Keith Asmussen, Joshua Ebedes, Preston Sledge
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Market Summary
Dotted lines represent non-trading days (weekends, holidays, etc.)
Top Stories
Buffett dumps Wells Fargo amplifying bull case for gold and Bitcoin
Widely known for his disdain for gold, Warren Buffett surprised Berkshire Hathaway investors with a new $563.5 million stake in Barrick Gold. Berkshire Hathaway is also changing its sentiment on banks; major positions in Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, PNC Financial Services Group Inc., M&T Bank Corp., and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. were slashed by more than $9.5 billion. The decrease in exposure to the US banking sector and new position in gold can be seen as a departure from the USD and is a bullish signal for the price of gold and Bitcoin.
Visa Exec Tells Investors to ‘Opt-Out’ With Bitcoin as US Dollar Index Plummets
On August 27th, Jerome Powell announced that the Fed deviate from “average inflation targeting” rates. This historical shift in central banking policy will allow inflation to run “moderately” above the goal of 2% “for some time.” The US dollar currency index ($DXY) reacted to Powell’s announcement by sharply dropping. Visa’s Director of Public Policy, Andy Yee, responded to the announcement by stating on Twitter: “Never in the history of mankind was so much stolen from so many by so few. Opt out with Bitcoin.”
US Antitrust Chief Says Protecting Blockchain From Competitive Abuses Is Top Priority
The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice is recognizing blockchain solutions as an innovative technology that will help increase competition throughout multiple industries. The Antitrust Division stated that blockchain will offer consumers and businesses “lower-cost or higher-value options” in the near future and it is their duty to protect blockchain projects from incumbent firms that would benefit from hindering its development.
Chart of the Week
This graph was retrieved from Jameson Lopp (@lopp) with the writing “ Bitcoin is freedom from financial f**kery”. It depicts the percent of countries whose currency lost more than half its purchasing power (value) over a 5-year period - meaning very high inflation. There are two important takeaways from this graph: first is the sharp rises around US currency policy, specifically its decoupling from gold: second is how reliant world currencies are on the dollar. Bitcoin can be said it is the money of the future not just because of its basis in technological achievement, but also its usability as an international money. Bitcoin, like gold, is free from the rule, dictates, and whims of individual governments.
Top Tweets
@fluffypony. This was the runner up for chart of the week. It depicts the meteoric rise of Ethereum fees past Bitcoins .
@dbless9. When yield farming has similar returns to the lottery you know it’s out of control.
@CryptoCharles__ takes a shot at financial advisers.
@CryptoHayes. First State of the Market meme of the fall semester. Bitmex vs. FTX
Video of the Week
MIT OpenCourseWare: Blockchain and Money
To celebrate the newcomers to UT and Texas Blockchain this year, as well as the influx of other newcomers to crypto in general, this week's video is an introduction to Blockchain with a finance slant. MIT OpenCourseWare produces full length lectures from real MIT classes. They are great online resources for Math, the Sciences, and many other subjects. They do great work forwarding the internet project of enabling self learning. This introductory lecture is great for newcomers who want a grasp of some of the important basics.
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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.