Stay up to date on Green Candle by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube!
In our Friday articles, we take a deep dive into the current state of Bitcoin. We previously published a series debunking the FUD surrounding Bitcoin - you can find those links at the bottom of this article. Every Friday we will continue to publish brief State of the Coin newsletters to keep subscribers up to date on BTC with both on-chain analytics and off-chain news from the Bitcoin industry. For full disclosure, Brandon and Daniel are strong believers in Bitcoin and both have allocated portions of their portfolios to BTC (HODL baby).
Video Version
Check out the video version of State of the Coin on YouTube here!
A look off chain:
Strike comes to Argentina: Popular Lightning payments app, Strike, is now officially available in Argentina. The launch was met with some confusion, as users who downloaded the app realized that they were not getting an actual Bitcoin wallet. Rather, similar to Strike’s first iteration of their launch in El Salvador, it uses the USDT stablecoin to represent U.S. dollars and interacts with the Bitcoin and Lightning networks without holding a BTC balance. It was only after El Salvador made BTC legal tender that Strike could move away from their reliance on USDT - it begs the question: will Argentina be the next country to make bitcoin legal tender?
Block hiring team to build next gen ASIC Miner: Jack Dorsey's Block posted several job openings focused on building the next generation of bitcoin mining ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit). An ASIC is a custom-designed microchip - for Block, these chips are built specifically for bitcoin mining. Dorsey outlined several “core” principles that their team will be focused on while designing these next gen miners, including: network distribution, energy efficiency, silicon production, vertical integration of supply chain, and accessibility to easy-to-use equipment (particularly for home miners).
CashApp begins rolling out the Lightning Network: Speaking of Jack Dorsey and Block, CashApp announced that it has integrated the Bitcoin Lightning Network as a part of a new update. Lightning Network is a “layer-two” technology that allows faster and cheaper Bitcoin (BTC) transfers, overcoming the relatively slow layer-one transactions on Bitcoin’s blockchain. The roll-out of LN on CashApp comes a month after Spiral (a Block subsidiary) released a video detailing their Lightning Development Kit (LDK). LDK allows developers to easily integrate Lightning protocols into Bitcoin wallets and related services.
Bill “ionaire” Miller is bullish: Legendary (and extremely wealthy) investor Bill Miller claimed this week that half of his personal net worth is in Bitcoin. Miller told WealthTrack in an interview that he views Bitcoin as “insurance” against financial catastrophes and government overreach. Comparing BTC to other mass-adopted technologies, Miller had this to say: “I’m observing its trajectory as a new technology and comparing it to the trajectories of things like the printing press, or the steam engine, or the railroads, or the automobile, or electricity, and it’s following… a well-understood path for the adoption of new technologies.”
Bitcoin legal defense fund: Oh, and one more thing from Jack Dorsey this week: he co-founded a legal defense fund meant to provide legal aid to Bitcoin developers. In an email to the bitcoin-dev mailing list on January 12th, Dorsey proposed creating a legal defense fund for developers working in the Bitcoin ecosystem by helping them find and retain defense counsel, develop litigation strategy, and to pay legal bills. The email was co-signed by Dorsey, Alex Morcos (co-founder of Chaincode Labs), and Martin White as the "Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund Board." The Fund's first activity will be to coordinate the defense against Craig Wright's Tulip Trading lawsuit against various bitcoin developers in relation to a "breach of fiduciary duty" with regards to the theft of crypto from the now defunct exchange Mt. Gox.
A Chat with @NobodyCaribou on @BitcoinStoa
This week we had the pleasure of chatting with @NobodyCaribou on the Bitcoin Stoa podcast. We covered our Bitcoin stories, what it means to be a bitcoiner, economic fragility going into 2022, and much more! Give these guys a follow on all of their platforms and check out our full episode below:
We’re always looking for guest writers! If you or someone you know would like to be featured on State of the Coin as a contributor, let us know! You can email us at greencandleit@gmail.com or DM us on Twitter (@Greencandleit)!
Quick word about stacking tax-advantaged sats!
Do you want to HODL BTC in a tax-advantaged retirement account? Check out Choice by Kingdom Trust! Click this LINK to find out more!
A look on chain:
Let’s take a look at on-chain data from Glassnode!
Price update: As of this writing, the current price of BTC is $42,643. In the last week, BTC’s USD price is down 0.46%; in the last month, it is down 11.6%; in the last year, BTC price is up 8.7%.
S2F Model Update: Although price currently remains below stock-to-flow model projections, the model has historically performed well immediately prior to halving events. The model has a predicted USD value of $121k in March of 2024, when the next halving event is expected to occur. Remember, BTC is a long term investment, not a “get rich quick” vehicle. To learn more about the S2F model, check out this article by PlanB.
SOPR: The Spent Output Profit Ratio (SOPR) is computed by dividing the realized value (in USD) by the value at creation (USD) of a spent output. Or more simply: price sold / price paid. Values greater than 1 indicate that coins are being sold for profit (typically bullish) and values less than 1 indicate coins are being sold at a loss (typically bearish). SOPR continues to hover close to 1 - in my opinion, this is bullish given the volatility over the last few weeks. Even when we see dramatic drops in price, we don’t see large downward spikes in SOPR - people are not selling at a loss when price drops suddenly.
Meme of the Week
What would the BTC community do without memes? Every week on State of the Coin, 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 that we came across from @labrahodl10:
New to Bitcoin and looking to learn more?
Check out our introductory series, where we walk through common misconceptions about the world’s leading cryptocurrency!
Stay up to date on Green Candle news by subscribing to our newsletter and following us on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube!
Happy Friday everyone - get after it this weekend!
Dan and Brandon
Disclosure: The authors of this writing hold positions in cryptocurrency mentioned in this article. That cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. The article was written by Daniel Kuhman, 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. We encourage all readers to do further research and do your own due diligence before making any investments.