Minerva Weekly Newsletter Week 25 2024
Covers 6/16/24-6/22/24
Web 3 News
Coinbase COIN 0.00%↑ CEO Brian Armstrong says Bitcoin is an important check on inflation and deficit spending and “owning Bitcoin is pro-America”
Coinbase's base chain has had over 1 million weekly active wallets on chain for 14 straight weeks, per Dune
Gemini Earn users received access to their remaining 3% of assets in-kind this this week
Gemini Earn users have now received 100% of assets back in-kind following the bankruptcy of Genesis, a counterparty that created the yield opportunity
Uphold announced that due to MiCA in Europe on June 30, it will stop supporting multiple stablecoins, including $USDT, $DAI, $FRAX, $GUSD, $USDP, and $TUSD from July 1
They will be automatically converted to $USDC on June 28
2 U.S. lawmakers (including Rep. French Hill of AR) visited a jailed Binance executive in Nigeria and they say he is in poor health and asked the American embassy to seek a humanitarian release, per Bloomberg
Ethiopia, Africa's 2nd largest country, has more than 1.8 million crypto users with a population of 123 million
The Energy Authority has reached agreements with 21 Bitcoin mining companies, 19 from China
Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milojko Spajic personally invested in Terraform Labs cryptocurrency holdings ($LUNA) years before the company collapsed, per Bloomberg
Argentina's President Javier Milei this week "There will be free competition of currencies so if you want to use Bitcoin there will be no problems"
The SEC's chief of the crypto asset enforcement division, David Hirsch, has left the role, per his announcement on LinkedIn
The CFTC is investigating Chicago-based Jump Crypto, previously one of the sector’s biggest players, per Fortune
President Joe Biden and his administration to attend a Bitcoin and crypto roundtable in Washington D.C. in July, per Bitcoin Magazine
The Winklevoss twins both donated $1 million worth of Bitcoin to Donald Trump's campaign this week, citing his pro-crypto views
They were later refunded the donations due to the gifts exceeding the limits on campaign donations by individuals, per Bloomberg
MicroStrategy MSTR 0.00%↑ now holds 226,331 BTC following their most recent fund raise
Bitcoin adoption is growing faster than the internet, per Dan Held
Bitcoin started in 2009 and was worth $0
Today, it is the 13th largest currency in the world
Trezor to a launch a new Bitcoin only wallet
The device supports a 20-word backup using Shamir's Secret Sharing (splitting the master private key into multiple unique shards)
Marathon Digital Holdings MARA 0.00%↑ has announced a new 2 MW pilot project to use heat generated by Bitcoin mining operations for the first time to heat a community of 11,000 residents in Finland
~80% of spot Bitcoin ETF purchases come from "self-directed investors", per BlackRock $BLK CIO Samara Cohen
A joint Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETF by Hashdex has been filed with the SEC, per Bloomberg
7 spot Ethereum applicants filed their updated S-1s this week including:
Bitwise
Fidelity
VanEck
Franklin
21Shares
Grayscale
BlackRock
Of the fees revealed, they look to be similar to lower than the spot Bitcoin ETFs
Bloomberg analysts predict these will begin trading in by July 2nd
Consensys announced that the SEC has ended their investigation into Ethereum and will bring no charges
Ethereum Layer-2 network Polygon is starting a Community Grants Program to encourage developers to build in their ecosystem, per CoinDesk
1 billion $POL ($MATIC) will be distributed to developers over the next 10 years
Solana monthly unique users has reached 30 million worldwide
The median user is making 16 transactions per day
Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer has created a new synthetic dollar backed by gold, per the Block
Tether Gold $XAUt has a market cap of ~$573 million and is backed by physical gold stored in Switzerland
Stablecoin issuer Circle $USDC is ramping up hiring ahead of their potential IPO, per Bloomberg
Crypto could stave off a U.S. debt crisis, per WSJ
"Stablecoins backed by dollars provide demand for U.S. public debt and a way to keep up with China"
Stablecoins combined are now the 18th largest buyer of U.S. treasuries
Macroeconomic News
Lumber prices have now declined below the January 2023 low
Avocado prices are at their highest in 2 years, per Bloomberg
More than 7,000 companies globally, employing ~130 million people, can't pay back loans and are drowning in debt, per AP
Global data center energy usage is now exceeding many countries, per Bloomberg
This trend will likely continue with growing demand for crypto mining and AI
The Japanese Yen is close to the lowest value against the U.S. Dollar in ~34 years, per Barchart
Ford F 0.00%↑ to cut ~1,600 jobs in Europe
The Swiss National Bank has cut rates again to 1.25%
Full-time employment has started to decline in the U.S., per FRED
This has correlated with recessions over the last few decades
Social Security is projected to run out of money to pay full benefits in 2033 and Medicare in 2036, per Bloomberg
~67 million Americans received Social Security benefits in 2023
The number of U.S. companies going bankrupt has hit a 14-year high, per AP
Short interest on the S&P 500 SPY 0.00%↑ and Nasdaq 100 QQQ 0.00%↑ETFs is at a 6 year low, per JP Morgan
Kansas has sued Pfizer PFE 0.00%↑ over "misrepresentations" and "adverse effects" of their COVID-19 vaccine, per FOX
Philip Morris PM 0.00%↑ has suspended nationwide sales on popular smokeless tobacco product Zyn online after a Washington D.C. subpoena, per Reuters
In October 2022, Washington D.C. banned the sale of all flavored tobacco, including flavored synthetic nicotine products
Walmart WMT 0.00%↑ to eliminate hundreds of jobs in Georgia as a result of closing stores in the state
Big Lots BIG 0.00%↑ has issued a going concern warning that they may be unable to meet credit and loan obligations
Elon Musk says Dell DELL 0.00%↑ and Super Micro Computer SMCI 0.00%↑ will partner for the Grok supercomputer
Nvidia NVDA 0.00%↑surpassed Microsoft MSFT 0.00%↑ to become the most valuable company in the world this week, but closed the week in 3rd behind Microsoft and Apple AAPL 0.00%↑
Apple is suspending work on its next Vision Pro Headset, and will instead focus on a more affordable version of the headset, per Reuters
Chegg CHGG 0.00%↑ is eliminating ~25% of its workforce, or 500 employees
The CEO of Acorns, an investing and checking account app says the company is planning to IPO in the next couple years, per Bloomberg
Acorns called off a $2.2 billion SPAC merger in 2022
GE Aerospace GE 0.00%↑ CEO Larry Culp has turned down Boeing's BA 0.00%↑ request to take over as the company's next CEO, per WSJ
The U.S. DOJ is considering a deal with Boeing that would see the aerospace giant avoid criminal prosecution, but may appoint a federal supervisor to oversee company progress on safety improvements, per NYT
Two NASA astronauts who rode to orbit on Boeing's Starliner are currently stranded in space aboard the International Space Station (ISS) after engineers discovered numerous issues with the Boeing spacecraft, per CBS
There is a reported 45-day window to bring them back
EV startup Fisker Inc. has filed for bankruptcy after discussions with major automakers about an investment ended without a deal
Ferrari's RACE 0.00%↑ first electric car will cost at least 500,000 euros or $535,000, per Reuters
The average transaction price of a new vehicle is currently ~$47,000, per WSJ
Auto insurance rates in the U.S. have increased by 42% over the past 2 years, per Charlie Bilello
The largest 2-year increase since 1977
"Since 2019, U.S. rents have grown 1.5 times faster than wages," per Zillow’s Z 0.00%↑ Chief Economist, Skylar Olsen
U.S. multifamily real estate prices are now down 18% since their 2022 high, per MSCI
There is currently ~$56 billion worth of multifamily buildings in financial trouble, with much of it held by individual investors
Rental units accounted for ~1 million of the housing units constructed over the past year, while owner-occupied homes grew by ~600,000, per Freddie Mac
19.2% of U.S. homes for sale had a price cut in May, the 3rd highest percentage in the last decade, per Redfin
This is up from 13.2% a year ago and below the all-time record in October 2022 of 21.7%
Pending home sales saw their biggest decline since the beginning of March as some buyers are stepping aside due to high prices and a lack of new listings, per Redfin
The number of single-family homes for sale has reached the highest level since 2008, per FRED
"Foreclosure filings are rising in Texas and Florida as property taxes and insurance costs increase. It's a warning sign that homeowners are starting to feel distress," per Bloomberg
Louisiana has the highest share of underwater mortgages at 11.3%, up ~100bps from a year ago, per Attom
Homebuyer conditions for U.S. consumers have declined to an all-time low in June 2024, per Bloomberg
The index of buying conditions is now at 27 points, below the previous all-time low recorded in the 80's
78% of baby boomers plan to stay in their current home as they age, per Redfin
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.