Plus, Russia is adopting crypto, and it could be a big deal
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Bitcoin surpasses $45,000 following a bear trap 🤝🚀 
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Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, is making a $200M strategic investment in the 104-year-old publisher Forbes. This is good ... right? While most see [crypto company] buying a large stake in [legacy media outlet] as an overwhelming positive for the broader crypto industry, many web3 insiders are not having it. Before we get to why ... Here are the details: - The cash will help Forbes go public via SPAC.
- Forbes averages 93 million global monthly readers and features pieces from leading journalists like Heather Morgan.
- Binance wants to use Forbes' reach to promote crypto adoption.
Why did Binance do it? - With a $200M stake, Binance will become one of the two largest shareholders of Forbes.
- This could turn Forbes into an engine for Binance to onboard the large share of crypto-curious millennials that read and watch its content.
Why some people are hating on it: - Binance is super centralized.
- A Chinese billionaire will gain a lot of influence over the normie crypto narrative.
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Russia effectively legitimized crypto by choosing to regulate crypto as a form of currency. It's a pretty big deal. Here's why: - First off, this means that they won't ban it.
- Russian residents own over 12 million cryptocurrency accounts worth a collective ~$26.7B.
- The country ranks as the third-largest bitcoin miner in the world in terms of hash rate.
In the Pomp Letter, Anthony Pompliano alluded to the cascade effect this could cause among global powers. - Hypothetically, Russia's step toward adopting crypto will force the hand of the United States and other global superpowers.
- Game theory and competition amongst these superpowers could be the geopolitical catalyst that propels global adoption.
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Just gonna leave this here ... 
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Blackrock will soon offer cryptocurrency trading to its clients — which include public pension schemes, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds for a total AUM of ~$10T. The service will be available through the firms Aladdin (short for "Asset, Liability, Debt and Derivative Investment Network") platform. More: - BlackRock also plans to launch the iShares Blockchain and Tech ETF that will track an index composed of companies involved in crypto technologies in the U.S. and overseas.
- Other banks and traditional financial institutions like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citi are all expected to enter into crypto sometime in the short-mid term.
- BlackRock owns ~16% of Mega Bitcoin bull Michael Saylor's company Microstrategy.
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Salesforce told employees that it's working on an NFT cloud service. It is believed that Salesforce wants to offer artists a service that will help them create and release content to OpenSea. More: - Salesforce may eventually integrate the tool into its own ecosystem, spawning an OpenSea competitor.
- The info was leaked from a private meeting that included Marc Benioff and Brett Taylor.
- According to the source, executives referenced the NFT-related work that Pepsi has done as inspiration.
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Quick Hits - 3D technology is changing the future of eCommerce. Threedium has just launched the most powerful low-code 3D & AR engine in the world.*
- McDonald's is planning to open restaurants in the metaverse.
- NFTs will likely dominate the digital asset universe in the future — JP Morgan.
- YouTube is doubling down on its upcoming NFT integration.
- The digital euro is planned for 2023.
- Hundreds of thousands of investors are automating their money with this fintech platform.*
*This is a sponsored post.
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 |  | Trevor Grant is an entrepreneur, investor, and writer based out of Chicago, Illinois. His primary area of interest is web3 venture capital, social tokens, and infrastructure. Other pursuits include screenwriting, yoga, and traveling. He holds a BS in biomedical engineering. Connect with him on Twitter @trevorisonline |   | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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