Sup, nerds!

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

• 💅 This is cool: Crypto is getting really hard to kill

• 🔎 This seems important: These patterns are very bullish...

• 🤝 Partner: Explore how emerging technologies help you stay ahead​

• 🔪 Let's dissect this: Stablecoins are on their way to Bitcoin

Terms used in this edition (click for an explanation, or ask Web(GPT)3!):
Web3, bull market, stablecoins, blockchain.

💅 This is cool:

Crypto Is Getting Really Hard To Kill

In one sentence: Banks want to start using/relying on crypto rails to process their payments (the more entrenched crypto is within our legacy systems, the harder it is to kill).

It’s ok.

You can say it.

We’re fully aware of it:

We get weirdly excited about crypto integrations within legacy payments systems.

Why? Because right now (for the most part) crypto is building outside of the existing system. That is to say, it doesn’t play nice with established infrastructure.

It’s hard to buy with a credit card, banks don’t like you moving money to exchanges, and you need to learn a whole bunch of terminology when starting.

(E.g. ‘gas fees’ = ‘transaction fees’ — why? No idea).

Glass half empty:
This separation from existing systems is a weak point for web3 & crypto.

Glass half full:
The more legacy systems that rely on crypto, the harder it will be to kill.

Hence our excitement about this latest development:

Mastercard is joining U.S. banking giants (including: Citi, JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo) to develop distributed ledger technology for banking payments using tokenization.

Translation: banks want to start using/relying on crypto rails to process their payments.

Which means:

1. Crypto will become harder to kill.

2. (Theoretically) this should make buying crypto from your bank account WAY easier.

3. This could well set off a race to ‘tokenize everything,’ cause wherever there’re tokenized assets to be traded, there’re fees to collect — and banks LOVE collecting fees.

Very cool!

🥇 Want the news before anyone else?

🔎 This seems important:

These Crypto Lending Patterns Are Very Bullish!

In one sentence: Crypto lender ‘Ledn’ processed more than $690M in loans to institutional clients in Q1, while retail is yet to arrive (which means the best is yet to come for crypto).

Alright, time for some ‘canary in the coal mine’ data.

If you don’t know what that is, it’s because we just made it up…kinda.

(If nothing else, we gave it a name).

Here’s what it means:

Say you want to predict whether house prices are going to stay steady, go up, or go down. You could look at how many homes have been sold recently — but past/present performance doesn’t necessarily indicate future results.

So you might instead look for some ‘canary in the coal mine’ data.

Like, for example: how many home loans were taken out in the previous quarter (which indicates buyer intent).

This is like the crypto version of that.

The crypto lending firm Ledn processed more than $690M in loans in Q1, which was almost 5x the value of the previous three months.

(Making it the company’s most successful quarter yet).

And ok, ok — buying crypto is way faster than buying a house — which means most of this capital has probably been pumped into the market already…

But here’s why this data is still super relevant:

Ledn says the vast majority of these loans were made to institutional clients.

You know those crazy hockey stick ‘up and to the right’ crypto charts that you see each bull run? You know what/who makes the charts do that?

It’s not institutions. It’s retail buyers.

Institutional buyers tend to get in 6-12 months before retail shows up.

Which indicates much of the bull market madness is still yet to come!

(Now, who wants a running chest bump?)

🤝 Partner:

Explore How Emerging Technologies Help You Stay Ahead

Explore what is possible with creator economies, immersive worlds and AI innovations at Consensus 2024.

This year’s Consensus marks ten years as the biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3. The agenda is packed with insightful discussions, hands-on workshops, exciting activations and next-gen tech explorations.

Here’s the TLDR:

• 400+ speakers with more added every day

• Emerging tech explorations in the Creator and Brand, Gaming & Immersive Worlds and AI summits

• Presentations and analysis from 20+ blockchain protocols, including ETH & BTC Day and Deep Dive Workshops from XRP Ledger, Solana, Avalanche and more

• Showcase your early-stage Web3 startup at CoinDesk Pitchfest – applications close May 3

• And so much more!

Consensus is crypto’s biggest, longest-running and most influential event.

Click here to get a 20% discount right now using code WEB3DAILY! Don’t wait! Prices increase closer to the event.

🔪 Let's dissect this:

Stablecoins Are On Their Way to Bitcoin

In one sentence: The technology for stablecoins to exist on the BTC blockchain is being built which will enable anyone to spend crypto in the same way they would use a debit card today; just with less fees.

If it wasn’t already abundantly clear, we (Seb & Chevy) love innovation.

Which is why we got all kinds of giddy when we heard Elizabeth Stark, the CEO of Lightning Labs, discuss how far they’ve gotten with development towards hosting stablecoins on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Here’s three reasons why this would be cool:

1. Errbody loves to save money on fees - Visa and Mastercard typically charge 1-3%. By using the BTC Lightning Network, transaction fees for the BTC Stablecoin would be “a cent or less than that.”
   

2. Unlike some of the other stablecoin providers, BTC is easily the most decentralized.
   
   When BTC was created, Satoshi didn’t take an initial investment from any VC firms who now own a huge percentage of equity in the underlying company.
   

3. Did we mention it’s the Bitcoin blockchain?
   
   That in itself is important because it is the oldest (and always will be!) and most secure blockchain that exists.

Without getting too technical, here’s how it’ll work:

A stablecoin (let’s call it ‘BTCUSD’) will be pegged to the US Dollar, but all transactions will take place on the BTC Lightning Network which is super fast and cheap because it takes lots of transactions, validates them off-chain, and then just the first and last transaction are validated back on the BTC network.

Honestly, unless you’re pretty nerdy (like us), the ‘how does it work’ part doesn’t matter as much as the ‘what can it do for us?’ part.

And in short, it will enable anyone to spend crypto, in the same way they would use a USD debit card today, just for a cheaper price (through lower fees).

Now that’s innovation!

Unlocking Supply Chain Efficiency Through Digitization [partner]

MineHub Technologies, a pioneer in innovative solutions for the mining industry, welcomes you to explore the future of supply chain management. Whether you’re an investor, industry professional, or simply curious, join MineHub’s CEO, Andrea Aranguren, for a free, 45-minute webinar on May 23 at 1pm PT/4pm ET.

In this webinar, Andrea will delve into how cutting-edge technology is transforming global mineral supply chains. Register here before it’s too late.

Register Now!

Michael Saylor Discusses The Future of Bitcoin & Lightning Network

This is really interesting! Y’all should check it out 👇