Don’t Marry Your Bag, Optimize Survival & The Growing World of NFT Finance
In This Issue
- I share my thoughts on the state of the market, CPI next week, don’t marry your bag, Ethereum merge & optimize for survival.
- Sam has a report for you on the growing world of NFT finance.
Premium members also get the following:
- My latest portfolio updates
- Rekt Capital has the latest technical analysis for you on the market.
- Rebecca has all of the latest news for you.
- Upcoming NFT drops
- Defi Dad has a tutorial for you on the top 3 passive strategies for ETH holders going into the Merge.
- Jesse has a ton of hot new airdrops for you.
- Hot new token sales.
- Rebecca breaks down this week’s trending coins.
- Jesse has a deep dive for you on Dogecoin vs Shiba Inu.
And much more!
What’s On My Mind by Lark
The State of the Market
Europe’s energy crisis continues to be THE story dominating markets.
Russia has cut off the Nord Stream 1 pipeline indefinitely.
Europe is discussing a price cap on Russian gas.
Major metal producers in Europe are shutting shop.
Consumer spending has fallen off a cliff.
The 15 billion Euro bailout for German energy giant Uniper was not enough and more money is being planned. Money printing is already underway with a significant package of 65 billion Euros announced in Germany.
The UK is debating the size of its energy bailout package, but rumours are it could be up to 170 billion pounds.
Meanwhile 1.5 trillion dollars of margin calls were just made, partially on European energy providers who were trying to hedge their bets. It is estimated that the total increase in energy expenditures in Europe will be 2 trillion Euro. Hardly seems like the current bailout plans are anywhere close to being enough.
Markets have been reacting very negatively to the brewing crisis. The S&P 500 took a good hit this week. And of course crypto has been smashed… again…
Bitcoin put in its lowest daily close of 2022 and it was also the lowest daily close since 2020.
Although we did get a nice bounce today as the equity markets rallied higher. Bitcoin needs to put in a daily close above $19,500 before we can start talking about a real rally.
Ethereum buyers seem to be stepping up the pressure before The Merge with the price going from $1,490 to $1,650 today. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a rally up to $2,000 pre-Merge. But 2 days before The Merge the CPI data comes in, more on that in a moment.
Overall though, the markets have been rough, but does that mean there are no opportunities? Of course not. There are many opportunities although they are fewer and further apart these days.
For example, since we first covered GMX it has doubled in price, which if you are thinking from a bull market perspective sounds boring and dull, but then you remember we are in a bear market and suddenly things look different.
The pain of the bear market has blinded many investors to opportunities in the market. There are still coins that make money. There are still NFTs that make money. There are still token sales that make money. There are still defi platforms paying big. And there are still many opportunities outside of crypto, although that is not the purview of this newsletter.
CPI Next Week
The US consumer inflation data will be released on September 13th. Markets will be waiting with anticipation for this event.
With so much inflationary pressure in Europe and so much chaos globally it will be quite the feat if it puts in a significantly lower percentage.
A reminder that last month we got 8.5%. If the number on the 13th is higher then expect chaos in markets. If it is the same, probably also bad. If it is lower then we may see some relief in markets. Maybe…
This Is Why We Don’t Marry Bags
The temptation to marry all of your bags and to hold everything forever is a tempting one, but often wrong in crypto.
Sure, some long term spot holdings are fine, but in most cases you need to take at least some money off of the table because crypto is crazy man.
Case in point is Harmony, the ONE token went from half a cent at the start of 2021 to 35 cents at the start of 2022. 70X in a year.
But then the bear market came. Harmony also suffered a major hack of one of its bridges. It never recovered.
Total value locked on chain went from 1.35 billion to … 35 million!!! OMG! Always remember we are dealing with new tech here, and things break.
Sometimes teams can recover, sometimes they cannot. You always need to book profits on coins during a bull market.
Remember “take your profits or the market will take them for you”!
Ethereum Merge Next Week
Well, it is finally upon us. The Ethereum Merge to proof of stake will happen next week.
A reminder that you will likely be getting an airdropped coin from the planned proof of work fork. I plan on selling mine.
We may get one final “hurrah” rally before the merge, but don’t expect anything much with the macro scene being so bad.
After the merge, there is not much of great significance on the horizon for crypto. Which leads me onto my next point.
Optimise For Survival
This bear market is far from over. And, sure, maybe they print so much money that we get a short-lived market pump, but even that seems doubtful at this point.
It is key to survive. I have been very cautious for the last few months with my money.
Yes, I am still buying Bitcoin, and a few altcoins.
Yes, I am still buying stocks and metals.
But I remain pretty paranoid and I am maintaining a very strong cash position. I have even done immensely boring things like take term deposits at the bank. What has my life become???
Now is NOT the time for recklessly throwing money at stuff.
That time will come again, but it is not now.
Mining on the Helium Network by Jesse (Premium Article)
The Helium Crypto Network has taken the torch and dubbed itself “The People’s Network”. This is because the Helium Network relied solely on humans to secure the network when it first launched.
On Helium, this is accomplished with specialized devices called “Hotspots”. Helium uses a new algorithm called Proof-of-Coverage (PoC) to secure the Helium Network through these devices. Hotspots have a multipurpose utility which we’ll get into later on, but, due to numerous changes and challenges in the Helium Network, it’s no longer able to carry that torch.
With the introduction of Proof-of-Stake validators for HNT tokens, Helium added an entirely new gatekeeper to the growth of its network. By staking Helium, users have become validators and broken away from human-only Proof-of-Coverage consensus.
Helium and the self-proclaimed Decentralized Wireless Alliance are at the helm of this ship, and as majority shareholders, it was in their interest to create validators. That’s just how the game is played…
The Growing World of NFT Finance by Sam
One problem with NFTs is that they’re so illiquid. This maybe shouldn’t be a big deal, after all, you never hear art collectors complaining about how illiquid their favorite paintings are.
But then on the other hand, NFTs are crypto as well as art (and not all are art anyway), a large part of crypto is all about spinning up profits, and so it makes sense that developers are looking at NFTs and finding ways to release capital and increase liquidity.
These attempts can all broadly be called NFT finance, and it’s an expanding field.
What we’re basically seeing is a crossover between NFTs and DeFi, as it turns out that non-fungible tokens are actually–sometimes–a little bit fungible.
This is particularly true when you’re looking at NFTs at or around the floor price in a collection.
Basically, these can be treated–from a trading point of view–as interchangeable with one another, or in other words: fungible. So we end up with some fungible non-fungible tokens.
Loans
If you’re looking to unlock NFT capital, then there are platforms allowing you to take out loans against your NFTs, but they operate in a variety of ways. Peer to peer platforms are very straightforward and exactly as they sound, with borrowers and lenders interacting securely.
Two major platforms for this purpose are Arcade and NFTfi, both of which are reliable and operate smoothly.
Away from peer to peer options, there are platforms that operate through lending pools and protocols, which is getting closer to DeFi. In these cases, JPEG’d and Unlockd Finance have been leading the way, and there are plenty of competitors building out alternatives, including BendDAO (which looks like it is pulling through bear market difficulties) and Pine Protocol.
AMMs
Image credits: NFTX
Up to now, most NFT traders have stuck with OpenSea, simply for the amount of volume it does as the market leader. However, any alternatives that offer increased liquidity and reduced fees should be able to hoover up users, and that’s already happening, as AMM style marketplaces begin to appear.
Sudoswap and NFTX have set this trend in motion, and then there are protocols including FloorDAO, GumBall Protocol and Protecc taking NFTs further into DeFi territory.
Where this all leads remains to be seen, but it’s plausible that there could be a split between simple, shop-front marketplaces such as OpenSea, and AMM, trade-enhancing platforms such as Sudoswap, each catering to different needs.
Derivatives
Image credits: NFT Perp
If you’ve ever thought it might be profitable to trade exotic NFT derivatives, then you’ll be happy to find that you’re not alone, and there are several platforms building out ways to do exactly that.
Among the frontrunners are NFT Perp, which runs on Arbitrum and offers leverage and futures trading, and Putty, which allows a wide variety of customizable trade options, selling itself, as its name suggests, on being flexible in its utility.
For further upcoming protocols, it’s worth keeping an eye on Hook Protocol and Gradient, both of which are building out platforms allowing users to trade around NFTs in ways that go beyond simply flipping the base items.
Other interesting projects
Blur
Image credits: Blur
Forthcoming NFT trading platform Blur is currently in beta, but is generating a lot of attention and positive comments. It’s marketing itself as an option for pro traders, and is backed by the crypto investment firm, Paradigm.
Blur acts as an aggregator to access NFT trading across marketplaces, and the aim is to facilitate smooth bulk trading in real time, with detailed portfolio analytics.
Taking a broad view of the market, NFT trading volume is currently greatly reduced from its highs, but if you believe that will turn around when crypto/economic conditions improve, then Blur could become a key platform.
PartyBid
Image credits: PartyBid
This product, developed by PartyDAO, has a straightforward premise: individuals can pool their ETH and then buy NFTs as a unified group. When an NFT is purchased, PartyBid then fractionalizes it and members of the group receive tokens based on how much they each contributed.
PartyBid doesn’t work with all NFT marketplaces, but it’s integrated with OpenSea, which will be good enough for most people, although it’s restricted to Ethereum NFTs only.
The platform also operates as a social hub, and some groups (or parties) may set entry requirements such as needing to hold an NFT from a particular collection. Don’t worry though, if you can’t find what you’re looking for, then you can always start your own party.
Cyan
Image credits: Cyan
Bringing a buy now, pay later approach to the NFT space, there is a platform called Cyan. It’s straight-to-the-point and exactly as it sounds: the terms offered are that you pay 25% up front (that’s for the NFT you’re buying plus interest), and then pay the rest in installments later.
Cyan also offers loans against NFTs, and ETH staking to earn yield (while staked ETH is used to fund loans and credit). This is the kind of product that makes obvious sense in a number go up bull market, but it’s actively building now for the long term future.
Uniswap
Image credits: Uniswap
Ok, so Uniswap is obviously a huge name in crypto, but it’s mentioned here because it looks like it’s getting heavily involved in NFT finance.
Uniswap is in talks with several NFT lending protocols, has already announced that it will integrate Sudoswap, and clearly has the know-how and existing user base to make a big impact.
👉 GO PREMIUM TO SEE THIS WEEK’S TOP 3 NFT MINTS 👈
Final Notes
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.
You’ll immediately get access to:
- Deep dive Altcoin report & The Trending Coin Report
- Technical Analysis on the crypto large caps and overall market
- Token sales, Airdrops and DeFi Tutorials
- Updates on the NFT Ecosystem and new mints
- My Investment Portfolio Updates
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.
Responses