Sup, nerds!

Here’s what you’re getting in today’s edition:

• 💅 This is cool: Dogecoin: Can it run Doom?

• 🔎 This seems important: Ethereum ETF (coming in hot)

• 🤝 Partner: Exploring DeFi Technologies (a free webinar you don’t want to miss!)​

• 🔪 Let's dissect this: “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet” - Abraham Lincoln

Terms used in this edition (click for an explanation, or ​ask Web(GPT)3!​):
Ordinals, Blockchains, Protocol, Hopium.

💅 This is cool:

Dogecoin: Can It Run Doom?

In one sentence: Someone just permanently uploaded (aka ‘inscribed’) Doom (the 1993 video game) to the Dogecoin network, using the Ordinals protocol.

Sure, graffiti has been around for centuries…

But the contemporary ‘scribbly’ style that we’re all used to seeing on train cars and bathroom stalls originated mostly in the 1960’s, when two powerful forces collided:

1. A rise in political activism.

2. The commercial release of the Sharpie.

And now, we’re starting to see a similar trend bleed into the crypto world, thanks to the rise of Ordinals.

ICYMI: Ordinals allow users to permanently upload, or ‘inscribe’ data (think text, images, videos, or even software) on blockchains like Bitcoin.

(Think of the hard drives connected to the Bitcoin network as blank white walls, and the Ordinals protocol as a Sharpie).

In the real world, the most universal piece of graffiti is a certain human appendage (rhymes with “shmenis”).

…while in the digital world, it’s the video game Doom, from 1993.

Seriously.

This thing has been ported across hundreds of devices, and translated into multiple different coding languages, all so the internet can find new ways to contribute to the decades long-running ‘Can it run Doom?’ meme.

Well, today we have a new one for the list…

Someone just permanently inscribed Doom to the Dogecoin network, using the Ordinals protocol.

We truly love how un-serious this space can be sometimes.

🥇 Want the news before anyone else?

🔎 This seems important:

We Might Be Getting an Ethereum ETF Sooner Than You Think!

In one sentence: When asked about a drawn out ETH ETF approval process in May, SEC Commissioner, Hester Peirce said: “That's not how we're going to do our approvals."

Ok, let’s set the stage:

There are currently seven Ethereum ETF applications on the SEC’s desk.

The application with the earliest deadline is May 23, from VanEck.

This is an exciting potentiality, as an exchange traded fund (ETF) would let folks buy/sell Ethereum via the stock market and make the asset accessible to more investors (hopefully attracting greater investment).

But many folks are skeptical that we’ll see an approval this year (or even next year), given that it took the SEC a decade or so to approve the first Bitcoin ETF.

Now, here’s your dose of hopium:

SEC Commissioner, Hester Peirce (aka ‘Crypto Mom’) said that the SEC had:

"Heard from a court that the approach we were taking was wrong, in the sense of not showing the kind of consistency that a regulator needs to show,"

And more importantly, that SEC chair Gary Gensler (the problem child in this whole process), had "reacted accordingly."

Now, here’s the kicker:

When asked about the dumpster fire that was the Bitcoin ETF approval process, and whether the same is going to happen with Ethereum, Hester said this:

"Another court case? That's not how we're going to do our approvals."

The takeaway:

There’s renewed hope that Bitcoin might have walked - hell, crawled - through the ETF application process, so Ethereum could run.

Fingers, toes, eyes: crossed.

🤝 Partner:

Exploring DeFi Technologies (a free webinar you don’t want to miss!)

If you haven't heard of DeFi Technologies yet, you’re missing out! 

But it doesn’t have to be that way…

As the Decentralised Finance ecosystem continues to grow and expand, DeFi Tech actively explores opportunities to drive innovation and develop creative, innovative, sustainable solutions, connecting investors to the future of finance.

Valour (a subsidiary of DeFi Tech) offers exchange-traded products (ETPs), listed on regulated stock exchanges across Europe, that enable individuals and institutions to invest in digital assets simply and securely.

The good news is, Russell Starr (Head of Capital Markets at DeFi Tech) is hosting a webinar on January 30th at 10am PT/1pm ET to discuss all of the opportunities he sees for 2024. 

Join the DeFi Tech team for a sneak peak into what they - as an industry leader - are focused on achieving throughout the year.

The presentation is just 30 minutes, followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.

Click the big red button below to register (it’s free)!

🔪 Let's dissect this:

“Don’t Believe Everything You Read on the Internet” - Abraham Lincoln

In one sentence: Bitcoin mining company Hut 8’s stock plummeted over 30% the last few days, after JCapital Research claimed Hut 8 was running a pump and dump scheme.

Let us start off by saying: 

The irony of this piece is not lost on us. 

Here goes nothing…

Let’s dive into why you can't believe everything you read online. 

So, Bitcoin mining company Hut 8’s stock plummeted over 30% the last few days. 

All because a short-selling firm, JCapital Research, claimed that Hut 8 was creating the newest pump and dump scandal – while Hut 8 claims that JCapital is spreading misinformation and attacking them. 

But here’s the issue: 

Similar to the gossip spread in high school, you don’t really know who to believe, until it becomes glaringly obvious. 

Sure, JCapital may have some true claims…

But! They also have a very clear incentive to throw mud at Hut 8 - JCapital’s whole business model is built around profiting from short-term stock declines.

Here’s why we often tune this sort of thing out:

1. We don’t have any skin in the game on stuff like this (and bets are, neither do you).

2. You’re never going to know who’s right and who’s wrong until the business in question either collapses spectacularly, or survives.

…so why stress over something that doesn’t affect you, and will prove itself in time (whether you stress about it or not)?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

SEC Commissioner Pierce on an ETH ETF