| July 1, 2019 | View in browser |
|---|
You only have 2 free Unbankd Pro newsletters remaining.
A MESSAGE FROM UNBANKD:
Hey Unbankd lovers. Thank you to everyone for the support last week. It's awesome to be part of such a strong community.
Last week, we announced Unbankd Pro, our premium newsletter that we are building to help fuel better research, more insights, and stronger analysis for our readers.
You've got one more day. If you sign up today for Unbankd Pro, we will give you 50% off the monthly cost or up to 60% off the yearly cost.
You won't get this deal again. Join Unbankd Pro today or miss out on this amazing offer.
JOIN UNBANKD PRO
Good morning! Thanks for reading. If you enjoy our newsletter, please share us with a friend and tell them they can subscribe here.
Today's top reads
- Downloads fall short
- The Ethereum premium
- The untold side of BSV
- Deepnudes and blockchain
This week's poll: Bitcoin SV?
Click to answer:
Yes!
Heck no!
Market update
| COIN | PRICE | 7-DAY |
| BTC | $10,542.75 | - 2.77% |
| ETH | $287.28 | - 6.74% |
| XRP | $0.399 | - 13.39% |
| LTC | $119.69 | - 11.59% |
| BCH | $399.48 | - 14.90% |
1. Downloads fall short
Euphoria hasn't set in. Last week we noted that something about this break over $10,000 for bitcoin feels different. Google Trends has barely even shown an uptick compared to 2017 and the market doesn't seem to be buzzing the same way it did with the general public yet.
Now, app download numbers only confirm that. According to a Bloomberg report, downloads for crypto related mobile apps have stayed steady over the last year despite wildly outperforming in the last 6 months.
The take: Since mobile apps, like Coinbase and Cash App, are among the simplest ways to buy cryptocurrency, steady downloads show that the rush of new retail traders hasn't fully come around during this bull market.
If that's true, what magnitude of new users are we going to see in a 2019 move? Since bitcoin's last cross over $10,000 in November 2017, crypto unicorn Coinbase added more than 8 million users to its database to a total of over 20 million investors.
That's a lot, but the ceiling is far off. According to Blockchain Capital, only 11% of Americans are currently invested in bitcoin. That leaves roughly around 290 million Americans (and much more users worldwide) to help fuel the market in the coming years.
You do the math: If 11% means $10,000, where could we be headed?
2. The Ethereum premium
Investors are getting shortchanged. Spotted by Charlie Bilello and subsequently revealed on Twitter, Grayscale's Ethereum Trust is trading at a significant premium over the underlying asset since its start last week.
Bilello calculates that on June 20th, investors were paying 1,059% over the value of Ethereum to hold shares in the regulated investment vehicle. On June 24th the trust's premium rose to 2,022% for an estimated value of $580 per ether.
Not a great look. Grayscale has been selling at a premium for years through its Bitcoin Trust. It's the price investors are willing to pay to take a stake in the industry without having to purchase digital assets directly.
But regulators need to fix this. If anything, Grayscale's premium shows a stronger need for crypto exchange-traded funds (ETF) to provide a more efficient market.
VanEck's Director of Digital Assets Strategy, Gabor Gurbacs, commented:
Sometimes I wonder if regulators wish they approved a Bitcoin ETF. Here is an example of a $1B+ OTC Bitcoin product, that often sells at a 30%+ premium, marketed on public TV and reaching millions. Crypto exchanges also have millions of clients.
[OP-ED]
3. The untold side of BSV
A quick search about Bitcoin SV (BSV) on Google will surface unflattering results. But for one moment, forget about Craig Wright, the coin's self-proclaimed Satoshi that everyone loves to shit on.
Despite receiving poor press since its inception, BSV has retained strong support from its comparably small community. But why?
It's simple: Bitcoin SV is more than money. With larger blocks that scale infinitely and the use of a script called OP_RETURN, suddenly BSV's horizons expand from a "store of value" to an asynchronous, scalable way to store immutable data. That's quite the feat.
More than that, it means developers can build serverless apps that are 100% powered by BSV. BSV developer _unwriter made this possible through Planaria Network - an interface that opens the gateway from frontend development to BSV's network.
What's important about this though? It makes apps like Twetch - a growing interface where users can post immutable information to BSV and get paid P2P for each interaction their post receives - possible.
The implications of this idea are far-reaching. Imagine a streaming application like Spotify that enables musicians to get paid directly for every second a user streams their music, or a stock photo app that allows photographers to get paid P2P for every time their image is reused. Ownership and use is fully trackable and transparent on chain. All with no middle man.
Look past the trolling: The BSV development community are building real, usable, and scalable apps that give BSV more function than the speculative asset traders make it out to be.
4. Deepnudes and blockchain
Authenticity has never been more important. Earlier this week, major media outlets reported about a toxic application making its rounds through the depths of the internet.
Dubbed DeepNude, the app used neural networks and artificial intelligence to generate nude photos of fully clothed women. While the app has since been removed by its own development team - it's a stark reminder of online authenticity.
In a world where computers can generate faces, personalities, voices, fingerprints, and now nudes, blockchain technology is the only way to certify truth online. It's binary. The truth matches, fakes don't.
While public ledgers might not support the massive amounts of data that pictures and videos contain on the blockchain quite yet due to scaling issues, it's something we'll need to tangle with if we want certifiable information.
Already, businesses are catching on. In March, Louis Vuitton owner LVMH announced it was launching a blockchain to verify legitimate luxury goods and fight counterfeits. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency VeChain (VET) saw a nice price gain this week after Walmart's Chinese branch announced a partnership with the project.
The truth lie hurts: With deepfakes on the rise and the truth only becoming more opaque, onchain information is ever-increasing in value.
5. You should also know
- Binance is reportedly in talks with Facebook to support the social media giant's upcoming crypto project Libra.
- The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) has made a full u-turn on its stance on cryptocurrencies.
- Craig Wright claims his $10 billion fortune is inaccessible despite self-proclaiming himeself Satoshi.
6. Libra...nope
From last week's poll, 80% of respondents claimed that they don't support Libra. The other 20% who support it...we need answers.
unbankd
303 5th Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
The above is not intended to be investment advice.
Copyright © 2019 Unbankd, All rights reserved.
If you don't absolutely love us, drop us.
