The Brief for November 16, 2020

Bitcoin went bonkers and all anybody can talk about is all-time highs. Premium subscribers know my thoughts about that.

Look for the monthly issue soon and read below for two articles and some news.

• Taking it Mainstream: How to Make Crypto Finance & Stablecoins Ubiquitous (summary only—I’m not asking you to subscribe to Blockworks)

  • Bottom line: stablecoins play a vital, integral role in crypto. They’re both a gateway for users and reasons for people to move wealth into the markets.

  • My take: investors still crave U.S. dollars and stablecoins give them an equivalent asset. Users hate volatility and stablecoins don’t have any. Also, incredible yields on deposits make it a no-brainer to allocate a portion of your cash to a reputable, insured crypto lending platform.

  • Why we care: because at this moment, the engine driving this market is not mass fascination with bitcoin and cryptocurrency technology, nor the desire to have an independent store of value, nor belief in open, permissionless financial networks and decentralized, global commercial platforms. It’s the search for yield and the desire to grow your wealth.

• Biden Confirms Crypto-Savvy Gary Gensler Will Lead Financial Policy Transition Team

  • Bottom line: a pro-crypto ex-Wall Street white guy will lead the financial panel advising the new U.S. president (assuming the election results stand—I’ll talk about that in the monthly issue). That panel will have some other crypto-savvy people on it, too.

  • My take: it’s nice to have people who understand crypto involved in decision-making, but the U.S. government is very nuanced and far more complicated than most people think, with a wide diversity of opinions and lots of bureaucracy to untangle. Let’s see how it goes before we get too excited.

  • Why we care: if the U.S. ever gets sensible crypto regulations, ungodly sums of money will flow into the crypto markets.

As I may have mentioned, I recently joined Cryptowriter, a new community on Voice. You can, too! Once you’re part of the community, you can post your own content, comment on other people’s posts, or follow other people’s profiles.

Tap this button to sign up.

While Voice is in development, the rewards are worthless for now. Once it goes live, you’ll get actual cryptocurrency for your engagement.

(Last I heard, the team plans to launch the live version in the spring.)

Also, please remember, subscription fees will go to $7.77/month and $77/yr in a few days, but not retroactively. Your subscription fee will not change until you renew. Annual subscribers, you’re paid ahead :-)

Relax and enjoy the ride!