Sunday Rundown - January 17, 2021

Happy Sunday!

Check out this parabola on bitcoin’s trading chart:

Despite rumors to the contrary, bitcoin’s price remains on a path to hit $100,000 next month. That momentum continues to spill over into the altcoins, too.

Can the parabola continue? Or will we get a massive crash?

If you missed my most recent market update, tap this button.

Read below for two interesting articles.

• On Inflation, Treasuries, Incentive Alignment, and Fair Launches in DeFi

  • Bottom line: tokenholders and developers have different incentives.

  • My take: duh. Over time, we will figure out what’s the best way to balance those competing interests. Frustrating for us, frustrating for project teams, and necessary for the growth of this industry.

  • Why we care: DeFi has a long way to go, not simply because it’s buggy, expensive, and complicated. Governance and funding have their own problems. We don’t need to argue about what tokens do things better than another. The market will sort that out for us, and it might take more than one market cycle before we can start picking winners and losers.

•  Anchorage Becomes First OCC-Approved National Crypto Bank

  • Bottom line: Anchorage, a South Dakota trust company, will convert to a national bank.

  • My take: massive. For the first time, U.S. regulators gave pensions and corporations a way to borrow, lend, stake, and earn yield on crypto with all the conveniences, protections, and privileges they have with traditional banks. Kraken and Aventi have state banking licenses, which offer some advantages but limit their operations. With a national charter, Anchorage can go anywhere and serve anybody.

  • Why we care: most people and businesses in the US do not want to fuss with Metamask (TBH who really does?) or risk impermanent loss as a DeFi liquidity provider, but they’ll happily pay a small fee to Anchorage to get the same results with all the convenience of traditional banking and without having to switch between fiat and crypto. This will bring a lot of US money into the markets.

Relax and enjoy the ride!