weekly roundup – Bitcoin Halving is finally here
Bitcoin halving is finally here and there’s a whole lot of speculation on what will happen next. After the halving, block rewards for mining new blocks will decrease from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. This decreasing emission schedule is often what makes bitcoin interesting to investors (notably now including Paul Tudor Jones, famed Hedge Fund investor) in the first place.
“Each of the past two halvings were followed by bull runs that saw price rise thousands of percentage points,” data firm Messari wrote in a report this month. “Although the data to support this relationship is limited given bitcoin has only undergone two halvings, it has been enough to convince some people that halvings are a leading cause of bitcoin bull runs.”
Paul Tudor Jones’ Bitcoin Investment Thesis
Billionaire hedge fund pioneer Paul Tudor Jones has revealed he is buying bitcoin “as a hedge” and his investment thesis on bitcoin is one of the clearest from an institutional investor to date, covered in his latest investor letter, “The Great Monetary Inflation.”
Messari’s Ryan Watkins provides a great summary here.
Thinking about what store of value assets will be winners in ten years’ time, Paul Tudor Jones states “at the end of the day, the best profit-maximising strategy is to own the fastest horse. Just own the best performer and not get wed to an intellectual side that might leave you weeping in the performance dust because you thought you were smarter than the market. If I am forced to forecast, my bet is it will be bitcoin.”
The History of Bitcoin OTC Markets with Dan Matuszewski
Veteran OTC trader Dan Matuszewski discusses the evolution of crypto OTC markets from bitcoin’s first, second and upcoming third halving, and how the trading environment has changed somewhat since the 2012 event.
Pantera’s Dan Morehead Expects Bitcoin to Shine amid Sluggish Economic Recovery
In a letter to investors, Pantera Capital’s CEO and Chief Investment Officer Dan Morehead examines the unprecedented, “massively confusing time” across markets. Nevertheless, Morehead is bullish on crypto and short broader markets, at least in the short term, according to the letter.
Top-Tier Crypto Exchanges Experience Historic Volume ahead of Bitcoin’s Halving
April saw historic volumes for top-tier cryptocurrency exchanges ahead of bitcoin’s halving. According to a new report compiled by CryptoCompare’s analysts, volume trading on top-tier cryptocurrency exchanges increased last month, with a surge occurring on 30 April in response to bitcoin’s sudden dip below $9,000.
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance New Interactive Bitcoin Mining Map
Cambridge University has created the first ever bitcoin mining map showing the countries with the highest concentration of mining activity. The map visualises the average monthly share of bitcoin’s hashrate by country for the first time, and provides an exclusive visualisation of China’s hashrate distribution at the provincial level. China makes up 65% of total global hashrate (lower than in the past) with the U.S. and Russia on 7%.
Review of Notable Institutional Interest in Blockchain Projects and Crypto Assets
Digital Assets Research has produced a review of notable institutional interest in blockchain projects and crypto assets. The report shows that while the initial hype has been subdued under a barrage of delays and corporate shifts, there is still a significant amount of work going on in many different areas of capital markets.
Nick Prince’s long read considers where the institutional investors in crypto are and Bitwise’s latest research cites the case for crypto in an institutional portfolio.
Consensus: Distributed Speaker
We’re really excited about the other huge event happening in the industry this week – Consensus: Distributed where our CEO, Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, will be joining the 300+ speakers, who include Carlota Perez, Niall Ferguson, Larry Summers, the ECB’s Yves Mersch, Chris Giancarlo, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, the Winklevoss twins, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, Spencer Dinwiddie, Akon, Michelle Phan and many more.
Catch Oliver’s panel in the Markets Track – First Mover with Brad Keoun, at 2.10pm EST on Tuesday 12 May.
How Blockchain will Transform Central Banks
Crypto Research Report’s latest podcast features Jonas Gross, author of the World Economic Forum’s recent paper on Central Bank Digital Currencies which was published in Davos in January, and Manuel Klein. They cover how most of the countries that are issuing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are actually NOT using distributed ledger technology or blockchain.
They discuss the history of money and the difference between retail and wholesale central bank digital currencies and the potential risks of this newly issued currency.
What are the Big Implications of AMLD5 and FATF Travel Rule on the Digital Asset sector?
Our co-founder and Head of Compliance, Oliver Tonkin, joined the regulation panel at CryptoCompare’s Digital Asset Summit back in March, discussing the dawn of a new digital asset regulatory era: AMLD5 & FATF, with representatives from Shapeshift, Global Digital Finance and CoolBitX. The footage has just been released, catch it here.
