@cryptocracy 19 August 2022 more from that month

People Are Holding BTC Longer Now The percentage of BTC supply has been stationary **for longest period of time** in history. *In other words, more people are holding bitcoin for long durations relative to the number of people holding bitcoin. This indicates a greater trust in bitcoin.* https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-liveliness-lowest-since-2021-amid-new-5-year-btc-hodl-record Ethereum Foundation says Merge will **not reduce gas fees**. Sixty-nine percent of Ethereum nodes are hosted on **three centralized cloud service providers** and more than half are with Amazon Web Services (AWS). *I’m beginning to realize that, in the real world, no matter how decentralized a blockchain may be in its purest state, some level of centralization is unavoidable.* https://cryptoslate.com/ethereum-foundation-addresses-gas-fees-misconception-others-in-new-merge-update/ https://cointelegraph.com/news/3-cloud-providers-accounting-for-over-two-thirds-of-ethereum-nodes-data Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says he would **shut down Ethereum** staking rather than **censor transactions**. JPMorgan says Coinbase will be a **meaningful beneficiary of the Ethereum Merge**. *If Coinbase doesn’t shut down Ethereum staking, its ETH holdings will greatly benefit the exchange. On the other hand, if Coinbase is pressured by authorities to end ETH staking, it could injure the exchange tremendously—in more ways than one.* On another note, Coinbase says USDC will be the **foundation of a new era** in financial services. *I’d go one step further and can see a scenario where the Fed says we don’t need a central bank digital currency (CBDC) if Congress elects to regulate stablecoins. In that case, USDC could become the* de facto *stablecoin of the U.S. government.* https://decrypt.co/107700/coinbase-ceo-wed-shut-down-ethereum-staking-if-threatened-by-regulators https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/18/coinbase-ceo-suggests-exchange-wont-censor-transactions-on-pos-ethereum/ https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/08/17/coinbase-will-be-meaningful-beneficiary-of-ethereum-merge-jpmorgan-says/ https://dailyhodl.com/2022/08/17/coinbase-says-this-crypto-asset-will-be-the-foundation-of-new-era-of-financial-services/ **MUST-READ** **6 days in May with Do Kwon**. *You’ll want to read this. Again, I say, this is a* ***MUST-READ****. The founder of Terraform Labs, the maker of TerraUSD (UST), breaks his silence for the first time since the big crash. Is he repentant? Feel free to comment below.* https://www.coinage.media/s1/inside-cryptos-largest-collapse-with-terras-do-kwon Crypto insider trading may be a **bigger problem** than anyone thinks. Coinbase inside traders **profited $1.5 million** since 2018. *The term “insider trading” implies that digital assets traded on the platform are securities, at least under current U.S. law. Nevertheless, I don’t know what else it would be called if employees of exchanges are trading crypto and sharing information with their friends who are then making trades based on that information before the public has access to the same information. This is why Congress, not the Executive branch, should determine how cryptocurrencies are regulated.* https://decrypt.co/107671/coinbase-insider-trading-problem-study https://blockworks.co/coinbase-insider-traders-profit-1-5m-since-2018-academic-study/ Bipartisan bill will make the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) the **regulatory agency for cryptocurrencies**. *I hope this leads to real discussion, and action, among legislators in Washington and the various states.* https://www.iwf.org/2022/08/17/new-bipartisan-cryptocurrency-bill-would-establish-mandatory-framework/ Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin **slaps XRP in the face**. In response, Ripple’s CTO and the Ripple community **fight back**. *Don’t you just love Twitter wars?* https://cointelegraph.com/news/ripple-cto-lashes-back-at-vitalik-buterin-for-his-dig-on-xrp https://cryptoslate.com/ripples-community-turns-on-vitalik-buterin-over-xrp-tweet/ Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) blasts Chinese media for spreading **fake news**. https://www.financialexpress.com/digital-currency/binance-ceo-lashes-out-at-chinese-media-for-spreading-fake-news/2636211/ Phantom wallet has launched a new **Burn Token feature**. *This should light the fire of Solana fans who hate spam and love NFTs.* https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-wallet-fires-up-the-grill-to-burn-spam-nfts-out-of-existence Mark Zuckerberg gets **laughed out of the metaverse**. https://fortune.com/2022/08/18/mark-zuckerberg-mocked-metaverse-selfie-10-billion-reality-labs/ More than 1 million social media account holders want to delete their accounts. (**Email: VPNOverview**) *Many of the reasons why are discussed in my book* **Cryptosocial: How Cryptocurrencies Are Changing Social Media***.* https://vpnoverview.com/ https://www.amazon.com/Cryptosocial-Cryptocurrencies-Changing-Social-Media/dp/1637421834

Is the Tornado Cash sanction **the end of Web3**? *If so, then you can say there is no Web3, for it has not fully shown up yet. But this is a question we must all ask given the* zeitgeist*.* https://watcher.guru/news/is-the-tornado-cash-sanction-marking-the-end-for-web3?quad_cc At 84, Sir Anthony Hopkins is **launching an NFT collection**. The actor says it’s **fun to be the old guy** in the room. **This video** says it all in a most amusing robotic voice. The first NFTs in the collection will **stretch toward Eternity**. *If anyone could get me interested in NFTs, it’s Anthony Hopkins. He is a creative genius and one of the best actors ever to grace the silver screen. Unfortunately, his NFTs will likely go for way more than I could afford.* https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/anthony-hopkins-nft-eternal-collection-1235343040/ https://finance.yahoo.com/news/anthony-hopkins-nft-collection-144134151.html https://www.avclub.com/anthony-hopkins-transcends-human-consciousness-as-an-nf-1849426330 https://nftnow.com/news/anthony-hopkins-first-nft-collection-reaches-for-eternity/

Where are NFTs on the **hype curve**? *Somewhere between Bangkok and Neverland.* https://mindmatters.ai/podcast/ep200/ IRS issues a **John Doe summons** to crypto prime dealer SFOX. *If you think you can hide your money from the IRS, think again. If the John Doe summons has been used to acquire information on U.S. citizens with Swiss bank accounts, it can also be used to pierce the veil of crypto privacy.* https://www.natlawreview.com/article/warning-to-all-us-taxpayers-who-use-cryptocurrency-crypto-doesn-t-mean-your-currency Avalanche saw a **sharp drop in total value locked** and dapp use prior to correction. https://cointelegraph.com/news/a-sharp-drop-in-tvl-and-dapp-use-preceded-avalanche-s-avax-16-correction The drama that follows Craig Wright, Roger Ver, and other early bitcoin pioneers seems to **never want to go away**. A timeline of the battle between **Wright and Hodlonaut**. *Controversy seems to follow some people around like a cute puppy. I can see these blokes bludgeoning each other with insults from the safety of their wheelchairs in the Crypto Nursing Center of the future.* https://coingeek.com/roger-ver-the-notorious-nexus-in-exchanges-bsv-delisting-campaign/ https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/timeline-of-hodlonaut-craig-wright-case How Monero is **used in cybercrime**. https://www.makeuseof.com/monero-favorite-crypto-cybercriminals/ How digital currencies **hurt rural economies**. *It isn’t digital currencies that hurts rural economies. It’s the idea that rural economies must adopt the technologies of urban centers and the tendency of governments far removed from them to impose their wills upon the rural populace. In essence, it’s technological elitism.* http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/opinion/columns/article_1e6ed3c2-1f4c-11ed-82d7-4f33af9fae0b.html Will digital payments lead to **less freedom and more surveillance**? https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/crypto-and-the-freedom-to-transact/ Can Web2 fix Web3’s **design problem**? *If you haven’t noticed, Web3 has a huge design and functionality problem. But I’m optimistic that these will even out over time.* https://fortune.com/2022/08/18/web-3-design-mess-web-2-solution-jump-crypto-president/ An Orangutan in Oklahoma City Zoo creates art that is **turned into NFTs**. KFC turns its **chicken into NFTs**. https://www.news9.com/story/62fee143f75c000723616530/okc-zoo-orangutans-art-hits-the-nft-marketplace- https://www.techcircle.in/2022/08/18/kfc-launches-nft-artwork-that-gives-one-year-of-free-chicken Meet the world’s first **Chief Metaverse Officer**. https://flipboard.com/@forbes/meet-the-world-s-first-chief-metaverse-officer-how-cathy-hackl-is-demystifying-/a-W9epcjRnRouYX-5HGVaG3A%3Aa%3A3199486-fe4ea42a51%2Fforbes.com The Ukraine War illustrates the **value of cryptocurrencies** to real people. https://cointelegraph.com/news/ukraine-has-shown-the-value-cryptocurrency-offers-to-real-people Indian reservation wants to **attract more DAOs**. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/08/18/us-tribal-nation-economic-zone-publishes-draft-rules-for-daos/ What Web3 means for **law enforcement**. https://www.gcn.com/emerging-tech/2022/08/what-web3-and-blockchain-revolution-mean-law-enforcement/376041/ **Confirmed:** **LeoTok is just an idea**, not a reality. https://leofinance.io/@khaleelkazi/dkljdhho UK consortium to launch **digital currency pilot**. https://www.electronicpaymentsinternational.com/news/consortium-digital-currency-pilot/ Two large German banks introduce **Cardano, Solana investments**. https://bitcoinist.com/cardano-investment-available-to-millions-of-germans/ Nigeria wants to **boost e-naira users** by 10 times. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-18/nigeria-seeks-to-boost-e-naira-users-10-fold-as-cryptos-grow#xj4y7vzkg *Snark and commentary in italics. Boat in the harbor, ladies in the parlor, and tongue in cheek.* Cryptocracy is a decentralized newsletter published several times a week. I curate the latest news and crypto analysis from some of the brightest minds in crypto, and sometimes offer a little insightful and snarky commentary. Always fresh, always interesting, and always crypto. *First published at* *Cryptocracy**. Not to be construed as financial advice. Do your own research.* https://cryptocracy.substack.com/p/6-days-in-may-with-do-kwon Image credits: Social media, VPNOverview; Anthony Hopkins, NFT Now