Gavin Woods resigns, what it means for Polkadot. Plus, SBF clears the air over Crypto Bill controversy.
Issue #110
Overview
Gavin Wood steps down from CEO role.
Markets looking bullish after BoJ intervention.
SBF clears the air over DCCPA bill.
Telegram to launch username marketplace.
Messi teams up with Bitget.
Good morning Fam,
There was big news on the Polkadot front over the weekend!
Dr. Gavin Wood, a co-founder of Polkadot and Ethereum, is stepping down as CEO of Parity Technologies, the development company behind Polkadot's ecosystem. He retains his role as "Chief Architect" and moves his focus towards building the project. Co-founder Björn Wagner will transition as the new CEO.
When asked to explain his decision, Wood said,
“Anyone who has worked with me knows where my heart lies. I’m a thinker, coder, designer, and architect. Like many such people, I work best asynchronously […] A good CEO needs to be available to others on a far more continuous basis. They need to enjoy representing the company, both internally and externally. They need to not be bothered by large swathes of their time becoming eaten up in meetings and calls with a plethora of multicoloured boxes on their calendar.”
Ultimately the news is bullish for the Polkadot ecosystem. Wood, whose talents lie in development and design, will have more time to build out the Polkadot network, while Wagner can focus on running Parity Technologies.
Market update 🌍
BTC/USDT 1W
It was another quiet week for bitcoin. Volatility remains low as price remains tied to the $19k support level. On a good note, the price crawled out of a local downtrend resistance signaling that BTC will likely continue to range. With a promising week ahead fueled by the Bank of Japan's USD/JPY intervention, BTC could begin a trip toward the $21.8k resistance. BTC completed the weekly candle up +1.60% to $19,570.
High-resolution chart
USD/JPY 1D
While the Bank of Japan (BoJ) continues to intervene and defend the Yen (JPY) versus the US Dollar, the equities and crypto markets will benefit. Investors will be monitoring USD/JPY early this week with a particular interest in the 1.50 USD/JPY level (orange), which appears to be the line in the sand for the BoJ.
High-resolution chart
USD Index (DXY) 1W
Could it be? For the first time since the DXY parabola (green) began in May 2021, price appears to have successfully broken the arbitrary resistance. While it's too early to tell if the uptrend is over, the recent move shows some promise that the BoJ's currency intervention is the catalyst to end the parabolic USD cycle. The DXY completed the weekly candle down -1.22% to 111.70.
High-resolution chart
Newswatch 📰
Telegram username marketplace nears launch. The team behind social-media messaging app Telegram has developed a new marketplace for auctioning unique usernames. The marketplace will use its native blockchain, The Open Network (TON), to distribute the usernames. Telegram has 550 million users worldwide.
Gate.io Twitter Hack. Hackers took control of the official Twitter of crypto-exchange Gate.io to promote a giveaway of 500,000 USDT if users connected their crypto wallets to a fraudulent website. Gate.io's Twitter has over 1 million subscribers; it is unknown how many were affected. So always make sure to cross-reference websites!
SBF clears the air. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) tweeted about all the uproar over the leaked Digital Commodities Consumer Act (DCCPA) bill. He thanked the DeFi community for all the constructive input and explained how the bill is centered on regulating centralized exchanges. An earlier bill version leaked late last week, stirring controversy over its potential effects on DeFi.
News Tidbits:
Spain overtakes El Salvador to become the third-largest crypto ATM hub.
Forex broker Oanda launches crypto trading service in the US.
Argentina raids on illegal crypto miners. 40 people arrested.
Olympus DAO exploited for $300k; hacker returns it all hours later.
Research: Aptos vs. Sui.
NFT & metaverse update 🐵
Bitget partners with Lionel Messi to "explore areas of Web3, cryptocurrency, and football."
Banter’s take
The USD dominance is forcing reactions by governments around the globe to defend their markets and currencies versus the impactful rise of USD. With this in mind, this week holds upside potential for markets if the BoJ continues its defense of a 150 USD/JPY.
Many altcoins with pertinent catalysts are outperforming BTC and opening trading opportunities to the upside. This week, some major altcoins to keep an eye on are: EVMOS, AAVE, MATIC, LIDO, and OP, which all jumped at the first signs of a weakening dollar.
Gabriel
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