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Nic Carter, prominent industry venture capitalist and shyguy, had an insightful comment yesterday about how it’s easy to lose sight of reality when you’re logged on, heads down focused on building the digital tomorrow. It was in an article about tungsten – the latest obsession among many on Crypto Twitter.

“Focusing on metals is funny because, like, we’re dealing with synthetic stuff all day, right? So, like, why not just recenter on some analog physical goods every now and again. That’s the joke,” he said.

This article is excerpted from The Node, CoinDesk’s daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news. You can subscribe to get the full newsletter here.

Of course, crypto isn’t the only online community to realize the importance of stepping back now and again. Before there was touching tungsten, there was touching “grass.” The internet, with its enclaves, pseudo-anonymity and torrent of information has its psychological effects. It’s reshaping our memory, changing the quality of our friendships and, in what’s called the “disinhibition effect,” may be making us meaner.

Getting a little perspective on that is important. This is especially true in crypto, where digital pet rock NFTs (non-fungible tokens) sell for millions of dollars and governments call stablecoins “systemic risks.” It’s surreal, but it’s happening.

Some of this weirdness stems from the sheer amount of capital in the industry – now valued well above $2 trillion. Maybe it’s because we’ve seen it before, or maybe it’s that the human mind is just bad at conceptualizing large numbers, but that number means almost nothing to me. I can’t be the only one that has become so desensitized.

Sometimes it helps to put crypto in context. I’ve tried to find analogies so we can tie back to reality just for a moment.

See also: 15 Ways to Stay Sane While Trading Crypto

The current market cap of all crypto assets tracked by CoinGecko sits at $2,520,948,299,351. That would have paid for two decades of war in Afghanistan, according to researchers at Brown University’s Costs of War Project. America’s longest conflict is estimated conservatively to have cost $2.3 trillion.

Bitcoin cash (BCH), the unit of account for the payments-focused fork of the Bitcoin blockchain, is currently trading at or around $600. That’s the price for one pound of the world’s most expensive cheese, Pule donkey cheese, which is produced by a single farm in Serbia’s Zasavica Special Nature Reserve.

Last month, community members that sprung up around the text-based NFT game Loot, developed by Vine co-creator Dom Hofmann, issued 10,000 adventure gold (AGLD) tokens to NFT holders. Those airdropped tokens are now worth $35,900 at today’s price level, which can no longer buy you an entry-level Tesla.

Bitcoin trotted above $60,000 today following news an exchange-traded fund (ETF) could hit markets next week, before dropping back down, then back up. No matter, BTC is still in the ballpark of costs associated with feeding an elephant for a year.

On May 22, 2010, early bitcoin miner Laszlo Hanyecz bought two Papa Johns pizzas for 10,000 BTC. Had Hanyecz held onto those bitcoins instead, today the coins would have been worth $598,311,000. That was the projected cost to build the original Prince George Hotel in New York City in 1917.

Uniswap, the largest decentralized exchange, expended some 1,500 ETH in gas fees (the price paid to run transactions on the Ethereum blockchain) over the past 30 days, according to data site Gas Station. Depending on price fluctuations, that’s somewhere between the $4 million allocated to fund full scholarships for Black and low-income residents who attend the City University of New York and the $6.5 million meant for a retraining program in the current New York City government budget.

Quick Take

• This research piece contains 26 charts relating to the latest developments in DeFi — this includes NFTs, scaling solutions, governance tokens, MEV, etc.
• NFTs have seen a drop in interest since the end of summer.
• Scaling solutions are becoming increasingly popular as transaction fees get higher.

This research piece is available to
members of The Block Genesis.
You can continue reading
this Genesis research on The Block.

Quick Take

• As Web 3.0 matures, it’s important to organize its technical components and clarify how they change user experience
• To this end, we present an integrative model in which Web 3.0 is represented as a “horizontal” expansion of Web 2.0 infrastructure
• We also derive a continuum that represents a new choice space enabled by Web 3.0 technologies in which developers can decide how much decentralization, ownership, and verifiability to impart in their designs

This research piece is available to
members of The Block Genesis.
You can continue reading
this Genesis research on The Block.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) simultaneously filed and settled charges against Tether and Bitfinex today, ordering the sister companies to pay fines totaling $42.5 million.

The CFTC’s announcement said Tether made “untrue or misleading statements and omission of material fact” related to its stablecoin, USDT. Tether falsely claimed that USDT was fully backed by U.S. dollars, according to the CFTC. The order requires the firm to pay a penalty of $41 million.

Meanwhile, the CFTC additionally charged parent firm iFinex for misdeeds related to its crypto exchange, Bitfinex. The order finds Bitfinex engaged in “illegal, off-exchange retail commodity transactions” and additionally operated as a futures commission merchant (FCM) without registering with the regulator. Consequently, Bitfinex will pay a $1.5 million fine and be required to implement and maintain “additional systems reasonably designed to prevent unlawful retail commodity transactions.”

Commissioner Dawn Stump published a statement in support of the CFTC’s actions, but cited concern over the precedent some of the applications could set for future enforcement actions against digital asset firms. Additionally, she wondered if this action could confuse investors on the CFTC’s mandate.

“While the definition of a ‘commodity’ is relied upon in applying the anti-fraud provisions in CEA Section 6(c), we should seek to ensure the public understands that we do not regulate stablecoins and we do not have daily insight into the businesses of those who issue such,” she said. “But in pursuing and settling this matter, do we provide users of stablecoins with a false sense of comfort that we are overseeing those who issue and sell these coins such that they are protected from wrongdoing?”

In reference to the Bitfinex settlement, Stump pointed the public to her statement on the CFTC’s recent enforcement against Kraken. In that statement, Stump called for more clarity on the legal requirements that necessitate registering as an FCM and how the commission plans to apply them. 

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The U.S. sanctions watchdog is honing in on the crypto industry. 

On October 15, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) released a new brochure with crypto-specific guidance on navigating U.S. sanctions. 

The actual contents of the guidance are not especially revolutionary, but largely push the idea that OFAC expects virtual currency operators to shoulder the same responsibility for avoiding sanctions violations as other financial institutions. The guidance reads:

“As a general matter, U.S. persons, including members of the virtual currency industry, are responsible for ensuring they do not engage in unauthorized transactions or dealings with sanctioned persons or jurisdictions.”

OFAC names a range of actors that must develop risk-assessment programs, including “technology companies, exchangers, administrators, miners, and wallet providers, as well as more traditional financial institutions that may have exposure to virtual currencies or their service providers.”

Perhaps most interesting is that OFAC highlights geolocation of IP addresses and, specifically, analytical tools available to identify use of a VPN as part of its expectations. Geofencing by crypto exchanges and operators is an expanding practice, but use of a VPN can circumvent almost all of these barriers to trading. Heightened OFAC scrutiny on VPNs could dramatically alter the level of access that people in the U.S. have to platforms that are they are legally barred from using.

Since first targeting cryptocurrency wallet addresses in 2020, OFAC has become increasingly involved in the crypto industry. At the end of September, it announced its first-ever sanctions on a crypto exchange, a Russia-based OTC desk called Suex. 

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Markets are getting more volatile. Vauld helps you buy the dip.

You’ve heard it before – stock prices are untethered from reality, housing prices are overheated, and cryptocurrencies are running on hype. According to Yale’s Crash Confidence Index, the percentage of individual investors that are confident in the current markets hit a record low of 13% this August – and this was even before the Evergrande’s $300 billion fiasco, which recently triggered the worst day on Wall Street since May.

It’s notoriously hard to invest during a potential bubble, but luckily there is a way to simultaneously protect your savings, earn high interest rates, and position yourself to buy future dips in the market. This is all made possible through the rise of crypto lending platforms, which allow investors to automatically earn double-digit yields on their deposits. And among these platforms, Vauld offers the highest interest rates in the industry on a wide range of crypto assets.

And even though Vauld is a crypto lending platform, you don’t need to speculate on volatile cryptocurrencies in order to get in on the action. For instance, you can immediately start earning 12.68% APY on your USD-backed stablecoins, with no deposit/withdrawal fees or mandatory lock-up periods. Stablecoins are crypto tokens backed by another asset such as the U.S. dollar, meaning these tokens maintain the same value as the fiat currency they’re tethered to and are not affected by broader crypto market movements. In other words, the returns you earn from Vauld’s automated stablecoin lending platform exceed the ~10.3% APY the SPY generated during the historical bull market following the Great Recession.

The significance of investment opportunities like Vauld’s fixed-APY stablecoin lending service can’t be overstated. It’s no secret that the price of cryptocurrencies like BTC and ETH regularly make double-digit moves in a single day, and stock traders are increasingly twitchy as the global financial market reacts to multiple ongoing crises and uncertain US policy outcomes. Against this backdrop, stablecoin lending platforms like Vauld give you peace of mind from all this market uncertainty, and since there are no withdrawal limits or fees you can instantly liquidate your crypto tokens and scoop up discount stocks or other investments whenever you spot a better opportunity. To that end, Vauld even has a customizable ‘Buy the Dip’ feature that automatically purchases specific cryptocurrencies for you when prices drop below a pre-set level.

There’s no denying that the COVID pandemic – and each country’s haphazard response to it – has brought the world to an uncertain place. At the same time, many investors have been able to ride exuberant market upswings over the past year and a half. Nobody can predict the future, but all bull markets eventually come to an end. That’s why, as uncertainty and instability continue to creep into financial markets worldwide, insured, high-interest crypto lending platforms like Vauld are the best way for investors to play defense and offense at the same time. Get started today!

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

The price of bitcoin has broken above the $60,000 mark as the cryptocurrency returns to former highs from earlier this year.

A rally near the start of the year saw bitcoin break above this milestone for the first time in March. Prices rose as high as $64,500 by April, before suffering big losses in mid-May. After halving in price — dipping below the $30,000 mark — the cryptocurrency regained its momentum and started heading back toward its all-time high.

“Bitcoin’s strong rise over the past quarter and now surpassing $60k has been led by renewed interest by institutional investors paired with explosive growth in the NFT collectibles & gaming sector, which has brought many new users into bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. We continue to see strong fundamentals for the long-term,” said Aly Madhavji, managing partner at Blockchain Founders Fund.

With the latest price rally, bitcoin now has a market cap of $1.1 billion — around a tenth of the estimated market cap of gold.

A possible bitcoin futures ETF

The current push has been spurred on by the looming possibility of a futures-based bitcoin ETF. Following comments by SEC Chair Gary Gensler that a futures-based ETF would be more suitable in the near term, a report yesterday suggested that one is now imminent.

“It is widely expected that Q4 will see significant progress around a Bitcoin ETF in the US. Today’s spike might have been triggered by a Tweet by the SEC which explicitly mentioned Bitcoin futures,” said Ben Caselin, head of research and strategy at AAX.

An ETF based on bitcoin futures rather than spot trading means it allows investors to bet on the future direction of the cryptocurrency, rather than buying or selling it at current prices. On this basis, Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, argues that it may have a much smaller impact. He tweeted that demand will probably be muted, estimating only $3 – 4 billion in volumes over the first year. But he acknowledged it is still a big step after a seven year wait since a bitcoin ETF was first proposed.

Balchunas also noted that Valkyrie has filed an 8-A form, which he said was “yet another step indicating they think they will be going effective.”

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), Australia’s fifth-largest pension fund managing nearly $70 billion worth of assets, is reportedly open to investing in cryptocurrencies in the future.

Stuart Simmons, QIC’s head of currencies, told The Financial Times in a report published Thursday that large pension funds will likely seek out exposure to crypto as the space matures in terms of regulation and infrastructure.

“Right now there are a number of uncertainties, and the operational infrastructure for institutional investing remains immature,” said Simmons. “As the framework continues to develop, super funds may eventually simply be responding to user demand by facilitating investment in crypto.”

Earlier this week, Canada’s second-largest pension fund, CDPQ, also bought into the crypto space. It co-led a $400 million funding round for crypto lending platform Celsius Network.

Last month, two U.S. pension funds, the Fairfax County Police Officers Retirement System and the Fairfax County Employees’ Retirement System, were also reportedly planning to invest in crypto, pending board approvals. They were planning to make a combined $50 million investment in Parataxis Capital Management’s main fund, which buys various cryptocurrencies and trades crypto derivatives.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

“It’s a global development.”

On this episode of The Scoop, 10T Founder and CEO Dan Tapiero joined host Frank Chaparro to discuss his insights into the globalization of crypto markets and how his macro investing strategy has seen his fund 10T pour hundreds of millions into crypto unicorns.

To date, Tapiero has already allocated the majority of some of his funds to companies such as Kraken, Deribit, and Ledger. “We have a portfolio of about 10 to 15 companies that are our targets.” 

Tapiero mentioned how 10T has been helping investors adopt a macro crypto strategy, saying that he’s rejected some 50 plus deals in favor of a more careful approach with a closer guarantee to 5-10x returns. In spite of bear swings, Tapiero remains bullish. “I don’t think the valuations of things that we’re looking at are high to begin with.”

Tapiero also observed an “asymmetry” that he credits to the market’s resilience. He said he’s noticed that as bitcoin upside drives valuations up, any market downsides simply cause bitcoin company valuations to remain relatively neutral. He had this to say:

“I saw that you can have a productive portfolio of assets withstand an unbelievable bear market without even having a negative mark. And so in 2018, what brought me to this idea to some degree, was in ’18 bitcoin was down 80 percent, Ethereum 95 percent, but a basket of companies that we looked at broadly maintained their value. So to me, that’s like mind blowing. I can build a portfolio that has access to all of the upside, not just of Bitcoin and Ethereum, but the entire space without having to suffer, hopefully, much on the downside… For institutions, especially, this is a very attractive type of portfolio.”

Tapiero also sees a case for youth advocacy of cryptocurrencies as a means of holding sway over politics, with lobbyists backing certain political candidates based on their views of cryptocurrency. “I think there’s certainly a strong case to be made that as the younger people come into political power, that we’re going to have a transition in the way that people are viewing the crypto business.”

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Plum, the London-based investment app, has secured $14 million of what it hopes will be a $24 million Series A raise, according to a press release.

New investors in the business include dmg ventures and Ventura Capital, alongside existing backers Global Brain, VentureFriends and 500 Startups. Angel investors Francesco Simoneschi, co-founder and CEO of TrueLayer, and Charles Delingpole, founder and CEO of ComplyAdvantage, have also invested.

The raise will be followed by a campaign on the equity crowdfunding site Crowdcube later in October, for which more than 20,000 potential backers have registered interest.

Plum uses an algorithm to automatically save money for users, as well as to help them invest. The Block revealed in February that the startup is exploring the launch of crypto investments. This new asset class is expected to go live in mid-2022. The company is also mulling the launch of a spending card for later this year.

Victor Trokoudes, Plum’s co-founder and CEO, said the company is “delivering a product that looks more-and-more like a financial super app.”

“But there’s a lot more work to be done. The appetite for smart and intuitive investment products is enormous, particularly in other parts of Europe where often old-fashioned banks are the only option for growing your money,” he added.  

In its press release, Plum said it has seen customer numbers double in the past year, taking it over the one million user mark. The startup’s revenues are up 189% year-on-year over the same period.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.