Bitcoin drops below $19,000 & signals for more crypto bankruptcies ahead ??; Time to build: oldest VC firm in US closes $4.6B across 2 new funds ??

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If you’re not a subscriber, here’s what you missed this week:

1. The real Amazon Bank is being built from the ground up in Latin America ??????
2. NFTs are gaining momentum in the music industry. Can they be the future of music? ??
3. PayPal's biggest threat is coming from around the Block and it's called Cash Pay ??
4. Apple overtakes the smartphone crown in the US, and why it can be huge for the company ??
5. Stablecoin Wars: who gains from Binance ditching USDC? ??
6. From FinTech to (Web3) Energy. What could go wrong? ??
7. Celebrities won't save FinTechs from themselves ?? ♀?
8. Global VC funding reaches lows not seen in years. To worry or not? ??
9. FinTech for influencers goes bust. A warning sign for vertical neobanks? ??
10. The Private Markets are in a consolidation period ??

and more! Don't miss out and join the community here????

Last week (5-9 September) was another super exciting week in the world of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency.?We will look at Bitcoin dropping below $19,000, which signals more crypto bankruptcies ahead; time to build as the oldest VC firm in the US closes $4.6B across two new funds, and other interesting news and developments.

Without further ado, let us dive into what happened in the Blockchain & Crypto sector last week. Let’s connect the dots.

Bitcoin drops below $19,000, and signals for more crypto bankruptcies ahead ??

Spotting the trends ???Two somewhat uninspiring (if we can call it that) developments have hit us lately. One has to do with Bitcoin while the other - with the broader cryptocurrency sector.

More on this ?? Bitcoin?plunged below $19,000 this week for the first time in two months. The correction was sudden and brutal — the world's biggest cryptocurrency tumbled in just 50 minutes. It comes after days of sideways action for BTC, which has failed to meaningfully stay above $20,000 since last Friday. At the point of the press, BTC is changing hands at slightly above $19k.

Looking at the bigger picture, it’s clear that a prolonged crypto winter could have severe consequences for some firms in the industry. Having this in mind, KPMG has recently warned that more businesses could go bust between now and the end of the year following an 18-month period of "over-enthusiasm and over-investment" — joining a number of crypto lenders and hedge funds on the scrapheap.

A case in point here could be a BTC mining pool that's responsible for 10% of the network's hash rate that recently confirmed it was freezing withdrawals because of liquidity issues.

?? THE TAKEAWAY

What does it mean? ???Looking at the macro level, we must note that Bitcoin has been trading closely with the global stock markets which have also sustained losses against a backdrop of a strengthening dollar and growing concerns that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point. For instance, the tech-heavy Nasdaq has been on a seven-day losing streak. Looking at the BTC per se, we can also note that the latest Crypto Fear and Greed Index is flashing a score of 24 — indicating Extreme Fear. Long story short, bears are ruling the markets right now and they might stay for a while ?? Zooming out and looking at the broader crypto space, it must be noted that the crypto space experienced significant challenges over the first half of 2022 — exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine — with the collapse of some major hedge funds and crypto lenders creating a domino effect and causing knock-on bankruptcies, KPMG added in the same report. And this is both good and bad at the same time. On one hand, it might inevitably lead to bankruptcies, downrounds, or M&As hence wiping out lots of value out of the market. On the other hand, it might help the ecosystem to balance itself out by cleaning up all the mess and hype. Because the best companies will be the ones that survive.

Time to build: the oldest venture capital firm in America closes?$4.6B across two new funds ??

The close???Bessemer Venture Partners, the oldest venture capital firm in America, has closed $4.6 billion in new capital across two funds – $3.85 billion for its twelfth flagship fund, BVP XII, and $780 million for its inaugural BVP Forge fund.

Bessemer has a portfolio of more than 200 companies and over $20B of assets under management. Early-stage investments have included Pinterest, Shopify, Yelp, and LinkedIn.

More on this ???These two new funds allow the firm to back entrepreneurs and management teams across all stages of growth, regardless of maturity or structure.?

Bessemer Venture Partners focuses on early- and growth-stage venture capital investments through its current $2.4B BVP XI fund, $825M Century II growth fund, and $220M early-stage focused India fund that was raised in 2021. With BVP Forge and its dedicated Forge fund, the firm is expanding its flexibility to support growth buyouts with different liquidity, capital structure, and operational support requirements.

?? THE TAKEAWAY

Build, build, build ???Despite the global venture funding activity has slowed down, this new fund from BVP yet again proves that there’s enough dry powder that’s?sleeping?in the market right now. More importantly, it’s a piece of very good news for more mature companies (not only pre(seed) or Series A) that have been trying or thinking about raising capital lately. Remember - bear markets are for building, so get that sh!t done ?

And grab this if you haven’t yet:

Bonus: Triple your chances of getting funded with this cheat sheet ??

Extra Reads & Quick Bites for Curious Minds??

• Liquidity drought ?? Poolin, the 5th-largest bitcoin mining pool according to data from?BTC.com, told its users that their funds are safe while acknowledging it is facing liquidity problems. According to messages on official Poolin Telegram support channels, users have complained about issues with withdrawals from their wallets since Aug. Poolin CEO and founder Kevin Pan reportedly said the company's net worth is still positive and that they will soon implement a plan to deal with these issues, which could include taking on debt backed by equity or mining equipment. Around the same time, another message posted to the pool's Chinese Telegram account said the mining pool and wallet operate independently and long waiting times for withdrawals are due to risk management, cautioning users not to listen to rumors of rug pull. One customer representative said the company is "facing some financial issues," making withdrawals more difficult to process.?Is another crypto crash just around the corner????
• Capitalizing on commodities???Crypto investment platform?Bitpanda?has added commodities to its platform, allowing users to trade oil, natural gas, aluminum, and wheat along with cryptocurrencies, stocks, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). According to an announcement today, users will be able to gain exposure to exchange-traded commodities (ETCs) via derivatives contracts. Bitpanda will hold the ETCs. Unlike its metal investment feature, users are not able to buy shares in the physical asset.?Will you bet against your energy bill????

Money Moves??

• Credix, a decentralized credit marketplace,?raised $11.25M?in a Series A funding round. Credix will use the fresh capital for platform development, hiring, and integration with other Web3 projects.
• Gaming firm?Gameplay Galaxy?raised?$12.8M in a seed round to expand a line-up of decentralized competitive games.??

Continue reading by subscribing to?Linas's Newsletter.?You will receive fresh news about FinTech, Blockchain & Crypto with hot takeaways every day.

P.S.?You might enjoy my earlier pieces as well:

?? Bitcoin in 2021: a story in 5 graphs, and what might come in 2022

???A Wise pitch deck that led to London’s biggest and most successful direct listing ever

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About: I am?a business developer, sales professional, FinTech strategist, as well as Cryptocurrency and Blockchain enthusiast. I'm highly passionate about Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, and strongly believe that it will change the world for the better. Apart from my daily job at a global payments startup where I'm leading the company's expansion into Europe, I'm an active member of the FinTech community and a TechFin evangelist.

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