Week 5 | 1/30/23 - 1/4/23
By Matthew BrienenNews Flash
Crypto companies with US operations — including Wirex and B2C2 — withdrew their applications to register with a United Kingdom financial watchdog in recent months after the standards for acceptance were raised. The vast majority of crypto firms that have attempted to register with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have been denied, the agency reported this week. There are now 41 companies listed on the FCA’s cryptoasset firm registry, according to the agency — or about 15% of applicants.
VitaDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization that funds research projects in the field of longevity science, closed a $4.1 million raise. VitaDAO is part of a nascent movement known as decentralized science (DeSci). In place of the current science ecosystem that relies on centralized bodies of research and funding, DeSci aims to source funding for research through crowdfunding and to decentralize ownership.
Defunct crypto lender BlockFi has earned court approval to sell its remaining assets. These included a $250 million line of credit in June 2022, earmarked to “bolster its balance sheet.”
XRPL Labs’ lead developer Wietse Wind has let slip that developers are working on an XRPL-powered QR payments feature for the Xumm wallet to allow users to make payments at retail stores. The developer made this known in a tweet on Monday. It came in response to a user request for a Xumm wallet debit card. Instead, Wind suggested a QR payments feature, asserting it would come sooner than users expect, which implies that it is already in the works.
The price of LBRY Credits (LBC) has more than doubled after the U.S. regulator accepted that the token itself is not a security. The native cryptocurrency behind the file-sharing and payment network jumped 80% on Wednesday, according to data from CoinGecko, in response to the latest development in LBRY’s battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In an appeal hearing which took place on Monday, a New Hampshire district court judge ruled that transactions of LBC on the secondary market were not securities.
The Department of Motor Vehicles in California plans to use blockchain technology for record keeping, including the issuance of car ownership and simplifying transfers of such ownership. The DMV has tapped a private fork of the Tezos blockchain, an open-source blockchain that can execute peer-to-peer transactions and serve as a platform for deploying smart contracts, according to a recent report by Fortune. The move is part of a collaboration between the California DMV, Tezos and blockchain software firm Oxhead Alpha, which announced the successful completion of a proof-of-concept blockchain-based vehicle titling solution on January 25.
CryptoCharged Live Show Recaps
Monday: Matt discusses the week ahead, UK denies crypto companies the US lets operate, Montenegro Central Bank partners with Ripple to Develop CBDC, and Google is now pro-crypto.
Tuesday: The team covers some rapid-fire news including Cardano's decentralized stablecoin, the SEC admits that the LBRY token is not a security, and the eurozone economy unexpectedly expands in Q4. Matthew also examines the charts and discusses how simple swing trading is.
Wednesday: Dan Habib explains the market reaction to the Fed meeting, the rate hike, and an inflation theory. Brienen discusses how the LBC token has increased by 80%, the UK has finally revealed a plan to regulate crypto trading, and the Lebanese Pound has decreased by 90%.
Thursday: Matt mentions Charlie Munger's claim that the United States should follow China's lead and ban cryptocurrency, the California DMV's use of blockchain technology for record keeping, and the leading NFT marketplace for XRP native NFTs. Matthew also provides a technical market analysis and a Solana short opportunity.
Friday: Dan Habib explains the January 2023 BLS Jobs Report, an updated methodology, and market reaction. Brian Decker discusses the China crypto tax, Ethereum scaling solutions, and the Canto hype.
