Welcome to the April 15th edition of the Decentral Weekly Crypto News Wrap-Up, where Neil and Em keep tackling the always-relevant question: “Is this a thing?”
What can you expect from this week’s crypto news-wrap up? This week, we discuss a major renewable Bitcoin mining partnership, a special economic zone in Honduras that just adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, crypto PACs, another metaverse funding spree, and more.
A Block/Blockstream/Tesla partnership has formed
Block (formerly known as Square) and Blockstream, a “digital asset infrastructure company,” are teaming up with Tesla for an open-source solar-powered Bitcoin mining operation. The facility will be powered by Tesla’s 3.8-megawatt Solar PV array and 12 megawatt-hour Megapack.
The goal is for the facility to be completed by 2023 and for it to be a proof-of-concept for 100% renewable energy Bitcoin mining. One of the most exciting aspects of the project is that it will feature a publicly-accessible dashboard with real-time performance metrics.
What do you think about the announcement?
Neil says:
Yeah, this is pretty cool as a proof-of-concept. The fact that it will be open to the world regarding how well it performs is really huge in terms of transparency. Are these a bunch of major corporations working together, rather than decentralized entities? Sure, but at least they’re creating something that could potentially change the game.
Em says:
If nothing else, more miners makes the network stronger so that’s a positive. And hopefully if they’re actually doing something solar powered, it will calm everyone down about the environment. I don’t know how I feel about big, centralized companies getting into mining, but the truth is, miners are already pretty big, centralized operations.
Bottom line:
Neil thinks it could be a game-changing thing, Em thinks it could be a “calm down environmentalists” thing.
Who do you agree with?
The UFC is now offering Bitcoin bonuses
The past several years have been incredible for cryptocurrency partnerships, and it doesn’t look like that trend is slowing down. The Ultimate Fighting Championship will now be offering bonuses in Bitcoin to its fighters, thanks to a partnership with Crypto.com.
There’s one innovative aspect to the bonuses: the fans will get to decide which fighters get the bonuses. Voting is open to users around the world. After the UFC 273 event, the fighters who won the bonuses were Khamzat Chimaev, Alexander Volkanovski, and Petr Yan.
Any thoughts on this partnership?
Neil says:
I’m a big fan of this. It’s not like these are people choosing to get their salary paid in crypto. The crypto is all bonus money. If you’re a UFC fan and even if you hated crypto, how could you hate on further rewarding those who really showed up at an event and might deserve a bit more? This is a win-win to me, and good PR for Crypto.com (who could use it after that Matt Damon thing).
Em says:
I guess this is cool for Bitcoin and adoption and making it more mainstream. But if I was a fighter who doesn’t have or use crypto and I was given a bonus in Bitcoin, I’d be kind of annoyed. Maybe that’s me, but if you’re not a crypto user and you want to use it as fiat, it’s kind of a pain.
Bottom line:
Neil thinks it’s a win-win thing, Em thinks it could be an annoying thing.
Who do you agree with?
Prospera adopts Bitcoin as legal tender
After El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, many cryptocurrency analysts assumed Honduras would follow suit. While Honduras as a whole has not adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, a Caribbean island off the northern coast of Honduras has now done the same.
This is all happening because Prospera is a special economic zone, located on Roatan. Prospera was established in 2020, and the economic zone was created to encourage investment in the area. The move doesn’t just mean that businesses will accept cryptocurrency, but municipalities can begin issuing bonds in Bitcoin.
Do you have any thoughts on this, or crypto “special economic opportunity zones” in general?
Neil says:
I’m actually a pretty big fan of special economic opportunity zones, and the concept of trying things out in terms of innovation. Similar to regulatory sandboxes, it’s a good way to be able to experiment and find out what works and what doesn’t. It can really help inform what happens at a larger scale.
Em says:
The question that first comes to my mind is: who’s heard of Prospera? I don’t know exactly what or how being a special economic zone is, but I suppose if making BTC legal tender draws international investment, it’ll achieve its goal. It might even create a bigger public profile for the island if crypto investors take to it the way they have to places like Puerto Rico and El Salvador.
Bottom line:
Neil thinks this is an innovative thing, Em thinks it’s a “draw attention” thing.
Who do you agree with?
New Crypto PAC just dropped
Whether you’re new to cryptocurrency or have been following it over the past several years, you know that one of the sector’s most pressing issues is simple: crypto regulation. Many high-profile crypto startups have spent millions trying to convince Congress that concrete regulation must be passed as soon as possible.
Ryan Salame, co-CEO of FTX, is launching a political action committee called American Dream Federal Action. Politico reports the PAC will support “forward-looking Republican candidates,” and it’s one of several crypto-related PACs that have emerged before midterm elections.
What do you think about crypto PACs emerging? Whatever your politics are, would support for crypto sway your vote that much?
Neil says:
I don’t really have much opinion on this. Crypto will have lobbyists to serve its interests just like any other industry. A politician supporting crypto is interesting, but no, I don’t think it’s exactly going to sway too many voters. This is pretty much inevitable.
Em says:
I don’t imagine very many single-issue voters’ single issue is crypto. But I’m sure they’re out there somewhere. For the rest of us, it seems as performative as everything else in politics these days. The best thing the government can do to support crypto is to get out of the way — enveloping it in old structures is a bit self-defeating from a crypto POV.
Bottom line:
Neil thinks this is an inevitable thing, Em maintains her “governments should stay out of crypto” stance.
Who do you agree with?
The metaverse funding spree continues
The metaverse is here, and it’s also incredibly well-funded. Video games giant Epic announced a staggering $2 billion funding round supported by both Sony and KIRKBI. For those who may not be aware, KIRKBI is the investment company behind The Lego Group.
Obviously, this has something to do with the fact that Epic and Lego are collaborating on a “kid-friendly” metaverse. The Fortnite creator isn’t the only company raising metaverse funding. Improbable, a gaming startup, raised $150 million for an initiative focused on connecting different virtual worlds.
What are your thoughts on this? Is this more symbolic than anything else? Should we be concerned about metaverse “hype” at this point?
Neil says:
I’ve written a lot about the metaverse, and I understand its potential. At the same time, you do have to wonder about all this funding given the fact that a lot of people don’t know or care about the metaverse right now. There isn’t the same kind of public support as there is for NFTs, for example – which are still “hated” by many, but there’s a foundation there. Regardless, VCs will fund what they fund.
Em says:
I’ve said it before but I still think it’s true: it doesn’t matter whether the metaverse would have happened on its own; big, gigantic companies with a lot invested will MAKE it happen. I don’t know what the metaverse will look like if it’s developed by Facebook and Epic and all these other centralized corporations. All I know is that some kind of metaverse is coming.
Bottom line:
Neil thinks we might need to be a bit more cynical, Em thinks the metaverse is coming regardless.
What do you think?
The Crypto News Wrap-Up bad idea of the week: The SEC gets shady
In terms of the crypto world, there’s one high-profile situation everyone has been wondering about for some time now: how the SEC vs Ripple lawsuit will turn out. Right now, it doesn’t look too good for the Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s all thanks to William Hinman.
Hinman gave a speech, infamously known as the “Hinman speech” now, where he claimed that Bitcoin and Ethereum were not securities. Ripple is trying to claim that they assumed they were conducting business within applicable securities laws as a result. After all, their argument is that they figured that the XRP token was equivalent.
Hinman receives a $1.6 million a year pension from Simpson Thacher, a member of the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance. With additional emails released, a judge is now declaring that the SEC shouldn’t be afforded protection from these emails, and that they want to “have it both ways.”
Some legal experts believe this now means the SEC is much more likely to settle than continue to fight the lawsuit legally. It’s a big win for Ripple and a massive hit to the credibility of the SEC.
Neil says:
Yeah, there’s no way around this: this is all deeply embarrassing for the SEC. No, this doesn’t mean the SEC will stop criticizing the crypto industry, but there are new questions about credibility and corruption.
Em says:
The Ripple case has really been a pretty bad look all around for the SEC. Of course, I’m saying that as someone biased against government agencies, but they’re sure not doing themselves any favors. I really don’t think anyone is impressed with the SEC on this one.
Bottom line:
Both Neil and Em agree that the SEC is looking a bit shady in this particular case.
What do you think?
Meme of the week
As always, Em brings you the meme of the week:
And that’s our crypto news wrap-up!
Will the Block/Tesla/Blockstream partnership be successful? Should we be concerned about mixing crypto with politics too much? Do you think the SEC will settle with Ripple? If the metaverse is a revolution, will the revolution be centralized?
Let us know all of your thoughts/opinions/perspectives at @decentralpub with the hashtag #weeklycryptonews on Twitter. You may be featured in an upcoming newsletter!
