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The 5-minute newsletter on the important stuff in finance — reporting what's going on and why. Let’s see what's going on this week: Bitcoin's Bullrun Test Ahead Stablecoins Seek Transparency to Become Competitive BlackRock and Morgan Stanley Gain Bitcoin 'Exposure' NFTs - Resurgence of Fun, to Include Digital Rocks Stock Trading Apps See Massive Rise in Crypto Trading Bitcoin’s Moves Take the Spotlight On August 27th, about $2 billion worth of Bitcoin options will expire. Most of them are call options – betting on the price of BTC to go up. ( link ) After two months of a holding pattern, Michael Saylor chose to buy 3,907 BTC at an average price point of $45,294. Is this the new BTC bottom amid a slew of bullish news? ( link ) Without China FUD, Bitcoin is Free to Explore New Price Ranges In March, Bank of America calculated that it would take $93 million to move BTC's price by one percent. With $2 billion worth of options on the table, this leaves plenty of space for Bitcoin's price to maneuver. People love round numbers, so $50k is the magic price to be breached (which, by the way, already happened on August 23rd). Calls - options to buy Bitcoin - far outweigh the puts - options to sell Bitcoin. If Bitcoin goes above $50k again, 12,000 calls will be fulfilled, creating substantial buying pressure. If its price remains at around $48k and moves sideways, only 6,500 calls will be fulfilled. This would still leave the ratio firmly on the bullish side, with 5x more calls than puts. Furthermore, Michal Saylor of MicroStrategy, one of the largest Bitcoin whales out there (with 108,922 BTC), hauled off a fresh batch of BTC at $45k. Will we look at this price point wistfully in a year, as we now look at $30k in January? Whether Bitcoin remains neutral or supercharged with the $50k price point on Friday will be the biggest indicator in Bitcoin's ongoing bullrun test. If not, some will see a buy-the-dip opportunity as Lightning Network expands Bitcoin’s usability beyond digital gold. Substack, the rising publishing platform unburdened by editors, is . With half a million paid subscribers, Substack will count on Lightning Network to create Bitcoin 2.0, allowing writers to accept it cheaply and instantly. making the same bet Competition Between Stablecoins is Heating Up Circle, part of the consortium behind USDC – the second-largest stablecoin – announced it would improve its collateral by shoring it up with cash and short-duration US treasuries. ( link ) Paxos, the most regulated blockchain company and PayPal’s crypto developer, is powering PayPal’s crypto offering into the UK. ( link ) Paxos rebrands its stablecoin from Paxos Standard (PAX) to Pax Dollar (USDP). ( link ) Transparency is the Name of the Stablecoin Game The value of something is best defined by its absence. Without stablecoins to lessen crypto volatility, the space would have been half-baked. There would’ve been lower trading volume, less liquidity, and less adoption. By tokenizing fiat money, primarily USD, stablecoins greatly matured the crypto ecosystem, giving investors confidence to explore the blockchain space. Top stablecoins with above one billion market cap, source: coincodex.com In fact, stablecoins have become so useful that it remains an open question if it makes sense to create CBDC – Central Bank Digital Currency – in the United States. As , stablecoins already provide that role. One may then ask if most stablecoins are pegged to USD in a 1:1 ratio, what would make one better than the other? The answer is – the transparency of their reserves. noted by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen Run by private companies, each stablecoin has its own way to collateralize its peg to USD. Although less popular, Paxos is leading the stablecoin pack in terms of transparency. This makes it less prone to regulatory scrutiny, which is likely why PayPal chose the company to handle its crypto expansion. Seeing the regulatory writing on the wall, both USDC and USDT are reworking their reserve attestations. However, from the left field, TrueCurrency is making grounds with its TUSD - the only stablecoin to have a novel, real-time reserve attestation. Institutions are Jumping into Crypto, Indirectly Last week, we saw that BlackRock bought $382.9 million worth of stocks in Bitcoin mining companies, 6.71% of Marathon Digital Holdings, and 6.61% in Riot Blockchain. ( link ) Morgan Stanley, a large investment bank capped at $190.5 billion, owns close to $300 million worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares. ( link ) Citigroup, one of the largest US banks, seeks a regulatory nod to start offering Bitcoin futures to select clients. ( link ) The Kingpin of the Financial World Sets its Gaze on Bitcoin If you haven’t heard of BlackRock by now, you are missing the key to understanding the world’s financial web. Blackrock is the world’s largest asset manager with nearly $9.5 trillion in assets under management—and the Fed’s . close confidant Interestingly enough, BlackRock and Tesla have a long history, with the former from running the company. Remember Musk’s little tweet about no longer accepting BTC payments which triggered a significant crypto crash? There's a strong case to be made that BlackRock opened up China for Tesla’s car sales in . trying to remove Elon Musk return for that favor Ok, the tinfoil hat has been put away... for now. Although BlackRock hasn’t directly bought Bitcoin yet, the partaking in mining companies is a sure signal it is slowly building up its exposure to the asset. So far, Bitcoin’s volatility seems to be keeping it away. However, because BlackRock’s global reach is so encompassing, it may not need more direct exposure. BlackRock owns 6.1% of Morgan Stanley shares and 4.5% of Citigroup—and both are actively exposing themselves to crypto. While Citigroup is yet to launch its Bitcoin futures offer, Morgan Stanley uses a financial vehicle like Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to track Bitcoin’s value on the stock market. Thus, with each price movement of Bitcoin, GBTC follows, tagging along both Morgan Stanley (and therefore, BlackRock). NFT Summer Rekindled Visa, the world’s domineering payment gateway, now has an expensive jpeg on its balance sheet (a roughly $150k CryptoPunk). ( link ) Thanks to NFT resurgence, Ethereum’s hash rate reached an all-time high of 600 TH/s. ( link ) How Much for That Digital Rock, Sir? When faced with blockchain products, there are many avenues to explore. Some focus on hard deflationary cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, while others become yield farmers within DeFi protocols. Both require moderate knowledge of charts, supply ratios, and technical indicators, to name a few items with a high mental load. Not so with NFTs. They are fun and speculative, but without having to dip into technicalities. Instead, NFTs rely on the gut feeling invoked by memetic artwork. As a result, after a hibernation period during June, NFT sales have gone through the roof, increasing by 175% from May’s peak. Monthly NFT sales during 2021, source: nonfungible.com As is always the case with art, its worth is in the eyes of the beholder. You may think that a has little value, but someone is willing to pay $611k for the privilege of owning it. cartoon rock NFTs have seemingly become the best marketer Ethereum could wish for. Top NFT marketplaces are hosted by it, providing endless exposure to ETH cryptocurrency and the wider DeFi ecosystem. Stock Apps Becoming Crypto Apps While having 3 times less valuation, eToro managed to outpace Robinhood’s crypto trading revenue for Q2 2021 by 13%. ( link ) Gavin Michael, the CEO of Bakkt, a blockchain asset management company, thinks that payment systems will encompass all digital assets, creating a “pay with anything” consumer model. ( link ) Millennials Want to Harness Digital Assets as Payments Created for easy stock trading a year ago, both eToro and Robinhood saw only a fraction of their trading volume come from crypto. Now, cryptocurrencies have accounted for 52% of Robinhood’s transaction-based revenue. eToro saw even better success, with crypto trading making 73% of its total trading commission. Such a rapid rise tells us that millennials are at the forefront of crypto adoption as predominant users of these apps and that a shift in perception is occurring. Both stock trading and e-commerce are becoming gamified systems. Dogecoin perfectly exemplifies this as it makes up 62% of Robinhood’s crypto revenue. More importantly, digital assets are no longer just cryptocurrencies. They include an entire range of incentives and stakes – loyalty reward points, utility tokens, digital art as NFTs, fan tokens, etc. Gavin of Bakkt forecasts a future in which some of these illiquid assets can be seamlessly turned into spendable money, unlocking $2 trillion worth of value. A big part of this gamification is loyalty programs. A survey from shows that 69% of millennials see cashback rewards as a prerequisite for opening a new credit line. Accordingly, Visa, MasterCard, BlockFi, and Gemini are already deploying credit cards with crypto cashback programs. Citibank Tweets of the Week "Saying NFTs are in a bubble is like saying collectibles are in a bubble...it's nonsensical.  You can say Crypto Punks are in a bubble, or digital avatars, or Art Blocks...or any other segment of NFTs.  But NFTs as an asset are here to stay. Humans are collectors." @RyanSAdams “‘Digital Gold’. Bitcoin registers 100x improvement over gold as a store of value. The pandemic movement of assets challenges the old safe-haven methods and offers an outlook on what the savvy thing is worthy today! #BeTheDeFiance#FinancialRevolution” @PawelSynapse “Bankers issue ‘seismic’ warning: Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, Cardano And XRP could replace the dollar in just five years as crypto market price adds $1 trillion:” @Forbes "After signing a $210 million deal with TSM, FTX has also partnered with the LCS, the MLB, the Miami Heat, and now are renaming Cal's entire football stadium. Crypto deals just keep on coming." @JakeSucky "100,000 ETH has now been burned. EIP-1559 has only been live for 20 days." @sassal0x

5 Minute Finance: ROCK.JPEG, Institutions Gain BTC Exposure, Stablecoins Mature

Part 2 is dedicated to updating the follow-up article I published in early July 2020 called “ which focused specifically on the immediate weeks following each of Bitcoin’s Halvings. Part 2 Bitcoin After The Halving - Everything You Need To Know ” In said article, I compared each of the Post-Halving periods with one another to deduce any recurring price tendencies that could inform the trend that had yet to emerge at the time. At the time of publishing, it served as a valuable resource for investors in navigating the uncertain price action of Bitcoin at the time and proved to be perfect predictor of the price trend that emerged in the months that have since followed. Bitcoin - Weeks After The Halving In early July 2020, I published a follow-up article called “ because I wanted to better understand the sort of price action Bitcoin tends to make in the following the Halving. Bitcoin After The Halving - Everything You Need To Know ” immediate weeks In that article, I discussed three crucial price tendencies that Bitcoin tends to repeat each and every time, after each and every Halving. These three principles were as follows: Post-Halving consolidation (i.e. Re-Accumulation) is normal price behaviour Post-Halving consolidation (i.e. Re-Accumulation) has preceded new uptrends Successful retest attempts of previous Range Highs have preceded new uptrends Let’s illustrate these three tendencies in the context of Bitcoin’s post-Halving price charts to showcase how history indeed does repeat itself time and time again. Post-Halving #1: After the first Bitcoin Halving, Bitcoin formed a 6-week sideways channel. This consolidation range was a range of Re-Accumulation which preceded a new uptrend: But before the new uptrend took place, a retest attempt of the top of the Re-Accumulation range occurred: Here are the key takeaways from Bitcoin’s price tendencies in the immediate weeks after Halving #1: Key Takeaways: Post-Halving 1 Bitcoin formed a six-week Re-Accumulation Range after Halving 1 Upon breakout, price pulled back into the Range High for three Retest Attempts These Successful Retest Attempts played a pivotal role in confirming the end of the Re-Accumulation period and the beginning of a new uptrend Therefore, Bitcoin satisfied all three Principles after Halving #1: Post-Halving consolidation (i.e. Re-Accumulation) is normal price behaviour ✓ Post-Halving consolidation (i.e. Re-Accumulation) has preceded new uptrends ✓ Successful retest attempts of old Range Highs have preceded new uptrends ✓ Post-Halving #2: In Post-Halving #2, Bitcoin formed two ranges. One was of Accumulation at lows after a retrace. The other was a Re-Accumulation range. Not only did both ranges precede uptrends: But successful retest attempts of the top of the ranges were crucial to fully confirming these new uptrends: Here are the key takeaways from Bitcoin’s price tendencies in the immediate weeks after Halving #2: Key Takeaways: Post-Halving 2 Bitcoin experienced four straight weeks of downside Post-Halving 2 A four-week Accumulation Range formed on the retrace Upon breakout, price formed a five-week Re-Accumulation Range The purpose of the Re-Accumulation Range was to successfully retest the Accumulation Range High as a new level of buy-side interest Upon breakout, the Re-Accumulation Range High was successfully retested twice in the two weeks that following the breakout Bitcoin consolidated for a total of eight weeks after Halving 2 Yet again, the three Principles were satisfied, this time after Halving #2: Post-Halving consolidation (i.e. Re-Accumulation) is normal price behaviour ✓ Post-Halving consolidation (i.e. Re-Accumulation) has preceded new uptrends ✓ Successful retest attempts of old Range Highs have preceded new uptrends ✓ Post-Halving #3: Here is the Bitcoin price chart showcasing its Post-Halving price predicament in July 2020, when I first wrote the article: This was at a time when many worried that this Post-Halving consolidation wasn’t going to be a Re-Accumulation range that would precede trend continuation. Many instead thought that this range would be one of Distribution which would precede further downside. Here’s an updated chart, showcasing perfect repetition of Bitcoin Post-Halving price tendencies: The three post-Halving price tendencies in the immediate weeks after the Halving repeated perfectly once again: Post-Halving consolidation (i.e. Re-Accumulation) is normal price behaviour ✓ Post-Halving consolidation (i.e. Re-Accumulation) has preceded new uptrends ✓ Successful retest attempts of old Range Highs have preceded new uptrends ✓ Here’s a Bitcoin price chart to illustrate these crucial price principles After each and every Halving, Bitcoin performed the same sort of technical movement relative to its Post-Halving range. And even though the Halving events take place every four years, Bitcoin’s price action tends to reliably replicate its historical price tendencies time and again. When it comes to Bitcoin’s price action, history tends to repeat itself with astounding regularity. Final Thoughts Parts 1 and 2 of this Bitcoin Halving series have focused on examining how Bitcoin’s price action has repeatedly respected its historically recurring price tendencies in the context of its Halving events. And the resounding conclusion is that Bitcoin tends to respect these historical price movements with amazing reliability. This is an incredibly powerful insight to behold. Because if history repeats itself again and again over time, then it’s reasonable to assume history could repeat itself going forward as well. Which is why Parts 3 and 4 of this series focus on the future. That is - how could Bitcoin behave going forward while still respecting its key historically recurring price tendencies? After all… History repeats itself all too frequently to simply ignore it. for more cutting-edge insights. This article was originally published as the Rekt Capital Newsletter. 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Bitcoin After The Halving: An Update

Since reaching its new all-time high in mid-November, Bitcoin’s been either going down or sideways for the last 6 weeks. As usual, whenever Bitcoin goes down, the whole crypto market follows, and even gaming and metaverse-related altcoins started sinking after a while. Times like this really highlight the benefits of holding tokens which can generative passive income through staking, providing liquidity, etc. I’m not talking here about projects like Wonderland, Olympus, or Jade Protocol, which promise 80,000% APY or more (there will be a separate article about those) but more ‘sensible’ projects with a solid long-term potential. Although there are different ways of earning interest on your crypto, usually, the most straightforward one is staking. Not every token can be staked, and the terms of staking can vary a lot. Make Sure You Always Check the Following: – it can be flexible, but it may also be fixed, often for 7, 14, 30, or 60 days. Sometimes it may be even a few months. Staking period – especially important on Ethereum blockchain due to potentially high gas fees. Cost of staking and un-staking (most likely yes, but you will lose some or all interest earned) Can you un-stake early? – this can vary greatly, from around 5% to over 50%, but the higher rates are often only available if you lock your tokens in for a longer period of time. APY In other words, are they still in your wallet but staked, or do you have to transfer them out of your wallet. (very often, it’s the latter) Do you retain custody of your tokens? (for example, this is true for Verasity or COTI, but the required amounts vary greatly) Is there a minimum amount required for staking? Here are the tokens I’m currently staking – and also a good comparison of different staking models: – needs no introduction. Very large market cap and one of the safest long-term projects. There are countless staking pools you can choose from (you can find the list here - https://adapools.org/), and you can expect around 5% APY. You can stake and un-stake whenever you want, and the rewards are paid out approximately every 5 days and added directly to the balance in your wallet. There’s no need to transfer the tokens out of your wallet – you simply authorize staking, so you retain the custody of your tokens. As it’s on the Cardano blockchain, the fees are close to none (around $1-2). Cardano (ADA) – you have to stake SFUND to participate in their IGOs (as long as you have minimum 1,000 SFUND tokens). Staking periods are 7, 14, 30, and 60 days, and APY is 5%, 11%, 25%, and 55%, respectively. The tokens are transferred out of your wallet, and the fees are below $1 as it’s on Binance Smart Chain. Seedify Fund (SFUND) – the tokens can be staked in your VeraWallet (but you have to transfer them there from your MetaMask or an exchange), and you earn your rewards daily at 0.07%, which equals 25.5% per year. You need a minimum of 10,000 VRA to be able to stake it, but at the current price of $0.035 (at the time of writing), this equals $350, so it’s pretty reasonable. It’s on the Ethereum blockchain, so just bear gas fees in mind. Verasity (VRA) Conclusion Let’s be honest, you probably won’t be able to live just from this passive income unless you stake A LOT. Nonetheless, it allows you to add more to your portfolio even when the market is bearish, and you will reap the true rewards once the market starts picking up again. And of course, it beats the hell out of any savings account offered by any bank ;-) If you found this article interesting, please check out – I post market commentaries, my thoughts about various altcoins and NFTs, and tutorials for beginners and more advanced users. I also mention a lot of altcoins and NFTs on . my YouTube channel my Twitter --- Disclaimer The content covered in this article is NOT to be considered investment advice. I’m NOT a financial adviser. These are only my own speculative opinions, ideas, and theories. Do NOT trade or invest based purely upon the information presented in this article.

How to Make Money from Crypto in a Bear Market

A lot of people were expecting the current crypto market cycle to finish at some point in late 2021. While Bitcoin did reach a new all-time high of almost 70k in early November, it also pulled back considerably since then. A lot of indicators are suggesting that we’re nowhere near the end of the cycle and considering that the crypto market overall slowed down considerably towards the end of the year, I think we will likely see this cycle extending into the second half of 2022 and possibly even early 2023. Considering that we may still have good 12 months or more of this bull run, what trends we are likely to see in the crypto space in 2022? I think that first of all – we should expect some surprises, as it’s often the case in the crypto space or any other new and rapidly developing technology. But as we cannot prepare for the unexpected, let’s see what we can expect to happen. Utility and Decoupling I think these are the two keywords for crypto and NFTs in 2022. We’ve started already seeing this trend in NFTs – we moved from 10,000 generative images to utility such as generating tokens, ‘baby’ version of the genesis collection, access to alpha communities, games or gamification, etc. A lot of people who are investing in crypto now are investing in whatever can give them a quick gain. I expect this to start shifting towards investing in projects (games, DeFi etc.) that people actually use themselves and it’s easier for them to see the value in those projects. This in turn will lead to decoupling from bitcoin and the ‘main’ crypto market – again, we've already started seeing this with gaming cryptos and NFTs. Crypto Gaming and the Metaverse This one is pretty obvious ;-) It’s a continuation of a theme that dominated the crypto space in the second half of 2021. Crypto gaming and the metaverse will remain one of the main trends, if not THE main trend, for the next few years and will likely be one of the key elements in mass adoption of crypto. A lot of projects, which had their IGO in 2021 are aiming to release their games in 2022 so we will see which projects will make it’ and generate huge profits for their investors and which ones will fail or maybe need more time to become successful. ‘Mass adoption’ of NFTs I put it in quotation marks as it won’t be real mass adoption – NFT space at the moment on has approximately 350,000 active users. Even if this number is not very accurate, we’re looking at a fraction of 1% of the population of the planet, so we won’t reach mass adoption for quite a while but nonetheless, I think NFTs will absolutely explode in 2022. Let’s just look at a few headlines: Nike’s acquisition of RTFKT – a company that makes virtual trainers for the metaverse. Adidas entered the metaverse and released their own NFTs. Even Melania Trump released her NFT. Shopify is testing allowing buying and selling NFTs on their platform. Coinbase will soon release NFT marketplace. The list goes on. I think it’s easy to see a trend here. I think we will see more NFTs with utility, more big brands entering this space and more interest in ‘traditional’ art (such as photography or music) being sold as NFTs. Ethereum 2.0 Ethereum is broken. Sure it’s the most popular blockchain and I use it all the time but it will never reach true mass adoption if gas fees keep going up whenever the network gets busy - the network is literally throttling itself. Eth 2.0 is supposed to solve it and at the moment it’s scheduled for June 2022, however it’s already been delayed at least a couple of times so this date may still change. It remains to be seen if it will be a typical 'buy the rumour, sell the news' or if the price will continue to go up after the upgrade but the release of Eth 2.0 will definitely cause some price movements. zk-rollups Until Ethereum becomes fast and cheap to use, we need other solutions. It looks like zk-rollups are likely to be the solution to this. If you’re not familiar with zk-rollups, you may want to check out . There are a couple of tokens going to be released soon and they will likely present a great investment opportunity so I would check out and . this video zkSync Stark Ware Cardano Ecosystem Cardano (ADA) has been on a downtrend since the release of smart contracts in early September. Although we've seen a bit of a breakout in the last few days, I think we will see a continuation of this general downtrend (or sideways movement) until we start seeing some true utility in the Cardano ecosystem. It will come, I have no doubt about it, but I think it may still take a few months. If the market picks up overall, we will likely see Cardano going up as well but the true parabolic move up will likely happen only after the whole ecosystem properly launches. As a closing word, I don’t expect all of the above to happen at the same time. I think these events will be stretched out over quite a long period of time – for example, I expect zk-rollups to kick off in early 2022, while Eth 2.0 or Cardano ecosystem will likely flourish in the second half of the year. If anything, this just means that we will have even more opportunities to invest and move our profits around to compound the results. I think 2022 will be an extremely exciting year for the crypto space and I’m really looking forward to it! If you found this article interesting, please check out – I post there market commentaries, my thoughts about various altcoins and NFTs and tutorials for beginners and more advanced users. I also mention a lot of altcoins and NFTs on . my YouTube channel my Twitter --- Disclaimer The content covered in this article is NOT to be considered investment advice. I’m NOT a financial adviser. These are only my own speculative opinions, ideas and theories. Do NOT trade or invest based purely upon the information presented in this article.

6 Crypto Trends that Will Dominate 2022

Our DeFi-powered collectibles game needed a Layer 2 solution. Here’s why we chose Polygon (formerly Matic Network). When we launched our eco-governance token on Ethereum in September, it was the peak of the first DeFi season. Prices were rising, degens were aping, and morale was peaking. But under the ebullient surface, a storm was brewing… Gas prices had spiked to levels not seen since 2017 and the famous CryptoKitties launch. Smaller players, unable to afford the expensive transactions, were being pushed to the sidelines as large holders cashed in on all the latest yield farming opportunities. Developers, seeing their users fleeing the maelstrom, began to seriously consider whether developing on Ethereum was productive anymore. Out of the confusion emerged a Discord server, aptly named “The Great Migration” (TGM). Managed strictly by the admins, only developers could join and see the chat. A furious debate ensued, as arcane terms like “rollups”, “validators” and “sharding” were tossed around. The server quickly grew to include channels for every scaling solution under the sun: Ethereum 2, Avalanche, Cosmos, Flow Blockchain, Polygon/Matic, NEAR, OMG Network, Polkadot, Skale, Solana, Starkware, xDAI, Rollups, and many more. The conversation frothed, as A-List developers of almost every Ethereum dApp out there chimed in on their favorite potential scaling solutions. And then…as quickly as it had started, the conversation died off. October came, and gas fees dropped back to earth. Developers collectively sighed in relief as their average transaction fees returned to under $50, and went back to doing what they do best: heads-down, #buidling the future. In just four months, however, the gas fees would skyrocket again, bringing the problem back. Ask Matic Anything (AMA) Out of all the projects discussed on the TGM server during the DeFi boom’s first wave, notably, only one showed up to do an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session. On September 17, Sandeep Nailwal of Polygon (which was called Matic Network at the time) was invited to join the hallowed ranks of TGM. Branded with a green “Project” Role (as opposed to the orange “Builder” role), Sandeep did not have access to the larger chat. He was invited for one specific purpose — to answer rigorous questions about how his project can solve the issue of scalability. What is Polygon? (Formerly known as Matic Network) Polygon offers a Layer-2 (L2) scaling solution that achieves scale by utilizing sidechains for off-chain computation while ensuring asset security using the Plasma framework and a decentralized network of Proof-of-Stake (PoS) validators — although the project plans to become a full-blown L2 aggregator that supports other L2 solutions such as Optimistic Rollups (OR), zkRollups (ZKR), and Validium. Polygon is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), meaning users from Ethereum can easily transfer their assets to Polygon, and developers can deploy existing Solidity contracts without any major changes. During the AMA, Sandeep answered many important questions from the community, pertaining to security, developer experience, and roadmap. These answers, combined with our previous research and interactions with the team, convinced us that Polygon (then known as Matic) was a perfect fit for Aavegotchi. Fast forward a few months to December. Gas was relatively cheap, the market was sideways, and we at Aavegotchi were actively preparing to launch. Our original plan was to launch Aavegotchi collectibles on Ethereum and then allow users to transfer them to L2 to play the game. We scheduled the launch for January 4th, informed our media partners, and sprinted towards the finishing line. Launch D(el)ay As soon as the new year came, the crypto markets turned hectic again. The bull was back, and with it, the extremely high transaction fees seen in September. January 4th arrived, and our Discord was filled with a panicked, frenetic energy. Some members were excited about the launch despite the high gas fees, while others likened it to “setting sail in the middle of a hurricane.” An impromptu Discord reaction vote revealed the truth: 75% of our users supported delaying the launch and aborting our previous “Launch, then Pivot” plan. Instead, they supported launching directly onto L2. Many members asked us, “Why Matic? Why not xDAI, or Flow, or (any other L2 solution)? We had done a lot of research to come to this conclusion, but none of it had been previously disclosed publicly. So here are the six reasons why we chose Matic/Polygon. Reason 1: Sufficient Decentralization Unlike many NFT projects, Aavegotchi NFTs contain real financial value, distinct from the speculative value of the NFT itself. Each Aavegotchi is staked with interest-bearing “aTokens” generated from Aave’s lending pool on Ethereum, that are 1:1 convertible for underlying tokens such as DAI, USDT, LINK, and AAVE. Since we had to ensure the security of our players’ funds, our primary consideration when selecting the L2 home for Aavegotchi was sufficient security and decentralization of the network. Polygon has made great strides in terms of gradual decentralization. There are currently around 90 validators staking MATIC (Polygon’s native asset) to secure the network, most of which are run by community projects with significant funds staked. Validators require a ⅔ majority consensus to validate transactions and create checkpoints on Mainnet. Polygon uses a dual strategy of Proof-of-Stake at the checkpointing layer and Block Producers at the block producer layer to achieve faster blocktimes. It also ensures a high degree of decentralization by achieving finality on the main chains via the checkpoints and fraud-proof mechanisms. Reason 2: EVM-Compatibility One of our criteria for picking a viable L2 option is that it must be compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine and the contracts that run on it. Most L2 solutions do not fit this criteria. Some solutions have created their own languages, or require rewriting into languages like Rust. The only L2 scaling solutions that offer EVM-compatibility are Polygon, xDAI, and Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM). So that narrowed it down, a lot. Reason 3: Production readiness Aavegotchi was ready to launch yesterday. Delaying our launch to wait for a solution like OVM or ETH Phase 2 to come fully online would hurt community morale and weaken our momentum. The world needs DeFi-backed pixel avatars NOW, even if they don’t know it yet. So in the end, like the majority of crypto projects looking to have the best of both worlds by enjoying Ethereum’s huge network effect, while avoiding the network congestion, we were left with two options: xDAI and Polygon. Polygon and xDAI are both viable competitors for the throne of “EVM-compatible sidechain”. Like siblings, they sometimes squabble and bicker, but at the end of the day, they are family and they share the same goal of helping to scale Ethereum. We did thorough research on both protocols, but in the end decided that Polygon met our needs better, for the following reasons. Reason 4: Growing network effect The total volume locked (TVL) on Polygon is growing quickly. As of publishing, it has already reached , compared to xDAI’s $16 million. High gas costs are forcing projects on Ethereum to seriously consider migrating to L2, and as Polygon’s network effect grows, the incentive to migrate to Polygon will become ever stronger. $200+ million Reason 5: Great Developer Ecosystem Polygon’s mechanism for bridging is extremely flexible. Recently, Aavegotchi Core Summoner bridged Aave’s interest-bearing aTokens onto Matic/Polygon via a special customized that allows them to retain their interest while on L2. It’s incredibly easy for existing protocols to begin moving their assets onto L2. Nick Mudge bridge More and more developer tools such Chainlink are also launching on Polygon, giving existing Ethereum developers powerful building blocks in the new gasless environment. Reason 6: Interoperability with other NFT projects Polygon has a growing list of NFT dApps launched or planning to launch soon. A full list can be seen on , but some of our favorites are: Decentraland, Somnium Space, Zed Run, Terra Virtua, and Niftex. Notably, the NFT market OpenSea . their website is launching on Polygon as well At this point, we hear about new NFT projects moving to Polygon almost daily. One of the overarching goals of Aavegotchi is to enable interoperability with other NFTs, so it is important that Aavegotchi exist in a growing ecosystem. Similarly, Polygon’s team has a strong focus on blockchain gaming and NFTs. LFG! (Let’s Forge Greatness!) Our community is very satisfied with our decision to launch on Polygon and is eagerly awaiting the game to launch. In fact, our users barely noticed the transition due to the familiar experience: the process of bridging tokens from Ethereum to Matic/Polygon is intuitive and as user-friendly as it gets, while infrastructure solutions like Quickswap DEX provided liquidity mining incentives to attract our users to their platform. There is one difference that truly catches the eye, however: the transactions are virtually free and much faster. The Great Migration is just beginning, and it’s impossible to say what the ecosystem will look like in five years, but we believe in Polygon’s ambitious mission to ultimately make Ethereum “a full-fledged, powerful multi-chain system”. We are extremely excited to launch Aavegotchi’s DeFi-backed crypto avatars on their network on March 2 at 10am EST / 11pm SGT. Also published on: https://aavegotchi.medium.com/why-aavegotchi-chose-polygon-356238977fb2

6 Reasons Why Our DeFi x NFT Game Chose to Run on Polygon, Dodging Insane ETH Fees

Cryptocurrency Trading Bible Three: Winning in Sideways and Bear Markets

There are mixed feelings about the US Economy currently. On one hand, the US dollar terrain against six major currencies, marking a three-week high. These positive gains came against the backdrop of relatively strong data on the US manufacturing and construction sectors. gained On the other hand, Fitch decided to the US Government credit rating from AAA to AA+, citing probable fiscal challenges over the next three years. The decision was (not surprisingly) met with criticism from the US Government, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen terming it ”'arbitrary and based on outdated data”. downgrade SEC Back on the Heels of Crypto In earlier letters, we've again and again the likelihood of the SEC's crusade against crypto to continue and this the SEC allegedly communicated to Coinbase that all other assets than were to be considered securities. stated BTC The story does not appear all too credible although Brian Armstrong made comments to the . Financial Times Amidst this development, the SEC has also Richard Heart and 'three unincorporated entities that he controls, Hex, PulseChain, and PulseX,' for raising over $1 billion by offering unregistered crypto asset securities. sued DeFi Security in Question The security of the DeFi ecosystem has once again come into question following the exploit of Curve Finance, one of the pioneer DeFi protocols, resulting in an $47 million in losses withdrawn from several stablepools. estimated While the damage has since been contained, there is still a looming arising from Curve's founder, Michael Egorov's $100 million CRV-backed loan that could potentially be liquidated should the underlying collateral fall significantly in value. risk Noteworthy Mentions Crypto VC Behavior Of 2023: Weathering The Winter The crypto VC landscape has continued to face headwinds this year, with more investors shying away from the digital asset industry. In our latest research piece, we highlight some of the major trends, including where VCs are investing funds and which projects are attracting capital, among other behaviors. For more context, check out the full article . here Industry Shakers Tether Reports $850 Million Q2 Profit Tether Holdings Limited, the issuer of the , reported a Q2 profit of $850 million, resulting in total excess reserves of $3.3 billion. According to a spokesperson for Tether, "The $850 million represents the retained profits of this quarter, which have contributed to increasing Tether's excess reserves. It's basically additional capital sitting in the company to further strengthen Tether.” USDT stablecoin Sequoia slashes its crypto fund by 66% after industry collapses Sequoia Capital recently made adjustments to its cryptocurrency fund, reducing its size from $585 million to $200 million. This decision comes amidst a liquidity crunch and a strategic pivot towards smaller players in the crypto market. The move was aimed at better reflecting the changing market conditions and aligning the fund's strategy with the evolving landscape of the cryptocurrency industry. FTX Plans to Restart Crypto Exchange for International Customers Defunct crypto exchange FTX has put forth a proposal to categorize its creditors into distinct classes of claimants, while also presenting an option for one class of claimants to potentially relaunch the FTX exchange with the involvement of third-party investors, provided the group reaches an agreement. Also published here.

Sideways Crypto Trading Persists Amid US Economy Scrutiny

Moby-Dick; or The Whale, by Herman Melville is part of HackerNoon’s Book Blog Post series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here: . Chapter 64: Stubb’s Supper [LINK TO TABLE OF LINK] CHAPTER 64. Stubb’s Supper. Stubb’s whale had been killed some distance from the ship. It was a calm; so, forming a tandem of three boats, we commenced the slow business of towing the trophy to the Pequod. And now, as we eighteen men with our thirty-six arms, and one hundred and eighty thumbs and fingers, slowly toiled hour after hour upon that inert, sluggish corpse in the sea; and it seemed hardly to budge at all, except at long intervals; good evidence was hereby furnished of the enormousness of the mass we moved. For, upon the great canal of Hang-Ho, or whatever they call it, in China, four or five laborers on the foot-path will draw a bulky freighted junk at the rate of a mile an hour; but this grand argosy we towed heavily forged along, as if laden with pig-lead in bulk. Darkness came on; but three lights up and down in the Pequod’s main-rigging dimly guided our way; till drawing nearer we saw Ahab dropping one of several more lanterns over the bulwarks. Vacantly eyeing the heaving whale for a moment, he issued the usual orders for securing it for the night, and then handing his lantern to a seaman, went his way into the cabin, and did not come forward again until morning. Though, in overseeing the pursuit of this whale, Captain Ahab had evinced his customary activity, to call it so; yet now that the creature was dead, some vague dissatisfaction, or impatience, or despair, seemed working in him; as if the sight of that dead body reminded him that Moby Dick was yet to be slain; and though a thousand other whales were brought to his ship, all that would not one jot advance his grand, monomaniac object. Very soon you would have thought from the sound on the Pequod’s decks, that all hands were preparing to cast anchor in the deep; for heavy chains are being dragged along the deck, and thrust rattling out of the port-holes. But by those clanking links, the vast corpse itself, not the ship, is to be moored. Tied by the head to the stern, and by the tail to the bows, the whale now lies with its black hull close to the vessel’s and seen through the darkness of the night, which obscured the spars and rigging aloft, the two—ship and whale, seemed yoked together like colossal bullocks, whereof one reclines while the other remains standing.* *A little item may as well be related here. The strongest and most reliable hold which the ship has upon the whale when moored alongside, is by the flukes or tail; and as from its greater density that part is relatively heavier than any other (excepting the side-fins), its flexibility even in death, causes it to sink low beneath the surface; so that with the hand you cannot get at it from the boat, in order to put the chain round it. But this difficulty is ingeniously overcome: a small, strong line is prepared with a wooden float at its outer end, and a weight in its middle, while the other end is secured to the ship. By adroit management the wooden float is made to rise on the other side of the mass, so that now having girdled the whale, the chain is readily made to follow suit; and being slipped along the body, is at last locked fast round the smallest part of the tail, at the point of junction with its broad flukes or lobes. If moody Ahab was now all quiescence, at least so far as could be known on deck, Stubb, his second mate, flushed with conquest, betrayed an unusual but still good-natured excitement. Such an unwonted bustle was he in that the staid Starbuck, his official superior, quietly resigned to him for the time the sole management of affairs. One small, helping cause of all this liveliness in Stubb, was soon made strangely manifest. Stubb was a high liver; he was somewhat intemperately fond of the whale as a flavorish thing to his palate. “A steak, a steak, ere I sleep! You, Daggoo! overboard you go, and cut me one from his small!” Here be it known, that though these wild fishermen do not, as a general thing, and according to the great military maxim, make the enemy defray the current expenses of the war (at least before realizing the proceeds of the voyage), yet now and then you find some of these Nantucketers who have a genuine relish for that particular part of the Sperm Whale designated by Stubb; comprising the tapering extremity of the body. About midnight that steak was cut and cooked; and lighted by two lanterns of sperm oil, Stubb stoutly stood up to his spermaceti supper at the capstan-head, as if that capstan were a sideboard. Nor was Stubb the only banqueter on whale’s flesh that night. Mingling their mumblings with his own mastications, thousands on thousands of sharks, swarming round the dead leviathan, smackingly feasted on its fatness. The few sleepers below in their bunks were often startled by the sharp slapping of their tails against the hull, within a few inches of the sleepers’ hearts. Peering over the side you could just see them (as before you heard them) wallowing in the sullen, black waters, and turning over on their backs as they scooped out huge globular pieces of the whale of the bigness of a human head. This particular feat of the shark seems all but miraculous. How at such an apparently unassailable surface, they contrive to gouge out such symmetrical mouthfuls, remains a part of the universal problem of all things. The mark they thus leave on the whale, may best be likened to the hollow made by a carpenter in countersinking for a screw. Though amid all the smoking horror and diabolism of a sea-fight, sharks will be seen longingly gazing up to the ship’s decks, like hungry dogs round a table where red meat is being carved, ready to bolt down every killed man that is tossed to them; and though, while the valiant butchers over the deck-table are thus cannibally carving each other’s live meat with carving-knives all gilded and tasselled, the sharks, also, with their jewel-hilted mouths, are quarrelsomely carving away under the table at the dead meat; and though, were you to turn the whole affair upside down, it would still be pretty much the same thing, that is to say, a shocking sharkish business enough for all parties; and though sharks also are the invariable outriders of all slave ships crossing the Atlantic, systematically trotting alongside, to be handy in case a parcel is to be carried anywhere, or a dead slave to be decently buried; and though one or two other like instances might be set down, touching the set terms, places, and occasions, when sharks do most socially congregate, and most hilariously feast; yet is there no conceivable time or occasion when you will find them in such countless numbers, and in gayer or more jovial spirits, than around a dead sperm whale, moored by night to a whaleship at sea. If you have never seen that sight, then suspend your decision about the propriety of devil-worship, and the expediency of conciliating the devil. But, as yet, Stubb heeded not the mumblings of the banquet that was going on so nigh him, no more than the sharks heeded the smacking of his own epicurean lips. “Cook, cook!—where’s that old Fleece?” he cried at length, widening his legs still further, as if to form a more secure base for his supper; and, at the same time darting his fork into the dish, as if stabbing with his lance; “cook, you cook!—sail this way, cook!” The old black, not in any very high glee at having been previously roused from his warm hammock at a most unseasonable hour, came shambling along from his galley, for, like many old blacks, there was something the matter with his knee-pans, which he did not keep well scoured like his other pans; this old Fleece, as they called him, came shuffling and limping along, assisting his step with his tongs, which, after a clumsy fashion, were made of straightened iron hoops; this old Ebony floundered along, and in obedience to the word of command, came to a dead stop on the opposite side of Stubb’s sideboard; when, with both hands folded before him, and resting on his two-legged cane, he bowed his arched back still further over, at the same time sideways inclining his head, so as to bring his best ear into play. “Cook,” said Stubb, rapidly lifting a rather reddish morsel to his mouth, “don’t you think this steak is rather overdone? You’ve been beating this steak too much, cook; it’s too tender. Don’t I always say that to be good, a whale-steak must be tough? There are those sharks now over the side, don’t you see they prefer it tough and rare? What a shindy they are kicking up! Cook, go and talk to ’em; tell ’em they are welcome to help themselves civilly, and in moderation, but they must keep quiet. Blast me, if I can hear my own voice. Away, cook, and deliver my message. Here, take this lantern,” snatching one from his sideboard; “now then, go and preach to ’em!” Sullenly taking the offered lantern, old Fleece limped across the deck to the bulwarks; and then, with one hand dropping his light low over the sea, so as to get a good view of his congregation, with the other hand he solemnly flourished his tongs, and leaning far over the side in a mumbling voice began addressing the sharks, while Stubb, softly crawling behind, overheard all that was said. “Fellow-critters: I’se ordered here to say dat you must stop dat dam noise dare. You hear? Stop dat dam smackin’ ob de lip! Massa Stubb say dat you can fill your dam bellies up to de hatchings, but by Gor! you must stop dat dam racket!” “Cook,” here interposed Stubb, accompanying the word with a sudden slap on the shoulder,—“Cook! why, damn your eyes, you mustn’t swear that way when you’re preaching. That’s no way to convert sinners, cook!” “Who dat? Den preach to him yourself,” sullenly turning to go. “No, cook; go on, go on.” “Well, den, Belubed fellow-critters:”— “Right!” exclaimed Stubb, approvingly, “coax ’em to it; try that,” and Fleece continued. “Do you is all sharks, and by natur wery woracious, yet I zay to you, fellow-critters, dat dat woraciousness—’top dat dam slappin’ ob de tail! How you tink to hear, spose you keep up such a dam slappin’ and bitin’ dare?” “Cook,” cried Stubb, collaring him, “I won’t have that swearing. Talk to ’em gentlemanly.” Once more the sermon proceeded. “Your woraciousness, fellow-critters, I don’t blame ye so much for; dat is natur, and can’t be helped; but to gobern dat wicked natur, dat is de pint. You is sharks, sartin; but if you gobern de shark in you, why den you be angel; for all angel is not’ing more dan de shark well goberned. Now, look here, bred’ren, just try wonst to be cibil, a helping yourselbs from dat whale. Don’t be tearin’ de blubber out your neighbour’s mout, I say. Is not one shark dood right as toder to dat whale? And, by Gor, none on you has de right to dat whale; dat whale belong to some one else. I know some o’ you has berry brig mout, brigger dan oders; but den de brig mouts sometimes has de small bellies; so dat de brigness of de mout is not to swaller wid, but to bit off de blubber for de small fry ob sharks, dat can’t get into de scrouge to help demselves.” “Well done, old Fleece!” cried Stubb, “that’s Christianity; go on.” “No use goin’ on; de dam willains will keep a scougin’ and slappin’ each oder, Massa Stubb; dey don’t hear one word; no use a-preachin’ to such dam g’uttons as you call ’em, till dare bellies is full, and dare bellies is bottomless; and when dey do get ’em full, dey wont hear you den; for den dey sink in de sea, go fast to sleep on de coral, and can’t hear not’ing at all, no more, for eber and eber.” “Upon my soul, I am about of the same opinion; so give the benediction, Fleece, and I’ll away to my supper.” Upon this, Fleece, holding both hands over the fishy mob, raised his shrill voice, and cried— “Cussed fellow-critters! Kick up de damndest row as ever you can; fill your dam’ bellies ’till dey bust—and den die.” “Now, cook,” said Stubb, resuming his supper at the capstan; “stand just where you stood before, there, over against me, and pay particular attention.” “All dention,” said Fleece, again stooping over upon his tongs in the desired position. “Well,” said Stubb, helping himself freely meanwhile; “I shall now go back to the subject of this steak. In the first place, how old are you, cook?” “What dat do wid de ’teak,” said the old black, testily. “Silence! How old are you, cook?” “’Bout ninety, dey say,” he gloomily muttered. “And you have lived in this world hard upon one hundred years, cook, and don’t know yet how to cook a whale-steak?” rapidly bolting another mouthful at the last word, so that morsel seemed a continuation of the question. “Where were you born, cook?” “’Hind de hatchway, in ferry-boat, goin’ ober de Roanoke.” “Born in a ferry-boat! That’s queer, too. But I want to know what country you were born in, cook!” “Didn’t I say de Roanoke country?” he cried sharply. “No, you didn’t, cook; but I’ll tell you what I’m coming to, cook. You must go home and be born over again; you don’t know how to cook a whale-steak yet.” “Bress my soul, if I cook noder one,” he growled, angrily, turning round to depart. “Come back, cook;—here, hand me those tongs;—now take that bit of steak there, and tell me if you think that steak cooked as it should be? Take it, I say”—holding the tongs towards him—“take it, and taste it.” Faintly smacking his withered lips over it for a moment, the old negro muttered, “Best cooked ’teak I eber taste; joosy, berry joosy.” “Cook,” said Stubb, squaring himself once more; “do you belong to the church?” “Passed one once in Cape-Down,” said the old man sullenly. “And you have once in your life passed a holy church in Cape-Town, where you doubtless overheard a holy parson addressing his hearers as his beloved fellow-creatures, have you, cook! And yet you come here, and tell me such a dreadful lie as you did just now, eh?” said Stubb. “Where do you expect to go to, cook?” “Go to bed berry soon,” he mumbled, half-turning as he spoke. “Avast! heave to! I mean when you die, cook. It’s an awful question. Now what’s your answer?” “When dis old brack man dies,” said the negro slowly, changing his whole air and demeanor, “he hisself won’t go nowhere; but some bressed angel will come and fetch him.” “Fetch him? How? In a coach and four, as they fetched Elijah? And fetch him where?” “Up dere,” said Fleece, holding his tongs straight over his head, and keeping it there very solemnly. “So, then, you expect to go up into our main-top, do you, cook, when you are dead? But don’t you know the higher you climb, the colder it gets? Main-top, eh?” “Didn’t say dat t’all,” said Fleece, again in the sulks. “You said up there, didn’t you? and now look yourself, and see where your tongs are pointing. But, perhaps you expect to get into heaven by crawling through the lubber’s hole, cook; but, no, no, cook, you don’t get there, except you go the regular way, round by the rigging. It’s a ticklish business, but must be done, or else it’s no go. But none of us are in heaven yet. Drop your tongs, cook, and hear my orders. Do ye hear? Hold your hat in one hand, and clap t’other a’top of your heart, when I’m giving my orders, cook. What! that your heart, there?—that’s your gizzard! Aloft! aloft!—that’s it—now you have it. Hold it there now, and pay attention.” “All ’dention,” said the old black, with both hands placed as desired, vainly wriggling his grizzled head, as if to get both ears in front at one and the same time. “Well then, cook, you see this whale-steak of yours was so very bad, that I have put it out of sight as soon as possible; you see that, don’t you? Well, for the future, when you cook another whale-steak for my private table here, the capstan, I’ll tell you what to do so as not to spoil it by overdoing. Hold the steak in one hand, and show a live coal to it with the other; that done, dish it; d’ye hear? And now to-morrow, cook, when we are cutting in the fish, be sure you stand by to get the tips of his fins; have them put in pickle. As for the ends of the flukes, have them soused, cook. There, now ye may go.” But Fleece had hardly got three paces off, when he was recalled. “Cook, give me cutlets for supper to-morrow night in the mid-watch. D’ye hear? away you sail, then.—Halloa! stop! make a bow before you go.—Avast heaving again! Whale-balls for breakfast—don’t forget.” “Wish, by gor! whale eat him, ’stead of him eat whale. I’m bressed if he ain’t more of shark dan Massa Shark hisself,” muttered the old man, limping away; with which sage ejaculation he went to his hammock. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved April 2022 from Melville, Herman, 2001. Moby-Dick: or The Whale. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2701/2701-h/2701-h.htm#link2HCH0064 This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

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