[Daily] Cardano can see the moon

Good morning! Welcome to The Daily Moon. The pump-and-dump of memecoins is in full swing. PEPE, modelled after the popular right-wing meme, Pepe The Frog, has rallied over 500X in a few days. Another token WOJAK touched a $10 million market cap in less than two days. The massacre on this one will be brutal. Smh.

As of Wednesday, 7PM IST

The markets were spooked by $250 million worth liquidations in crypto. Bitcoin fell due to a sudden sell-off and higher-than-expected inflation in the UK. Ethereum was bearish due to profit booking by investors. S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell in early trade on selling in technology stocks. Back home, Sensex and Nifty had another bearish session on losses in IT and power stocks. 

Cardano To The Moon

Cardano successfully navigated the rough patch of 2022. It saw an uptick in developers, wallets, and transactions. (phew). This year, it’s planning to take the partnership route to get bigger. 

Source: The Cardano Foundation Annual Report 2022

There’s a lot going onIn its first-ever annual report, the Cardano Foundation said that its goal is to build significant buffers. These buffers come handy during events such as the Terra-Luna crash or FTX collapse. Let’s look at a few numbers that matter:  

• ADA constituted 71% (or $166 million) of the total reserves of the Foundation. 

• Cash and its equivalents made up 21% of the mix while the rest is BTC. 

• The market value of ADA assets fell to $233 million in December 2022 compared to $398 million in June 2022.

• Despite the fall, these assets are sufficient to support Cardano’s activities for the next two years. 

What’s next?In 2023, Cardano will upgrade its blockchain infrastructure and onboard more partners to expand its network. 

The numbers look interesting so far. The total value locked, or the sum of funds deposited, on Cardano’s DeFi projects has surged to $170 million. Over 1,225 projects are WIP on the blockchain. Whales are on a buying spree as well. Hopefully, the green shoots are here to stay.

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Can SOL Win Over Buyers?

Solana has entered the over-the-counter (OTC) market. This may potentially increase its adoption and get institutional investors. 

FYI OTC is a decentralised market where unlisted assets are traded. 

What’s the SOL Trust?The Grayscale Solana Trust (GSOL) has started trading on OTC markets. It is the 16th asset listed by Grayscale and will help it go mainstream. Similar to stocks, US investors can buy and trade GSOL. Unlike directly buying crypto, this is an investment vehicle. So, you don’t need to buy or store SOL tokens in your wallet.  

How does it help SOL?Solana’s links to FTX and Alameda led to its crash after these entities turned bankrupt in November 2022. It has struggled to recover since then. GSOL’s debut may aid a bull run. SOL’s on-chain volume stood at ~595.6 million and also found popularity on social media. It really needed this.

Governments Still Don’t Get It

There is hardly any government in the world which gets crypto. But they keep trying. 

US Stablecoin BillIt was much awaited. The US “bipartisan” draft stablecoins bill. It’s a discussion draft, but it gives a sense of where the US government wants to go. The TL;DR for you:

1. There will be two kinds of stablecoins entities: banks and non-banks

2. There’s a proposal for a temporary ban on algorithmic stablecoins

3. Assess the impact of a CBDC

MeanwhileThe UAE, which was pretty much considered the Promised Land for crypto firms, is making moves too. On Tuesday, its securities regulator said all firms wanting to offer crypto services in the UAE will need a licence. 

One step aheadWhile governments figure out how to regulate crypto, the Bitcoin community has been working on making the network safer for users. A potential way to breach the Bitcoin network is its unencrypted nodes. Governments, internet service providers are obvious contenders to carry out such activity.  So core Bitcoin developers have an upgrade almost ready. 

Intel’s Breaking Up With Miners

Intel has decided to give up on the crypto mining business. It’s just done. 

No more mining chipsIntel will discontinue its Blockscale Bitcoin mining chips. The last date for anyone to place orders is October 20. A short run, considering these were launched only in April 2022.

Why, though?Unlike others who are chasing AI, Intel has larger issues. It hasn’t been having the best run on Wall Street. Cost reductions have been announced, the CEO has said he’ll take a 25% salary cut. It wants to save $10 billion and increase margins by 2026. These targets are, shall we say, lofty? And it isn’t giving up on crypto completely either. No other details yet, but who knows what the future holds. 

And that’s it for today. If this email was forwarded to you, please consider subscribing. It’s free. We’ll never show you an ad or charge you for this. We swear.

Who are we? This newsletter’s ambition is to educate (and to entertain). The world of money is changing everyday and we want to help you decode what’s happening in the world of crypto, public markets in the US and India.