Sunday Essentials 🪥 by JAD (5/26/24)
Your weekly reminder to brush and floss every day - and more!
Gm gm everyone~
A late start to this week’s post due to the long weekend here in the US + celebrating the union of loved ones 🎉
A historic week just occurred within crypto.
The big story?
ETH ETFs.
Let’s dive right in.
Enjoy~ ☕️
Crypto’s Big Week
Last week, the US Senate repealed SAB 121, an “anti-crypto rule” that was proposed by the SEC, with bipartisan support ✅
This week, the US House of Representatives passed the pro-crypto Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21) ✅
Results for FIT21, with 71 Democrats crossing party lines to vote in favor of the Act FIT21 aims to establish a fair crypto regulatory framework within the US, while also dividing the responsibilities between the SEC and the CFTC (aka securities vs. commodities).
For crypto…
Securities = bad
Commodities = good
This landslide victory in the House showcased bipartisan support, with 71 key Democrats such as Nancy Pelosi voting in favor 👀
And…since she’s jokingly referred to as the “greatest investor of all time”, maybe she has some crypto bags? 🤔😂
Then, the US House of Representatives passed pro-crypto HR5403, the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Anti-Surveillance State Act, which aims to block issuance of a CBDC without approval of Congress ✅
As a refresher, a CBDC is a centralized digital currency that could give the government and central bankers these powers over you:
What you spend your money on
Where you spend your money
How much you spend
When you can spend
How much money you’re allowed to “keep”
Obviously these are exaggerations…but you never know what can happen in the future, and the risk to your liberties are at stake with these even being a possibility.
In other words: CBDC = bad
8 ETH ETFs have officially been approved by the US SEC ✅
It all started on Monday, when Bloomberg ETF analysts on Twitter began posting that the chances of the ETH ETF being approved went up significantly since last week.
The news and updated filings led to a ~20% gain in ETH’s price that same day.
The largest “god-candle” in ETH’s history This, on top of the pro-crypto movements within the US Senate and House of Representatives (as detailed above) the same week, saw an increase in bullishness over all of crypto. The ETH ETFs may open the floodgates for other pro-crypto legislation, bringing innovation back to the industry.
The ETF applications have additional steps to go through before going live, but estimates of a summertime launch are supported by analysts.
—
Popular crypto wallet, Phantom, achieved “top 3 utility app” status on the iOS App Store (behind Google and Google Chrome) 👀
MetaMask will be integrating native BTC in its wallet 👀
Marathon Digital announced a partnership with Kenya’s Ministry of Energy and Petroleum to enhances the country’s renewable energy sector ⚡️
May 22nd was “Bitcoin Pizza Day”, celebrating the 14th anniversary of spending 10,000 BTCs to purchase two large Papa John’s pizzas 🍕
That amount would be worth ~$700M today 😭
BTC hit an all-time high in Japan, Argentina, and the Philippines as their local currencies continue to devalue 😬
Farcaster raised $150M 😲
Oh - and congrats to Nvidia for its ATH and upcoming 10-for-1 stock split 🎉
🇺🇸 Oklahoma passed a law protecting BTC mining and self-custody
🇻🇪 Venezuela confiscated ~2k mining devices and banned crypto mining in an effort to protect its power grid
🇧🇷 Brazil’s crypto regulatory framework is under way, with estimates to be launched by the end of 2024
🇸🇻 El Salvador has mined approximately 475 BTC since 2021 via volcanic geothermal energy
This week’s interesting chart:
15 Methods to Master Your Time by Justin Mecham
Okay, not really a chart, but this infograph puts a lot of different “time mastery” concepts into a simple, single image.
If you’re finding yourself needing more time, vying for increased productivity, or even just need to enhance your focus, these techniques have proven to be fruitful for many individuals.
Experiment for yourself!
A recent study by the Cleveland Clinic suggests that redheads require more anesthesia than control counterparts during dental procedures.
Apparently a gene mutation associated with the red-hair phenotype is responsible for this.
Of course, there is high variability between individual cases.
Perhaps there are other uncommon phenotypes that require modifications to treatment? 🤔
Oh, and PSA:
Please be wary of “veneer techs”.
This is a rapidly rising industry in which unlicensed individuals are performing irreversible procedures on your teeth to create a “perfect smile/esthetic”.
If you are ever considering getting esthetic dental work done, please see a licensed dentist for a consultation.
My Thoughts On…
All the pro-crypto regulations being passed + ETH ETFs 🤔
Though many are ecstatic with the sudden turn-of-events within the US regarding crypto regulation and future policies, I am…cautiously optimistic.
It seems too convenient that there is now bipartisan support for pro-crypto regulation during this election year.
Over the past few years, the Democratic Party has been publicly against crypto.
To see the 180 shift in perspective should raise some red flags for those paying attention.
My initial thought is that these elected officials are pandering to voters, as there are ~50M US citizens who hold crypto.
And since the Republican Party has taken the reigns as being crypto-friendly, action was needed to gather more potential single-issue voters this election cycle.
Not all doom and gloom, however…
The passing of FIT21 implies that ETH is not a security and instead a commodity, which has a couple of potential positive outcomes:
Helps with Coinbase’s ongoing legal issues with the SEC.
Can extend to other crypto tokens that have similar attributes to ETH.
And again, commodities = good, securities = bad for crypto
And furthermore, now that the US is distinctly involved with crypto, other countries will likely follow suit and watch where regulations go.
This entire week serves as a forcing function for crypto bystanders and countries to now take a stance on crypto.
So yes, I am optimistic because I firmly believe that crypto is well beyond the scope of a single country or entity.
But cautious with how regulators will manipulate the industry to their benefit.
With many eyes now on these digital assets…this is just the beginning.
In Case You Missed It
RIP Kabosu 🙏
Kabosu, the shiba inu mascot for Dogecoin, passed away at the estimated age of 18.
Out of respect, I bought a little more $DOGE today than usual.
May your meme live on forever.
Miscellaneous
Don’t overthink it.
Photo of the Week
Stay safe out there and be happy~
Best,
Philip
Disclaimer:
All thoughts and opinions are my own; please DYOR (do your own research) and remember that this is NFA (not financial advice). After all, I’m just another dentist.