Coinbase Expands, The UNs New Blockchain, and Crypto Regulation Goes Mainstream
Wednesday, September 26th
☕️I’m writing to you this Wednesday from a room of institutional investors, all discussing the future of digital assets. The main theme? Security tokens. Everyone here seems cool on utility, big on security.
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3 things you need to know:
One: Coinbase announces it’s acceleration of it’s coin listing process.
The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, confirmed that they were planning on adding hundreds of assets – but the issue was scale. As it stands currently, it takes a long time to vet and integrate an asset and they were looking for a way to ramp up additions.
Well, here it is.
They’ve opened up a Google doc, allowing anyone (including you) to submit an asset for review. I’d hate to be the intern that you know is going to sift through all the BS submissions.
Most exchanges charge exorbitant listing fees, but Coinbase plans to be different. They will not be charging any listing fees, and have simplified the process of listing considerably.
“With this shift in process, our customers can expect us to list most assets over time that meet our standards. Because listing announcements will become more frequent, we expect to publicly announce the addition of new assets only at or near the time of public launch across one or more Coinbase products.”
This a marked shift in approach, as previously Coinbase had garnered a reputation for stringent listing policies. While they claim to be open to listing any asset, I would be surprised if their offerings grew significantly over the next year.
Two: The UN Food Programme is expanding it’s blockchain pilot to supply chains in Africa.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has been exploring blockchain humanitarian solutions for some time. Their first foray into blockchain was using an ethereum-based system for cash transfers in Jordanian refugee camps – a project known as Building Blocks. Now, they’re planning to test blockchain for tracking food delivery in East Africa.
Specifically, the new project will monitor the movement of food from Djibouti's port, where the WFP receives shipments, to Ethiopia, where much of its food operations are located.
Speaking about their Building Blocks program, the director of innovation for WFP, Robert Opp focused on the reach and cost savings of program.
"We are reaching 106,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan every month with cash benefits transfers. By implementing blockchain system we have been able to save around $40,000 a month in the transfer fees”
This is good for blockchain. Well, actually it’s just straight up good for the world. There is a lot of hype that surrounds blockchain technology, with many use cases truly just being fantasy. Often we forget about the solvable programs in front of us, and focus on tackling the huge, long term issues. It’s great to see something in production right now, and I applaud it.
Three: Congress Rep. Davidson hosts a round-table of 80 industry leaders to talk regulation.
Rep. Davidson's office invited a mix of players in the industry, including venture capital firms actively investing in digital tokens (Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures), token and traditional exchanges (Intercontinental Exchange, Kraken, Nasdaq, CME Group, Circle), non-profits (Coin Center), and other digital token and securities companies (Ripple, Harbor, CoinList).
The main complaints about the governments approach to cryptocurrencies centered about the lack of transparency and clear regulation when it comes to launching crypto projects. The question of what constitutes a security is still very much in the air, with the 5 SEC commissioners taking different public stances
Why this matters: The industry cannot continue to operate successfully in this regulatory fog. Clear and coherent legislation is crucial to the growth of the cryptocurrency industry in the United States. This is a good first step, and Rep. Davidson plans to introduce “light touch” legislation in the coming weeks – so keep your eyes peeled.
Also in the news:
Bitcoin Mining Giant Bitmain Just Officially Filed for Its IPO
US Dairy Farmers to Trial Blockchain in Bid to Track Milk Products
Minnesota Congressman Introduces Three Bills Backing Blockchain
Market Outlook:
Quick Take
Direction: We tested the 6320 level as expected, but reacted with extreme bullishness — bouncing hard to the 6500 level quite soon after. Right now, we’re in a classic no trade zone. At this point, price action below 6700 and above 6300 is noise, and should be regarded as such. The next move above/below those prices will likely determine the next month of price action. Stay tuned.
Key Support: 6320, 6480
Key Resistance: 6600, 6700
Actions: No trade zone = holding spot on BTC.
Fear & Greed
Here’s a reminder of what these criteria mean
CoinSavage: Truth in Crypto
There’s a big problem with crypto trading. Too many fraudulent actors. People actually take trade signals from random people in twitter— with no way to vet anything.
CoinSavage is the platform to change all of that. They have built a fantastic (and free) platform where all portfolios, trades, and ideas are open sourced and timestamped. No more hindsight TA, now you can actually see for yourself if people are performing, and prove to your audience you know what you’re talking about.
Around the corner:
EOSfinex Launch - September 26th
Genesis Vision Beta Launch - September 30th
What I’m reading today:
The importance of converting speculators into users
Crypto has a chronic under usage problem. The biggest use case for cryptocurrencies right now is speculation, and that’s a problem for the ecosystem.
Tony Sheng writes a great take here on the importance of converting those speculators to users, and more generally about the reflexivity cycle of crypto.
Here’s the flywheel in action as the price increases:
The price of a cryptocurrency rises
Attracting speculators
Some of whom convert into actual users
Increasing belief in the cryptocurrency
Driving up the price of the cryptocurrency
On the other hand, the flywheel spins in reverse when the price goes down.
Dropping price diminishes belief
Decreasing users
Scaring speculators
Who dump the coin
Decreasing the price
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