🤝 Bipartisan Bitcoin

June 11, 2022

|In Weekend Recap

|By Osprey Team

On Tuesday, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) introduced a bipartisan proposal for crypto regulation.

The senators seek to treat cryptocurrencies like commodities rather than securities.

Check out the official 69-page document here, but first, here are a few takeaways —

It’s still early and the bill will likely evolve before it’s signed into law.

It’s refreshing to see bipartisan action from Washington and we can’t wait for the findings on crypto in 401k’s, crypto energy consumption, and its official tax status.

Treating crypto as a commodity makes sense. It might not be a perfect analog, but it’s the best we have for now. Plus, it provides the opportunity for this young asset class to mature and establish its own character.

👀 Highest Inflation in 40 Years

On Friday, The Bureau of Labor Statistics released May’s Consumer Price Index.

The CPI inched up 1% last month and is up 8.6% YoY — its highest YoY mark in ~40 years.

Here are some notable numbers:

Fuel oil flew 16.9% and is up 106.7% YoY.
Food costs climbed 1.2% and are up 10.1% YoY.
Used Cars and Trucks are up 16% YoY.

Check out this chart via Axios and read the official news release here.

😉 Buying Eggs with Bitcoin

The St. Louis Fed shared a blog post titled Buying Eggs with Bitcoins and dismissed the digital asset due to its volatility saying,

The (BTC) price fluctuates quite a bit which is much more than it did for the U.S. dollar price. Plus, you’d need to add a bitcoin transaction fee…

It’s a fair argument, but, if you zoom out, the two charts have a different look.

Here’s the avg price per dozen eggs in USD (top) and BTC (bottom) since 2015.

When in doubt, zoom out.

👏 ETH’s Ropsten Completes Test Merge

On Wednesday, Ethereum’s Ropsten Test Network successfully merged its proof-of-work layer with a proof-of-stake consensus chain.

The Ropsten merge is one of many tests before the main Ethereum network is slated to merge.

CoinDesk writes,

The Merge is a long-awaited milestone in Ethereum’s journey toward a new proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism…

The complexity of such a change to Ethereum’s code requires multiple tests on various testnets.

Ethereum is expected to conduct additional test merges in the coming months.

⛓ Mint n Sell on Salesforce

This week Salesforce introduced NFT Cloud, a secure and sustainable NFT platform.

Users can now effortlessly build web3 relationships with their clients.

The company shared a blog post, Why your brand needs a Web3 Strategy, and states,

There’s not one business that’s not going to be affected by it. Just like the web, just like mobile.

Preview the webpage here.

And here’s TechCrunch with additional coverage.

🟠 Bitcoin in Bed-Stuy

Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z partnered to fund The Bitcoin Academy, a bitcoin education program enabling individuals greater independence.

The Academy will provide more than just bitcoin education… Dorsey tweets,

Education is where we start. This isn’t just about bitcoin… it’s about long-term thinking, local economies, and self-confidence.

Residents of Marcy Houses in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, NY, Jay-Z’s native roots, are eligible to receive free classes and access to devices and data plans if needed.

We love to see it. Check out the official website here.

🕔 Time For Web5…?

Jack Dorsey also made headlines on Friday when his digital brand, TBD, unveiled its plans to develop a decentralized web platform dubbed, Web5.

We know — they skipped Web4.

See the Google Slides with project details here.

5️⃣ Deloitte Looks Five Years Out

Deloitte and PayPal joined forces in a survey asking retail executives about crypto payments.

The survey asked 2,000 executives in industries including, cosmetics, digital goods, electronics, fashion, food & beverage, home/garden, hospitality, leisure, and transportation.

85% of respondents expect digital currency payments to be ubiquitous in the next 5 years.

75% of respondents shared that they have plans to accept crypto payments in the next 2 years.

Deloitte concludes,

Our survey confirms the direction and strength of the trajectory toward broad adoption of digital currency payment solutions across US retail organizations. Respondents understand the value and benefits of such capability and have taken steps toward enablement.