If crypto is booming, why is everyone trimming down

GM. It is Wednesday, my dudes, and your day by day refresher is right here! We’re muddling up trade tendencies right into a easy, citrusy learn.

👋 Consensys, dYdX, and DWF Labs needed to say goodbye to a few of their staff.

🍊 Information drops: Joe Biden thanks Nigeria’s president for serving to launch Tigran Gambaryan, Robinhood enters the election contract market + extra

🍍 Market taste right this moment

Strap in, house cadets! 🧑‍🚀 The Concern and Greed Index has climbed to 77 – we’re nonetheless cruising within the “Greed” zone. Bitcoin is flirting with the stratosphere, hitting $73.3K yesterday, only a hop away from its all-time excessive of $73.8K.

In financial constellations, the GDP – a measure of all items and providers produced between July and September – grew at a 2.8% annualized charge, falling wanting expectations. This might immediate the Fed to chop rates of interest, igniting danger urge for food amongst traders. Translation: extra gas for the crypto rocket 🚀

In the meantime, BTC ETF traders are getting extra lively, with $870.1M in inflows yesterday. As institutional traders gear up for launch, flows are anticipated to skyrocket – even the CFO of the State of Florida is getting in on the motion, encouraging pension funds to contemplate investing in BTC.

But, retail traders are nonetheless on Earth time, exhibiting no additional curiosity in line with Google searches. Their loss, ‘trigger analysts at 10X Analysis are predicting BTC may attain $100K by the top of the yr.

So, hold your helmets on and your eyes on the celebs – this crypto journey is simply getting began ✨

👋 Letting go

You stroll into the workplace, sit down throughout out of your boss, they usually launch into this speech. For a second, you are considering, “Are you about to suggest rn?” However then all of it goes downhill – beginning with “… However”, ending with the basic “It is simply enterprise.”

And in that very second, you understand: it is time to mud off your LinkedIn account and put together for all of the “I begin my day at 4 AM with a chilly bathe and a fitness center sesh” posts you’ve got managed to keep away from until now.

For these of you fortunate bastards who’ve by no means had this expertise, I am speaking about that second whenever you discover out you are unemployed. And sadly, fairly a number of individuals from the crypto trade needed to undergo this these days.

1/ Consensys

Whereas Bitcoin is having the time of its life, the remainder of crypto… let’s simply say BTC is not precisely representing the entire trade, which continues to be coping with financial twists and regulatory drama. This is what’s on the radar:

– A cautious macro setting: larger rates of interest, inflation, and squeezed liquidity;

– The SEC retaining issues spicy with lawsuits in opposition to just about anybody who’s talked about “crypto” at the very least as soon as of their life.

And looks like Consensys – one of many greatest supporters of Ethereum – is feeling the ache, shedding 20% of their crew yesterday.

The timing is not completely random: just some months in the past, they acquired sued by the SEC for allegedly promoting unregistered securities by means of MetaMask. They mentioned this authorized battle was kinda the primary motive for his or her struggles, including that the regulator’s energy journey may find yourself draining tens of millions from the pockets of numerous crypto firms.

2/ dYdX

On October 10, dYdX founder Antonio Juliano returned to the CEO seat after a six-month break. In his comeback word, he admitted it has been a tough yr for dYdX – fierce competitors and a troublesome market – and that in the event that they wish to keep related, one thing wants to alter.

That something? Saying goodbye to 35% of their core staff.

Juliano defined that again in startup mode, they had been all about improvements: invented DEX aggregators, flash loans, leveraged tokens, you identify it. However as they grew, they went from “let’s create stuff” to “let’s shield what we have now.”

The expansion introduced in execs, processes, committees – all that big-company baggage. And so they wish to return to the place they began – lower all of the middlemen and the entire hierarchy of administration, leaving solely Juliano and the builders.

Inform me this does not sound just like the plot of a rom-com. New child tries to slot in with the favored crowd, realizes they’re dropping themselves, after which decides to learn books once more (so quirky 🤪). The factor is, these motion pictures often have a great ending (a flashmob or one thing), and it may additionally be the case right here – a recent begin and extra alternatives.

3/ DWF Labs

Crypto enterprise capital firm DWF Labs additionally joined the firing membership – nothing main in numbers, however when it comes to drama? Get your teacup and anticipate surprises.

This began when Hana, a Web2 enterprise capitalist, dropped this one bombshell on X. She mentioned a DWF Labs companion approached her at a Hong Kong bar and supplied her a job.

Issues took a flip when she stepped away to the lavatory – the person allegedly spiked her drink. The waitress warned her about it, but it surely was already slightly too late, as she had already taken a number of sips of the drink.

Feeling tremendous dizzy afterward, Hana knew one thing was undoubtedly off. She managed to safe the CCTV footage of the incident and reported every little thing to the native police.

Her story went viral, and yup, DWF Labs seen, too. Though the state of affairs continues to be beneath investigation, the corporate took the “higher protected than sorry” method and lower ties with the companion.

Reminder: shield yourselves on the market, people!

📰 Information drops

✈️ US President Joe Biden thanked Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu for serving to safe Binance exec Tigran Gambaryan’s launch on humanitarian grounds. Gambaryan had been held in Nigeria for nearly eight months, enduring critical well being challenges whereas detained.

🪶 Robinhood steps as much as rival Polymarket with election-based contracts for the US presidential race. Making election betting extra accessible, their contracts are pushed by market vibes and public sentiment.

💳 Coinbase teamed up with Visa to make crypto purchases immediate for eligible US and EU debit cardholders. Now, customers can deposit straight into Coinbase, simply put money into crypto, and even money out to their financial institution accounts in actual time.

📝 Vitalik Buterin dropped some recent insights concerning the subsequent part in Ethereum’s journey, referred to as “The Splurge.” This stage is all about boosting the community’s resilience, making it extra user-friendly, and prepping it for future tech hurdles like quantum computing.

BitDegree says hello from sunny Dubai! 🌞

We’re right here at Binance Blockchain Week 2024, diving into all issues Web3 with a few of the sharpest minds within the trade. It is all about large connections (together with the Legend himself – examine the third pic), new collabs, and a complete lot of future discuss – it is gonna be an thrilling week!

🍌 Juicy memes