Minerva Weekly Newsletter Week 26 2024
Covers 6/23/24-6/29/24
Web 3 News
Binance was fined ~$2.2 million for providing services to Indian clients without adhering to the nation's anti-money laundering rules, per CoinDesk
A U.S. Judge in the Washington DC dismissed the SEC's charges against Binance and CZ related to secondary market $BNB sales and Simple Earn, per CoinDesk
The charges against their initial token offering and ongoing sales of BNB, staking, and fraud can proceed
Bybit has surpassed Coinbase COIN 0.00%↑ to become the world’s 2nd-largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange
Coinbase has sued the SEC and FDIC for information relating to crypto regulation, per FOX
Coinbase says there is a “deliberate and concerted effort by the SEC, FDIC, and other financial regulators” to deny crypto firms access to the federal banking system
Coinbase is partnering with Stripe using their EthereumL2 base for cheaper financial infrastructure access for millions of businesses around the world
Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the CFTC to list regulated Futures for Shiba Inu $SHIB, Chainlink $LINK, Avalanche $AVAX, Stellar $XLM, and Polkadot $DOT
Kraken CEO Dave Ripley says, "we're extremely encouraged by how Donald Trump's campaign has embraced cryptocurrency and how the former President has gone up the learning curve in the industry", per Bloomberg
CME (Chicago Mercantile Exchange) has become the largest Bitcoin futures trader, per coinglass
Japan's public Metaplanet to issue ¥1 billion in 0.5% bonds to purchase more Bitcoin, per Bitcoin Magazine
Metaplanet has established a wholly owned subsidiary to amplify their Bitcoin strategy, per Bitcoin Magazine
Strike has launched their Bitcoin lightning network app in the U.K.
Bolivia has made Bitcoin trading and payments legal once again in an effort to modernize their financial system
Louisiana has passed a bill to protect the right to custody Bitcoin and ban CBDCs, per Satoshi Action Fund
The 4th state to pass a bill like this (including Arkansas)
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has introduced a bill to allow Bitcoin payments to be made for Federal income taxes
Presidential candidate Donald Trump is in talks to speak at this year's Bitcoin conference in Nashville, TN, per Axios
PayPal PYPL 0.00%↑ founder and billionaire Peter Thiel says he still holds Bitcoin
"I didn't buy as much as I should have"
Over 65% of the entire Bitcoin supply hasn’t moved in more than 1 year, per Bitcoin Magazine
The share of Bitcoin traded over weekends has declined to an all-time low of 16% in 2024, per Bloomberg
Bitcoin’s hash rate is down ~10% from the all-time highs achieved near the halving in April
Bitcoin miners have sold > 30,000 $BTC (~$2 billion) since the beginning of June, the fastest pace in a year, per IntoTheBlock
Riot Platforms RIOT 0.00%↑ has called for a special meeting of shareholders at Bitfarms BITF 0.00%↑ to vote on three new board nominees as it seeks to take over the rival Bitcoin miner, per Bloomberg
CleanSpark CLSK 0.00%↑ to acquire Bitcoin miner GRIID for $155 million, with plans to expand over 400 MW in Tennessee
Under the agreement, CleanSpark will purchase all GRIID common stock in an all-stock transaction, with GRIID stockholders receiving CleanSpark shares
Tidal Investments and Quantify Chaos Advisors have filed jointly for a new ETF offering, called “STKD Bitcoin & Gold ETF,” that would offer exposure to both Bitcoin and Gold
BlackRock BLK 0.00%↑ has acquired shares of their spot Bitcoin ETF IBIT 0.00%↑ for their Global Allocation Fund
SEC Chair Gary Gensler says the process to approve spot Ethereum ETFs is going "smoothly", per Bloomberg
He did not comment on a timeframe for the ETFs to begin trading
U.S. regulators could approve spot Ethereum ETFs for launch by the 4th of July, per Reuters
The SEC has returned S-1 forms to potential spot Ethereum ETF issuers with only a few comments, per The Block
The issuer has been asked to process these comments and resubmit by July 8, meaning there will be at least one more filing before trading begins
The SEC has sued Consensys over their MetaMask wallet saying they failed to register as a broker, per Bloomberg
They also targeted Ethereum staking services Lido and Rocket Pool, referring to their popular stETH and rETH tokens as unregistered securities
VanEck has become the first to apply for a spot Solana ETF with the SEC
21Shares has become the 2nd company to apply for a spot Solana ETF
Token unlocks from the likes of Avalanche $AVAX, $DYDX, and $PYTH are impacting the altcoin market, per Bloomberg
Major token unlocks are happening in July including $DYDX, $SUI, $IO, $XAI, $IMX, $APT, $STRK, $ARB, $AXS, $APE, $PIXEL, $WLD, and $ALT with unlocking value exceeding $730 million, per TokenUnlocks and Wu Blockchain
The address of Mark Cuban (markcuban.eth), has started selling NFTs in his address after two years
Earlier this week, he sold 12 NFTs with a total value of ~11.43 WETH
He still holds various NFT assets worth > 1,900 ETH
Layer-2 network ZKsync is coming out with an interoperability layer called "Elastic Chain" which could compete with Polygon's AggLayer, per CoinDesk
Ethereum L2 Base has become the most popular ETH L2, per growthepie
Base: ~3.5 million daily transactions, +60% in the last 30 days
Arbitrum: ~2 million daily transactions, -22.3% in the last 30 days
Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin has introduced a company called Rarimo, per CryptoSlate
They are developing a tool called “Freedom Tool,” which uses ZK (zero-knowledge) proofs to allow citizens to prove their citizenship and participate in voting without revealing their identities
Igloo Inc., the parent company of NFT project Pudgy Penguins, announced they acquired the on-chain creator economy platform Frame
The Frame team will join Igloo in developing a Layer 2 network designed specifically for on-chain culture and community
Tether announced they will stop supporting EOS and Algorand and will stop issuing $USDT on $EOS and $ALGO
The transition is expected to be completed within the next 12 months
Macroeconomic News
China's ByteDance (TikTok) is working with Broadcom AVGO 0.00%↑ on developing an advanced AI processor, per Reuters
Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ has become the first U.S. tech giant charged under Europe’s new antitrust law, per NYP
They face billions of $ in fines
A 6-day workweek takes effect in Greece beginning July 1st
Certain industrial and manufacturing facilities, along with businesses that provide 24/7 services, are eligible
Workers will receive 40% more pay during the additional eight hours, and 115% on holidays
Employers in Canada are turning to more temporary foreign workers, per CBC
Last year, employers were cleared to hire ~240,000 temporary foreign workers, up from ~109,000 in 2018
The CBO has raised the U.S. government's deficit forecast for FY 2024 from $1.5 trillion to $1.9 trillion, or 6.7% of GDP
Treasury Bond ETF TLT 0.00%↑ saw an inflow of $2.7 billion on Monday (6/24), its largest one-day inflow in history, per Bloomberg
1.285 million barrels of oil were added to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) last week, the largest addition since June 2020, per zerohedge
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has ruled to restrict the SEC's use of in-house judges for fraud cases
In a 6-3 opinion, SCOTUS has overruled Chevron deference, a 1984 precedent that says when congressional laws are "ambiguous”, federal judges should defer to "reasonable" federal agency discretion
The ruling diminishes the power of federal agencies, taking away their power to interpret ambiguous laws through rule making
For example, the SEC has been making rules for crypto, in the absence of laws made by Congress without expressed consent from Congress for them to regulate the industry
The State of Arkansas has sued Temu over privacy violations
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a public apology to hedge fund manager Ken Griffin for failing to protect his confidential tax data from being stolen and leaked to the media by a contractor who is now in prison, per Bloomberg
May PCE inflation (the Fed's preferred inflation measure) came in at 2.6%, in-line with expectations of 2.6%
Core PCE inflation fell to 2.6%, in-line with expectations of 2.6%
The U.S. Dollar Index $DXY is approaching its highest level this year, per Barchart
The U.S. market cap as a % of world market cap is near an all-time high of 47.9%, per Bloomberg
S&P 500 stock buybacks reached $237 billion in Q1 2024, the 3rd highest amount in history, per Charles Schwab
The companies in the S&P 500 SPY 0.00%↑ have added ~$6 trillion in market capitalization in the first half 2024, per WSJ
U.S. prosecutors have recommended to senior DOJ officials that Boeing BA 0.00%↑ face criminal charges for violating a settlement related to two fatal crashes
Boeing has offered to buy 737 supplier Spirit Aero for $35 per share, per Bloomberg
Novo Nordisk to build a $4.1 billion North Carolina facility to boost output of popular weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic among other therapies, per CNBC
Pfizer PFE 0.00%↑ is testing 3 new weight-loss drugs, per Semafor
Pfizer's CEO, Albert Bourla, says 2 of the drugs would use the same GLP-1 technology as rival Novo Nordisk’s brand Ozempic, while a the other uses a different mechanism that is under wraps
Eli Lilly LLY 0.00%↑ announced a partnership with OpenAI that will allow them "to leverage OpenAI's generative AI to invent novel antimicrobials to treat drug-resistant pathogens"
Mattel MAT 0.00%↑ to make UNO and other popular games colorblind accessible, per CNBC
They expect 80% of games by end of 2024, and 90% by end of 2025
A McDonald’s MCD 0.00%↑ test of plant-based burgers in San Francisco and Dallas “was not successful in either market”, per CNBC
Nike NKE 0.00%↑ had their worst single-day loss since their 1980 debut on 6/28 of ~20% following their earnings call
Target TGT 0.00%↑ has struck a deal with Shopify SHOP 0.00%↑ to discover new brands and hot items for its 3rd-party marketplace Target Plus, per CNBC
Target says that starting today, companies that work with Shopify can apply to join
Walmart WMT 0.00%↑ is replacing physical price labels with digital screens in many stores, but they promise they won’t use it for surge pricing, per Fortune
Walgreens WBA 0.00%↑ will close up to 2,150 stores nationwide, which will likely result in a headcount reduction of ~57,000 employees, per USA Today
WBA 0.00%↑ is down ~80% in the last 5 years
Taiwan Semiconductor $TSMC predicts there will be one trillion transistors on a chip by 2034
OpenAI is building a team of lobbyists to influence politicians who are increasing their scrutiny over AI, per FT
They have expanded the number of staff on their global affairs team from 3 at the start of 2023 to 35, and wants 50 by the end of 2024
Apple AAPL 0.00%↑ has renewed efforts to develop AR-only glasses which would be lightweight spectacles intended for all-day wear, per Bloomberg
2027 is the earliest projected release year for the augmented reality glasses
Amazon AMZN 0.00%↑ has surpassed a $2 trillion market cap for the first time ever
Amazon to launch a Temu-like discount section with direct shipping from China, per the Information
Meta META 0.00%↑ to face a lawsuit claiming it prefers foreign workers over U.S. citizens
Volkswagen to take a $1 billion stake in Rivian RIVN 0.00%↑, and invest another $4 billion in a joint venture with them, per Bloomberg
Interactive Brokers IBKR 0.00%↑ is launching contracts that allow customers to wager on future events related to the economy and climate, per WSJ
The contracts let users take yes/no positions on questions such as if CPI will rise above a certain number, or if the global temps will reach a specific level
NASA announced SpaceX has been selected to develop and deliver the U.S. Deorbit Vehicle that will provide the capability to de-orbit the International Space Station (ISS) and ensure avoidance of risk to populated areas
Internships have declined from last year in many industries, per Bloomberg
RealPage, a rental property software company that has been used to fix rents around the country, is laying off hundreds of employees
U.S. renters must earn $66,000+ a year to afford the typical apartment, the 2nd highest amount ever, per Redfin
The median income needed to afford renting is up 24% since 2020
U.S. new home construction declined 5.5% to an annual rate of 1.28 million units, the lowest level since June 2020, per Bloomberg
Building permits dropped 3.8% to 1.39 million, the lowest level in 4 years
Last month, 19% of U.S. homes for sale had a price cut, up from 13% a year ago, per Redfin
For the first time since the pandemic, the typical home is selling below list price, per Redfin
Buyer demand has waned amid high housing costs and inventory has grown stale with over 60% of listings on the market for at least a month
Demand for second-home mortgages fell to ~91,000 in 2023, a 6-year low, per Redfin
A new record low for pending U.S. home sales, per Bloomberg
Even lower than the drop in 2020
There are ~481,000 new homes for sale in the U.S., the highest inventory level since January 2008, per Charlie Bilello
On January 7, 2021, the average 30-year mortgage rate was 2.65%, per FRED
Rates have now been ~7% for the last 21 months
13 of the 15 housing markets in the U.S. at the highest risk of a correction on prices are in Florida, per ResiClub
More than 1/3 of Americans earning at least $250,000 annually say they are living paycheck to paycheck, per Bloomberg
$2.3 trillion of accumulated savings have been depleted by Americans since August 2021, and excess savings are now below pre-pandemic levels, per Bloomberg
46% of retirees in 2023 said they stopped working earlier than planned, per Gallup
In 2022, the average expected retirement age was 66, but the actual retirement age was 62, on average
42% of Gen Z, and 47% of millennials say they plan to use debt to finance summer trips, per Bankrate
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.