MAJR News 055
Bitcoin has replaced gold - Chamath, El Salvador mines bitcoin with volcano clean energy, Gensler favorable to BTC Futures ETF, Rents up big, Fed blames supply chains for inflation - still transitory
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Dan Tapiero is a renowned macro investor and asset allocator. A few years ago, he took the orange pill and went all-in on crypto, creating a fund that he believed would capture 30x growth in 10 years. 10T was born, based on the idea that crypto would hit a 10 trillion dollar market cap. Dan now believes that his original prediction was too low. In this episode, Dan thoroughly explains his investment philosophy and how he approaches the crypto space.
Top Stories
BITCOIN
Billionaire Investor Chamath Palihapitiya: ‘Bitcoin Has Effectively Replaced Gold’
Chamath Palhapitiya, CEO of Social Capital, owner of the Golden State Warriors and long-time Bitcoin proponent argues that it has replaced gold and is bullish on the rest of Web 3 developments such as Ethereum, Solana, DeFi (decentralized finance), DeSo (decentralized social media), and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations). Chamath says there’s three places to invest in the current environment 1) hyper-growth assets (50% per year), cash generative assets such as mining stocks and non-correlated assets like bitcoin and crypto.
"It's very hard for me sitting here to give you a price prediction, but I can pretty confidently say that Bitcoin, I think, has effectively replaced gold," Palihapitiya opined, speaking to CNBC’s Scott Wapner at the Delivering Alpha conference on Wednesday. He added that, "it will continue to do so. And so that market cap is just going to grow…I think it's very hard to kill. So technically, it's very difficult. Just the way that it's architected, it is the most profound iteration of the Internet that we've seen,” Palihapitiya argued"
El Salvador Takes ‘First Steps’ to Mining Bitcoin With Volcanoes
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele tweeted a video of their new volcano bitcoin mining operation underway. The country will use its geo-thermal energy from volcanos to mine bitcoin, their new legal tender. This will allow for near zero electrical costs and will be 100% clean renewable mining.
Bitcoin Jumps as SEC’s Gensler Reiterates Support for Futures ETF, Dollar Rally May Cap Gains
Bitcoin has gained 4.5% to near $43,400, holding support above key level of $40k. Price gains come after SEC Chair Gary Gensler supported a narrow version of a Bitcoin Futures ETF. This would allow investors to buy futures contracts for bitcoin vs. the underlying asset. The US is falling behind other countries that have live crypto ETFs such as Canada and Brazil. Data shows that bitcoin ETFs and funds now own around 801,000 BTC or 4.3% of total supply. Holdings have increased from 250k BTC in 2019 to +800k today. However, traders and investors are keeping their eye on the dollar as it has strengthened over recent weeks, which means investors are moving out of risk assets into the safety of cash, which is historically bad for bitcoin’s price.
CRYPTO
Avalanche’s Trader Joe DEX to Kick Off $20M Incentive Program
Avalanche (AVAX), the emerging Ethereum competitor has a native decentralized exchange (DEX) called Trader Joe and they’re launching a $20 million liquidity mining incentive program. This is part of Avalanche’s Rush $180 million incentive program for development on it’s network. Trader Joe currently has $1.2 billion in total value locked (TVL) up from $25 million at the start of August. Trader Joe over took competitor Pangolin (PNG) accounting for 85% of swaps on Avalanche and capturing 90% of liquidity.
MAJR Take: Trader Joe doesn’t have a coin and is a prime project for airdropping tokens to users that trade on it’s exchange.
Visa working on blockchain interoperability hub for crypto payments
Visa is all in on crypto and is working on new blockchain interoperability project designed to connect multiple cryptocurrencies and stablecoins for payments.
“Imagine splitting the check with your friends, when everyone at the table is using a different type of money — some using CBDC like Sweden’s eKrona, and others preferring a private stablecoin like USDC,” Visa wrote, adding that such a tool “well may be a reality” in the “not-too-distant future” with the UPC project.
Gelato Raises $11M as Smart Contract Automation Market Heats Up
Gelato raised $11 million to expand operations from ParaFi Capital, Dragonfly Capital, Nascent, Aave founder Stani Kulechov and IDEO CoLab Ventures. Smart contract automation is a key piece of blockchain infrastructure that has the potential to be a massive market and is being compared to Google Cloud of Web3. The technology allows for companies to perform computation without hardware. For example, Gelato has a decentralized finance aggregator that enable debt refinancing - switching between MakeDAO, Aave and Compound to ensure the lowest rates possible and collateral requirements. Gelato (GEL) token info - here.
“What Gelato offers, rather than you building every bot from scratch for every single specific use case out there in Web3, and there are millions, we just built a general-purpose protocol and and network that you can plug into and you can automate any function you want without having to build this infrastructure,” Orth told CoinDesk.
Why China's Latest 'Bitcoin Ban' Is Bullish for DeFi
The most recent China crypto ban which is stricter than those of the past and effects more things such as stablecoins (tether), any crypto trading and mining activities, and adjacent industries that promote crypto (news and technology services). The most viable option for crypto traders in China points to DeFi. Users will have to be completely anonymous and use unstoppable decentralized tools vs centralized services to participate in crypto’s market adoption.
More Crypto
San Jose to Fund Low-Income Internet Access With Helium Crypto Mining
Solana Metaplex Studios Launches to Grow NFTs Outside of Ethereum
Elon Musk: 'It's Not Possible to Destroy Crypto' But Governments Can Slow It Down
MACRO
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise Again, Led by California
Applications for U.S. state unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose for a third straight week, led by another surge in California, and reflecting choppiness in weekly data. Initial unemployment claims in regular state programs rose to 362,000 in the week ended Sept. 25, a seven-week high. The median estimate called for a decrease to 330,000 new applications.
Powell Says Supply-Chain Bottlenecks Could Lead to Somewhat Longer Interval of High Inflation
Fed Chair Powell said inflation is going to last longer than anticipated due to supply chain disruptions, but believes prices will gradually fade. He’s more worried about the idea of longer term inflation and the perspective of high prices as the new normal being entrenched in households and businesses, in which case the Fed would raise interest rates. However, he doesn’t see evidence of this change. Powell signaled last week that the Fed would be ready to draw down bond purchases and stimulus programs starting in November.
The World’s Deadliest Pig Virus Creeps Closer to the U.S.
The African swine virus, one of the deadliest diseases in animals has been traced to parts of Puerto Rico (part of the US), the Dominican Republic, and Haiti. The US Coast Guard is working overtime to make sure that the virus doesn’t get into the US as it could greatly harm the US $7.7 billion pork export industry and herds of pigs. No safety risks to humans, although we can be carriers via clothing and shoes.
U.S. Rents Are Increasing at ‘Shocking’ Rates of More Than 10%
The average rent increase across the country is 11.5% YOY, with Florida and Georgia up 25% or more. Median rent for a 2-bed apartment has jumped 13.1% to $1,663. For New York, rents are up as much as 70% with people coming back to the city, this is the same for most cities. Inflation is here to stay. Once prices increase, they rarely come down. The Federal Reserve sees rents increasing by 6.9% by EOY of 2023. It’s not just rents, single family homes prices were up 20% in July YOY.
More Macro
German Inflation Jumps Above 4%, Highest in Nearly Three Decades
Blackouts Hit Chinese Cities and Factories as China Reduces Coal Consumption
With his reappointment on the line, Elizabeth Warren calls Jerome Powell ‘a dangerous man.’
MEDIA
Crypto Will More Than 30x | Dan Tapiero, 10T Holdings
Bitcoin and crypto adoption is here to stay. Don’t let your friends and family miss the opportunity of a lifetime.
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