Monday Market Report | September 18th-24th, 2023

Every Monday, we cover the latest developments and trends in the dynamic and ever-evolving world of cryptocurrency. From price movements, industry news, and our favorite resources, we strive to provide our readers with a comprehensive overview of the crypto landscape.

Dear Ndaxers, summer may be over but don’t despair: The end of crypto winter is nigh!

Staunch anti-crypto crusader Mass. Rep. Liz Warren is finally rallying support for her long-shunned-on-the-hill Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act.

The Fed takes another hawkish pause, and well-known Bitcoiner and crypto VC Nik Carter reasserts his claim that the Bitcoin concept may have been leaked by an employee of... the NSA!

• U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has broadened her efforts to address the perceived risks associated with cryptocurrencies by garnering support from nine fellow senators for her Digital Asset Anti-Money Laundering Act. The legislation aims to close loopholes and enhance regulatory compliance within the digital asset sphere. The bill would extend the regulatory frameworks that currently govern traditional financial institutions to encompass cryptocurrency firms, meaning that Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements outlined in the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) would apply to all participants in the crypto network, including wallet providers, miners, and validators. It's worth noting that Senator Warren has been a vocal critic of crypto, previously attributing part of the responsibility for the Silicon Valley Bank's collapse to crypto investors (which of course turned out to be patently untrue). Considering only 1.1% of all blockchain transactions are deemed illicit (US$12B of a $1.1T market cap), this represents a veritable drop in the bucket of illegal funds that are laundered every year through the traditional banking system. Unchained
• The Federal Reserve opted to keep interest rates unchanged this week for their September FOMC rate decision... They also made it clear that they anticipate one more rate hike before the year's end, but fewer rate cuts in 2024 (compared to previous estimates); a logical conclusion to their significantly increased expectations for economic growth this year, which are now forecasting a 2.1% increase in GDP. (We want to know if this significantly improved GDP forecast is adjusted for inflation...) Alongside maintaining interest rates at relatively elevated levels, the Fed is actively reducing its holdings of bonds. This ongoing process has reduced the central bank's balance sheet by approximately $815 billion since June ’22. CNBC
• Bitcoin advocate Nic Carter has reaffirmed his belief in the theory that the US National Security Agency (NSA) may have played a role in the creation of Bitcoin. This theory resurfaced when a co-founder of Iris Energy shared screenshots of a 1996 paper titled "How to Make a Mint: The Cryptography of Anonymous Electronic Cash." It’s one of the earliest discussions of a system resembling Bitcoin, proposing the use of public-key cryptography to enable anonymous payments without revealing users' identities. The research paper was attributed to "NSA employees" and involved cryptography expert Tatsuaki Okamoto, co-inventor of the Okamoto-Uchiyama public key cryptosystem in 1998. On Sept. 21, Nic Carter reiterated his support for the idea, slyly calling it the "Bitcoin lab leak hypothesis." He suggests that it might have been an internal NSA R&D project that one researcher decided was “too good to allow to lay fallow on the shelf”, choosing to release it secretly. Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter is perhaps best known in the crypto community for evangelizing Bitcoin’s green impact on the world and later, for his work investigating—perhaps even coining the phrase—Operation Chokepoint 2.0, in detailing the current US administration’s use of illegal backchannels to debunk Crypto companies in America and their commonwealth partners. CoinTelegraph

In the cryptocurrency community, there's always something going on. Here are a few events and happenings that you might be interested in:

Bitcoin:

• Bitcoin Holding Above $26K Is ‘Remarkable’ as Equities Take a Hit. What’s Next for BTC’s Price? Coindesk
• Tim Draper ventures forth as bear market bites Blockworks

Crypto:

• Ethereum price sees a new low vs Bitcoin since switching to proof-of-stake CoinTel
• Ether Turns Inflationary as Network Revenue Plunges to 9-Month Low Coindesk
• Google Cloud adds data support for 11 more blockchains Blockworks
• The electric vibe at Asia crypto conferences points toward growing momentum in the region The Block
• Ethereum core developers discuss if the Dencun upgrade may be deployed early next year The Block

For more new stories, visit our LinkedIn

Market Summary:

• The global cryptocurrency market has reached a total market capitalization of CAD $1.41 trillion.  
• Bitcoin continues to lead the market with a dominance of 48.9%, followed by Ethereum at 18.2%.

Performance:

• Bitcoin is currently the top trading pair on Ndax, followed by Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, Solana & Cardano.
• Week over week, the value of Bitcoin (BTC) is down 2.06% and currently $35.2 while Ethereum (ETH) is down 3.24%, now trading around $2,124.

As of 09/25/2023 12:00:00 AM EST, values in CAD.

Keep an eye on the market here 👉 Cryptocurrency Prices

Mark your calendars!

• Sept 29 – Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Options Expiry
• Oct 3 – Valkyrie Bitcoin and Ether Strategy ETF Effective Date
• Oct 31 – Mt Gox claims payment date
• Fall 2023 - US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit decision in Grayscale Case

For those of you looking to learn more about bitcoin and crypto markets this week:

• Nik Bhatia is the founder of ‘The Bitcoin Layer’ & author of ‘Layered Money’. This interview delves into Nik's work in the Bitcoin industry and his background in trading interest rates. We discuss the impact of low interest rates on the economy, the relationship between inflation and interest rates, and the impact of central bank actions on markets. The conversation expands to include global recessions, the Chinese economy, and the future of Bitcoin. - What Bitcoin Did - The Breaking of the Global Economy with Nik Bhatia
• Prince Philip sits down to discuss his vision for nation-state Bitcoin adoption and the role he has been playing in bringing that to fruition. – Bitcoin Magazine - PRINCE PHILIP OF SERBIA LEADS THE WAY FOR BITCOIN NATION STATE ADOPTION
• Today NLW digs into the FOMC decision to keep rates consistent and explores why many are causing a hawkish pause and recognizing that the Fed really is going to keep rates higher for longer. – The Breakdown w/ NLW – The Hawkish Halt: Why the Market Finally Believes "Higher for Longer"
• Preston talks with Bitcoin Audible podcast host Guy Swann about AI's intersection with Bitcoin and identity. - Bitcoin Fundamentals w/ Preston Pysh - BITCOIN AND AI W/ GUY SWANN

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide investment, legal, accounting, tax, or any other advice and should not be relied on in that or any other regard. The information contained herein is for information purposes only and is not to be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of cryptocurrencies or otherwise.