Speak Ventures
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Speak develops tools for builders and traders for the Solana Onchain Ecosystem

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Automate Your Trading Experience for FREE with Stacked

Stacked makes trading and investing EASY. Gone are the days of having to monitor charts, or read someone's advice, because Stacked provides automated trading and investing solutions. ๐ŸคŸ

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StackedLabs will be live in a little over 10 minutes. Todays guests are Stuart and Jeff from Lamden Tau. Join us for a great conversation on Lamden and all things crypto. Twitch.tv/stackedlabs
This afternoon on Stacked Labs, a conversation with Everest Co-Founder and CEO Bob Reid. Need a refresher on what Everest (Ticker - ID) is? Read this article by Alan from Stacked. See you at 3pm Central Time, 8pm UTC on twitch.tv/stackedlabs
Game Over? Bear Market incoming? Let's find out. Stream in 30 minutes. twitch.tv/stackedlabs
๐Ÿ’ณ Coinbase Card integrated with Apple Pay and Google Pay ๐Ÿ’ณ

For years, being crypto rich in the Metamask wallet while having an empty, paycheck to paycheck IRL wallet has been a thing.
Crypto traders tend to go all or nothing because once you truly understand the tech and its possibilities, turning away is impossible. Wouldnโ€™t it simplify life if you could pay with your crypto balance?

In a move thatโ€™s likely to turn on the liquidity tap for many, Coinbase integrated its Visa Coinbase Card with both Apple Pay and Google Pay. The card is linked to your Coinbase wallet, allowing you to seamlessly spend crypto anywhere Google Pay and Apple Pay are accepted.

Ever notice how Apple Pay and Google Pay are accepted almost everywhere? By extension, Coinbase Cardโ€™s integration means crypto payments have officially gone mainstream.

The way it works is incredibly simple. When you use Apple Pay at a retailer, select the Coinbase Card, then hit pay. The card automatically converts crypto from your portfolio into USD. You spend crypto, the retailer receives USD, and everyone walks away happy.

But it gets even better. Every time you spend crypto, the Coinbase Card rewards you with up to 4% back paid in crypto.๐Ÿ‘
Coinbase merging with two of the most prominent payment rails brings crypto to the masses โ€” and itโ€™s a beautiful thing.


Scaling wars heat up as Polygon competitor Arbitrum nears release

Sometimes, Ethereum is so slow and expensive to use itโ€™s painful. Thatโ€™s not even a point of contention. But, Ethereum is also a revolutionary blockchain and the undisputed home of DeFi.

The sheer potential Ethereum contains only needs a tiny spark to reveal itself. Right now, the spark needed is a Layer 2 scaling solution. With an adequately adopted L2, Ethereum can finally become the world computer serving the financial needs of billions worldwide.

Two L2 solutions have popped up as apparent front-runners. Polygon (previously called Matic) has the first-mover advantage. Aave, Curve, Sushi, and hundreds of other projects have opened Polygon markets that have captured billions of dollars in total value locked.

However, itโ€™d be premature to consider the sidechain game locked up. Arbitrum, a scaling solution thatโ€™s community operated and available to developers first, is quickly gaining mindshare within the crypto community.

Why? Because of one name: Uniswap. ๐Ÿค”

The Uniswap community recently, and overwhelmingly, voted in favor of adopting Arbitrum as a scaling solution for Uniswap V3. Thatโ€™s a pretty big deal any way you look at it โ€” Uniswap has topped Coinbase in trading volume on several occasions.

So, the logic goes, wherever Uniswap is, liquidity is sure to follow. Sure enough, projects that have already deployed to Polygon are also deploying to Arbitrum. Sushi is one of them, but the Arbitrum team promised more big names in a recent spate of hype tweets.

Regardless of who wins the scaling wars, we the users come out on top. Nobody likes paying $50 to trade on a decentralized exchange, and such high fees hinder adoption.

Curious about how much youโ€™ve spent on gas at todayโ€™s prices? Check out fees.wtf. ๐Ÿ˜ข
๐Ÿถ Dogecoin launches on Coinbase Pro, much wow ๐Ÿถ

In early May, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the exchange planned to add Dogecoin (DOGE) within 6-8 weeks.
A mere three weeks later and Coinbase Pro has already launched DOGE trading. The quick turnaround suggests everyone, including Armstrong, loves a good meme coin.

Coinbase likely realized (albeit late) how much DOGE trading volume it was giving away to competing exchanges. Last month, as DOGE prices peaked in the $0.7 range while hurtling toward $1, Google searches and trading volume for Dogecoin eclipsed those of Bitcoin.

It was a surprise that Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US, had ventured so deep into Dogecoin mania, a primarily American phenomenon, without listing the meme asset.

The listing gave DOGE the rocket fuel needed to pump well over the 40% mark. Its stratospheric rise marks a change in fortune from last monthโ€™s catastrophic and soul-crushing lows. ๐Ÿ“ˆ

Does the latest move up for DOGE mark a turning point? Whether apes are gaining confidence again is difficult to call this early in the recovery process. Only time and the play of broader market forces will tell whether the Coinbase effect produces more than a bounce for DOGE.


๐Ÿ’ฏ Google is switching crypto ads back on ๐Ÿ’ฏ

The crypto market breathed a collective sigh of relief on the news that Google is re-enabling crypto ads across its platforms. ๐Ÿ‘

Back in 2018, Google banned such ads in the wake of the ICO craze many blame for the ensuing bear market. Now, the search giant is letting both crypto exchanges and wallets target US customers so long as theyโ€™re FinCEN-registered and lawfully compliant.

The new rules, which go into effect on August 3rd, have already lifted a wilting market. As you might have guessed, exchange and wallet-related tokens are leading the charge, with BNB, HT, OKB, and NEXO all enjoying juicy 15%+ gains on the day.


DeFi summer โ€” round two? ๐Ÿค”

During the sleepy years of the 2018-2020 bear market, DeFi developers quietly built unthinkable, novel, and world-changing financial technologies. It was only last summer that the world finally caught on during whatโ€™s now remembered as DeFi summer. ๐Ÿ˜

Throughout the hottest months of a pandemic-infused summer, DeFi tokens blazed higher and higher, hitting ATHs several thousand percentage points above ground floor entries.

Since then, latecomers and DeFi OGs have dreamt of a DeFi summer sequel. Thatโ€™s an increasingly likely scenario with scaling solutions like Polygon, Arbitrum, and other impending Optimistic roll-ups on the case.

In a sign that DeFi summer 2.0 might be nearing, blue-chip DeFi tokens like SUSHI, CRV, AAVE, and COMP suffered less throughout the May downturn and bounced back faster.

The new wave of DeFi, including Convex Finance, Alchemix, and Ellipsis, is bullish for the blue-chip generation. They all harness composability to use protocols like Curve for their services.

Moreover, several of the early DeFi tokenomic designs are coming into maturity. For one, Curveโ€™s CRV token is flattening its emission rate in August, meaning token inflation will diminish as CRV moats like Yearn Vaults eat more CRV.
๐Ÿ’ฏ Bitcoin 2021 recap ๐Ÿ’ฏ

At Bitcoin 2013, the price of one BTC was $130, and crowd size was also in the hundreds. This time around 50,000+ people descended on Bitcoin 2021, and the price of one BTC is $32K. ๐Ÿ“ˆ

But the epic Bitcoin conference that just shook up Miami wasnโ€™t about BTC prices or crowd estimates. It was about bringing the crypto community together to make it stronger.

After a crazy pandemic year filled with shutdowns, market meltdowns, and isolation, arriving in Miami with thousands of other apes was in and of itself a victory. Months of tweeting at each other from worlds apart has been fun, but finally meeting Crypto Twitter heavy hitters at our Stacked Yacht Party was way better. ๐Ÿ˜

Legends like The Crypto Dog, Crypto Kaleo, Ledger Status, and Luke Martin mingled aboard the yacht. At the same time, everyoneโ€™s amazement at meeting the real human beings behind the cartoon avatars was tangible.

In the words of Stacked CEO Bitcoin Birch, Miami proved that your net worth is your network. ๐Ÿ‘
Whether you made it to Miami or not, the lesson is the same โ€” the crypto community is strongest when weโ€™re all together.


Is this the bottom? A case for hopium

Bitcoin has been chopping around in the $30K region for weeks without clear direction. Trader sentiment has also turned utterly negative as the Fear and Greed Index turns up an Extreme Fear score of 13. ๐Ÿ˜ณ

For reference, the Fear and Greed Index hit a 10 during the March 2020 crash, after which BTC and the rest of the crypto market went on a year-long bull run. With sentiment approaching a historic low, thereโ€™s reason to believe the bottom might be near.

To put things in perspective, after the previous crash, BTC equaled its previous ATH at $20K, then went on to triple it. Euphoric rallies are always bound to consolidate, but this correctionโ€™s violence has been unexpected.

The sheer amount of price history and support in the $20K region means BTC bulls will aggressively defend any dips below $30K. Institutional and corporate buyers such as Tesla are now underwater (Tesla is down 15% on its $1.5B purchase) but definitely have the resources to protect their positions.

Should they step in as we chop lower, a strong bounce with the potential for $50K might be in the cards. ๐Ÿ“ˆ


๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ปNayib Bukele is the hero BTC needs ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป

If there was ever a doubt that Bitcoin is the worldโ€™s future reserve currency, Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador, has temporarily laid them to rest.
Shortly after equipping his Twitter pic with laser eyes, Bukele introduced legislation to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The move would make El Salvador the first country in the world to do so. ๐Ÿคด

While some expected other Latin American countries to vehemently reject the move, the effect has been exactly the opposite. Legislators in Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Brazil, and Argentina have all signaled support for Bitcoin by switching over to laser eyes in light of Bukeleโ€™s move.

Is El Salvadorโ€™s BTC legalization effort the first domino to fall in a movement that sweeps all of Latin America? โ“ The region has long been considered ripe for crypto adoption because of the volatility of regional currencies.

Nayib Bukele enjoys a 90%+ approval rating amongst El Salvadorans,๐Ÿค” giving the billโ€™s chances of approval equally high odds. Assuming the bill passes, weโ€™ll be ready to watch the fireworks as neighboring countries introduce BTC legislation of their own.
๐ŸŒ‹ Bitcoin powered by volcanoes ๐ŸŒ‹
๐Ÿค” Domino effect possible in Latin America ๐Ÿค”
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณIndia classifying BTC as an asset? ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ


โ› Bitcoin mining with volcano energy in El Salvador ๐Ÿ˜ณโ›

Well, that developed quickly. In one weekend, El Salvadorโ€™s government:
โ€”> Proposed a bill to recognize BTC as legal tender
โ€”> Submitted the bill to the legislative assembly
โ€”> Became 1st country in the world to adopt BTC as money
โ€”> Proposed Bitcoin mining using 100% renewable volcano energy
โ€”> Drafted plans for a Bitcoin mining hub around volcanoes
โ€”> Adopted a Lightning Network-based BTC wallet called Strike


Sounds like a busy weekend, right? It doesnโ€™t look like Nayib Bukele, El Salvadorโ€™s president, is looking to stop there. In reply to a Forbes magazine line that wondered whether money might soon grow on volcanoes, Bukele tweeted back, โ€œit will.โ€ ๐ŸŒ‹

After the quick unfolding of events, commentators across Crypto Twitter were left stunned. After all, what do you say when watching an entire country adopt Bitcoin in real-time?

If youโ€™re thinking what weโ€™re thinking, youโ€™ve probably spent quite a bit of time these days checking out oceanside real estate in the tiny Central American nation. ๐Ÿ‘


๐Ÿค”Adopting Bitcoin as legal tender โ€” whoโ€™s next? ๐Ÿค”

El Salvadorโ€™s recognition of BTC might have been the first domino to fall in a region packed with candidates likely to follow suit.
Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and other Latin American countries have suffered through several periods of currency hyper-inflation and debasement.

Imagine watching the wealth youโ€™ve accumulated tirelessly simply disappear due to bad monetary policy. Millions of Latin Americans have experienced exactly this, making it no wonder why the region continues to use stablecoins en masse. ๐Ÿ“ˆ

El Salvadorโ€™s move is a watershed moment for the LATAM region as a whole. Now, there is a blueprint for decisively moving away from inflationary central bank currencies and toward a global store of wealth built upon the actual value of mining.

Several legal reps from Brazil, Mexico, and other major LATAM countries have come through with the laser eyes, signaling their desire to make Bitcoin move in their respective countries.

Who is the next domino to fall? Itโ€™s not a matter of if, but when.


๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณIndia flip-flops on BTC, now ready to call it an asset ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ

After looking likely to ban BTC for months, the Indian government is now keen on declaring it an asset. The action in El Salvador may have prompted the about-face. But in our view, thereโ€™s a more likely scenario.

The crypto community, led by Polygonโ€™s Sandeep Nailwal, donated billions of dollars to Indian COVID relief efforts in recent weeks. Part of that donation was the $1B+ worth of SHIB tokens sent by Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.

Did the massive outpouring of support from the digital currency community resonate with Indiaโ€™s lawmakers? The timing of the switch-up makes it seem possible โ€” even plausible.

Whatever the reason, if India does make good on declaring BTC an asset, expect fireworks. With a population well over 1 billion, Indiaโ€™s gov has the power to turn the tide on BTC sentiment.
๐Ÿ“ˆBTC stages big bounce above $40K ๐Ÿ“ˆ
๐Ÿ˜Elon, Saylor, and Tudor-Jones back Bitcoin ๐Ÿ˜
๐Ÿ’ฏMark Cuban is uber bullish on DeFi ๐Ÿ’ฏ


๐Ÿ“ˆBitcoin claws back above $40K ๐Ÿ“ˆ

Itโ€™s been a whopping three weeks since Bitcoinโ€™s last $40K price check, but it feels a whole lot longer than that.

Since May 27, Bitcoin chopped down as low as $28K before finding its legs slightly higher. Unfortunately, the ranging and somewhat brutal reaccumulation period coincided with a drought of good news.

Recent headlines were filled with the usual fear, uncertainty, and doubt weโ€™ve come to regard as noisy distractions from the certainty of $100K+ BTC. ๐Ÿ”จ

Regulation worries, Sen. Elizabeth Warren calling crypto a โ€˜threat,โ€™ and more Elon Musk tweets added fuel to the fire built by bears.

But positive indicators started pouring in during the last days, indicating a shift in fortunes. El Salvador adopted BTC as legal tender, BTC outflows to exchanges dried up, and influential market players made bold pronouncements, which brings us toโ€ฆ


๐Ÿ˜Elon, Saylor, and Paul Tudor Jones to crypto markets: โ€œpump itโ€ ๐Ÿ˜

Elon Musk hasnโ€™t made any friends in the crypto world lately. Heโ€™s definitely on the outs with crypto investors after his erratic tweets showing on-again/off-again support for BTC and wildly uninformed statements about mining. โ›

But, he at least finally defined the criteria for Tesla greenlighting BTC payments again. When a 50%+ majority of BTC miners use renewable energy sources for mining, the electric car giant will reinstate its pay with BTC initiative. ๐Ÿ‘

In stark contrast, Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor has made a crazy amount of crypto friends by being an uber BTC bull with no breaking point.

Despite already owning billions worth of BTC, Saylor isnโ€™t finished buying. Microstrategy just wrapped a $500M bond sale, $488M of which is to be spent accumulating more BTC. So after smashing the green button, Microstrategy will hold a whale-approved sum of $4B+ worth of BTC.

Last but not least, legendary investor Paul Tudor Jones unambiguously embraced Bitcoin as concerns about US dollar inflation hit new highs. PTJ advocated a 5% BTC portfolio allocation to investors seeking a strong inflation hedge, saying heโ€™ll โ€œ...buy cryptoโ€ as an inflation trade.


๐Ÿ’ฏMark Cuban goes bull mode on DeFi ๐Ÿ’ฏ

If you follow the DeFi space at all, youโ€™ve probably seen Mark Cubanโ€™s name pop up.

Earlier this year, Etherscan sleuths found his wallet hidden in plain sight. Inside were AAVE, SUSHI, and xSUSHI tokens along with various NFTs. The xSUSHI tokens were a dead giveaway that Cuban isnโ€™t just buying DeFi; heโ€™s farming it too.

Now, whatโ€™s a billionaire like Cuban doing farming DeFi? He believes crypto businesses (his words, not ours) have a future at least as bright as the internet tech generation. ๐ŸŽฏ

DeFi, in particular, is primed to disrupt the world with its low overhead, end-user direct business model. He cites how fast Aave users can lend or borrow compared to how complex and exhausting it is at traditional banks.

The fully automated nature of DeFi means there are โ€œ...no bankers, no buildings, no toasters, no vaults, no cash, no holding your money, no forms to fill out, no credit ratings involved.โ€

No toasters is one thing, but no bankers is even better. Long live DeFi

Read Mark Cubanโ€™s blog on DeFi here

https://twitter.com/mcuban/status/1404281034573848578
Stacked Insights Newsletter, 06.15.21

๐Ÿค” Believe in the bounce?
๐Ÿš€Polkadot has arrived
๐Ÿ”ฅCrypto fundraising at ATH

This time, it's different ๐Ÿ˜…

Bitcoin firmly bounced above $40K and brought much needed relief to us all. But, is this time really different, or is the bounce just setting up exit liquidity for whales?

Dave the Wave, a crypto twitter trader who has so far nailed BTC price action in 2021, sees parallels between now and spring/summer 2018.

In 2018, crypto markets touched all time highs before getting nuked, bouncing to lower highs, then grinding out a long consolidation period.

So far, BTC is following the 2018 playbook so closely that even the daily MACD is uncannily similar.

If we are in fact following the 2018 fractal, the good news is incredible dip-buying opportunities await and the correction will resolve much faster than in 2018.

Follow up here ๐Ÿ‘‰ https://twitter.com/davthewave/status/1404538985381208066

DOT listed on Coinbase as parachains near ๐Ÿ“ˆ

Blockchain interoperability used to be a buzzword. Now, it's almost a reality.

Polkadot, the multi-chain protocol that acts as connective tissue between networks, is on the cusp of enabling parachain auctions.

If you're new to the concept, parachain auctions are similar to crypto ICOs with a few key differences.

๐Ÿ’ก Projects stake DOT tokens to earn space on the network
๐Ÿ’ฐ To raise DOT, projects run crowdloans
๐Ÿค In crowdloans, DOT stakers get the project's token in exchange

The key takeaway is parachain auctions never involve giving up your DOT tokens. Instead, you're just leasing them to projects which need them as bond collateral.

Coinbase Pro just listed DOT tokens likely in anticipation of the network transitioning toward its first full auction.

Kusama, Polkadot's test network, is starting its first parachain auction next week. If all goes well, Polkadot has the green light to let the fireworks begin.

Despite market fears, project fundraising is booming ๐Ÿฆ

According to the Fear and Greed Index, crypto market sentiment is oscillating between extreme fear and fear.

Even though retail traders are clearly shaken, venture capitalists and big-name investors are pouring ๐Ÿ’ต into crypto like there's no tomorrow.

Lesser-known projects like Stake Technologies, a group developing interoperability tech for Polkadot, are raising millions from the likes of former Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei.

Massive funding rounds of late include:

๐Ÿฅ‡$380M, Ledger crypto wallets
๐Ÿฅˆ$350M, BlockFi crypto lending
๐Ÿฅ‰$314M, Solana blockchain
๐Ÿ…$305M Dapper Labs NFTs
๐Ÿ…$300M Blockchain.com wallets

These totals blow away the sums raised during the ICO craze and involve far higher-profile investors like Mark Cuban, Michael Jordan, Ashton Kutcher, Bain Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz.

Don't let short-term price action distract you from long-term bullish signals. ๐ŸŽฏ
Stacked Insights Newsletter, 06.17.21

๐ŸŽจ$100M NFT bet
๐Ÿ”‘Crypto is the inflation trade
๐Ÿ”ชHow to survive the chop

Fox TV bets $100M on NFTs ๐ŸŽฒ

Another day, another massive move into the crypto space from a legacy institution.

This time, it's Fox Corp., the juggernaut media company behind Fox News and Fox Entertainment. Fox is seeding a $100M fund for digital entertainment tied to its NFT division called Blockchain Creative Labs.

The first effort from the new division is a show called "Krapopolis" by Dan Harmon, the creator of "Rick and Morty."

Blockchain Creative Labs was created to create closer interactivity and sales opportunities betweens shows and their audiences.

NFTs enable a whole new level of salable digital goods, including animations, GIFs, memes, and and limited edition videos.

The huge infusion of cash from one of the world's largest and most traditional media corporations means NFTs have well and truly disrupted not only art, but entertainment as well.

Who's next in line to get well and truly disrupted by crypto? ๐ŸฅŠ

Crypto is THE inflation trade ๐Ÿฆ

If you've been following the news in traditional markets, you're well aware that inflation is stealing all the headlines.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has recently pulled many a gloomy look while delivering inflation forecasts as high as 3%.

Bankers would love for everyone to buy the story that heightened inflation will simmer down by next year, but many notable traders and investors are wary.

Paul Tudor Jones, for one, said matter-of-factly that if the inflation forecast increased (it did), he'd go all in on inflation trades.

Without mincing words, he pointed to buying crypto as part of his inflation trade strategy, and suggested that everyone try out a 5% BTC portfolio.

Oddly enough, the hiked up inflation forecast dampened the ongoing BTC rally, sending prices tumbling firmly below $40K for the first time in days.

Survive market chop with Stacked ๐Ÿง˜

We're in a brutal phase of the crypto market correction known as the chop.

A little known fact is that MANY traders survive big drops only to find themselves revenge trading, second-guessing intuition, and otherwise getting sliced to pieces by revolving bull and bear traps.

What's needed in a market like this is to go into survival mode. This isn't the time to try and make it all back in one trade.

But, that isn't to say there isn't profit to be made โ€” but these are double black diamond days best reserved for weathered pro traders.

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Automated trading bots are live in the Stacked Marketplace giving you one one-click options for trading with the best investors, hedge funds, and strategists.

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๐ŸŽฏInvest in curated portfolios
๐ŸŽฏRun vetted trading bots

If you haven't already, give Stacked a try for free ๐Ÿค

๐Ÿ‘‰ stackedinvest.com ๐Ÿ‘ˆ
Stacked Insights Newsletter, 06.21.21

๐Ÿ”ฅ Goldman Sachs + Galaxy Digital partnership
๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ’ป Quick guide to Ethereum EIP 1559 upgrade
๐ŸฅŠ Breaking down the Mark Cuban rug pull

๐Ÿค Goldman Sachs partners with Galaxy Digital ๐Ÿค

Goldman Sachs is launching a BTC futures trading platform. In and of itself, that's already huge news. But to make matters better, it's tapped Galaxy Digital to provide liquidity for the product.

Galaxy Digital is a full suite crypto fund and financial services platform founded by Mike Novogratz (or Novo as many call him).

You should know that Novo is an รผber crypto bull. In 2017, he made a landmark speech at Ethereal called The Herd Is Coming, which you can check out here ๐Ÿ‘‰ https://youtu.be/chRFimo06aM

Goldman Sachs is a cornerstone traditional finance giant taking its first solid foray into the crypto world. Partnering with a Novogratz-helmed crypto liquidity provider means GS gets their feet wet with a crypto maximalist โ€” not a bad thing in our book.

Hopefully, Novo's enthusiasm rubs off on the people at Goldman Sachs, and the product becomes a success.

๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿซ 3 things you should know about the EIP-1559 milestone ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿซ

In Ethereum land, these are exciting times. The EIP-1559 upgrade, a hotly anticipated precursor to the Ethereum London hardfork, is expected in July.

There's tons of confusion surrounding what EIP-1559 will and won't do, so let's clear the air.

EIP-1559 will...
๐Ÿ™†โ€โ™‚๏ธ Put deflationary pressure on ETH supply
๐Ÿ™†โ€โ™‚๏ธ Transition ETH miners toward staking
๐Ÿ™†โ€โ™‚๏ธ Probably reduce tx fees somewhat

EIP-1559 won't...
๐Ÿ™…โ€โ™€๏ธ Make gas a lot cheaper
๐Ÿ™…โ€โ™€๏ธ Cause miners to abandon Ethereum now
๐Ÿ™…โ€โ™€๏ธ Turn ETH into a scarce fixed supply asset

At its core, EIP-1559 is aimed at introducing a new transaction fee model that should make miners less clingy. Why? Because it's a key component of the London hardfork, itself a crucial step toward ETH 2.0.

๐Ÿ˜ฒ Mark Cuban got rugged โ€” this is how it happened ๐Ÿ˜ฒ

First off, no matter what your net worth, getting rugged sucks. Nobody, not even billionaires, enjoys the feeling of seeing an investment evaporate into thin air.

But that's essentially what happened to Mark Cuban and his $TITAN holdings. Earlier in the week, Cuban blogged about DeFi in a post called "The Brilliance of Yield Farming."

In the post, he revealed himself as the largest LP in the DAI/TITAN pool. Crypto twitter blew up with tons of Cuban is in memes, driving the price of TITAN up 100x โ€” from mere cents to $60.

Not long after reaching ATH, TITAN crashed in what was, essentially, a single red candle down to under $0.3. The crash erased Mark Cuban's $8 million liquidity pool holdings and dropped Iron Finance's TVL from $1B+ to less than $10M ๐Ÿคฆโ€โ™€๏ธ

TITAN is the governance and stabilizing token for IRON, a stablecoin issued by Iron Finance. The cause of the crash is likely that TITAN's unsustainable rise created an equally sharp correction that sent IRON away from its dollar peg.

IRON moved further away from its peg as traders kept dumping TITAN, leading to a vicious cycle of selloffs that sunk Iron Finance close to zero.

After the incident, Cuban admitted he had essentially aped into the project without doing any due diligence, but nevertheless called for regulators to create rules for stablecoins ๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chRFimo06aM
Stacked Insights Newsletter, 06.22.21

๐Ÿ˜… Bitcoin below $30K, but it's OK
โ› Chinese mining ban is good for crypto
๐Ÿงฒ Let the gains come to you

๐Ÿ‘Œ 3 reasons why Bitcoin below $30K is OK ๐Ÿ‘Œ

You've seen the headlines. Bitcoin is below $30K for the first time since blah blah blah.

We get it, BTC is down. Start by asking yourself โ€” what's the point of the endless doom and gloom Bitcoin headlines?

The answer is a simple one. These headlines create even more downward price action, all of which is meant to try and shake you out of your coins.

But guess who's on the receiving end of Bitcoin sold cheaply? That's right โ€” the exact same people and institutions creating FUD now.

So don't take your eyes off the prize. Here are 3 reasons why BTC below $30K is fine.

1๏ธโƒฃ Zoom out. last year, BTC was $5K. Prices are 400%+ since then.
2๏ธโƒฃ Reset. Run to $60K created greed. Corrections are needed.
3๏ธโƒฃ Flippening. Watch as the old $20K resistance becomes support.

The last upshot is especially relevant. Take a macro view of the market, then you realize daily price action is largely a distraction from the real prize later on: $100K+ BTC prices.

โ™ป๏ธ The Chinese mining ban is great for cryptoโ™ป๏ธ

There's been plenty of fear in the market about the Chinese mining ban. Not only are people confused about what it means for Bitcoin, there's mixed messages about the consequences.

The mining ban has broadly extended to over 90% of the active Bitcoin miners in China. As you probably know, China has so far dominated the Bitcoin hash rate through sheer mining capacity.

However, Bitcoin's global profile is rising every day, which increases the spotlight on everything wrong with Bitcoin. A few weeks ago, Elon Musk tanked the market after tweeting that Tesla would no longer process BTC payments due to environmental concerns.

In response, Bitcoin hero Michael Saylor convened a North American Mining Council conference and outlined environmental goals like using renewable energy for mining.

The Chinese miner crackdown is well-timed. More people, institutions, and entire nations are getting involved with Bitcoin but are simultaneously concerned about mining power concentration in China.

Now, mining power is set to redistribute globally. El Salvador recently announced geothermal Bitcoin mining sites and locales throughout Africa are being scouted.

So, while miners in China are losing out on a long lucrative position as the world's top BTC excavators, everyone else is in a winning position.

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Stacked Insights Newsletter, 06.23.21

โšพ๏ธ FTX lands huge sponsorship deal
๐Ÿ•ต๏ธ On-chain data suggests relief is near
โš’ Chinese miner situation gets clearer

๐Ÿฅณ FTX becomes MLB sponsor๐Ÿฅณ

FTX is already the preferred exchange of crypto traders everywhere (including us here at Stacked HQ ๐Ÿ˜Œ).

But even though FTX reigning supreme across crypto twitter is an awesome start, how cool would it be to see FTX and Coinbase go head-to-head?

To unlock household name levels of recognition, FTX is deploying an impressively visible marketing campaign.

For its latest act, FTX has become the official crypto exchange partner of the MLB. That's right โ€” Major League Baseball.

Amongst other highly visible details, you'll see umpires wearing FTX patches on their uniforms during games. Just imagine how surreal seeing crypto + baseball will be.

This isn't FTX's first big sports deal, either. A few months ago, they locked down a massive partnership with the Miami Heat which sees the team play inside the rebranded FTX Arena.

Given Tom Brady's recent conversion to laser eyes, we won't be surprised to see FTX launch a similar deal with the NFL just for the sake of completion.

Mainstream crypto adoption, anyone? ๐Ÿคฉ

๐Ÿคฒ BTC is flowing from weak to strong hands ๐Ÿ’Ž

We can speculate all we want, but because blockchain, there's REAL objective data to show which wallets are scooping BTC.

In an alpha-drop of epic proportions, Bitcoin permabull Willy Woo charted the measurable flow of BTC from weak-handed wallets to diamond-handed chads.

See the tweet here ๐Ÿ‘‰ twitter.com/woonomic/status/1407403983023460354

At some point, the transfer of BTC (or any coin for that matter) from sellers to HODLers counteracts the bearish influence driving prices down.

The market would be in big trouble if long-term wallets were dumping coins rather than scooping them, but thankfully, the opposite is happening.

On a related note, Bloomberg Intelligence reports the current BTC 20 week EMA has tapped the same levels as $4K BTC in 2020. On that occasion, BTC definitively bounced into a full-on reversal that endured for over a year.

Are we on the verge of a similar change of fortune? ๐Ÿ”ฎ

๐Ÿ‘ฎโ€โ™‚๏ธ OK, so China is actually booting BTC miners ๐Ÿ‘ฎโ€โ™‚๏ธ

China FUD is its own niche category of psyops within the crypto market. Every year, like clockwork, someone cues the onslaught of "bans."

โŒ In 2013, China banned BTC trading...
โŒ Next up was the infamous ICO + exchange ban in 2017
โŒ Then, China banned Bitcoin mining in 2018-19

Despite all of the bans, clampdowns, and regulatory posturing, crypto mining and trading kept emanating from China, leading one to wonder how real these bans were.

This time it's actually different. Miners are well and truly being shut down in China, the place once host to over 65% of BTC hash power.

In an interview, Kevin Zhang of DCG-owned Foundry, said miners were closing up shop en masse, with up to 90% of miners expected to be shutdown by the month's end.

Vast arrays of mining equipment are arriving in Kazakhstan as miners seek new horizons for a fresh start. As such, the BTC mining ban is, surprisingly, very real this time around.

Read our previous update to see why we think the ban is amazing for Bitcoin's future growth prospects ๐ŸŽฏ
Stacked Insights Newsletter, 06.25.21

๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ป El Salvador airdropping BTC to citizens
๐ŸŽ NYC to become world's BTC hub?
๐Ÿป Bear markets are for stacking coins

๐Ÿช‚ El Salvador is airdropping BTC to all citizens๐Ÿช‚

The El Salvador + Bitcoin love affair isn't cooling down one bit.

In a series of surreal and unexpected twists, El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele did two things of note:

๐Ÿ“บ Gave national presentation about BTC
๐Ÿคฏ Announced $30 BTC airdrop to all adults

Images of a dapper Bukele teaching an entire nation about Bitcoin from behind the presidential seal must be seen to be believed.

The fact that he followed the lesson up with an airdrop to get the entire country a hands-on experience with crypto is just beyond.

El Salvador's embrace of Bitcoin is having exactly the Latin American network effect we expected. Yesterday, Paraguayan legislators introduced a bill to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender in their nation as well.

It's happening โšก๏ธ

๐Ÿ™ Front runner for NYC mayor promises BTC hub ๐Ÿ™

New York just held its democratic primary as the mayoral vote looms ahead. But, given how heavily the city leans democrat, the primary's winner is largely viewed as the next mayor by default.

And, so far, it looks like Eric Adams is winning the race. What has this all got to do with Bitcoin? Well, the night before the vote, Adams gave a speech in which he said many interesting things...

"Iโ€™m going to promise you in one year youโ€™re going to see a different city. Weโ€™re going to become the center of life science, the center of cybersecurity, the center of self driving cars, drones, the center of bitcoins.โ€

Putting aside the slightly kek worthy usage "bitcoins," Adams is promising to turn America's largest city into a Bitcoin hub. If this all sounds familiar, it's because Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has spent most of the year similarly positioning his city.

Clearly, politicians across the US are beginning to see crypto as the future of tech in America. For decades, legacy tech has amassed its presence in Silicon Valley. But the rise of crypto opens possibilities for unseating San Francisco's long-held dominance in the space.

Keep your eyes on Adams as the tally of Bitcoin Mayors in America might rise to two ๐Ÿ‘€

๐Ÿ˜ค THIS is the god-tier buying opportunity๐Ÿ˜ค

Crypto is in a downtrend. Some might even call it a bear market. Call it whatever you want โ€” just as long as you're stacking coins.

If you were bullish about crypto before the downturn, know just one thing. The fundamentals haven't changed.

Countries are adoption BTC as legal tender. Entire states are vying to become mining centers. FTX is putting crypto in front of the eyes of sports fans everywhere...and DOGE just exposed millions of retail investors to digital assets.

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Stacked Insights Newsletter, 06.25.21

๐Ÿ’‚โ€โ™‚๏ธ Binance banned in UK
๐Ÿ‚ Bulls pushing a swift recovery
๐Ÿค” What's up with the Internet Computer?

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง Binance banned by UK, warned in Canada & Japan ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง

Binance got pummeled by regulators over the weekend.

In the UK, Binance is now banned after regulators with the Financial Conduct Authority deemed it "not permitted to undertake any regulated activity in the UK."

The ban is yet another serious blow to Binance's global expansion efforts after the exchange was similarly forced to withdraw from the province of Ontario, Canada.

In that instance, Canadian regulators declared Binance in violation of regional securities laws. Binance then took the preemptive step of closing up shop in the region rather than enter a protracted legal battle to keep serving Ontario residents.

Similarly, Japanese financial authorities warned Binance that it's skirting local regulations by serving Japanese residents.

If the sudden glut of crypto exchange vs. lawmakers has you worried for the future of digital assets, remember that this confrontation has been years in the making.

13 years to be exact, if you go from the year Bitcoin's whitepaper appeared. Regulators are scared by the prospect of assets _they can't control__. Similar regulatory showdowns occurred during the dot com boom.

These crackdowns aren't the first, won't be the last, and are just a bump in the road toward the global ubiquity of crypto ๐ŸŒŽ

๐Ÿงฒ Bulls take aim at $40K๐Ÿงฒ

After weeks of truly bullish dumping, BTC's plunge below $30K might have finally satisfied the bear gods.

BTC made two runs over the $35K mark before backing off slightly each time. Right now, we're hovering in the $34K region without much drama.

To be clear, Bitcoin is worth $34K y'all. That's WILD โ€” and don't you let pessimistic bears tell you otherwise. Remember that only a year ago we were all stoked about $9K...

But we also know that $35K isn't BTC end game. In the near term, $40K is the obvious resistance both technically and psychologically.

IF bulls push BTC back above weekly resistance, $46K is next before the airy heights of $60K. This scenario is all contingent on the strength of a potential move above $40K, but should bulls get through with gusto, a full-blow reversal is __finally_ on our hands.

๐Ÿคท WTF happened to Internet Computer ($ICP)?๐Ÿคท

Internet Computer, perhaps better known as Dfinity, debuted in the top ten crypto projects with little warning.

Crypto Twitter immediately lit up with Insane Clown Posse memes as they wondered what ICP was and how it had accrued so much value seemingly overnight.

Dfinity started as an alternative to Ethereum in 2016 when it received significant backing from top-tier venture capitalists to the tune of $160+ million.

The project's product, Internet Computer, is an internet-scale-and-speed decentralized blockchain infrastructure intended to replace entire stacks of intermediaries between people and the web, such as AWS.

After building hype over the years, Dfinity rewarded early supporters with a locked airdrop of ICP tokens vested over a year. After ICP started trading, tokens reached as high as $3K before the harsh market downturn began in May.

It's true that the entire market has sharply corrected, but no one has about-faced harder than ICP. The token is down over 95% from the highs, touching as low as $27 over the weekend.

Why is $ICP being dumped so hard? The easy answer is โ€” maybe people just don't understand it. Or perhaps it was a new token that entered the market at the wrong time.

Blockchain analysts have dug up evidence that there's more at play. It appears insider wallets transferred large amounts of ICP to exchanges before dumping them for between $2โ€”$6 billion๐Ÿ™€

Right now, Dfinity is in damage control mode as the project attempts to clear its name and ward off any speculation of early investors dumping on retail.
Stacked Insights Newsletter, 06.29.21

๐Ÿˆ Tom Brady teams up with FTX Exchange
๐ŸŽ Crypto.com is sponsoring Formula 1
๐Ÿ„โ€โ™‚๏ธ How to ride market trends

๐Ÿ“ธ Tom Brady becomes FTX equity stakeholder ๐Ÿ“ธ

Who dares call this a bear market?

In yet another incredible twist, crypto now counts Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen as ambassadors after the couple inked a partnership with FTX Exchange.

The deal sees Brady become the face of FTX Exchange while Bundchen, his wife, will lead FTX in bettering its environmental + social practices.

As payment, the couple opted to receive equity stakes in FTX payment, signaling their belief in the long-term prospects of crypto adoption.

The marquee deal brings the total FTX has recently spent amassing highly visible sports deals to $350 million. Now, FTX counts the MLB, Miami Heat, Tom Brady, and Trevor Lawrence as partners in ever-widening marketing campaign.

Our only question is who's next? ๐Ÿ”ฅ

๐ŸŽ Crypto.com is sponsoring Formula 1 ๐ŸŽ

This is what you want to see during a downturn.

While retail traders bemoan their losses from the highs, crypto projects soldier on, keep building, and ink the wildest partnership deals imaginable.

FTX has been on a tear with its ultra high profile deals, but what about this massive move from Crypto.com? The eponymous exchange/wallet/crypto hub just became a title sponsor for none other than Formula 1.

Yeah. Let that sink in a minute ๐Ÿคฏ

Starting now, the Crypto.com logo will feature on the Aston Martin team car, so look out for it at the next Grand Prix events.

The deal โ€” valued at $100 million โ€” makes Crypto.com the official Formula 1 cryptocurrency & NFT sponsor. As F1 rolls out NFT prizes for racers and fans alike, you can expect some form of integration with the Crypto.com ecosystem.

Bullish quote of the day? Look no further than this gem from F1 comms director Ben Pincus:

"We will rely heavily on Crypto.comโ€™s expertise as we explore the world of cryptocurrency, an area we are very interested in.."๐Ÿš€

๐ŸŒŠ How to make the trend your friend ๐ŸŒŠ

The market can flip from รผber bull to hopelessly bear within the blink of an eye โ€” especially if you watch on a short timeframe.

Keeping up with by-the-minute changes makes it incredibly difficult to sniff out market trends unless:

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Stacked Insights Newsletter, 07.02.21

๐Ÿฆ George Soros is trading BTC
๐Ÿคท CeDeFi vs DeFi: Who has better yields?
๐Ÿ˜‚ Congressman calls for blockchain 'backdoor'

๐Ÿคด๐Ÿป Billionaire George Soros fund is bullish on crypto๐Ÿคด๐Ÿป

Add George Soros to the list of billionaires bullish on Bitcoin + crypto assets as a whole.

The famed investor built his epic fortune on ahead-of-the-curve gambles, including a legendary GBP short sale in 1992 that won him $1 billion overnight.

Now, the George Soros' personal investment fund is allocating resources to trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Here's the crux of the matter โ€” nobody knows how the Soros Fund intends to trade BTC. So yeah, it's great they're getting in, but not if they're going to dump on us ๐Ÿ˜‚

There's one big reason he isn't going to pull a repeat of his epic '92 short sale. Soros has donated over $32 billion to progressive causes throughout his life.

Combating wealth inequality is amongst his favorite causes. That's why his Robinhood approach of shorting bankers, then donating the money has made him the ire of financial elites.

It's likely he views BTC and other cryptocurrencies as a way to finally tackle โ€” and even topple โ€” the traditional financial institutions he's railed against for decades.

In any case, Soros' name is the latest in a long line of รผber wealthy folks dipping their toes in crypto. Recently, Ray Dalio, Carl Icahn, Ricardo Pliego, Mark Cuban, and...Elon Musk...have embraced Bitcoin.

๐Ÿค” Why are CeDeFi yields outperforming DeFi? ๐Ÿค”

The days of high-flying DeFi yields seem to have dried up for now.

Whether you check out markets on Compound, Aave, or Curve, yields for popular stablecoins USDT, USDC, DAI, and GUSD are all returning between 1-2%.

For much of last year and 2021, those same platforms sometimes posted APY as high as 22% for stables.

But because DeFi platforms require supply to be utilized to offer higher yields, the current downtrend is making less people trade and, therefore, utilize less.

So, in a nutshell, less pool utilization = less returns for yield farmers ๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐ŸŒพ

CeDeFi (centralized DeFi) platforms like Celsius, Coinbase, BlockFi, and Nexo have no such problem. They all offer fixed rate APY on stables ranging from 4% to as high as 10% depending on the asset.

Even though such yields are nowhere near what DeFi offered for so long, their consistency despite the bear-vibes market is tough to beat. How are they managing to outperform DeFi right now?

Both retail and institutional borrowers utilize CeDeFi platforms at higher rates than they do DeFi.

If you're searching for a reason, look no further than security. Nexo, Gemini, Coinbase, BlockFi, and Celsius accounts are all insured for millions of dollars. This extra peace of mind goes a long way when DeFi hacks happen daily.

However, DeFi platforms like Compound aren't taking the challenge posed by CeDeFi lightly. The protocol just announced Compound Treasury, a program for institutions to deposit USD stablecoins and receive a fixed 4% return.

๐Ÿ™„ Blockchain caucus chair says crypto needs a 'backdoor'๐Ÿ™„

You would think the co-chair of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus, a government group dedicated to understanding & expanding the development of blockchain tech, would be...smarter than this.

But apparently not. Bill Foster, a US rep from Illinois, said yesterday that blockchains need a 'crypto backdoor' that third parties, like courts, have access to.

The purpose of such a backdoor would be to retrieve crypto ransomware funds, unmask anonymous criminals using crypto, and reverse transactions due to fraud or user error.

To the last point, Foster believes a majority of people would want a way to reverse or recover transactions before holding significant funds on blockchains.

"I think for most people...theyโ€™re going to want to have that security blanket of a trusted third party."