📔 Weekly Journal: Bitcoin Enters Mainstream Finance ₿📈🏛️
[6 min read] Your guide to getting ahead on the digital frontier (& the weekend!). Today, the usual market news as well as what the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in the US means in the long term.
Welcome to this week’s Weekly Journal 📔, your guide to the latest news & innovation in emerging technology, digital assets, and our exciting path to the Metaverse. This is week 58 of the 520 weeks of newsletters I have committed to, a decade of documenting our physical and digital lives converge.
New subscribers are encouraged to check out the history & purpose of this newsletter as well as the archive.
Enjoy your weekend! 😎
Ryan
Here’s what you’re getting today:
📈 Market update: Why BTC went up then down after the ETF news
🗞️ Interesting news: Initial numbers on BTC ETF, Wi-Fi 7, and Neuralink will start on human trials soon for vision implant
👓 Read of the week: An open letter from 2020 that has been circulating and is more true than ever: “Bitcoin for the Open-Minded Skeptic”
🎥 Video of the week: A review of the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses by Adam Savage’s Tested.
🤖 AI: The ethical implications of using AI to impersonate deceased comedians following "George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead,"
✅ Weekly poll: Help choose the emerging tech topic for Wednesday’s showcase.
🤑 DCA with me: Follow my regular $50 weekly investing in an emerging asset class.
Market Update
Bitcoin’s price has ended up mostly flat, even with the good news of Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) approval in the US. This is because the ETF-related purchases are mainly OTC (over the counter) and therefore don’t impact short-term price - by design. The news is incredibly positive for the long-term demand of course!
🎢 After the initial excitement of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs trading in the US it got close to $49,000 briefly, but of course greed happened. Too many people used leverage to bet on it going up more dramatically, so over $90 million in positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours and Bitcoin's price dropped around 6% to $43,413. All of this is an inconsequential blip on the likley long-term upward trend.
🔷Ethereum on the other hand is doing really well, as investors anticipate a spot Ethereum ETFs in the US, with BlackRock CEO expressing interest in such an offering. Ethereum's scaling networks Arbitrum and Optimism also achieved all-time high prices.
🔥🗺️ 7-day heatmap below, slight pullback this week with ETH but BTC doing well
🎭 Crypto Fear and Greed Index is based on volatility, social media sentiments, surveys, market momentum, and a few other bits and pieces. Still in the Greed zone, no real change this week.
Interesting news from this week🗞️
🎉 Thursday (NZ timezone) marked the commencement of trading for Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This means that investors of all kinds can easily get exposure to Bitcoin using their existing brokers and accounts.
In a record-breaking day for ETFs, over $4.6 billion worth of shares were traded. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, converting into an ETF, led with about $2.3 billion in volume, making it the most heavily traded ETF debut on record! Analysts note the impressive demand for these ETFs, but caution that the true nature of investor inflows won't be known until settlement data is available. The unprecedented simultaneous debut of over 10 similar funds adds complexity to assessing trading magnitude.
⚠ The concentration of risk in using Coinbase as the custodian for the majority of the Bitcoin ETFs raises cybersecurity concerns. While Coinbase itself has a solid security record, the extreme asset concentration in a single custodian poses a risk, especially considering the cash-like nature of crypto assets. There are calls to rethink the "qualified custodian" designation, calling for more oversight and cybersecurity standards specific to crypto custodians to prevent potential threats, given the substantial inflows expected in Bitcoin ETFs.
📶 Amid the CES 2024 buzz dominated by artificial intelligence, another significant development quietly unfolded – the widespread adoption of Wi-Fi 7 in laptops. While attention was on new designs and chips, major laptop brands incorporated the crucial upgrade of Wi-Fi 7, signaling a broader shift towards advanced wireless connectivity. Wi-Fi 7's Multi-Link Operation, allowing devices to connect on multiple bands, promises improved flexibility and reduced latency, benefiting users across diverse applications.
🧠Elon Musk has confirmed Neuralink's development of a vision chip to aid the visually impaired. Responding to a parent on Twitter whose son has Retinal Dystrophy, Musk stated that the chip would be ready in a few years. Neuralink, known for its brain-computer interface, is awaiting regulatory approval for human trials. The company recently received FDA approval for clinical trials using its brain chip technology, focusing on motor control. Despite advancements, Neuralink faces competition from companies like Synchron, which received FDA approval in 2020. The vision chip aligns with Neuralink's broader goal of enhancing human capabilities.
👓Read of the Week
In light of the Bitcoin ETF approval, this open letter from 2020 has been circulating and is more true than ever: “Bitcoin for the Open-Minded Skeptic” By Matt Huang (May 2020).
Matt explores:
Bitcoin's evolution from its inception in 2008 to its current status as a global currency.
The controversy surrounding Bitcoin, questioning whether it is a new form of money, a speculative bubble, or a combination of both.
A framework for understanding Bitcoin as a new monetary asset, comparing it to traditional forms like gold and fiat currencies.
Bitcoin's potential as a store of value, its features, market size relative to gold, potential risks, and the role of bubbles in gaining broader acceptance.
Crazy to think how far things have come in the last 3.5 years alone since this was written!
🎥 Watch of the week
Smart glasses continue to be a trend for 2024, I enjoyed this review of the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses reviewed by Norm from Tested. These look pretty cool, designed to blend in as regular sunglasses or prescription glasses.
Single wide-angle camera on the left side, inconspicuous notification light on the right.
The camera captures 12-megapixel images, but struggles with sharpness in certain lighting. Better for video recording, limited to 1-minute clips with occasional frame drops.
Integrated microphone and speakers offer convenience for calls and audio recording.
Meta AI assistant has Llama 2 language model, provides real-time information with some latency.
Battery life comparable to first-gen Apple Watch, needs a daily charge of course.
Overall, praise for miniaturisation and inconspicuous design, with plenty of optimism for future improvements.
AI 🎨🤖🎵✍🏼
The recent release of an AI-generated stand-up comedy special, "George Carlin: I’m Glad I’m Dead," has sparked a heated debate over the ethical implications of using artificial intelligence to impersonate deceased comedians. While the hour-long special covers contemporary topics, George Carlin's daughter, Kelly Carlin, has expressed strong reservations, asserting that her father's unique genius cannot be replicated by machines. This raises questions about the boundaries of AI creativity and the potential impact on the legacy and authenticity of artists. Is AI impersonation a form of homage or a concerning trend that blurs the lines between human creativity and machine-generated content?
Below is the transcript from the intro, do you think this is fair?
“I just want to let you know very clearly that what you’re about to hear is not George Carlin. It’s my impersonation of George Carlin that I developed in the exact same way a human impressionist would,” Dudesy said at the beginning of the special. “I listened to all of George Carlin’s material and did my best to imitate his voice, cadence and attitude as well as the subject matter I think would have interested him today. So think of it like Andy Kaufman impersonating Elvis or like Will Ferrell impersonating George W. Bush.”
Weekly Poll ✅
Help choose what you would like to learn about on Wednesday for my weekly emerging tech showcase:
That’s all for the free version this week! If you have any organisations in mind that could benefit from learning about emerging technology, be sure to reach out. Educational workshops are one of many consulting services I offer.
DCA With Me 🤑
Dollar Cost Averaging is an investment strategy in which an investor regularly invests a fixed amount of money into a particular asset/asset class at regular intervals, regardless of its current market cycle. By doing so, the investor can reduce the impact of market volatility and potentially earn a better return over time. Motto = time IN the market beats trying to time the market
To experiment with this, I invest $50 NZD into a Digital Asset every week. Each week I will choose an asset that seems underpriced in the short term and has positive long-term potential. My timeframe is 3-5 years. I don’t give financial advice but if you want to follow along with me you can use my easycrypto.co.nz referral link to support this newsletter. Let’s dive into this week’s pick:
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