. 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/nathanielwhittemorecrypto

Much hyped Bakkt has launched, but the volume is...less than massive. What should we think about it? Is it a sign of failure; a sign that there simply isn't demand from institutions; or was this always the likely launch pattern? Meanwhile, in the "whoa" files, messenger app Kik has shuttered to focus all remaining efforts on KIN. Hail mary (or was the ICO the hail mary in the first place)? Finally, the SEC testified in front of Congress about crypto amongst other topics. Hope you're not hungry, because this was a nothingburger. 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/nathanielwhittemorecrypto

Much hyped Bakkt has launched, but the volume is...less than massive. What should we think about it? Is it a sign of failure; a sign that there simply isn't demand from institutions; or was this always the likely launch pattern? Meanwhile, in the "whoa" files, messenger app Kik has shuttered to focus all remaining efforts on KIN. Hail mary (or was the ICO the hail mary in the first place)? Finally, the SEC testified in front of Congress about crypto amongst other topics.

Crypto markets are driven by memes. In point of fact, all markets are driven by memes and narratives, but emergent markets like crypto ratchet it up. In this Narrative Watch, we go meta to look at the state of meme warfare, going deep on two memes of the moment. Discover why 'ETH is money' is an Ethereum community response to a recent bitcoin meme talk and how 'Bitcoin fixes this' is becoming shorthand for the idea of bitcoin as a generational hedge. 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/nathanielwhittemorecrypto

Crypto markets are driven by memes. In point of fact, all markets are driven by memes and narratives, but emergent markets like crypto ratchet it up. In this Narrative Watch, we go meta to look at the state of meme warfare, going deep on two memes of the moment. Discover why 'ETH is money' is an Ethereum community response to a recent bitcoin meme talk & how 'Bitcoin fixes this' is becoming shorthand for the idea of bitcoin as a generational hedge. 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/nathanielwhittemorecrypt

Major regulatory and law enforcement clap back as SEC targets ICOBox (who would have believed that a company named ICOBox wasn't completely above board?) and an early Ethereum advisor is arrested for extortion. Get your breath back after that one, then let's talk about, first, why for profit companies that owe their existing to open source protocols should support the development of those protocols, and second, another look at why cryptocurrency is an inherently political force, featuring North Korea creating a bitcoin-like currency for itself. 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/nathanielwhittemorecrypto

Major regulatory and law enforcement clap back as SEC targets ICOBox (who would have believed that a company named ICOBox wasn't completely above board?) and an early Ethereum advisor is arrested for extortion. After that, let's talk about, 1. Why for profit companies that owe their existing to open source protocols should support the development of those protocols, and 2. another look at why crypto is an inherently political force, featuring North Korea creating a bitcoin-like currency for itself.