Minerva Weekly Newsletter Week 24 2024
Covers 6/9/24-6/15/24
Web 3 News
Binance has surpassed 200 million active users
Binance says that Nigerian authorities have dropped some criminal charges against an executive who has been imprisoned in the country since April, per Bloomberg
Based on new information on the amount of $BNB that Binance founder CZ holds, Forbes now estimates that CZ is the 24th wealthiest person in the world
Gemini announced that Earn users will receive access to their remaining 3% of assets by June 21, 2024 making them whole in-kind
Gemini will pay $50 million their NY state crypto fraud claim, per Bloomberg
Gemini is prohibited from crypto lending in NY as part of the settlement, per The Block
34 global spot Bitcoin ETFs now hold more than 1 million $BTC
China's largest bank ICBC says Bitcoin retains scarcity in a similar way to gold
China's largest bank ICBC says Ethereum is providing technical power for the digital future, and it can be considered a digital oil
Japan's Metaplanet has purchased an additional ~23.35 Bitcoin for ¥250 million at an average price of ¥10,706,180 per $BTC
Metaplanet now holds ~141.07 $BTC
Paraguay will continue selling energy to Bitcoin miners, per the Minister of Industry Javier Gimẽnez
Brazil's largest bank Itau Unibanco has launched digital asset trading to their 60 million customers in Latin America
Canada’s DeFi Technologies has acquired 110 BTC and they have adopted Bitcoin as their primary treasury reserve asset
The correlation between Bitcoin and 10-Year Treasury yields is at one of the lowest levels since 2017, per Bloomberg
U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump met with Bitcoin Magazine's CEO and Bitcoin miners Cleanspark CLSK 0.00%↑ and Riot Platforms RIOT 0.00%↑ this week
Presidential candidate Donald Trump late this week: “I will end Joe Biden’s War on crypto, and crypto and Bitcoin will be made here in the USA”
U.S. President Joe Biden's campaign is discussing with Web 3 industry participants about accepting crypto donations through Coinbase Commerce COIN 0.00%↑, hoping to both attract voters who are interested in Web 3 and replenish campaign funds, per The Block
Oklahoma's Governor has signed the Bill into law that exempts Bitcoin miners from sales tax on electricity bills
ERCOT is recommending that Bitcoin mining be integrated as a Controllable Load Resource to ensure grid reliability
ERCOT runs the power grid in Texas
A study by Marathon MARA 0.00%↑ shows that Bitcoin mining with landfill methane is “economically viable and environmentally beneficial”
NiceHash, a hash rate marketplace, is partnering with Marathon Digital Holdings MARA 0.00%↑ to launch custom firmware for ASIC miners
NiceHash firmware boasts features including auto-tuning functionality, and customized environment profiles for various cooling setups
T-Mobile TMUS 0.00%↑ announced that they are currently running Bitcoin nodes and they are planning to launch into Bitcoin mining
Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy MSTR 0.00%↑ to raise ~$700 million to purchase more Bitcoin
Net short positions on Bitcoin using CME futures are now ~$1 billion, per CryptoQuant
The number of entities with over 1,000 Bitcoin is near all-time highs, per Bitcoin Magazine
Gary Gensler says he sees spot Ethereum ETF S1 approvals sometime this Summer
The launch of spot Ethereum ETFs are expected by July 2nd, per Bloomberg
Terraform Labs has agreed to pay $4.47 billion to resolve a civil lawsuit filed by the SEC following the firm’s 2022 collapse surrounding $UST and $LUNA, per Bloomberg
Tether's $USDT CEO Paolo Ardoino says that their investment arm plans to make deals worth $1 billion over the next year
Web 3 social media platform Farcaster plans to launch a token, but investors are unsure whether Farcaster can provide a sufficiently differentiated user experience to sustain growth, per Fortune
Venture capital firm Paradigm says they have raised $850 million for their 3rd fund which will focus on early-stage crypto projects, per Bloomberg
Macroeconomic News
China saw the largest run on its banks in their history during April, per Bloomberg
A record high of ~4 trillion yuan was withdrawn
China is selling 50-year bonds at their lowest yield in history, per Bloomberg
South Korea is extending their ban on stock short selling through March 30, 2025 and are threatening life in jail for naked short selling, per Bloomberg
French stocks suffered their largest weekly decline since March 2022, per Barchart
Microsoft MSFT 0.00%↑ to invest $7.16 billion to develop new data centers in Spain's northeastern region of Aragon, per Reuters
Mastercard MA 0.00%↑ to phase out manual card entry for online payments in Europe by 2030, per CNBC
Foreign investors bought an all-time high $187 billion worth of U.S. corporate bonds from October 2023 - March 2024, per Bloomberg
A record high $9.3 trillion in U.S. debt is set to mature within the next 12 months
May CPI inflation came in at 3.3%, below expectations of 3.4%
Core CPI inflation came in at 3.4%, below expectations of 3.5%
This is the 38th consecutive month with inflation above 3%
May PPI inflation came in at 2.2%, below expectations of 2.5%
The Fed left rates unchanged for the 7th straight meeting this week
Median forecasts project 1 rate cut in 2024, and 100 bps of cuts in 2025
The Fed says that inflation has eased, but remains elevated
Fed Chair Powell said he does not have "a definitive answer as to why people are not happy with the economy" and "we have an economy growing at a solid pace"
Average U.S. household food costs have reached all-time highs
The Fed has issued enforcement action against Evolve Bancorp, Inc. and Evolve Bank & Trust of West Memphis, AR for deficiencies in the bank’s anti-money laundering, risk management, and consumer compliance programs
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has placed 1st Choice Credit Union in Atlanta, Georgia, into conservatorship, per CU Times
The number of banks on problem banks list increased from 52 in Q4 2023 to 63 in Q1 2024, per the FDIC
Total assets held by problem banks increased from $15.8 billion to $82.1 billion
U.S. equity funds saw their largest weekly withdraw since December 2022 of $21.93 billion, per Reuters
Team valuations in the 4 major U.S. sports leagues have outperformed the S&P 500 since 2005
The S&P 500 SPY 0.00%↑ and Nasdaq QQQ 0.00%↑closed at all-time highs this week
The S&P 500 has had 320+ straight trading days without a decline of more than 2%
The index is up 12% YTD and up ~30% from the October 2023 low
The Magnificent 7's share of the S&P 500 VOO 0.00%↑ has reached a fresh all-time high of 32%, per Bloomberg
The Russell 2000 to S&P 500 ratio is at its lowest level since October 2001, per Bloomberg
42% of small cap companies are unprofitable, an even higher percentage than the 41% during the Dot Com Bubble
U.S. consumers are currently the most optimistic about stock prices as they have been in the last 3 years
Elon Musk has withdrawn his lawsuit alleging OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman breached a founding promise last year by prioritizing profits over humanity, per Bloomberg
Tesla TSLA 0.00%↑ shareholders have re-approved Elon Musk’s ~$48 billion pay package, per WSJ
Nvidia NVDA 0.00%↑ has reached a $3 trillion market cap with ~29,600 employees
$102 million in market cap per employee, per Factset
Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ announced the latest version ChatGPT will be directly integrated into the iPhone
Apple to "pay" OpenAI for ChatGPT through distribution, not cash, per Bloomberg
Apple product users will soon be able to apply for loans with Affirm AFRM 0.00%↑ when they check out using Apple Pay
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has reportedly told investors that the AI company is considering changing its governance structure to a for profit business, per The Information
Walmart WMT 0.00%↑ to offer a bonus program to ~700,000 hourly U.S. store workers for the first time ever, per Reuters
Both part-time and full-time associates will be eligible for the financial bonus of up to $1,000 per year
FedEx FDX 0.00%↑ to eliminate ~2,000 corporate jobs globally
Oracle ORCL 0.00%↑ to lay off ~700 employees and shut down Oracle Advertising, per The Register
Coach USA, an operator of Megabus, has filed for bankruptcy and is looking to sell off assets, per Bloomberg
With restaurant sales down, Burger King, McDonald’s MCD 0.00%↑, and Wendy’s WEN 0.00%↑ are responding to price-weary consumers with value menus, per CNBC
Texas has passed California in large scale solar generation, per FT
Cell phone activity levels in many major U.S. cities are down vs. 2019, per Apollo
Over 40 metros are down more than 30%
Housing markets in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi are currently considered buyers markets, per Zillow
The most expensive housing market in the U.S. is in San Jose, California, where achieving home affordability requires a minimum income of ~$454,300, per Zillow
~25% of single-family homes in Fort Worth, Texas, are owned by an investor, company, or corporation, per the Tarrant Appraisal District
The 401(k) plan savings rate reached an all-time high of 14.2%, including employee and company contributions as of March 31, per Fidelity
U.S. credit card debt is up by ~$400 billion since 2020 and reached a record of $1.3 trillion in Q1 2024, per Bloomberg
U.S. consumers have added $3.4 trillion in total debt since 2020 bringing the total to a record $17.7 trillion
18% of U.S. adults said the largest emergency cost they could handle right now using only savings was less than $100, and 14% said they could afford an expense between $100 and $499, per Bloomberg
Americans’ financial concerns over inflation, interest rates, and jobs are at the highest level in over 2 years, per TransUnion
Consumer Sentiment has fallen to the lowest level this year, per Bloomberg
Disclosures:
I am not a financial advisor, and whatever I post should not be taken as financial advice. It is for education and entertainment purposes only. Anything I post does not constitute an offer to sell or trade, a solicitation to buy, or recommendation for any security, cryptocurrency, digital asset, or related product, nor does it constitute an offer to provide investment advice or other related services by myself or Minerva Digital Asset Education, LLC. I and/or Minerva Digital Asset Education, LLC may have a financial investment with the cryptocurrencies/digital assets discussed. In preparing the content created, no individual financial or investment needs of the viewer have been considered nor is any financial or investment advice being offered. Any views expressed in the posted content were prepared based upon the information available at the time such views were written. Changed, new, and/or additional information could cause such views to change.