| Your Weekly Update On All Things Crypto |
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| Carl Icahn, Latest Billionaire-Flipped-Bitcoiner - Eyes $1.5B Investment |
In an excitingly positive turn for the crypto industry, more and more institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, and family funds are showing keenness to invest in digital assets. In the latest addition to this growing trend, US billionaire Carl Icahn is reportedly contemplating a $1.5 billion investment in digital currencies. Icahn is the latest billionaire to flip his stance on cryptocurrencies after telling CNBC in 2018 that he thought cryptocurrencies were "ridiculous."
However, the activist investor is now self-admittedly looking at investing in crypto in “a relatively big way,” where “big” could mean “1 billion to one-and-a-half billion.” Icahn’s well-known pessimism about cryptocurrencies had once led him to compare cryptocurrencies with the 18th century Mississippi land bubble. That pessimism does not exist anymore as Icahn is now interested in the overall crypto business and not only a few lucrative coins.
Revising his stand to a great extent, Icahn now believes that cryptocurrencies are here to stay in one form or another. Icahn’s potential investment plans in digital assets follow a substantially long trail of big businesses going after digital assets. Another billionaire investor Mark Cuban, known for his sarcastic jabs said that “I’d rather have bananas than bitcoin." He too now owns a substantial position in bitcoin. Cuban is also an ardent advocate of non-fungible tokens.”
The Bridgewater Associates founder and billionaire hedge fund boss Ray Dalio has also flipped in favour of Bitcoin. He sees an inflationary future where “cash is trash,” and BTC becomes a store of wealth. However, his assessment is tempered with caution. He doubts that the governments will tolerate it. Worth $2.1 billion, Howard Marks, the co-founder of alternative investment management firm Oaktree Capital, says he has reconsidered his previous “dismissive” stance on bitcoin. These instances show that crypto is gaining momentum and changing the perception of skeptics globally.
As the trail of billionaire-flipped-bitcoiners gets longer and longer, the future of digital assets becomes clearer and clearer. When analyzing the investment strategies of the wealthiest people on earth, it is always a better idea to "watch what they do, not what they say." It is no secret that money is resoundingly flooding the crypto markets and buying the discount. So for all those that have been here with us for years, all we have to say is CONGRATULATIONS for beating the billionaires to the punch! |
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| The Music Industry Landscape is Changing, Courtesy of Blockchain |
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As time progresses, it has become increasingly evident that blockchain technology will not be limited to the boundaries of financial services. While distributed ledger technology has made the digital transfer of value seamless, inclusive, free of duplication risk and intermediaries, it is also changing the rules of the game for many other industries dominated by gatekeepers.
One of such industries is the music industry. In today’s music industry, it would be foolish to deny the contribution of the streaming platforms, such as Napster, Soundcloud, and Spotify, in empowering the creators with a cost-efficient and user-friendly alternative to piracy. It has allowed them to receive royalties for their work in a more transparent way than before. Yet, there exists an undeniable discrepancy when it comes to the distribution of royalties. Analysts and experts find that the market remains skewed, with a limited number of hyper-productive artists dominating most royalty payments.
Several blockchain solutions are trying to remove this disparity by improving conditions for new and emerging artists so that they get better visibility, do not need to pay any intermediaries, and, in turn, get their due royalties in full. Opus, one such blockchain-based solution catering to the music industry, is a P2P network for file sharing and storage with its users acting as servers. This unique structure ensures that there are no hosting fees related to streaming.
On another layer, Opus also leverages the Ethereum network for payment management. Leveraging self-executing smart contracts, Opus ensures an independent distribution of content and royalties. As a result, the artists retain almost all of the payments and incoming revenue. There are other platforms, such as Mediachain, Musiclife, eMusic, and more, that are attempting similar ways to guarantee independent artists a larger share of their dues, along with a more uniform and equitable distribution of content. We hope that such blockchain-based platforms will augment their services in the days to come, making content creation a more profitable earning opportunity for upcoming artists. |
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| USDC Parent, Circle Closes $440M Funding Round, Largest in Blockchain History |
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Last Friday, the cryptocurrency industry witnessed the largest raise in its history. Circle, the parent company of the fastest growing cryptocurrency stable-coin, USDC raised $440 million from a host of backers including Fidelity, FTX, Digital Currency Group, Marshall Wace, Valor Capital Group, Pillar VC, Intersection Fintech Ventures, Atlas Merchant Capital, and Willett Advisors, among others. Sources say Circle could go public via SPAC once the deal closes. The company says its target valuation for the SPAC is around $4 billion.
Circle's business has grown alongside the supply of USDC, having built out API services to help businesses engage with the stablecoin business. The total supply of USDC recently surpassed $20 billion. Circle makes money from the dollar reserves that underpin the stablecoin.
Circle's CEO and Co-Founder, Jeremy Allaire said in an interview with Forbes that ""We've been pursuing this overall mission, this vision of making money work the way the Internet works. That's been part of the vision from day one." The new funding round follows a strategic raise of $25 million led by Digital Currency Group in 2020. Circle also raised $110 million in a 2018 round that valued the company at $3 billion. |
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| Decentral Capital is a registered FinTrack business that provides secure access and diversified exposure to the digital currency asset class. |
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| Bitcoin: Dead Cat Bounce? Fails to Break 200D Moving Average |
After some relatively positive price action early in the week, it has become clear, it is looking likely that mini-rally was just a fake-out and bears are continuing to push the price lower. Bitcoin rallied from a low of $30K all the way back to nearly $41K before sentiment quickly changed and the price started to plunge lower. The 200D exponential moving average currently sits around $42K. If we were to break through that mark, the overall bullish momentum would have been likely to continue. However, with the clear failure to reach (let alone break) that level, the short-term price action for Bitcoin is looking grime. Our best hope now is to print a double bottom at the $30K price floor before building upwards momentum. If we break below 30K, 25K is the next level of support... a $20K Bitcoin is still in the cards, which in our opinion would be the opportunity of a lifetime to reload.
View the chart here. |
| Altcoins Hold Strong: But May Still See Downside |
Altcoin dominance has rallied a remarkable 33% since the beginning of 2021, now making up over 56% of the total cryptocurrency market. Typically altcoins rally when there is enthusiasm and greed in the market. People get bored of their "modest" Bitcoin gains and seek higher risk, higher yield coins in response. The overall sentiment has clearly changed over the last few weeks as Bitcoin has been bombarded with FUD about energy consumption, Chinese regulations, and more. However, the altcoin dominance market has actually held up quite nicely. Despite a modest, 3.5% pullback from its local high of 60%, altcoin dominance has managed to hold most of its gains, while staying far above its 200D exponential moving average. If we see Bitcoin take another leg down, it seems like only a matter of time before the altcoin dominance follows suit and we see a regression back to ascending line of support or its moving average.
View the chart here. |
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| Michael Saylor BULLISH at Consensus 2021 | Bitcoin Mining Council, Chat with Elon, China FUD, ESG! |
| Altcoins Surge | Here's What You Need To Know
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| | Money, Monetary Policy, and Bitcoin | Ray Dalio at Consensus 2021 |
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| Aave is an open-source and non-custodial liquidity protocol for earning interest on deposits and borrowing assets. Aave has quickly become one of the top "Blue Chip" lending protocols in the DeFi space. With over $8.8B billion in value locked in the protocol, Aave ranks 1st amongst all DeFi protocols in value locked. Aave is even launching an institutional lending pool that will attract many institutions and vastly increase their value locked.
Aave is 43% down from its all-time high, vs Bitcoin, but is setting higher highs and higher lows. If the DeFi sector takes off this summer as many have predicted, we suspect Aave to be one of the top protocols leading the charge.
View the chart here. |
| | | LUKSO The Blockchain for new digital lifestyle is created by former Ethereum Developer Fabian Vogelsteller, author of ERC20 and web3.js - both of which are the foundation for today’s #DeFi protocols. Together with brand architect Marjorie Hernandez, he is building the platform for the next wave of mainstream Blockchain applications. With close ties to top designers in the fashion industry, LYXE has a chance to really take off with fashion NFT's being their first mainstream hit.
LYXE has seen an 87% pullback since its all-time high vs Ethereum and is showing signs of recovery. This could be a play with high short-term upside potential vs Ethereum.
View the chart here. |
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| BITCOIN 2021 CONFERENCE The largest bitcoin event in history, is taking place June 4-5th in Miami. Bitcoin 2021 will feature an iconic lineup of the best and brightest minds in Bitcoin, including Michael Saylor, senator Cynthia Lummis, Jack Dorsey, Tony Hawk and Nick Szabo. World renowned investors and fund managers like Tim Draper, Olaf Carlson-Wee, and Mike Novogratz. C-level and founders of some of the most innovative companies in the crypto space will also be in attendance, such as Solana's Sam Bankman-Fried, Brian Brooks the CEO of Binance US, and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Additionally, authors and podcast hosts such as Jeff Booth, Peter McCormick, Allan Stevo, and Charlie Shrem. If you're able to make it to Miami, then Bitcoin 2021 is a must. |
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The Largest Bitcoin Event in History
Date: June 4-5 🌐 Miami, FL 💲 $900 paid in BTC TICKETS |
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| NFT SUMMIT We've covered NFTs a lot over the past few months, and for good reason. One of the hottest topics in blockchain and cryptocurrency goes beyond the collectibility and price soaring auctions. NFT Summit is a FREE virtual event that covers all aspects of the Non-Fungible landscape. Speakers include some of the top protocols, digital artists, investors and companies leading in NFT innovation. |
| NFT SUMMIT
Date: June 1-2 🌐 Virtual 💲 FREE REGISTER |
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| We at CryptoWeekly are not Financial Advisors. None of the content or opinions expressed in this newsletter should be considered financial advice. We highly recommend that you do your own research before investing in any project within or outside the cryptocurrency space. |
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