#1 Binance stress test

Since FTX went out of business, more and more attention and public spotlight have been put on Binance, the dominant (a monopoly?) crypto exchange in the world. Even with FTX in place, it was already big, but now it’s an absolute beast.

So far, Binance has managed to serve all the withdrawals (it processed around $6B/day once), and most of the acquisitions have been just FUD. But better be safe than sorry. Go deeper and learn more here:

Is Binance having an FTX moment? 🤯🤯🤯 (+1 bonus read)

Binance wants to be your Crypto Bank 🏦

#2 FTX virus 🦠

Binance isn’t the only one that’s suffering after the FTX went to the wall. I have written quite a few times about how big FTX’s tentacles are 🦑 In addition to hundreds of startups and some of the most prominent crypto firms, they apparently got to stocks too. FTX-linked stocks, which had been on a seemingly unstoppable rise, are now collapsing in a mindblowing display of market turbulence. The worst part? It might be just the tip of the iceberg… Go deeper and learn more here:

The mindblowing collapse of FTX-linked stocks 🤯 (+6 bonus reads)

#3 Institutional crypto adoption

There’s a saying in the startup world that bear markets are for building. This seems to be the current mantra in the crypto world too - why the macro environment is experiencing the winter season, institutional players (investors, banks, fund managers) are the ones that push crypto adoption forward. The best part? They are solving real and practical problems. Suspect seeing more of this in 2023. Go deeper and learn more here (& see how JPMorgan is killing in the space):

Institutions are now driving the crypto adoption boom 🚀 (+1 bonus read on JPM and the future of finance)

#4 Bitcoin in El Salvador🇸🇻

Since making the cryptocurrency legal tender last year, the country has failed to officially declare any of its holdings and now likely has unrealized paper losses with bitcoin's price drop of about 71% over the past year. Buying Bitcoin with your taxpayers’ money and not showing proof or accountability it’s the same as SBF and FTX buying homes and taking out personal loans from their customers’ funds. It’s pure fraud. When you look at the big picture, the Bitcoin push in El Salvador seems to be one of the biggest product-market fit failures ever. Go deeper and learn more here:

El Salvador is a case study in crypto's structural problems 🇸🇻

Bitcoin in El Salvador🇸🇻 is one of the greatest product-market fit failures ever 🤦‍♂️

#5 Price is the story

A recent crypto study has shown what I’ve been noticing for a while - that price is the story, and it’s one of the biggest drivers of crypto adoption. Hence, during the crypto winters, when prices of most crypto assets are down, the general interest in cryptocurrencies goes down. Go deeper and learn more here (+ some remarkable charts):

Price is the story, or how retail is adopting crypto 💸 (a must-read!)

#6 Ether - the Internet Money?

Ether (ETH), the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain, has finally turned deflationary for the first time since The Merge, when Ethereum changed how it processes transactions nearly 3 months ago. Although this hasn’t been reflected in the price of ETH, it’s too important to be ignored and it still has the potential to become the ultrasound money of the internet. Go deeper and learn more here:

Ether, the ultrasound money? 🤑 (+2 bonus reads on Ethereum)

#7 Stripe + Crypto = 🚀

Payment heavyweight Stripe has launched its own fiat-to-crypto on-ramp, allowing customers to exchange dollars for cryptocurrencies. This is a huge move not only because Stripe is now coming after giants like MoonPay or Ramp. More importantly, it just killed a dozen of similar Fintech startups. Go deeper and learn more here (+ a look into Stripe’s strategy map):

Stripe just killed MoonPay, Ramp, and dozens of other FinTechs 🤯 (+3 bonus reads)

#8 The fall of Coinbase (?)

One of the crypto pioneers Coinbase COIN 0.00%↑ has lost nearly 90% of its value since going public. What's even worrying is the grim outlook for the future. Coupled with decreasing trading volumes and monthly active users, not to mention the overarching crypto winter, it even makes you question whether Coinbase will be here in the next 5 years. But there are two important things that challenge this way of thinking. In fact, they make a bullish case for Coinbase. Go deeper and learn more here:

The bullish case for struggling Coinbase 🤑

Coinbase loses half a billion dollars and half a million customers in 3 months. What signals does it send? 🤔

#9 Starbucks pushing Web3 forward

Coffee powerhouse Starbucks SBUX 0.00%↑ has rolled out Odyssey, the coffee chain’s new Web3 rewards platform built on Polygon. The demand for the platform so far has been unprecedented, as per the company. This is a brilliant case study for mainstream Web3 adoption. Go deeper and learn more here:

Starbucks is the ultimate Web3 disruptor ☕️😎 (+2 bonus reads on Starbucks’ Web3 Startegy and why it could be huge)

#10 Nike and Gucci dominating NFTs

Many (including myself) believed that non-fungible tokens aka NFTs are a financial revolution for artists that was going to change the music industry forever. Data now shows us that we were dead wrong.

In fact, it seems that the biggest winners from NFTs (and royalties tied to them) are top NFT projects and corporations like Nike NKE 0.00%↑ and Gucci. This trend should probably continue through 2023 too. Go deeper and learn more here:

The biggest winners from NFTs are Nike and Gucci 🤯 (+1 bonus read)

And that’s a wrap. 2022 was an absolutely wild year in Blockchain & Crypto. I’m pretty sure that 2023 will bring even more madness 🥂

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