[Daily] Do you hate Bitcoin NFTs?

Good morning! Welcome to The Daily Moon. There is a big victory for the crypto world. For the first time ever, the US SEC admitted in court that the LBRY token sales can’t be equated with securities. So, does that apply to XRP too? We’ll know soon.

As of Tuesday, 8PM IST

The markets recovered. Bitcoin was at $23,100 levels and Ethereum inched closer to $1,600. Nasdaq rose in early trade. Back home, Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher.

Purists Hate Bitcoin NFTs

There is trouble brewing in NFT land. But this time it’s about Bitcoin. An NFT project called Ordinals launched on the Bitcoin blockchain. But the community is far from excited.

Why?So far, NFTs were mostly restricted to Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana. Now it has also landed on the Bitcoin network. The purists are unhappy. They claim that getting into NFTs is a betrayal to Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision. Nakamoto wanted Bitcoin to be a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. That’s why Bitcoiners feel NFTs aren’t a right fit in this mix.

Then there is the talk of the futility of NFTs, aka “JPEG Drawings”. No, we aren’t saying it, they are.

The sceptics also think that NFTs are a waste of precious space on the Bitcoin network. Since it is a censorless network, dislike among Bitcoin users cannot really stop the NFTs from using the network.

Who wants it?The NFT bros believe that it’s a logical extension of the network. Oh btw, they are not calling it NFTs but “inscriptions” or digital artefacts native to the Bitcoin blockchain. Here’s Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor explaining how it is different from the rest:

TL;DR He says that these “inscriptions” can even be used to pay gas fees. And also clarifies that the Ordinals won’t take up a lot of Bitcoin block size. Rodarmor has other backers too. Crypto entrepreneur Dan Held feels that having NFTs will just open up more financial use-cases for the Bitcoin blockchain.

So, is the network choked yet?

Millionaires Love Crypto

2022 was a shaky year for crypto. But that didn't curb the enthusiasm of millionaires. A poll says that 82% of millionaires were keen to invest in digital assets such as Bitcoin in the past year.

The pull factor?Ironically, the millionaires surveyed called themselves conservative investors but they were still crypto curious because of Bitcoin. What piqued their interest is Bitcoin being borderless, decentralised, and tamper-proof.

The future of money?That’s what these millionaires think about crypto. Despite the crypto winter, the high-net worth investors want some digital assets in their portfolio. An added factor for the growing interest is Wall Street giants such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and JP Morgan getting into crypto. If the big banks are into it, HNIs want a share too.

BTC Saves A National Park

The pandemic hit a lot of tourist spots and Africa’s oldest national park was among them. The Virunga National Park in Congo was struggling to earn cash during lockdowns. Then the park officials turned to Bitcoin mining to make money.

That escalated quickly Virunga was facing a financial crisis when Sébastien Gouspillou, CEO of BTC mining firm Big Block Green Services, introduced Bitcoin mining to the park’s director. In 2020, the mines were set up with hydro plants powering them. The mining revenue, almost $150,000 in 2021, offset the tourism income loss.

Giving back to the communityThe funds generated from the mines are used to pay for the park’s maintenance. Wildlife protection and conservation funds also come from the mines’ revenue. In addition, nearby villages have also been electrified. Where are the climate activists?

Does Elon Want Crypto Or Not?

Elon Musk’s grand plans for payments within Twitter may involve crypto. Or not. Or maybe later. No one knows. The only remaining genius in the company probably doesn’t either. For starters, Twitter’s payment system will support fiat currencies. But apparently he wants crypto too.

Why can’t he decide?Frankly, we don’t know. After Musk took over there were talks of introducing a crypto wallet on Twitter. That never happened. Then in December, there were some leaks about “Twitter Coins”. Again, nothing came out of it. A few weeks later, another leak showed that Twitter Coins wasn’t linked to crypto.

But what about payments?Payments will happen for sure. That’s because Twitter has started applying for necessary licences across the US. But crypto is still a big question mark. DOGE fans haven’t given up though.

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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.