1/ Long Reads Sunday #23. Mining death spirals, token burns, hedge fund shutdowns…As we settle into crypto winter, there is an uptick in explanatory narratives. What’s real and what’s just marketing? Let’s dig in - it’s long reads time.
2/ Let’s kick off with the bear thread of the week. @DoveyWan sums up just about every reason why the poor market might persist - from fallout from a poor Bitmain IPO performance to underwhelming project launches to a potential mining crisis.
3/ There was actually quite a bit of conversation about mining this week. @MartyBent kicked off a great conversation about Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment - the counterweight to the death spiral narrative.
4/ Adding some data to the convo, @CoinSharesCo @C_Bendiksen released an in-depth research report about the costs/ROI of mining. Among other points, it argues that miners shutting down will *not* cause a death spiral
5/ Maybe the most succinct summary against the mining death spiral argument came from @AriannaSimpson
6/ The role of miners in a crypto network is one of the most important conversations in the space - especially as governance conversations heat up. @kyletorpey provides some history, writing about what 2017 revealed about the limits of their power forbes.com/sites/ktorpey/…
7/ One other interesting Bitcoin narrative has to do with calls of hypocrisy when BTC is adopted by institutions, and the extent to which Bitcoin was designed to upend banks. @nic__carter shared & @theonevortex also wrote about this
8/ Mining isn’t the only “death spiral” talked about this year, w/ the relationship b/n ETH prices/ETH project selloffs being a significant focus. @hashcib, however, finds that “ICO projects reacted to the market conditions, rather than dictated them" medium.com/@HASHCIB/what-…
9/ Another narrative that has been long speculated but seems to be gaining some amount of reality is hedge fund shut downs. @APompliano has been keeping track of both the potential and now sees it starting to happen
11/ Speaking of tokens, @Travis_Kling highlighted this prediction thread from @twobitidiot about token burning as a strategy to reduce supply and increase value as a potential emergent narrative.
12/ BTW, congrats to @twobitidiot, @robustus, @QWQiao and the whole team at @MessariCrypto, who have announced the launch of their API as well as their first cohort of transparency partners.
13/ Another Messari superhero is @katherineykwu, who has started doing recaps of news from the Chinese crypto scene that haven’t been translated. This edition shows investment in blockchain R&D happening simultaneously with ongoing regulatory consideration
14/ One big piece of news of the week also involved the international context of Bitcoin, with the US Treasury placing two BTC addresses on its sanctions list. Read the original press-release here home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel… or this excellent analysis thread
15/ The regulatory sphere was actually kind of busy this week. In a huge friggin shock to literally no one, the SEC came out against Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khlaed for promoting an ICO without disclosing $$ involvement. @Melt_dem on the larger context
16/ SEC head Jay Clayton also spoke a number of times. @cburniske summarized and analyzed - reinforcing the notion of an SEC that is carefully considering cryptoassets as their own phenomena and wants to find the right solutions without stopping innovation
17/ Of course, Clayton’s statements aren’t all roses for crypto. There seem to be serious questions around a much-desired Bitcoin ETF. Check out this conversation from @Coindesks Consensus Invest event, feat @CaitlinLong_ @Stephendpalley @NYcryptolawyer
18/ Quick aside, the reflections on the vibe at Consensus Invest - especially as compared to the Consensus event in NYC 6 months ago - really capture the different in mood. Check out @_jillruth’s summary as an example
19/ Back to regulation-ville, while a Bitcoin ETF may seem far off, we did see the launch of a Swiss crypto ETP from @hany @AmunAG. @TheBlock__ has the summary theblockcrypto.com/2018/11/26/tra…
20/ In an interesting twist back here in the US, a federal court in CA just ruled *against* the SEC, saying that it hadn’t been able to prove that a particular ICO had passed the Howey Test to qualify it as a security. @msantoriESQ w a great summary thread
22/ Speaking of privacy & surveillance, one of the narratives I’m most interested in is the idea of cryptos providing recourse to marginalized populations outside the state. @jon_choi_ rightly asks whether this is, currently, real or just idea
24/ A couple more big think pieces then we’ll wrap. First, great piece by @hugohanoi on cryptography & private property. 🔑 "For the first time in history, a form of private property exists that is completely independent of jurisdiction or the law”
25/ While much of the focus on the crypto convo is around new money, I continue to be interested in crypto networks as new forms of organization. If that’s interesting to you as well, highly recommend this long read from @ramonrecuero @izqui9 blog.aragon.one/the-future-of-…
26/ Internet historian of the year @backus jumped on the excellent Venture Stories with @eriktorenberg and @tonysheng to discuss how decentralization evolves
27/ @Eriktorenberg also kicked off this massive thread about future skills that seem weird now, but which will be mainstream in the future. I’d maybe add virtual prospecting - speculating on assets in virtual worlds
28/ On the topic of podcasts I was excited to see @amandapfrankel and @DavidJN79 get in the game with Base Layer - a new one aimed at educating family offices and HNWs
29/ And, of course, a little self shill for this podcast I did with @PeterMcCormack @WhatBitcoinDid. We discuss everything from how advertising provides a business model for surveillance to seminal 80s and 90s east coast hardcore punk.
30/ Finally, some fun: LRS BEST OF 2018 NOMINATIONS! I’ve spent a good chunk of 2018 curating crypto thinking, and now I’m interested in what you think are the *BEST* essays, threads, and podcast eps. Nominate here and then we’ll put it to a vote: goo.gl/forms/iSZIuR11…
31/ Happy Long Reads #23! Get LRS wherever you are:
+email: getrevue.co/profile/nlw
+Long Reads Live - 7pm EST Mondays: youtube.com/c/nathanielwhi… … …
+LRL on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lon… … …
+LRL Podcast home: nlwcrypto.libsyn.com
+email: getrevue.co/profile/nlw
+Long Reads Live - 7pm EST Mondays: youtube.com/c/nathanielwhi… … …
+LRL on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/lon… … …
+LRL Podcast home: nlwcrypto.libsyn.com
32/ Forgot to add this awesome summary of the latest in lightning ⚡️
