Bitfinity Weekly: Running the 100k Race
Welcome to Issue #135 of Bitfinity Weekly for our #BITFINIANS community. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up here.
What's in Today's Email?
- Bitcoin Bytes
- Global Crypto News
- In the IC
- This Week in our Blog
- Tweet of the Week
- Meme Time
- A Matter of Opinion
Bitcoin Bytes
ATH Reached: On Wednesday Bitcoin reached the price of $100,000 USD for the first time in its history. Crypto-related stocks saw small gains the following morning, reacting positively to the news of this milestone achievement. However, MicroStrategy, often considered a "proxy for bitcoin" saw a dip of 7%, along with other notable Bitcoin-centric companies such as Riot Platforms.
Trying to Solv LSTs: Solv Protocol announced partnerships with Corn and Contango this week, as well as Botanix, which launched its testnet on Thursday. Solv is a DeFi protocol that bills itself as a "decentralized Bitcoin reserve" with 24812 Bitcoin in its holdings. The protocol allows users to maintain liquidity by means of LSTs (Liquid Staking Tokens).
Betting on Black: Jon Collins-Black, a crypto millionaire, published a book containing clues for hidden treaure he left for readers to find. He hid valuables like Olympic gold medals, an ancient Chinese jade bracelet, and multiple Bitcoin, in five puzzle boxes across America. Black says he was inspired by a 2010 treasure hunt which took 10 years to complete and claimed the lives of multiple people in the process.
I Am Spartacus: OrdinalsBot and Project Spartacus are relaunching an effort to inscribe the Afghan War Diary onto the Bitcoin blockchain using Ordinals. This revival, supported by Assange Campaign chairman Gabriel Shipton, ensures the logs remain accessible and immutable. The Afghan War Diary (also known as the Afghan War Logs) is a collection of over 91,000 calssified U.S. military logs that reveal insights into the 2004-2010 Afghan War.
Global Crypto News
RTFKT to Artifacts: Nike has decided to wind down its NFT and metaverse brand RTFKT, which it acquired in 2021. Originally known for merging digital fashion with NFTs, RTFKT faced a decline in interest in its digital collectibles (like CloneX avatars) during the bear market. Nike will be focusing on other digital ventures, like dotSwoosh. Despite the shutdown, RTFKT plans to release a final project, the MNLTH X featuring the Blade Drop.
Talk Tuah Lawyer?: Haliey Welch, a social media personality known for the "Hawk Tuah" meme, launched a memecoin that soared to a $500 million market cap before crashing dramatically. Within minutes, its value plummeted to $60 million, sparking allegations of a rug pull. Despite Welch's denials of insider trading, data suggests market manipulation occurred, with Burwick Law calling for people to file a free claim for a potential class action lawsuit.
Power Surge: South Korea's President Yoon, who has been embroiled in controversy since his election, declared martial law in a surprise move this Tuesday. Done presumably to avoid impeachment and investigation, Yoon's brief enactment of martial law led to capital flight from the Korean stock and crypto market. While major crypto tokens like Bitcoin briefly wicked down 30%, Tron saw aggressive Korean buys, leading to a 66.5% rally.
CoinBased: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced on Monday that the crypto exchange has cut all ties with law firms employing former SEC officials. Armstrong specifically caled out Milbank firm, which recently hired Gurbir Grewal, the former head of the SEC's Division of Enforcement. During his time at the SEC, Grewal oversaw a surge in regulatory actions against crypto firms, including lawsuits against Coinbase.
Buzz in Asia : Discover in this article how Bitfinity leverages Internet Computer to integrate Bitcoin and Ethereum smart contracts seamlessly in this hands-on developer-focused event. Bitcoin's surge to $100K signals profound shifts in global financial systems, driven by policy, technology, and market evolution. Read here.
Lending & Bridging : Lendfinity, the lending protocol on Bitfinity, recently reached $3M in TVL. Lendfinity is growing faster than ever, and this milestone proves the power of decentralized lending on Bitfinity. Also Omnity, another groundbreaking project building on ICP, spearheading the interoperability narrative in blockchain, recently reached a milestone of $3M in TVL, $5M in Total Volume and 5000+ transactions.
In the IC
Onchain Honesty: DFINITY's Pierre Samaties was interviewed by crypto founder and podcast host Anton Golub about the future of AI. Samaties covers the 60+ AI projects currently building on the Internet Computer, as well as how blockchain can keep AIs aligned with humanity's values.
I See Art: icpp-art NFT was launched on Bioniq this week, and highlighted in a tweet by the DFINITY foundation. The NFT collection was launched by onicaiHQ and described in the tweet by DFINITY to be one of the ICP ecosystem's "flagship AI projects", paying homage to the C++ community.
Ecosystem Health: The Internet Computer's Chain Fusion Ecosystem report is now available. The report details the growth of the multichain ecosystem made possible by Chain Fusion technology, which enables ICP smart contracts to read and write on other chains without the use of intermediaries.
This Week in our Blog
Blockchain-based prediction markets like Polymarket became a big part of the political discussion during the American Presidential election this year, with even traditional media referring to it as well as polls for public sentiment. But how do prediction markets work, and are they possible on Bitcoin? We have the answers to your burning questions here:
Hans
The Bitcoin ecosystem continues to evolve by leaps and bounds daily. In this article, we catch you up to speed on what's happening in the race for Bitcoin-native DeFi, and what Bitfinity is doing to push its development:
Fred
Tweet of the Week
The Ethereum community has an incredible dev-tooling community.
— Bitfinity Network (@bitfinitynet) December 2, 2024
The Bitcoin community also has an active DeFi cypherphunk community.
Bitfinity lets you access both🌐 https://t.co/jsEMGHUMov
Meme Time
A Matter of Opinion
In the wake of South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol's surprising declaration of martial law, the conversation around cryptocurrency's role in political turbulence has never been more pertinent. Korea's troubled past with authoritarian regimes provides a stark backdrop against which we can evaluate the utility of cryptocurrencies in times of crisis.
Cryptocurrency, at its core, is about financial sovereignty. In authoritarian scenarios, where traditional banking systems can be manipulated or shut down by a central authority, crypto offers an escape hatch. It's a tool for individuals to retain control over their assets without reliance on banks or state-controlled financial institutions. This aspect became glaringly relevant as South Korea momentarily revisited its history of martial law, a time when the government could exert total control, even over basic economic transactions we take for granted, such choosing to go to work.
The recent martial law order, though short-lived, reminded us how quickly freedoms can be curtailed, not just in Korea but globally. Countries like Venezuela, under Maduro's regime, have seen citizens turn to Bitcoin not only as a hedge against hyperinflation but also as a means to bypass government economic sanctions. Similarly, in Nigeria, during the #EndSARS protests, crypto facilitated donations when traditional financial routes were blocked.
Crypto's decentralized nature means it's not just a currency but a statement against censorship and control. In Korea, where the memory of dictatorship lingers, this certainly resonated deeply this week. The ability to move wealth or support dissenting voices financially without interference is invaluable indeed.
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