Digital Assets Report 56

  • Crypto Market Cap declines to $1.6 trillion with Bitcoin shedding 25% of its value over the weekend
  • Andressen Horowitz seeks to raise a record $4.5 bn for new crypto funds
  • Bank of Russia suggests full ban on Cryptocurrency activity
  • Fantom adds 60% TVL within last week and overtakes BSC in TVL

Business

Andreessen Horowitz plans to raise $4.5 billion for new crypto funds
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is planning to raise up to $4.5 billion for two new crypto funds.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Discount Hits Record at 26.5%
Analysts don’t expect a spot bitcoin ETF conversion anytime soon, and in the meantime, investors in the GBTC fund are getting charged fees.
Crypto.com Admits $35 Million Hack
Crypto.com $35 million heist much worse than first thought, though the company plays the breach down.
MicroStrategy shares drop on bitcoin’s slide, SEC rejection of company’s crypto accounting
The software company’s stock had been falling in tandem with the price of bitcoin, which dropped more than 10% Friday to its lowest point since August.
Robinhood crypto wallet testing is live: 1,000 users can now withdraw
Robinhood financial services platform announced it will let 1,000 users on its crypto wallet waitlist withdraw crypto from the platform.
The Graph, the ‘Google of Blockchains,’ Raises $50M in Round Led by Tiger Global
The protocol indexes data across 26 blockchains.
Google Pushes Deeper Into Crypto as It Hires PayPal Vet
Google is planning to let users store crypto in digital cards
Microsoft’s massive metaverse move: Buying Activision for $69B
Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for $95.00 per share at a valuation of $68.7 billion, with the tech giant’s head of gaming Phil Spencer set to oversee the company in 2023.
Coinbase partners with Mastercard to let users buy NFTs via cards
Crypto exchange Coinbase and payments giant Mastercard have teamed up to simplify the buying experience of NFTs.

Markets

Crypto Charts 54
Bitcoin Bitcoin Long-Term Chart I am showing the long term chart again following the sharp sell off and whilst above $28′824 it remains valid. Last week however we did say: ’I would like to bring your attention to the alternative scenario which calls for a larger wave (4) correction that
$1.9 trillion wiped in crypto free fall
Bitcoin has had a horror few days, with the blockchain’s price sliding by 20 per cent in the past week.
Crypto liquidations pass $700M as altcoins take a hit from Bitcoin sinking below $40K
Bitcoin stays below $40,000 as BTC price support rout is echoed by significant crypto liquidations.
Illiquid supply ‘going up relentlessly’ — 5 things to watch in Bitcoin this week
Bitcoin bulls reckon with some serious BTC price pain while on-chain factors converge to provide some potential relief.
Crypto Index Tracker – Metaverse Continues To Underperform - The Daily Hodl
Crypto markets have been trading poorly, along with broader risk markets, since the start of 2022. Over the past week, Bitcoin is down 11.7% and Ethereum is down 17.3%.

Regulations

Bank of Russia Calls for Full Ban on Crypto
Russia’s central bank suggests making crypto trading, mining and usage illegal. Owning crypto would be allowed.
In Long-Awaited CBDC White Paper, Fed Flags Privacy, Financial Stability Risks
The Fed does not commit to launching (or not launching) a CBDC in the long-anticipated document.
UK launches crackdown on ‘misleading’ cryptocurrency ads
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak plans to bring crypto ads under the same rules that apply to financial promotions.

European Securities and Markets Authority proposes ban on crypto mining

https://www.cryptoglobe.com/latest/2022/01/european-securities-and-markets-authority-proposes-ban-on-crypto-mining/

Altcoin Watch

Fantom overtakes Binance Smart Chain in DeFi TVL
Fantom overtakes Binance Smart Chain (BSC) to become the third-largest blockchain in decentralized finance (DeFi) as measured by total value locked (TVL): DeFiLlama.

Opinions

Ex-Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein says ‘crypto is happening’ despite plunge in digital assets
Cryptocurrencies have been selling off for weeks as the expectation for rising interest rates hit riskier assets.
Charles Schwab CEO: ‘Crypto Is Hard To Ignore’
In an interview on Wednesday (January 19), Walter W. Bettinger II, the CEO of Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) -- which is “the largest publicly traded investment services firm in the United States”) -- shared his thoughts on crypto.

Readings / Podcasts

Messari Crypto Theses - 2022

https://messari.io/pdf/messari-report-crypto-theses-for-2022.pdf

Coindesk's Annual Crypto Review - 2021

https://downloads.coindesk.com/research/2021-annual-crypto-review-coindesk-research.pdf