Token Report Newsletter: Crypto Market Stalls
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Recent saber-rattling by the SEC might have had a impact on global ICOs’ willingness to accept U.S.-citizen investors. Compare the chart above to below, and notice there were less top-funded ICOs that allowed U.S. citizens to participate.
Crypto Climate:
️The crypto industry appears to be “in irons” this week, as there are gusts on one side from exciting development news like the first Lightning Network “LApps” being deployed, but also storms brewing with regulators sending warnings to un-registered exchanges (like Binance).
1 Short Read: Advertising Apocalypse Now
In the past few weeks, Google and Facebook, as well as other digital advertising networks like Snapchat and Reddit, have formally prohibited campaigns for ICOs and other cryptocurrency companies. These bans could lead to serious difficulty for some ICOs in reaching new potential users, as well as a drag on adoption for the whole industry.
In response, here’s How Mass Crypto Adoption Can Occur Without Google or Facebook Ads
Last Week’s FOMO & FUD
You don’t have to believe any of it, but here’s what the Internet was saying about people and projects in crypto last week.
FOMO:
- AirAsia is considering launching their own cryptocurrency as a substitute for their loyalty program, making the comparisons between ICOs and frequent-flyer miles even more obvious. Forbes
- Nvidia says they are increasing production of their GPUs in direct response to demand from cryptocurrency miners. CoinDesk
- Congress released their Joint Economic Report for 2018, including an entire chapter (with positive things to say) about cryptocurrency. Coin Center
- Whiskey is now on the blockchain: CaskCoin is the first cryptocurrency “pinned to maturing Scotch Whisky stocks.” Forbes
FUD:
- OFAC, the agency charged with updating the “blocked persons” list for the U.S. Treasury say they will soon begin including cryptocurrency address on the SDN, a database that ICOs and exchanges may be required to monitor and use to block users on their platforms. Treasury.gov
- Jill Carlson published this Medium post discussing the concept of “short convexity” and how many ICOs may run into trouble perpetually funding themselves from their treasury reserves.
- LitePay is no more. The Litecoin Foundation announced the suspension of its services after a tumultuous reddit q&a by the company’s CEO.
- Ledger’s Nano S hardware wallet is susceptible to supply chain attacks involving pre-generated seeds, according to this (allegedly) 15 year old researcher named Saleem Rashid.
Who to Follow:
“The good thing about a bear market is it shakes out most of the charlatans and scammers. Winners don’t run paid groups or $12 facebook ‘crypto trading’ videos. They have better things to do.” -Matt Odell on Twitter
Have questions, or think we missed something?
Token Report is an independent financial information service founded by Galen Moore and Peter Vessenes. Galen is a financial journalist with a background in startups, venture capital and launching news sites. Peter is a co-founder of the Bitcoin Foundation, and launched the first VC-backed Bitcoin company in 2011. He is managing director at New Alchemy, a boutique consulting and investment group based in Seattle, Wash., that is making a pre-seed investment in Token Report.
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