Texas Blockchainās State of the Market
10/5/2020 - 10/11/2020
Keith Asmussen, Joshua EbedesĀ
___________
Market Summary
Dotted lines represent non-trading days (weekends, holidays, etc.)
Top Stories
Square just bought $50 million in bitcoin
In an investment representing 1% of Squareās total assets, the company acquired 4,709 bitcoins at the price of $50 million. Derived from the companyās belief and stated purpose, Square announced that it believes ācryptocurrency is an instrument of economic empowermentā and provides a way for the world to participate in a global monetary system. This isnāt the first time Square has taken a financial interest in crypto.Ā In 2018, they expanded their launched bitcoin trading with Cash App, which enabled the buying and selling of bitcoin even for users without a bank account. In August, the company reported that bitcoin trading revenue from Cash App rose 600% from the previous year to $875 million.
Crypto Long & Short: A U.K. Ban on Crypto Derivatives Will Hurt, Not Protect Investors
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its final rules banning the sale of derivatives and exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that reference certain types of crypto assets to retail consumers. Under the guise of consumer protection, the U.K. financial regulator presented five main reasons for the ban:
No reliable basis for valuation
Prevalence of market abuse and financial crime
Extreme volatility in crypto asset price movements
Inadequate understanding of crypto assets by retail consumers
Lack of legitimate investment need for retail consumers to invest in these products
The ban will affect āthe sale, marketing and distributionā to retail investors of any derivatives contract or ETNs that linked to āunregulated transferable crypto assets.ā Derivatives play an important role in efficient markets encouraging liquidity by offering downside protection. ETNs offer safe onramps for new investors instead of dealing will custody arrangements. The ban will make it harder for small investors to hedge their positions, and will push investors to less regulated offshore platforms.Ā
Chart of the Week
This chart was retrieved from Jameson Lopp (@lopp) on Twitter. The chart depicts the number of combinations that can be made given a certain number of bits, and uses those numbers to compare the probability of winning the Powerball to the probability of guessing a random or specific Bitcoin private key.Ā
Top Tweets
@Breedlove22. Celebrating the Feds 2020 monetary policy. See video below for a good explanation of what Robert meens.
@hasufl. A new take on yield farming
@CryptoCharles.
Video of the Week
Why This CEO Made a 425 million Dollar Bet on Bitcoin: Stansberry Research
Michael Saylor has been making the rounds in popularity in the Crypto world. In just the last few days a music video about him has been viewed over half a million times, andĀ he was even featured in last week's SOTM video. This short interview with Michael Saylor explains some of the important macro economics behind his 425 million dollar bitcoin purchase. He explains that when you run the numbers there is closer to 8-20% inflation on dollars he holds and how that incentivized him to look for somewhere else to invest. He also makes the case for Bitcoin over gold.
Follow us on social media!
Texas Blockchainās āState of the Marketā 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.