Overview
- Elon Musk Boring Company accepts DOGE
- Youtube Crypto-stealing malware
- Binance no-fee BTC trading
- Polygon’s “Nothing” mobile phone
- Alameda owes Voyager
Good Morning Banter Fam,
The FED reemphasized its focus on fighting inflation yesterday during the FOMC minutes. They’ll continue their original plans of 50 to 75 basis point increases until inflation reaches their goal of 2% at the expense of the economy.
It’s a dangerous undertaking with two adverse outcomes: recession or inflation continuing to increase. There lies a third alarming scenario where inflation remains elevated, and the economy enters recession. Nobody wants to see that.
All we can do is hope inflation decreases in the coming months. It’s likely the best short-term scenario for risk assets and crypto alike. The next inflation print is scheduled for next Wednesday, July 13th. You might want to tune in!
Market update 🌍
Markets remain near a standstill, including stocks and crypto. Moreover, the Dollar Index (DXY), which helps inversely gauge the willingness of market participants to seek assets, continues to rise.
The few crypto assets that continue to climb steadily are the truly decentralized, ground-laying protocols such as THORChain (RUNE), Maker (MKR), and smart-contract platforms such as Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL), and Ethereum (ETH). On the other hand, the more speculative corner of crypto, including games, continues to struggle, although a few exceptions, such as The Sandbox (SAND), is up 18% for the week.
GLD/USD
Gold broke a long-standing trendline and began to plummet due to the massive amount of gold reserves discovered in Uganda. The country claims $12.8 trillion worth of gold was discovered in a deposit. If their estimations are near accurate, the supply of gold found equals the total market cap of gold worldwide, currently at $11.46 trillion, doubling the total supply.
Why am I mentioning gold in a crypto newsletter? I wanted to point out how supply dynamics can affect the prices of assets and add substance to the narrative of Bitcoin as gold 2.0. Bitcoin’s code has a fixed supply. On the other hand, humans will always discover more gold in the future, especially with technological equipment improvements. Moreover, the old narrative of gold as an absolute risk-averse asset has not shown exceptionally bright during recent market turmoils.
High-resolution chart
| US markets close | Gain |
| S&P 500 | +0.36% |
| Nasdaq | -0.44% |
| Dow | +0.89% |
| VIX | -2.94% |
| Protocol (Coin) | Price ($) | Gain (%) |
| Evmos (EVMOS) | 2.63 | +9 |
| THORChain (RUNE) | 2.28 | +9 |
| The Sandbox (SAND) | 1.29 | +8 |
| STEPN (GMT) | 0.97 | +7 |
| Maker (MKR) | 1,003.56 | +7 |
| Smooth Love Potion (SLP) | 0.004 | +11 |
| GMX (GMX) | 19.71 | +11 |
| Synapse (SYN) | 0.75 | +10 |
| Lido DAO (LDO) | 0.61 | +9 |
| IoTex (IOTX) | 0.02 | +9 |
| Ethereum Name Ser. (ENS) | 10.18 | +9 |
| Alien Worlds (TLM) | 0.02 | +20 |
| Storj (STORJ) | 0.75 | +16 |
| Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index | 18 Extreme Fear |
| “Crypto” Google Trends 90d | 22 |
| “Bitcoin” Google Trends 90d | 33 |
Newswatch 📰
Crypto-stealing malware spreads through YouTube. A new malware named PennyWise is spreading through YouTube, intending to steal crypto-assets through Ethereum and Zcash browser extension wallets. Stay vigilant!
Binance introduces no-fee BTC trading in the US. Bitcoin has eliminated trading fees for 13 BTC trading pairs until further notice.
Polygon’s “Nothing” mobile phone. After Solana recently announced its move into the mobile phone sector last week, Polygon appears to be making a similar push. The firm plans to “infuse the Android-Based Nothing Phone” with easy access to apps, crypto payments, and games on the Polygon Network.
Alameda owes Voyager. There has been a small twist in the Voyager chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. It seems that Alameda/FTX/SBF owe Voyager $376m.
News Tidbits:
- Crypto executives to launch web3 firm Tangent.
- Bitstamp to charge inactive accounts a fee.
- Use Dogecoin (DOGE) to pay for rides on The Boring Company’s Loop.
- Korean and US investigators share Terra data.
At the protocol level ⛓
One more testnet merge until the final Ethereum merge! Ethereum devs have completed the merge of the Sepolia testnet, and only one testnet merge remains before efforts concentrate on the mainnet. The timeline estimates for the mainnet merge remain near late August or September.
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
- Former Head of TikTok gaming launches new startup focused on blockchain games.
- Nike-owned RTFKT gives commercial rights to CloneX NFT holders, allowing owners to create derivative projects, mint fan art, and make and sell merchandise featuring the NIKE avatar.
- Ja Rule’s upcoming NFT project will be used to support Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
- Edverse, an education metaverse startup, has launched its pre-alpha version this week with its aim to revolutionize education through its first-of-its-kind immersive, insightful, and interactive platform.
Banter’s take
The worries over a recession are beginning to mount higher and higher each passing day. The chart on Google Trends notes the sentiment, with an uptrending search of “recession” on Google.
Source: Google Trends
The FED’s self-inflicted inflation shock seemingly has no path of lesser pain. With aggressive rate hikes, something will give eventually, and it might just be the economy. The real question is crypto’s role in all of it. Can crypto disconnect from its risk asset role assigned by market participants, or can it rise above the madness and serve an early portion of its true purpose of revolutionizing finance? Only time will tell!
Gabri
Follow me on Twitter for daily updates!
Disclaimer
Good Morning crypto (issued by Crypto Banter) is a newsletter for entertainment purposes only.
All opinions expressed by the publisher, writers, and chartists should not be construed as financial advice and do not necessarily reflect the views of Crypto Banter. The publisher, writers, and chartists may hold positions in the tokens and assets discussed. Readers are encouraged to do their own research.
