Myth of Money: META Strikes Partnership with Coinbase and Dapper Labs
Welcome to this week’s edition of Myth of Money, a weekly newsletter on the digital asset markets read by 12,000+ investors.
Disclaimer: The following is not intended as investment advice. Do your research.
Dear Investors,
This week has been one filled with numerous activities in our space; partnerships, new lines of business and even more lawsuits. Speaking of partnerships, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is updating plans for its launch of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Menlo Park, California-based company is increasing the rollout of NFT integration on the social media platform Instagram to more than 100 countries across Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and the Americas.
Meta also announced it will support wallet connections with the Coinbase Wallet.
Meta also picked a blockchain for their integrations. Users will have the ability to post digital collectibles minted on the Flow blockchain, according to the release. Users will be able to connect to a digital wallet and share their digital collectibles. With Thursday’s announcement, Instagram now supports Rainbow, MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, and Dapper Wallet.
Why Dapper and Coinbase?
Dapper Labs created the Flow blockchain to support all aspects of NFT storage, trading, and sharing. Dapper is also responsible for creating some of the most popular NFT collections in the 10-year history of the asset class with such hits at CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot.
Coinbase has announced a deal with BlackRock to give its asset manager clients more seamless access to digital asset markets, as a rising number of traditional investors are dabbling in crypto.
The reputation and strides of Dapper and Coinbase may have prompted the parent company, META, into the partnership.
What does it mean for the crypto community?
“With the incredible opportunity of blockchain technology, they can now leverage new tools to earn income, and fans can support their favorite creators by purchasing digital collectibles — art, images, videos, music, or trading cards — as non-fungible tokens (NFTs),” a rep for Meta said at the time of announcement.
As a result of the news, the native crypto token for the Flow network -- known as FLOW -- traded as high as $2.97 across cryptocurrency exchanges during the past 24 hours, representing a 45% spike since the market downturn.
This Week By the Numbers 📈
Top Stories 🗞️
MicroStrategy CEO steps down as company takes a $917 million hit on its Bitcoin investments
Bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor is stepping down as the CEO of the software company he co-founded, MicroStrategy, and will instead take on the role of executive chairman. Saylor’s belief in Bitcoin has turned the company into a holding vehicle for cryptocurrency. The news came as the company reported its second-quarter earnings. It noted a loss of $1.062 billion, mostly due to an impairment charge of $917 million based on the value of its Bitcoin holdings, which have plunged since the price peaked in November last year. MicroStategy was also the subject of an SEC investigation over allegations of civil accounting fraud back in 2000.
Tiffany is selling custom CryptoPunk pendants for $50,000
For about $50,000 (30 Ethereum), CryptoPunk holders can get a handcrafted pendant modeled after their NFT (non-fungible token) from Tiffany & Co. — and no, this is not a joke. The pendant, which will feature “at least” 30 diamonds or gemstones, will hang on an 18K gold chain with five pave diamonds on the clasp. The offer is exclusive only to people who own a CryptoPunk. Tiffany & Co. has experimented in the world of Web3 in the past. In March, it announced its purchase of a $380,000 NFT that looks like a children’s drawing (sorry, not sorry). Tiffany later debuted its “TiffCoin” cryptocurrency as an April Fool’s Day joke.
Uniswap ‘Fee Switch’ Pilot Likely To Go Ahead
A proposal to switch up fees imposed by decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap passed with overwhelming support from Uniswap’s community governance. Meanwhile, a voting period for a so-called consensus check to launch a pilot version of the fee implementation has begun. The pilot proposes the test parameters will be locked in at 1/10 or 10% of select liquidity pools — meaning a 10% fee would be applied to that percentage of the selected pool, the lowest portion the code permits.
Coinbase hit with 2 fresh lawsuits amid SEC probe
Coinbase is now facing increased scrutiny from regulators, with the company now becoming the target of multiple lawsuits. The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange, which is presently being investigated by the United States Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), now faces two additional legal claims from two law firms. On Thursday, New York-based legal firm Bragar Eagel & Squire revealed that it would be suing Coinbase for making deceptive claims about its business practices. Pomerantz LLP has also filed a claim against the exchange, alleging that it is entitled to compensation for any losses incurred as a result of the defendant's violations of federal securities laws. This lawsuit was filed to compensate the plaintiffs.
Coinbase partners with BlackRock to create new access points for institutional crypto investing
According to a new blog post published on Thursday, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase said it is partnering with BlackRock, the world’s largest financial asset manager, to provide its clients with direct access to crypto, starting with Bitcoin (BTC). Users of BlackRock’s institutional investment management platform Aladdin will receive crypto trading, custody, prime brokerage, and reporting capabilities should they also elect to sign up for Coinbase Prime. Coinbase Prime is an institutional trading solution that provides trading, custody, prime financing, staking, data, and reporting services on over 300 digital assets.
Further Reading
Stablecoins are digitally native payment instruments that are designed to maintain
a stable value compared to an external reference asset, usually a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar. They provide a bridge between the traditional financial system and the crypto economy, allowing fiat currencies to exist in a form that can move more freely and more efficiently on blockchains. [Read More on the “STABLECOINS WHITEPAPER” by COINBASE INSTITUTE HERE]
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Thank you for reading this week’s edition of the Myth of Money.🚀
Until next week,
Tatiana Koffman
By Tatiana Koffman
Hi there and thanks for reading. If you stumble upon my newsletter, you will notice that I write about money, economics, and technology. I hold a JD/MBA and spent my career in Capital Markets working across Mergers & Acquisitions, Derivatives, Venture Capital, and Cryptocurrencies. I believe in empowerment closing the financial education gap and creating equal opportunity for the next generation. I have invested in 20+ companies and funds. Check out my portfolio here.
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