Bitcoin Approaches $31K

ALSO: Coinbase tries to beat SEC suit; PetroChina explores the digital yuan

Oct. 23, 2023 The biggest crypto news and ideas of the day  Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here. Don't want this newsletter? Unsubscribe Supported By Welcome to The Node! This is Ben Schiller here to take you through the latest in crypto news and why it matters.   In today's news: Bitcoin approaches $31k as inflation worries increase. Coinbase tries to dismiss SEC accusations. And PetroChina carries out first trade in digital yuan.  The takeaway: A lack of regulatory clarity is harming the U.S.'s position as a stablecoin leader, says Chainalysis North America policy chief. Bitcoin Rises Bitcoin (BTC) continues to gain ground, taking bullish cues from traditional rate-sensitive assets like gold. The leading cryptocurrency by market value rose to $30,797 during Monday's Asian trading hours, reaching the highest since July 15, according to CoinDesk data. Prices are up 14% for the month, with gold registering a 6.7% gain. Analysts said bitcoin and gold were buoyed by continued speculation about the end of the Fed tightening cycle, signaling an inflationary regime ahead. New York's hottest courtroom is SDNY 26A. Located in a heavily guarded skyscraper near the Financial District, this four-day-a-week perp party is the creation of alleged crypto fraudster Sam "your money's gone!" Bankman-Fried. This place has everything: Reporters, washed-up television stars, a U.S. Marshal who looks like a hunky John Cleese – and that's just the gallery! Test Judge Lewis Kaplan's patience and his hair-thinning henchman Andy will give you a verbal spanking. With the trial now in recess, CoinDesk's reporters take you inside the courthouse where the action happens.    Looking for more in-depth reporting on the SBF trial? Subscribe to "The SBF Trial" newsletter pop-up, written by CoinDesk reporters and editors on the ground in court. A message from Bitget Become part of the world's most extensive crypto copy trading platform! Bitget enables everyone to trade like a professional by offering free access to proven strategies from over 100,000 elite traders. You can harness the market's potential without the need for years of crypto expertise.   Join Bitget today to seize up to 1,000 USDT in welcome bonuses and embark on a "hands-off, gains-up" journey right away. Don't miss out on this opportunity! Coinbase Fights Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) is set to make its final case on Tuesday that a judge should spring it from the clutches of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its unregistered-securities dispute. In Coinbase's last word on its motion to get the accusations tossed before trial, a person familiar with the plan said the company will double down on familiar arguments: The SEC hasn't demonstrated the transactions were investments contracts (and thus, securities), because it hasn't shown any actual contracts existed, and the SEC is violating the "major questions doctrine" that basically holds that federal agencies have no business regulating novel areas that are awaiting congressional action. PetroChina's Digital Yuan Chinese oil and gas company PetroChina (0857) has completed the first international crude oil trade using the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the e-CNY, China Daily reported on Saturday. PetroChina bought 1 million barrels of crude oil settled in e-CNY, or digital yuan, at the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange (SHPGX) on Oct. 18, according to the report by the Chinese Communist Party-owned newspaper. China's government may wish to use the e-CNY as a tool for expanding the international use of its currency, also known as the renminbi, so using it to settle purchases of major global commodities like crude oil would be one way to underpin this expansion. The Takeaway: US Losing Stablecoins (CoinDesk) The following is a guest column from Jason Somensatto, head of North America policy at Chainalysis.    Stablecoins are the backbone of the crypto economy. Transactions involving USD-backed stablecoins reached nearly $6.87 trillion in 2022, surpassing the volumes of Mastercard and PayPal. Despite the crypto winter, stablecoin activity has remained resilient, reflecting approximately 40% of all value transacted on blockchain networks. In other words, stablecoins have emerged as an innovation with product-market fit.    Despite this, the U.S. is struggling to secure its role as the leader on stablecoin policy and competitiveness. As reflected in our recently-published 2023 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report, approximately 60% of all stablecoin activity involves stablecoins issued by non-U.S. domiciled issuers, and the majority of all stablecoin activity occurs through non-U.S. licensed services among the top 50 exchanges. A year ago, the trend was toward greater involvement by U.S.-based regulated companies.   U.S. policymakers should not passively sit back and watch as this trend in the innovation of payments continues. Instead, the U.S. should prioritize passing legislation and implementing regulations that aim to ensure the U.S. is able to properly supervise USD stablecoin activity and benefit from its growth.   The Consequences of Not Acting   The consequences of the U.S. failing to act on stablecoin regulation are significant.   First, well-tailored regulation can provide the U.S. with a mechanism to oversee the adoption and use of USD-pegged financial products and ensure it secures a central role in regulating and supervising the stablecoin issuers at the center of this growing market. The inverse means that the U.S. may lose out on the ability to enforce important regulations around anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism, which would have consequences for national and global security as threat actors continue to try to exploit the weak points within crypto networks. Preventing North Korea from continuing to use crypto as a means for funding its nuclear program is only possible if the U.S. continues to have meaningful touchpoints with compliant actors operating within the crypto economy.   Second, the U.S. risks losing out on serving as the home to growing business that are likely to be strategically important in expanding the important role that USD plays in the global economy. Failing to act in a manner that reverses current trends and incentivizes activity through U.S.-based stablecoin service providers allows other countries to not just benefit from this growing sector, but also shift it towards alternative currencies. The U.S. receives numerous advantages from preserving the USD's indispensable role in the global economy, including reduced costs for consumers, lower borrowing costs for the government, and increased independence in setting monetary policy.   Finally, sound stablecoin regulation not only reflects good policymaking but also presents an added benefit of de-risking the broader economy by diversifying the risks inherent in our banking and payment systems. The alternative is to continue down a path where a single risk to the banking system can have systemic consequences to multiple institutions.   Read the full article on the web. Cryptocurrency Payment Solutions are (Finally) Emerging, Thanks to Payment Gateways Like Alchemy Pay*   If cryptocurrency-as-payment were truly easy and ubiquitous, there wouldn't be playful articles about how hard it is. And that gets to the crux of the issue. The idea of "buying coffee with bitcoin" was quirky and fun but not mainstream. Not only Bitcoin, other cryptocurrency like Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, XRP have been used to make payments, but failed to take off as a widespread payment solution. None have truly caught fire in a mainstream way.   The reason for this lack of adoption? Let's look at it from the perspective of users, merchants, and enterprises. Continue reading   **This is sponsored content by Alchemy Pay Off-Chain Signals  Is Bitcoin's Lightning Network Not Safe? – Unchained Reddit moderators fired over suspected insider trading – Protos Bit Digital bets on generative AI for revenue – Blockworks Uniswap's New Fee Heightens Token/Equity Tension – The Defiant Bitcoin ETF to trigger massive demand, EY says – Cointelegraph Wither Privacy?  The Node: A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.  Don't want this newsletter? Unsubscribe. Copyright © 2023 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA See all of CoinDesk's newsletters | Manage subscriptions

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Poshmark exits international markets / Digital freight broker Convoy shuts down operations

Plus, RockItCoin acquires two Bitcoin ATM companies

Inside Startups For October 20, 2023

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Hey Insiders, Happy Friday! Here are the latest stories from today's newsletter: Poshmark exits international markets.  Convoy shuts down operations. Metaverse startup Upland raises $7M. If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Nicolas p/mobilitynerd

1 Poshmark, the social marketplace, announced closing some of its international markets. The company will discontinue its operations in India, Australia, and the U.K. to focus on core markets.  More:  The company noted that services will cease in these countries on Oct. 26, 2023. The decision to close these international markets comes as Poshmark's popularity has declined in these regions, with less than 500,000 active users across the U.K., India, and Australia in the past month. With 8.1 million monthly active users, the company will concentrate its investments on the U.S. and Canada. The move follows Poshmark's acquisition by South Korean firm Naver last year, valuing the platform at $1.6B, a significant decrease from its peak market cap of $7.3B

2 Digital freight broker Convoy announced it is shutting down its operations. The company had raised $260M at a $3.8B valuation 18 months prior.  More:  Convoy, a Seattle-based startup, aimed to modernize the traditional and fragmented freight brokerage business. Prior to the shutdown, the company employed around 500 people. Convoy faced challenges as trucking rates normalized after the pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions, impacting the demand for its on-demand technology. The company cited an "unprecedented freight market collapse" and "dramatic monetary tightening" as reasons for its closure. The move comes as supply chain software startup Flexport announced 20% layoffs of about 20% of its workforce a week earlier.

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3 Upland, a Palo Alto-based Web3 metaverse startup, announced a $7M round. This brings the total raised to $25M since its inception, having launched its virtual real estate game in June 2019. More: The startup works on a virtual version of the real world, where users can buy and sell properties. Upland claims 3 million registered users on the EOS blockchain and 300,000 virtual property owners. The round included participation from EOS Network Venture and recurring investors Hong Kong software company Animoca Brands and C3 Venture Capital. Q: Have you used a metaverse platform this year? How was your experience? Join the conversation here.

4 RockItCoin announced the acquisition of FirstCoin ATM and Phoenix Crypto, which operate Bitcoin ATMs in California, Texas, and Arizona. The deal will add 78 ATMs to RockItCoin's network of 2,000 locations in 47 states. More: The agreement brings RockItCoin's acquisition count to four, after Colorado-based XBTeller and Texas-based Tao Bitcoin in Jun. 2023 and Oct. 2022, respectively.  RockItCoin launched its Go mobile app feature last month, which generates a barcode for scanning at participating stores for Bitcoin purchases. According to a report by AltIndex, the number of Bitcoin ATMs installed since the end of 2022 fell 17% to 32,500.

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5 Dutch company Skoon Energy raised a €5M ($5.3M) Series A funding round. Blue Bear Capital led the round with participation from the Graduate Entrepreneur Fund.  More:  Skoon Energy, founded in 2017, focuses on reshaping on-site energy supply by connecting users to clean mobile energy systems, including batteries, hydrogen, and solar generators. The online platform allows customers to select the best energy system for their specific needs, monitor energy usage, and report on carbon savings. Skoon Energy has over 150 verified suppliers, including Atlas Copco, Volta Energy, and Morillo Energy, and is utilized by rental companies in Europe. This move comes as many companies are looking at ways to reduce their carbon footprint and transition to more sustainable energy solutions.

6 iink, a startup working on automating multiparty property insurance claims, raised a $12M Series A led by Headline. The startup develops a TurboTax-like approach, where users get asked questions to expedite payments.  More: The Tampa-based company is averaging $72M in insurance claim volume. The startup plans to use the funds on scalability, automation, and building the customer base. It also intends to hire in the areas of business and engineering. The round included participation by Motley Fool Ventures, Chartline Capital Partners, and Silver Circle Ventures, among others.

7 Quick Hits: Don't settle for the sidelines. Participate in Sandhill Markets' auctions and bid on shares of pre-IPO giants like Stripe, Databricks, Anduril, and OpenAI.*  Jobs platform for the hospitality sector Slinger raised a £500,000 ($607,550) pre-Seed round led by Fuel Ventures. Navan launched a travel and expense management solution for Citi Commercial Bank cardholders. Singapore-based Cosmos Innovation raised $19.7M for its AI-powered perovskite silicon tandem solar cell technology. Final day to invest in LiquidPiston is 10/24. Become a LiquidPiston investor before it's too late.* *This is sponsored content.

Knowledge Hub Term of the Day Conversion rate: Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to a website or landing page who take a desired action. Read More Question of the Week What perks would convince you to return to the office? Join the conversation

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Nicolas Saravia Sr. Analyst Nicolas S. is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering transportation and startup trends. He is an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped startups. Follow him at @MobilityNerd. This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike

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