Keith Asmussen, Joshua Ebedes, Preston Sledge, Max Bibeau
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Texas Blockchain believes that Black Lives Matter. In support of Black students, we have decided to donate $150 in Bitcoin to the National Society of Black Engineers.
Market Summary
Dotted lines represent non-trading days (weekends, holidays, etc.)
Top Stories
Pentagon Documents Reveal The U.S. Has Planned For A Bitcoin Rebellion
Upon the release of U.S. Department of Defense hypothetical war scenario documents, it was revealed that Bitcoin is perceived to serve as means to undermine the government. This should come as no surprise with the Bitcoin whitepaper literally stating its intended purpose to bypass financial institutions. Even as Bitcoin is becoming an increasingly popular hedge against inflation, it is important to recognize its censorship-resistent nature. After Florida Representative Matt Gaetz called to "freeze" the money of protestors thought to be Antifa, the benefits of Bitcoin’s anti-establishment genesis are to be recognized.
BitPay’s Prepaid Mastercard Launches in US to Make Crypto Accessible
BitPay launched a prepaid Mastercard that lets its users instantly convert their crypto assets into fiat currency free of any conversion fees. The card will be accepted anywhere that a Mastercard is accepted, meaning that it could be used in online purchases, ATMs, or one of the 8 million US merchant locations that Mastercard is accepted at. The card aims at increasing adoption by increasing the purchasing power of crypto holders. Tegan Kline, development director at The Graph and former Barclays investment banker, believes that mainstream adoption is still farther down the timeline as it will require “more seamless payment channels, more transparent taxes and regulation around crypto and better custody solutions.
JPMorgan Completes Surprise Bitcoin flip - and Calls a Price Floor
Once a firm critic of Bitcoin, JPMorgan has come out in support of cryptocurrencies and their “longevity as an asset class.” In the JPMorgan report, Cryptocurrency takes its first stress test: Digital gold, pyrite, or something in between?, analysts evaluate Bitcoins response to the severe economic disruption of March and give it “mostly positive” results. Their strategists report Bitcoin behaves similar to riskier assets like equities. This follows the trend of Legacy financial institutions acceptance of crypto currencies as an asset class on a wider scale.
Chart of the Week
Coinbase, one of the largest centralized crypto currency exchanges, has come under backlash for their use of “circuit breakers”. When the S&P drops by 7% federal regulation freezes stock market trading for 15 minutes (this repeats at 13% and at a 20% drop all trading ceases for the day). Coinbase has been found to use a similar strategy by having their exchange go “offline” anytime there is a $500+ move in bitcoin price. This has led to public backlash and hundreds of millions of dollars being removed from their platform.
Top Tweets
@LizAnnSonders shows us a disturbing graph.
@TaviCosta. If the stock markets back up obviously the economy is fine. Right?
@SmartContracter. Solid Meme.
@cryptochrisw. Based.
@biancoresearch. Legacy financial institutions are crumbing.
@nlw. Vox Populi Vox Dei
@NeerajKA. I kind wanna start an Autonomous zone at PCL.
Video of the Week
The Portal: Balaji Srinivasan - The Heretic and the Virus
Eric Weinstein - Harvard math phd and Managing Director of Thiel - talks with Balaji Srinivasan - Angel Investor, Entrepreneur, and previous CTO of Coinbase - about Covid, the world to come, and Legacy Institutions. Both Eric and Balaji are extremely intelligent and formidable heterodox thinkers. It’s three and a half hours but they are worth your time.
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Texas Blockchain’s ‘State of the Market’ is a student-led editorial. None of the views expressed by the authors should be taken as the view of the University of Texas at Austin or the Texas Blockchain organization. Furthermore, none of the views expressed should be taken as financial advice in any circumstance.