Kim Kardashian's crypto crackdown signals future regulations ??; I’m sorry but Bitcoin hasn't decoupled from anything ??

???Hey,?Linas here!?Welcome to a????weekly free edition????of my daily newsletter. Each day I focus on 3 stories that are making a difference in the financial technology space. Coupled with things worth watching & most important money movements, it’s the only newsletter you need for all things when Finance meets Tech.

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

1. Credit Suss, or Lehman Brothers 2.0: a new crash coming? ?? ?[deep & solid analysis]
2. Adyen + Tink, or why the future of payments is open ?? ?[& why Open Banking is the Next BIG Thing in FinTech since plastic]
3. The most fascinating charts about BNPL you've probably never seen ?? ?[if you’re in BNPL, FinTech, Credit, Lending, etc., this is a goldmine!]
4. 4 Bitcoin charts that will surprise you ?? ?[I promise!]
5. Your FinTech should be much more like Liquid Death, the $700M canned water brand ??
6. The Big VC Pullback everyone was expecting is here and it's bad for startups ?? ?[it’s bad news for startups]
7. Lessons from another failed neobank ??
8. Crypto is here to stay. And it's time to talk about MENA ?? ?[if you’re in crypto, you cannot ignore this!]
9. Perfect timing: Mastercard launches crypto anti-fraud tool ?
10. Has crypto died in India? ?? ?[data is both promising & not]

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

Last week (3-7 October) was another exciting week in the world of Blockchain and Cryptocurrency.?We will look at Kim Kardashian's crypto crackdown and what signals it sends for future regulations; I have to apologize but Bitcoin hasn't decoupled from anything, 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.

Kim Kardashian's crypto crackdown signals future regulations ??

The trouble???Kim?Kardashian has agreed to?pay?the US Securities and Exchange Commission a solid $1.3M fine to settle charges related to an Instagram post she’d made promoting EthereumMax (an altcoin - not ether).

More on his ???Kim K used the #ad hashtag but failed to disclose she was paid $250K to promote the coin to her 330M+ followers, which is a violation of the Securities Act. The reality star turned billionaire entrepreneur was also barred from promoting crypto for 3 years. Considering she got paid $250k for the post, $1.3M is a pretty considerable fine.

By the way, the funny thing is that this story was called “the financial promotion with the single biggest audience reach in history” by a UK financial regulator.

But all that reach didn’t stop then-one-month-old EMAX from plummeting in value shortly after Kardashian’s post. Today, an investment in EMAX made at the time of the post would be worth about 95% less ??

?? THE TAKEAWAY

What does this mean? ???From Matt Damon to LeBron James to Gwyneth Paltrow, celebs have jumped on the crypto bandwagon, with some collecting big checks to promote often questionable digital assets. Regulators are paying more and more attention to celebrity crypto promotions and affiliations now, especially given that scams are proliferating (i.e. crypto scams have cost people $1B+ since last year, with nearly half of the victims saying they first heard about crypto on social media). Zooming out, one thing is clear - although many argue that crypto isn't a security, the SEC increasingly appears to disagree. More importantly, the US’s top regulators are starting to hold it accountable to the same rules. Thus, Kim’s fine is a splashy indication of regulators marking their ground. They are clearly trying to warn all celebrities and influencers that they should think twice before offering financial advice on the blockchain. And that’s definitely not a bad thing.

I’m sorry but Bitcoin hasn't decoupled from anything ??

The (shocking?) news ???A recent article from Fortune really hit me hard. It was titled as follows:?The world’s economy is so bad this week that Bitcoin is outperforming major currencies.

As you can see from the graph, Bitcoin looks pretty good compared to all the major global currencies. So maybe now it’s the time when BTC has finally decoupled and become an asymmetric asset? ??

Sorry… ???While there were times when it seemed like BTC was breaking free of its months-long tethering to US stocks, it’s no longer the case.

As you can see from the above graph, BTC is far away from decoupling. While the positive correlation between BTC and the S&P 500 is not as extreme as it was in the spring, we’re still nowhere near Bitcoin’s historical, once-vaunted status as an “uncorrelated asset.” Maybe it was a coincidence after all? ??

?? THE TAKEAWAY

If it quacks like a duck… ???Despite all the Bitcoin maxis out there pushing their narrative, it looks like Bitcoin is performing more like stocks than a safe haven right now — further diminishing the narrative that BTC is a form of digital gold. As a refresher, we can remember that Bitcoin is often referred to by its maximalist as “digital gold”, a safe haven asset you can rely upon when things get hairy around the world. But it looks like Bitcoin is?failing this test. At least for now.

Bonus: Cutting Through the Noise: Bitcoin Fundamentals & Why it Was Created

Extra Reads & Quick Bites for Curious Minds??

• OB’s potential ???US-Based Allied Market Research has released a new report, revealing that the Open Banking market is expected to be worth $123.7B in 2031. According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, ‘Open Banking Market,’ the open banking market was valued at $13.9B in 2020, and is estimated to reach $123.7B by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 22.3% from 2022 to 2031.?Still not convinced? Read this:?Adyen + Tink, or why the future of payments is open ??
• The pivot ???Argentina's state-owned energy company has moved into crypto mining:?YPF, Argentina's state-owned energy company, is?supplying power?to an international crypto mining company with a 1-megawatt operation in southern Argentina. The company plans to launch a second project eight times larger before the end of the year. “We started to develop this generation pilot for cryptocurrency mining with a vision of sustainability and business from flare natural gas, which cannot be harnessed during exploration and at the beginning of the production of an oil field,” YPF Luz CEO Martín Mandarano said.?An indirect buy of the dip????

Money Moves??

• Tennis champions?Venus?and?Serena Williams?have invested in European social and community-based investment app?Shares?and been appointed as the company's first brand ambassadors. Shares is a one-stop platform for any investor to make trades, better manage their portfolio, and discuss opportunities with friends and family. The company has garnered over 150,000 users and become the second most downloaded app in the ‘Finance’ category on the App Store and the sixth most downloaded app in the UK since its launch in May 2022. The Williams sisters’ interest in the company comes shortly after Shares closed on a $40M funding round led by Peter Thiel's Valar Fund.?Bonus:?The future of investing is social? Shares thinks so ??
• London headquartered?Toqio?has secured €20M for its software-as-a-service model for building embedded banking services.
• Global FinTech?Circle , the issuer of USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EUROC), has signed an acquisition deal for merchant and developer-first payments orchestration platform?Elements ?for undisclosed terms.

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, and 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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