pLast week the nonfungible token NFT platformnbspa hrefhttpswwwbitskicom targetblankBitskia announced anbspa hrefhttpstechcrunchcombitskiraisesmillionfromaztobecometheshopifyfornfts targetblank million Series Aanbspfunding round led bynbspa hrefhttpsazcom targetblankAndreessen Horowitzanbspaz The round saw participation from other investors including Galaxy Digital and Kindred Ventures and notable celebrities such as JayZ LAU and MrBeastppPositioned as the quotShopify for NFTsquot Bitski provides mainstream brands game developers celebrities and other creators to create custom NFT storefronts Founded in bynbspa hrefhttpswwwlinkedincomindinch targetblankDonnie Dinchanbspandnbspa hrefhttpswwwlinkedincominjuliant targetblankJulian Teschera Bitski seeks to bypass the crypto complexity of many marketplaces making it easier and more approachable for noncryptoorientated consumers and brands to interact The San Francisco startup is taking a subscription approach powering the custom storefronts that can then sell directly through their own channels instead of directing consumers to open marketplacesppIn an aznbspa hrefhttpsazcominvestinginbitski targetblankblog postanbspabout the investment the firm asks quotWhy shouldnrsquot buying NFTs be as easy as buying a tshirt or ingame items with my credit card Why shouldnrsquot selling one as part of a brand be as easy as setting up a Shopify storequot This seamless enduser experience is exactly what Bitski sets out to accomplish throughnbspdirect credit card purchasing quotforgot your passwordquot functionality and by having user wallets hosted on Bitskis own server hardware Skepticism among crypto and decentralization purists will exist however the platform will help usher in a new user base of NFT consumers similar to the likes ofnbspa hrefhttpsnbatopshotcom targetblankNBA TopShotappThe round brings Bitskis total funding to date to some million The platform has already worked with notable brands such as Adidas amp the WWE Exact details of what Bitski plans to do with the fresh capital werent announced but they are hiring seenbspjobs and are determined to continue making Bitskis platform more accessible and userfriendlyp

pLast Thursday marked a landmark achievement for the cryptocurrency industry IOHK the development company behind Cardano announced the biggest blockchain deal in history with thenbspa hrefhttpsafricacardanoorg targetblankEthiopian governmenta The deal will deliver blockchainbased identities for overnbsp millionnbspstudents andnbsp thousandnbspsecondary school teachers in the countryppThis deal was the culmination of nearly four years of negotiations between IOHK and the Ethiopian government The Cardanobased identity systemnbspa hrefhttpsatalaprismioapp targetblankAtala PRISMa build by IOHK will provide decentralized identifies DID for each postsecondary student in Ethiopia These DIDs will track students performance attendance and extracurricular engagement while also tracking the performance of their teachersppMany in the western world take the concept of governmentissued identity for granted Having a passport and access to our traditional financial system seem to many as a human right however there are many in the emerging world who do not have this luxury Statesponsored cryptographic identity will create an explosion of economic activity in Ethiopia allowing for financial inclusion financing land ownership and reputation systems to emergeppWhile the announcement of the million person deal was a major milestone in the advancement of the crypto industry IOHKs work is far from done in Africa They are already in talks with over other African countries and plan to roll out their Ethiopian partnership to elementary students and later other sectors of the Ethiopian economyppnbspppstrongWhat This Means for the Crypto IndustrystrongppWhile many of the emerging DeFi applications on Ethereum show tremendous potential many of them are focused on the North American market a market that is not in dire need of the innovations that blockchain can bring By focusing its attention on Africa Cardano is targeting a market that is in dire need of progress Similar to how many third world countries leapfrogged coal and went straight to solar power or how they skipped the landline and went straight to mobile blockchain will allow the opportunity for many of these emerging countries to leapfrog much of the traditional financial system and move straight into the world of blockchainppWithin the next few years Africa may be one of the leading continents when it comes to blockchain adoption and development This will steam from the tremendous need for the technology it provides as well as the tireless work done by the IOHK team in driving its adoptionp

pIn what can only be considered the largest flipflops of opinion by any financial institution this decade JP Morgan has walked back their harsh criticism of Bitcoin and is now launching a new Bitcoin investment productppWith overnbspa hrefhttpspillarwmcomwealthmanagementjpmorgan targetblank trillionanbspin assets under management as of JP Morgan is one of the largest investment banks in the world In JP Morgan CEO Jamie Diamond made headlines tagging bitcoin asnbspanbspldquofraudrdquonbspanbspquotterrible store of valuequotnbspand even went as far as to call it ldquoa hrefhttpswwwcityamcomjpmorganchiefsayswewillhavetobeinvolvedwithbitcoin targetblankworse than tulip bulbsardquo and that he would fire any JP Morgan trader caught trading Bitcoin This was met with harsh criticism from the Bitcoin community when shortly after making those announcements the company took a position in Bitcoin capitalizing on the selfinduced dip However since that time the company has dramatically softened its toneppOn the February Daniel Pinto the copresident of JP Morgan Chase said thatnbspquotthe institution will have to be involvedquotnbspin cryptocurrenciesnbspEither due to the explosive growth of Bitcoin or the tens of thousands of angry customers that they neglected to offer the asset JP Morgan has finally come around albeit with their tail between their legsppnbspppstrongWhat You Need to KnowstrongpulliThe fund will be an actively managed Bitcoin fundliliNYDIG will be serving as the custodian for the fundliliIt is slated to roll out later this summerliliThe fund will be reserved strictly for private wealth clientsliulpnbspppstrongWhat this Means for CryptostrongppWhile crypto heads can take solace in the fact that they can say quotI told you soquot to JP Morgan this move actually represents a much larger tectonic shift in the way financial institutions are looking at Bitcoin However cold and bearish they may have seemed in the past the sheer amount of consumer demand for the asset will ultimately force the hand of any financial institution that wants to survive It is no longer risky to hold Bitcoin now its riskier not top

pa hrefhttpswwwalchemycomcryptodotorg targetblankAlchemya a blockchain developer platform announced last Wednesday that it had raised nbspmillion in anbspa hrefhttpstechcrunchcomalchemyraisesmatamvaluationtobetheawsforblockchain targetblankSeries Bnbsparound led bynbspa hrefhttpswwwcoatuecom targetblankCoatueanbspandnbspa hrefhttpswwwadditioncapitalcomteam targetblankAdditiona According to Crunchbase the company previously raised M and M in a Series A and venture round respectively bringing its funding since launch to M and a total to date over MppThe San Franciscobased firm was founded in bynbspa hrefhttpswwwlinkedincominnikilster targetblankNikil Viswanathananbspandnbspa hrefhttpswwwlinkedincominjosephlau targetblankJoseph Laua Alchemy isnt a blockchain but the infrastructure that helps DeFi projects launch applications and access Ethereum nodes In August last year Alchemy launched its full suite of products after a twoyear closed beta that served select teams such asnbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcomdaiismovingbeyondetherbutdefiisntdecentralizedjustyet targetblankMakerDAOanbspandnbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcomwhykybernetworktokenstripledtomdespitethecoronavirusrecession targetblankKyber NetworkappNownbspa hrefhttpsblogalchemyapiioblogalchemyyearinreview targetblankpowering over anbspof the worlds top Ethereum applications Alchemy operates similarly to that of Amazon Web services but for blockchain companies The firm has also played a major role in the explosion of NFTs being the technology behind every majornbspa hrefhttpswwwbloombergcomnewsarticlesgoldenstatewarriorsupnftgamewithchampionshipcollection targetblankNFT platformanbspsuch as DapperLabs Makerspace OpenSea Nifty Gateway and many moreppThe Series B came at a M valuation and adds to a growing trend of investors looking to fund key players in the blockchains backbone So far startups focusing on digital technology such asnbspa hrefhttpswwwchainalysiscom targetblankChainalysisanbspandnbspa hrefhttpswwwbloombergcomquoteDUS targetblankDigital Asset Holdingsa have raised billion in compared to the that brought in only billion last yearnbspa hrefhttpswwwlinkedincomintomglocer targetblankTom Glocera a lead director at Morgan Stanley and Alchemy investor says he chose Alchemy because he wants to quotinvest in the picks and shovelsquot that help make the ecosystem functionppNikil Viswanathan explains quotit really highlights the power of blockchain and the whole industry and how blockchain has become mainstreamquot adding quotAlchemy has very solidly shown we provide the same accelerating service for blockchain thatnbspa hrefhttpsawsamazoncom targetblankAmazon Web Servicesanbspdid for the internetquotppWith fresh capital at hand Alchemy looks to expand its suite of developer tools to other blockchains According to Joe Lau Alchemy is quotblockchain agnosticquot and seeks to help as many blockchain networks flourish as possible The firm will also look tonbspincrease its presence in US tech hubs and open offices in Europe and AsianbspOther investors in the round include DFJ Venture Capital the Glazer Family and The Chainsmokersp

pThe United States Securities and Exchange Commission SEC now has three Bitcoin ETF applications under review Last week it gotnbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcomsecbeginsofficialreviewofkryptoinbitcoinetfapplication targetblankstarted with its reviewanbspof the recently filed Kyptoin Bitcoin ETF Kryptoin applied for approval of their Bitcoin EFT in but was denied SEC started reviewing its filing for the second time after Kryptoin filed with the Cboe BZX exchangeppIn another similar development the New York Stock Exchange filed anbspa hrefhttpswwwcoindeskcomnysefilestolistsharesofvalkyriesbitcoinetf targetblankB formanbspon behalf of the Valkyrie Digital Assets investment firm for its Bitcoin ETF Once the exchange accepts the filing it will kick off a review period of days during which the SEC will either approve or disapprove the application It may also end up asking for an extension of the review periodppWith Kryptoin up for review the SEC now has three active Bitcoin ETF applications to review The other two arenbspa hrefhttpswwwvaneckcomuseneducationinvestmentideasinvestinginbitcoinanddigitalassets targetblankVanEcknbspaandnbspa hrefhttpswwwwisdomtreeeuengbmediaeumediafileskeydocumentsfactsheetetfsecuritiesengbtcwswwisdomtreebitcoinpdf targetblankWisdomTreea Even if the SEC seeks an extension of the review period it has got a maximum of days to either approve or deny each of these applicationsppnbspppstrongBitcoin ETFs in North AmericastrongppThe launch of Bitcoin ETFs has gained much traction especially in North America after Canada launched the firstever Bitcoin ETF in February Thenbspa hrefhttpswwwfoolcastbitcoinetfinnorthamericashouldyoubuyit targetblankPurpose Bitcoin ETFanbspbecame the first exchangetraded fund to allow institutional and traditional finance investors access to the worldrsquos largest cryptocurrency The United States does not have any Bitcoin ETF so far If one or multiple of these filings manage to get approval it will expose the asset class to an entirely new category of institutional investors pension funds and endowmentsppMany industry experts believe that the introduction of a Bitcoin ETF in the US is now only a matter of time Two factors drive their convictionpollistrongExplosive Growthstrongnbsp Bitcoin has been experiencing the fastest growth of any asset ever however that growth has been kicked into high gear this year Having crossed the trillion dollar threshold as an asset class it has become a viable store of value in the portfolio of any treasury managerlilistrongChanging of the Guard strongnbspThe new SEC chair Gary Gensler has taught crypto and blockchain courses at MIT Although we are still unsure how Gensler will rule on the matter it is a great reassurance that the person in charge is fully competent and up to speed on cryptocurrency the SECrsquos attitude towards Bitcoins and the exchange trading of similar digital assetsliolpMany assume if one ETF is approved all active applications would be approved in order to remove any suspicion of favoritism or anticompetitive behavior Regardless of whos ETF gets approved and when we do know one thing for certain The launch of Bitcoin ETFs in the United States will serve as a great catalyst to once again ignite this Bitcoin supercyclep

More than 50,000 developers are actively involved in a local blockchain platform endorsed by the Chinese government. Yin Hejun, representing the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, communicated the significant commitment by the local government to advancing the Web3 industry in a written response to the National Committee of the Chinese People Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) proposal.

China shifting to Web3

Yin emphasized that the suggestions related to enhancing resource support for Web3 technology research and development, fortifying technology supervision and management, promoting international cooperation, and intensifying publicity and promotion exhibit foresight and strategic alignment with the key priorities set forth by the Ministry.

The provided document recognizes the sturdy industrial base of China alongside its substantial potential for Web3, encompassing policy backing, technological exploration, and practical applications. The document highlights official directives on blockchain technology and ongoing innovation pilots exploring diverse applications, such as trade finance and intellectual property. Prominent Chinese technology enterprises like Ant Group, Baidu, and Huawei underscore the pivotal role of the consortium in this sector.

Advancement with a catch

To expedite blockchain adoption, the Ministry of Science and Technology, alongside other governmental entities, has introduced certain policies and standards. Local initiatives in Beijing and Shanghai specifically aim to nurture innovation within the Web3 sphere. Authorities are capitalizing on opportunities in this emerging field by creating a conducive environment through guidelines, committees, and targeted initiatives.

The embracing of Web3 technologies by China indicates a significant shift compared to its previous stance of prohibiting cryptocurrencies and cracking down on mining operations. Nonetheless, concerns linger around the Chinese CBDC, the digital Yuan, which, while positioned as an advanced payment mechanism, enables unprecedented surveillance and control by authorities.

The proportion of extended ETH holders surged in 2023, surpassing Bitcoin for the second time in history. Based on insights via the on chain analytics platform IntoTheBlock, Ethereum has demonstrated notable progress in the percentage of investors maintaining their assets for over a year, marking a significant milestone for the blockchain, with the majority of current investors adopting a long term holding strategy.

ETH Long Term Holders Take Lead Over BTC

While the price performance of ETH lagged behind Bitcoin throughout 2023, this trend is expected, given the sheer dominance exhibited by BTC in bullish indicators and investor confidence. However, data indicates a growing number of Ethereum investors committing to holding ETH for an extended period, likely fueled by the anticipation of substantial future value appreciation.

Long term holders, characterized by their reluctance to sell during market volatility and price declines, play a crucial role in sustaining blockchain health, contributing to stability and mitigating price fluctuations.

History Repeats Itself

Ethereum has previously surpassed Bitcoin in this metric only once before, and it is noteworthy that during that instance, ETH went on to maintain leadership in this category over the subsequent months. Conversely, other metrics reveal that Bitcoin still maintains superiority over Ethereum in terms of profitability. Presently, nearly all BTC addresses show profitability at the current price, compared to ETH addresses which do show profitability albeit to a lesser extent.

In any case, the heightened profitability of Bitcoin is attributed to a significant number of early BTC assumed to be permanently lost. Consequently, the metric indicating holders who purchased at the current price places Ethereum ahead of Bitcoin.

pEvery time a new billionaire buys Bitcoin we tend to reserve a section in the Newsletter for the newest BillionaireturnedBitcoiner While the most prolific investor of all time has not quite taken the plunge yet his latest investment was certainly a step in the right direction Last week Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet finalized anbspa hrefhttpswwwforbescomsitesangelicamarideoliveirawarrenbuffettsberkshirehathwayinvestsmillioninbrazilianchallengernubankshcabe targetblankM series Gnbspainvestment into the Brazilian proBitcoin digital bank Nubank Nubank says it will offer bitcoin investments following its acquisition of brokerage firm Easynvest which offers the trading of Brazilrsquos first bitcoin exchangetraded fund ETFppFounded in nbspa hrefhttpsnubankcombren targetblankNubankanbspsays it has million customers making it the largest digital bank in the world in terms of the number of clients With the new investments Nubank has become ldquothe most valuable digital bank in the world and one of the largest financial institutions in Latin Americardquo the announcement details Nubank said Tuesday that it plans to use the money raised to fund its international expansion to Mexico and Colombia launch new products and services and hire more employees The postmoney valuation of Nubank is estimated at billionppnbspppstrongIs Warren Changing His Mind On CryptostrongppFor as long as he has been around Warren Buffet has been a value investor He finds companies with strong cash flows that he thinks are undervalued and invests big into them For this reason Bitcoin doesnt fit nicely into his investment thesis because it is not a company does not earn cash flow and does not have a CEO to bet on However given the meteoric rise of Bitcoin as a store of value I dont think it will be long before we see Warren holding a percentage of his funds in Bitcoin as opposed to dollarsp

pAs time progresses it has become increasingly evident that blockchain technology will not be limited to the boundaries of financial services While distributed ledger technology has made the digital transfer of value seamless inclusive free of duplication risk and intermediaries it is also changing the rules of the game for many other industries dominated by gatekeepersnbspppOne of such industries is thenbspa hrefhttpscointelegraphcomnewsblockchaintodisruptmusicindustryandmakeitchangetune targetblankmusic industrya In todayrsquos music industry it would be foolish to deny the contribution of the streaming platforms such as Napster Soundcloud and Spotify in empowering the creators with a costefficient and userfriendly alternative to piracy It has allowed them to receive royalties for their work in a more transparent way than before Yet there exists an undeniable discrepancy when it comes to the distribution of royalties Analysts and experts find that the market remains skewed with a limited number of hyperproductive artists dominating most royalty paymentsnbspppSeveral blockchain solutions are trying to remove this disparity by improving conditions for new and emerging artists so that they get better visibility do not need to pay any intermediaries and in turn get their due royalties in full Opus one such blockchainbased solution catering to the music industry is a PP network for file sharing and storage with its users acting as servers This unique structure ensures that there are no hosting fees related to streamingnbspppOn another layernbspa hrefhttpsopusaudio targetblankOpusanbspalso leverages the Ethereum network for payment management Leveraging selfexecuting smart contracts Opus ensures an independent distribution of content and royalties As a result the artists retain almost all of the payments and incoming revenue There are other platforms such asnbspa hrefhttpwwwmediachainio targetblankMediachainanbspa hrefhttpwwwmusiclifeio targetblankMusiclifeanbspa hrefhttpswwwemusiccom targetblankeMusica and more that are attempting similar ways to guarantee independent artists a larger share of their dues along with a more uniform and equitable distribution of content We hope that such blockchainbased platforms will augment their services in the days to come making content creation a more profitable earning opportunity for upcoming artistsp