In This Issue

• I share my thoughts on the state of the market, Inflation data is in, BUSD is a security, big DeFi news, Polygon news, gaming season coming BLUR comes into focus & the Gamma swap airdrop.
• REKT has a TA report on 11 different altcoins.
• Rebecca breaks down the latest news.

Premium Subscription highlights this week:

• Ordinal NFTs on Bitcoin: Are evil JPEGs invading the sacred Bitcoin blockspace?
• Airdrops: Stay up to date with all the new airdrops and incentivized testnets so you can get your hands on some free tokens!
• Rekt’s Full Reports: Only Premium Members get to see Rekt’s full TA reports each week.

What’s On My Mind by Lark

The State of the Market

Well… another week in crypto. At the time of writing Bitcoin had flipped a major area of previous resistance into support around $21,500.

That’s nice, but the big story this last week has been about regulations. Which resulted in crypto decoupling from stocks. Stocks rallied higher, while crypto languished on fears of the SEC actions. Companies outside of crypto are making so much money that they have been doing HUGE stock buybacks. Crypto man… 

New address momentum is picking up for Bitcoin, which can often be correlated with new cycle trends starting. There are so many different on-chain charts showing basically the same thing. While we are not likely to turbo-run back to new highs this year, we are moving in the right direction. 

But overall markets have been more chill this week as investors are spooked and thus we got our cool-down period following our big run-up. Now we want to see follow-through higher in the coming weeks. 

Inflation Data Is In 

US inflation numbers are in and they are both good and not awesome. Core inflation fell from 6.5% in December to 6.4% in January. Not a huge drop, and a big slowdown in the velocity of the drop. January saw the monthly inflation rise by 0.5%. This means that in spite of all the rate hikes that inflation is remaining a sticky problem. The initial vibe from markets though is that they just don’t care. So there is that to consider. 

BUSD Is A Security? 

It seems the SEC is taking the spray-and-pray approach to regulation. Their behavior has been beyond shocking. Charge Kraken for offering unregistered securities in the form of staking and say that Kraken should have registered with the SEC. But there was no path to register with the SEC. Massive fraud at various crypto lenders? SEC is asleep. Library’s utility token? Hit them with the hammer. Shit tons of silicon valley circle jerks and cash grabs… SEC again is blind. Is all of this just a way to try and distract the general public from the SEC’s massive failure with FTX? There is no investor protection going on here. Just mafia-like shakedowns to get fat settlement checks rolling in. 

Now the SEC is going after BUSD, the Binance-issued stablecoin. Their reasoning? BUSD is an unregistered security. BUSD is issued by Paxos. Paxos is tightly regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services and received a license from them. I guess the NFDFS missed the fact that a stablecoin is a security? Anyway, they are also now cracking down on BUSD… you know the stablecoin they licensed and are regulating! 

But what of the claims of BUSD being a security? Well, it quite simply does not pass the Howey Test. How does a stablecoin offer an “expectation of profit”? Because it doesn’t. 

Oh… and who started all of this mess? Apparently, rival stablecoin issuer USDC “blew the whistle” on Paxos and Binance. This industry is cutthroat AF. 

Big DeFi News 

Lots of big things are happening in DeFi this week. This is just a small sample. 

• Maker Dao is launching Spark Lend. This is a protocol building on Aave V3 in order to bring lending markets to Maker. As well, Maker is soon launching EtherDAI, an Ethereum staking derivative. 
• Aave is finally launching the GHO stablecoin on Ethereum’s testnet. Thus making it one step closer to fighting for market share in the stablecoin space. 
• Euler Finance is expanding to the BNB chain. A common theme recently has been the expansion of major protocols from other chains like Ethereum and Avalanche over to the BNB chain which remains a top player in the space. 

Polygon News 

On March 27th, Polygon is planning to launch zkEVM on mainnet. This is huge news for both ETH and MATIC, because MATIC will be used for governance on the platform, and ETH will be used for gas. This is going to be one of the biggest and most important layer twos to launch. The real money to be made here though will be on new launches on the chain. Watch out for the early DEXs, money markets, and perpetual swap exchanges on zkEVM. They could make life-changing gains for some. 

Gaming Season Coming? 

Yuga Labs’ game Dookey Dash was won by a famous Twitch Streamer. The dude has millions of followers, and if Yuga Labs delivers on the goods and the prize ends up being worth a few hundred thousand dollars then it could start a new wave of interest in play to earn crypto games. Could this be the next big narrative? Watch this space. 

BLUR Comes Into Focus 

NFT marketplace Blur, the current flavor of the quarter in the NFT space has just released their token. It debuted at $5 and then plummeted. Nothing unusual there for a big airdrop like this. If you have used Blur at all in the last few months then you probably have some tokens to claim. BUT, if you are going to ape into the tokens that other people are dumping, be careful.

While Blur has seen bigger volumes than Opensea, I feel like this is a story I have seen before. Much like with Looks Rare, volume on Blur has been inflated massively by those seeking the airdrop. Likely a lot of wash trading happening.

The challenge will be to sustain volume on Blur after the airdrop farming ends. Oh, and it is a governance token. So basically a useless token whose sole purpose is to be dumped for cash or pumped and dumped during NFT cycles. Only 12% goes to the airdrop, which is generous, but 78% is sitting in the vesting contract for the team, VCs, etc. That being said, this was just season one of the airdrop. Season two is still up for grabs, so if you want to potentially get some coins then list and bid on NFTs there. 

Gamma Swap Airdrop 

Gamma is a competitor to the popular DYDX exchange. Both are built using starkware tech. Considering how much the DYDX airdrop was worth this could be worth paying attention to. 

• Step 1: Sign up for the beta test. Uncertain how long it will take to get access.
• Step 2: Test the exchange. Try to make a trade a day. Make limit and market orders for both buy and sell, long and short orders, cancel orders, play with their charts, etc. 
• Step 3: There is a point system that involves inviting people and quizzes as well. 

Usual airdrop disclaimer. You might get nothing. What you get may be worth nothing. Caution is always advised when interacting with defi contracts. You will likely want to do all of the above actions multiple times, for example once every week to be eligible. This is not an endorsement to buy any coins or nfts of the projects listed.

Market Analysis by Rekt Capital

In today’s newsletter, I will cover 11 Altcoins, specifically:

• Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR)
• Zilliqa (ZIL)
• Dusk Network (DUSK)
• Verasity (VRA)
• Aave (AAVE)
• UniSwap (UNI)
• SushiSwap (SUSHI)
• Chainlink (LINK)
• Algorand (ALGO)
• Arweave (AR)
• Litecoin (LTC)

Let’s dive in.

Hedera Hashgraph — HBAR/USDT

HBAR has enjoyed a strong uptrend since deviating below the red region of support, then breaking back above the orange horizontal to turn it into support for multiple weeks via a sideways Flagging Stucture, before finally breaking into the orange box.

This orange box area may become a home to another sideways Flagging Structure, much like it was the case in early 2021.

I’d expect downside volatility below this box during the retesting period, something we’ve already seen with the latest downside wick.

Generally, I’d be watching for a) HBAR to hold the bottom of this orange box as support (wicks allowed) for a few weeks before b) breaking beyond the orange box, though retesting the top of the orange box as support (wicks allowed to as deep as the very bottom of the orange box) before breaking out to new yearly highs.

I would be open to another Flag-like structure developing upon breakout from the orange box but that’s a topic for another day.

Right now, most important is price-stability inside this orange box as that would indicate re-accumulation before the next leg up.

Zilliqa — ZIL/USD

ZIL has been maintaining a technical uptrend for multiple weeks now (green Higher Low).

And it is not just the technical uptrend that has led to ZIL earning a place in this Watchlist but the context of the uptrend:

On the Monthly timeframe, ZIL has enjoyed a Monthly Close beyond the blue historical support area.

Historically, upside wicks beyond this region are a commonality but when there is enough strength in the market, ZIL produces a Monthly Close beyond the blue region and prepares itself for a sustained uptrend.

ZIL has performed a Monthly Close just like that this past January which indicates that ZIL may be ready for further upside.

As long as the technical uptrend holds, then this thesis remains intact.

Should the technical uptrend on the Weekly get lost though, then ZIL would likely dip to the top of the blue support region for a retest (though this is something that ZIL has never performed in its history).

However, history suggests ZIL could hang about these highs before continuing upwards.

Dusk Network — DUSK/USDT

DUSK has been a favourite and top performer here in the newsletter for weeks now.

Much like MATIC, DUSK has been ascending in its uptrend in a level-by-level fashion, making its key regions of rebound or rejection a little bit easier to pinpoint and assess ahead of time.

DUSK is currently hanging about just below the dashed red resistance after having briefly dipped deeply.

A healthy dip would be even to as low as the black level however the momentum has been quite strong, offering only a shallow dip.

If DUSK flips the red level into support, then it would open itself up to a strong move via the orange pathway.

Until then, any dipping towards the black level as well as price-stability above black would be a positive contributing sign signalling that DUSK is still enjoying its uptrend.

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In Case You Missed It by Rebecca

Crypto market news

Drake has won $1.2M worth of bitcoin on his Super Bowl bet, which keeps his winning streak going after taking home a profit of $300K in BTC last year. Source

Rich Dad, Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki predicts a future “giant” market crash could take Bitcoin’s price to $500K in three years. Source

Two-thirds of millennials see Bitcoin as a safe haven, according to a survey by Bankless Times. Source

Dubai has prohibited all activities related to privacy cryptocurrencies such as Monero, under new laws. Source

The head of digital assets at BNY Mellon says the digital assets industry is “here to stay.” Source

Kraken has shut down its staking program in the US and agreed to pay a $30M fine to the SEC. Source

Coinbase saw its stock tank 14% following the SEC’s crackdown on crypto staking for US users. Source

The US state of Mississippi has passed a legislative bill to legalize Bitcoin mining in the state and protect miners from discrimination. Source

The Russian government has announced it will start providing direct financial support to a crypto-mining operation in Siberia later this year. Source

Voyager users will need Binance US accounts to get their money back, as Binance expects the deal to close and payments to begin in March. Source

Microsoft has disbanded its 100-member industrial metaverse team as part of the company’s broader plan to lay off 10,000 employees. Source

Shopify has launched new tools for NFT stores including expanded wallet connect features and the ability to choose which token holders can gain access to exclusive products. Source

Brazil’s oldest bank, Banco do Brasil, allows residents to pay taxes in crypto in an initiative with Brazilian-based crypto company, Bitfy. Source

Nexo will stop its Earn interest program for all US users from 1 April. Source

Crypto payments company Wirex has expanded its partnership with Visa to 40 countries. Source

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has bought another $9.26M in Coinbase shares, making it almost $20M invested in the stock so far in 2023. Source

Coins and Projects

Blockstream CEO Adam Back says Bitcoin could reach $10M by the end of the sixth halving in 2032, if layer-2 technology and wallet structure improve. Source

Ordinals, Bitcoin’s NFT project, is gaining momentum with over 76,000 NFTs minted to date, after spiking on 9 February. Source

Ethereum developers have announced the Sepolia testnet will undergo its Shanghai upgrade on February 28. Source

MakerDAO has integrated with Chainlink to help maintain the stability of its DAI stablecoin. Source

Binance is supporting people in Turkey’s earthquake region with $100 airdrops in BNB. Source

Binance is incorporating zk-SNARKS into its proof-of-reserves verification system, allowing it to verify its reserves in a more secure, transparent manner. Source

Binance CEO is distancing himself from the BUSD stablecoin as Paxos said it would stop minting new tokens following a request from the US regulators. Source

BNB Chain aims to double its transaction speed, more than triple its validators, and introduce ZK tools in 2023. Source

Tether’s USDT stablecoin market share is almost at 50% for the first time in 14 months. Source  

Polygon will launch its zkEVM mainnet beta on 27 March. Source

DeFi protocol, Clearpool, has chosen the Polygon network for its institutional lending platform. Source

Jump Crypto discovered a vulnerability in the Binance BNB Beacon Chain, which was privately disclosed, and a patch was deployed within 24 hours. Source

Paxos, the issuer behind BUSD and the Pax Dollar stablecoin USDP, is being investigated by the US authorities. Source

Cardano DEX SundaeSwap has posted its first on-chain governance proposal to be voted on. Source

Cardano has launched its EVM-compatible sidechain public testnet. Source

NFT marketplace Blur is set to begin its delayed airdrop of BLUR tokens to reward Ethereum NFT traders. Source

NFT marketplace Magic Eden has partnered with Web3 payment platform MoonPay to offer new users credit card payments. Source

Algorand has announced several partnerships in India, including collaborations with schools to launch educational programs. Source

Aave has deployed its native stablecoin GHO on Ethereum’s Goerli testnet. Source

Aptos has been chosen as the preferred Layer 1 blockchain for the Web3 TikTok rival called Chingari. Source

The Sandbox has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of Saudi Arabia for future metaverse development. Source

Chiliz has rolled out its Layer-1 blockchain after validating its genesis block. Source

Near Foundation has announced a partnership with the New York University (NYU) to introduce a new Web3 Learning Workshop for students and faculty. Source

MoonPay has partnered with LooksRare to allow users to easily buy and sell crypto and NFTs on the platform. Source

Macro news

US inflation came in at 6.4% year-on-year for January, lower than December’s 6.5% reading but above the expected 6.2%. Source

China is set to launch the National Blockchain Technology Innovation Center in Beijing. Source

The Central Bank of the UAE is planning to launch a CBDC for cross-border and domestic use as part of its financial infrastructure transformation (FIT) program. Source

The EU has released a report on a draft bill which would see banks apply a 1,250% risk weight to any crypto exposure, giving them little incentive to hold it. Source

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Final Notes

Is the bear market FINISHED?? Find out what I think will happen next in the video below 👇

Thank you so much for your support, and I truly hope that today’s issue will give you insights needed to help you master your wealth.

If you are reading this it means you are on the free version of the Wealth Mastery Investor Report, which is great for news and tips on the crypto markets.

If you really want to take advantage of fastest growing asset class EVER, I highly recommend you join us in the Premium Investor Report.

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See you next time!

Lark and the Wealth Mastery Team

Legal Disclaimer

TCL Publishing ltd (director Lark Davis, owner of Wealth Mastery) is not providing you individually tailored investment advice. Nor is TCL Publishing registered to provide investment advice, is not a financial adviser, and is not a broker-dealer. The material provided is for educational purposes only. TCL Publishing is not responsible for any gains or losses that result from your cryptocurrency investments. Investing in cryptocurrency involves a high degree of risk and should be considered only by persons who can afford to sustain a loss of their entire investment. Investors should consult their financial adviser before investing in cryptocurrency.

You can find a full disclosure of all my crypto & venture investments here.