A handful of the most interesting and current stories in the blockchain/web3 world not published on Decential this past week in case you missed them

Hello and welcome back to the Web3 Rewind! We have a new newsletter look starting this week, we hope you like it and that not too much has changed. Per usual with the industry, lots has happened this past week so without further adieu, let’s dive into this week’s news.

The Latest

What is it about influencers that makes me feel such dread? The people on Twitter who aspire to guru-hood make me barf in my mouth a little bit, and there’s a lot of them. Crypto Twitter wouldn’t be anything like it is today without the influencer cohort. I’d never run into this before I started covering blockchain in 2015. Wall Street is not on Twitter unless it’s a savage parody. Maybe Jim Cramer comes close here, a one-man font of hype seasoned with a dash of reasoning and then all the rest is compellingly terrible bullshit. That sums up about nine out of ten crypto Twitter influencers (see below for the latest example).  

For one thing, I do not think for a minute I have enough experience in anything to be able to tell other people they should follow my example. There’s a predatory instinct there, I think, people like Balaji want a following and it’s not often for benevolent reasons. In fact many Twitter influencers are nothing more that grifters who will rug you as soon as they can. For another, one of the tenets of decentralization and crypto is the idea that individuals can empower themselves by directly owning their wealth. The cliché rugged individualism, the rah rah gung ho American west spirit of the space is one of my favorite things about it. I suppose there will always be preachers and flocks, leaders and followers. But still, there’s something embarrassing and depressing about how much influence these people have over a community that likes to pride itself on autonomy. Think for yourself, and as you do ask yourself this, what are they actually doing in the world if they spend all their time on the bird app? — Matthew Leising, editor in chief Decential Media

To the moon dept.

Can Bitcoin (BTC) Really Reach $1M in the Next 90 Days?

The first word that comes to mind following the $1 million PR stunt (bet?) by former Coinbase Chief Technology Officer, Balaji Srinivasan? Ridiculous. On the surface it looks like just another example of some ex-tech, VC partner, c-suite executive throwing money around like it's Monopoly. While it would be understandable to dismiss it as another show of wanton excess, when digging deeper it appears to be that his goal was not to gather blind media attention, but to use the platform to drive home a larger point. Srinivasan believes that Bitcoin's recent gains are not only here to stay, but that its next price stop is going to $1 million. The main driver for Srinivasan's prediction is the potential of hyperinflation in the U.S., which, given the current banking crises and likelihood of another rate hike after the one this week, is not beyond imagination by any means. Further fallout from the banking crisis will place additional pressures on the monetary system and as a result, the Fed will step in with more overwhelming oversight.

The "point" as Balaji sees it, is that a crossroads is coming when people will have to decide if they want to be apart of the legacy system or take the plunge and commit to one of, if not the only form of sound money out there...Bitcoin! As of the beginning of this week, the total value of the crypto market was around $1.2 trillion, according to CoinGecko. Needless to say, if Bitcoin were to jump in value to $1 million, a total crypto market cap of $60 trillion would be in sight before the end of summer. With Bitcoin's current market share of roughly 46 percent ($545 billion) this would be a seismic shift in valuations and for the market as a whole.

The implications of a price increase of this scale would imply a total reshuffling of the crypto market as a whole, as those coins that simply can't hold their water would implicitly dry up. Moreover, the impact of Bitcoin's price surging to such an extent would indicate that faith in the good old greenback had been so fundamentally shaken that one would be left wondering whether or not there was any chance for it to hold its place as the world's reserve currency.

There's a broader point surrounding central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) here and the need that various central governments have to restructure their economies in light of fiat currencies losing their value. The implications of a $1 million price tag per BTC would be unprecedented. The question that ought to really be asked is do you want CBDCs, and if not are you willing to commit to crypto in order to maintain financial independence? — Parker Dresdow, Decential Media

Quick Bits

Coinbase Stock Surges 12% on Brazil Expansion News

• Coinbase experienced a moment in the limelight this past week - and it wasn’t for something regulatory related! After announcing a move into the Brazilian market to offer customers the option to buy and sell crypto with Brazilian reais, the stock got a 12 percent bump in just 24-hours, landing at $84.19 per share.

• While Brazil has admittedly been bullish on crypto, the increase could be a good indicator of future success to come. The company has been digging into its “Go Broad, Go Deep” expansion strategy that plans to grow the company’s presence on every continent, according to Decrypt.

Mastercard to settle transactions for stablecoin wallet in APAC 

• In partnership with Stables, the Australian stablecoin platform, Mastercard will soon be able to provide easy stable coin access to the Australasia market. Stables' stablecoin-only wallet will focus around the use of USDC, which the firm is confident will be around for the duration, despite the recent issues with its banking partners like Silicon Valley Bank.

• Deposits from other stablecoins such as Tether and Binance USD will be supported initially. Meanwhile, on the fiat side, Stables will support “deposits and withdrawals in the Australian dollar, with soon-to-come integrations including the U.S. dollar, euro, the British pound, as well as currencies from the APAC, Latin America and Africa.”

SEC’s Peirce: Gensler Is Trying To Do Too Much Too Fast

• Hester Peirce, a commissioner on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, described SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s approach to crypto earlier this week as too much too fast. “Gensler has a tremendous amount of energy, and I think that’s reflected in a very busy regulatory agenda for the commission,” Peirce said, adding that the order of actions being taken by the SEC ought to be flipped with the regulation aspect coming first followed by enforcement.

• Blockworks quoted Peirce as going on to say, “Some people in the regulatory world are perfectly fine with having innovation in crypto move away from the United States because they don’t think that there’s anything positive that’s going to come out of it.” Indeed if crypto regulation is not forthcoming and enforcement is the only measure that regulators rely on, crypto firms will undoubtedly look to move beyond the U.S. If this happens en masse, then the U.S. runs the risk of losing its role as the primary hub for technological innovation. Paired with precarious fiscal policy, the stage being set is not a good one for long term growth.  

GPT-4 Launch Sends AI Tokens Soaring—Is It More Than a Meme?

• The short answer here: probably not. AI is sweeping every industry and crypto is by no means immune. Thanks to the AI craze caused by Chat GPT - and now the latest upgrade - AI crypto tokens have taken off, but analysts are beckoning caution.

• Decrypt notes that data from CoinGecko shows “gains in AI-powered tokens [are] far higher than the rest of the market.” However, many believe this could all just be highly speculative with more of the essence of talking the talk rather than walking the walk. VP of research at Delphi Digital Aswhath Balakrishnan claimed “very few projects in the space [are] trying to thoughtfully integrate AI into crypto.” All that to say, the AI wave might not be where you want you next crypto investment to go.

And last but not least

Crypto Trading Firm Auros Secures $17M Investment as It Recovers From FTX Woes 

FTX’s implosion caught many firms in its blastwave, including Auros, a former top 15 by volume crypto market maker and trading firm which suffered its own liquidity crisis as a result. CoinDesk recently interviewed Auros Chief Investment Officer, Benjamin Roth, and it looks like things are turning around for Auros on the back of a fresh $17 million of funding.

Vivienne Court, an Australian based high-frequency-trading hedge fund is getting its first exposure to crypto as one of the primary providers of the capital injection. One of the other major capital providers is publicly traded BitDigital, a mining firm with exposure to BTC and ETH amongst other assets.

As the crypto market experiences further liquidity crunches and regulatory headwinds it will be important to watch as those firms with complementary skill sets lband together, so as not to be forced to close. In down markets much of the froth tends to be removed and with tens of thousands of workers laid off over the past six months, it would appear that further consolidation will continue to happen, especially as tradfi firms see the discount in market value for many crypto firms. - PD

Out of the Ether: Special NFT Edition

Have you read the definitive history of Ethereum? No? Well then get your special edition of Out of the Ether while you can. There are only 1,000 that were printed and each copy is an NFT that can be registered on the Lukso blockchain’s Universal Profile protocol.