Bitcoin News Weekly #25

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LATEST NEWS

🙌 Adoption:

• Banco Do Brasil, Latin America’s largest financial institution with $400 billion AUM, reveals that they hold BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF.

• Human Rights Foundation launches the Finney Freedom Prize to honor Hal Finney, awarding 1 BTC to individuals and organizations who contribute most to Bitcoin and freedom during each halving epoch.

• Mr. 100, representing an undisclosed nation-state, accumulates 2,530 Bitcoin over the week, despite downward volatility triggered by the Israel-Iran conflict.

⚖️ Legal:

• South Korea, Japan, and Singapore are considering approving Bitcoin ETFs, following Hong Kong's lead as Asia catches up with the US market. 

• OSL Digital will act as the custodian for the Harvest and CAM (Hong Kong) Bitcoin ETFs, scheduled to go live at the end of this month.

• Binance converts $1 billion of Bitcoin into USDC to back its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU), aimed at protecting users from potential losses due to operational risks or security breaches.

📈 Markets:

• Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, Germany's biggest bank, is partnering with Bitpanda to provide Bitcoin custody services for businesses starting later this year.

• Relai, a Swiss Bitcoin exchange with $400 million in trading volume, has been adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet since January, following MicroStrategy's playbook.

• Quattro Financial Advisors, a Texas-based multifamily wealth managaement office, reports holding $19 million of BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF in SEC filings.

⛏️ Mining:

• Riot announces they are powering up the world’s largest known Bitcoin mine in Corsicana, Texas which has regulatory approval for 1 GW of load.

• Morgan Stanley releases new research suggesting that Bitcoin miners are the quickest way to establish new data centers because they already have access to significant amounts of power.

• In the 130 blocks following the halving, Bitcoin miners earned 1,675 BTC (equivalent to $109 million), of which 75% (1,262 BTC) came from transaction fees. Miners collected 1,349 BTC in fees from 4/1-4/19.

🗳️ Politics:

• Canada increases capital gains tax to 66% for companies, and individuals making more than CAD 250,000 (~$181,000 USD).

• IMF warns the US that its large fiscal deficits are fueling inflation and pose "significant risks" to the global economy.

• Sweden’s tax authority demands $90 million from Bitcoin miners after a three-year investigation.

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Bam’s 2 Sats:

The Bitcoin halving has occurred, reducing issuance from 6.25 to 3.125 Bitcoin per block, approximately every 10 minutes. Some argue this event may not have a substantial impact, given that Bitcoin's total supply is known and fixed at 21 million coins. However, it is significant as it marks the first time in history that humanity has encountered a monetary asset with an annual inflation rate of less than 1%. This means that the newly mined Bitcoin in a year amounts to less than 1% of the existing supply.

Gold has historically been considered humanity's prime example of hard money, as noted by Saifedean Ammous, author of "The Bitcoin Standard." He explains that human progress and civilization have been closely linked to the pursuit of harder currencies. By the late 19th century, gold had emerged as the predominant global currency, boasting an annual supply growth of around 2%. This stability allowed everyone to save in gold without fear of inflation.

However, even gold's supply could potentially be adjusted in response to increased demand. If interest in gold were to surge, miners could allocate more capital to boost production, thereby influencing its supply.

Bitcoin operates differently. Unlike traditional commodities like gold, if demand for Bitcoin rises—as it continues to do—it's impossible to produce more than the programmed limit. As more miners compete for Bitcoin rewards, the network adjusts its difficulty level. Initially, each block produced 50 bitcoins, which then halved to 25, then 12.5, 6.25, and now stands at just 3.125 Bitcoin per block.

This incentivizes the industry to enhance the efficiency of their mining rigs and explore innovative ways to capture and utilize cheaper energy sources for production.

Consider the long-term implications of these dynamics. People often expect immediate outcomes from events, but market incentives can take time to materialize.

Here's the scenario: We have Bitcoin, a monetary asset that requires significant energy for its creation, and its supply diminishes over time (every 210,000 blocks to be precise). Concurrently, we have a monetary system that accumulates an additional $1 trillion in debt approximately every 100 days—nearly equivalent to the entire value of the Bitcoin network—without any real effort. Moreover, decisions about this debt are made without our input, and policymakers even propose raising citizens' taxes to address this deficit.

In the long term, where do you think people will choose to save their wealth? In an asset like Bitcoin, which is inherently scarce and can be owned without any counterparty risk? Or will they continue to trust government-issued money that is continuously created without our consent and can be easily confiscated if deemed "necessary" by the government?

I mean even BlackRock is advertising it.

Stay Humble & Stack Sats,
Bam

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