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In our Friday articles, we take a deep dive into the current state of Bitcoin. Every Friday we will continue to publish brief State of Bitcoin newsletters to keep subscribers up to date on news from the Bitcoin industry. For full disclosure, Brandon is a strong believer in Bitcoin and has allocated portions of his portfolios to BTC (HODL baby).
Top stories from the week:
Lightning Network use has grown 150% in a year: Kraken Intelligence sponsored by the Kraken exchange released findings that the capacity and use of the Lightning Network grew by 150% in a year. This is MASSIVE growth especially when Bitcoin’s price in USD is down around 37% over the past year. More businesses like CashApp, Robinhood, and other major businesses that deal with Bitcoin have started to implement the Lightning Network and that does not seem to be slowing down. Lightning Network growing is overall great for the Bitcoin space and I look for it to continue in the coming years as more innovation is occurring in the space.
Binance removes fees to purchase BTC: Binance announced that there will be no fee, but there still will be a fee to remove Bitcoin from the Binance platform. This is a positive and as Jack Mallers has always said, with exchanges the fees will be a race to the bottom. Bitcoin is getting more accepted worldwide and more people want to purchase Bitcoin. More exchanges are limiting and eliminating fees and I believe this trend will continue.
Members of Congress write letter to EPA detailing benefits of Bitcoin mining: Dennis Porter reported that a group of 14 members of the United States sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explaining that Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining benefits the environment opposed to the usual FUD. This shows that members of Congress are starting to do their homework and learning about the benefits of Bitcoin mining. This will hopefully loosen restrictions in certain states that have not been Bitcoin mining friendly. More positive news out of the Bitcoin spaces as Bitcoin does not need regulation but companies around Bitcoin need clarity around the regulations.
ProShares receives approval for first short Bitcoin ETF: A Bitcoin spot ETF has been on the docket for years seemingly and instead of that being passed a Bitcoin short ETF has been approved. A short ETF will allow investors to get more exposure to Bitcoin the asset with a managed short ETF, but I do not believe these products are great for long term adoption of Bitcoin. I believe the benefit of Bitcoin is self custody and allowing HODLers to take ownership of their wealth. This will get exposure to Bitcoin in potential retirement accounts and get the newbies into Bitcoin and my hope is that these mechanisms will give them the push to educate themselves about Bitcoin.
University of Cincinnati launching Bitcoin curriculum: The University of Cincinnati will be one of the first major institutions to implement a curriculum around Bitcoin and crypto. Earlier, I had Kyle Murphy on my podcast where he described talking with the University of Texas about implementing classes around Bitcoin. The education system in the United States needs to be revamped and this could be a step in getting the education system back on the right foot.
Third Largest Oil Producer in Russia to mine Bitcoin: The largest publicly traded oil producer in Russia is partnering with BitRiver to build infrastructure needed to utilize the third largest oil producer in Russia to mine Bitcoin. It seems like almost every oil and natural gas company is beginning to use the flare gas to mine Bitcoin. With inflation rising it is my theory that every company will attempt to cut costs and earn extra income where they can. Bitcoin mining is the solution for all oil and gas companies.
A quick look on chain:
Current price: $20,368
Market Cap: $388.4B
Spent Output Profit Ratio: 0.9941
Current block height: 740986
Mean block interval: 7min. 52sec.
Meme of the Week
What would the BTC community do without memes? Every week on State of Bitcoin, we feature our favorite meme of the previous week. If you create or see a meme that you like and want us to consider featuring it, tag us on Twitter or instagram (both @Greencandleit)! This week we’re featuring a meme we came across on the @TheWokeAntidote page:
Video Version!
For our complete rip, check us out on the pod:
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Happy Friday everyone - get after it this weekend!
Brandon
Disclosure: The authors of this writing hold positions in cryptocurrency mentioned in this article. That cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. The article was written by Brandon Keys and occasionally a guest writer; it expresses the author's own opinions. They are not receiving compensation for it. The information presented in this article is for informational purposes only and in no way should be construed as financial advice or recommendation to buy or sell any stock or cryptocurrency. None of the authors of this article are financial advisors. I encourage all readers to do further research and do your own due diligence before making any investments.