weekly roundup – COVID-19 Continues to Stir Up Crypto
As the coronavirus continues to stir up the crypto community and another week goes by with further turmoil caused by its spread, we’ve pulled together some of the reactions, big reads and podcasts to hit the space.
Recent Analysis
Chainalysis published a detailed report on the moves in the crypto market of a couple of weeks ago, which is well worth a look, even if only for the compelling charts. It’s a reminder that other assets don’t leave breadcrumb trails like crypto assets do, but that their blockchain movements reveal much about investor behaviour. For instance, professional traders were responsible for the bulk of the strong inflows of bitcoin onto exchanges, with transfers between 10 and 1,000 BTC responsible for 70% of the flows.
Sticking with unusual metrics for a bit, according to Coin Metrics, most of bitcoin’s recent sellers were short-term holders. Key takeaway is that the “revived supply” metric tracks how many coins are moved on-chain after being untouched for a specific period of time. On 11 March, just over 281,000 BTC that had been untouched for at least 30 days were moved, but only just over 4,100 BTC that had been untouched for at least one year, implying that long-term holders are sticking it out.
Meanwhile, Coinbase processed $2 billion in crypto over 12-13 March amid the market collapse in price. The platform has purportedly been getting ready for this since the 2017 bull run. Where other platforms experienced issues and outages, CEO Brian Armstrong noted that Coinbase remained operational, saying the exchange has been preparing for a crisis “for the last couple years.”
Did BTC Miners Crash Bitcoin Price with 51 Days Before the Halving?
Bitcoin’s price has started to show strength in its recovery since the black Thursday sell-off last week, but is this something we can expect to continue? This analysis not only looks at the charts, but also at the possibility of large Bitcoin miners being the cause of the 50% price drop on 12 March, after supporting data emerged last week suggesting that short-term holders sold 281,000 BTC, which resulted in the crash.
New Podcast: The Wolf of All Streets
Not necessarily crypto-focused content, but worth a listen nonetheless – Scott Mekler speaks to Michael Kimelman, author of Confessions of a Wall Street Insider, about being at the epicenter of Covid in the US, government irresponsibility, the mainstream media’s role. Click to listen.
Tezos Foundation to Settle All Class Action Lawsuits and Grants $37m to Ecosystem Developers
The Tezos Foundation has announced that it has entered into a settlement of all class-action lawsuits. The settlement, if approved by the court, will conclude the blockchain project’s prolonged Class Action dispute over its $232 million ICO. “The Tezos Foundation chose to settle all claims because the Tezos Foundation believes it is in the best interest of the Tezos project and community as a whole,” the Foundation stated in the announcement.
Tezos has also granted $37m to its ecosystem developers since August 2019. The Tezos Foundation released its second Biannual Report, detailing the group’s progress in Q3 and Q4 of 2019; published on 19 March, the report reveals that the Foundation owns $635 million in assets.
Crypto vs Cash as a Safe Haven as Markets React to Coronavirus
Always a firm favourite with the BCB team, this week Vinay Gupta, Founder and CEO of Mattereum and Obi Nwosu, CEO of Coinfloor, discuss cash, crypto and Coronavirus.
Secure Your Privacy for COVD-19
Jameson Lopp, Casa Co-founder & CTO, shares his advice for personal privacy, security, and self-sovereignty in bitcoin with Charlie Shrem on the latest episode of Untold Stories.
New: The Academic Blockchain Podcast
The team from Crypto Research Report have launched a new weekly podcast where they interview academics regarding papers that they have recently written on the topic of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
This first episode covers:
➡️how cryptocurrencies will be the future, and that stablecoins are just a short-term intermediary step
➡️how the Triffin Dilemma is all about the trade-offs between short-term benefits and long-term costs when a country’s currency becomes the global currency. Plus how the United Kingdom’s pound hegemony and the US dollar’s hegemony have not helped these countries in the long-run.
➡️how Saudi Arabia’s exclusive use of the US dollar for oil sales is keeping the entire economy running on dollars, and why any oil producing country that moves away from the dollar is a major target for US warmongering.
