Shalom! שלום
In last week’s rundown, I said there were two ways to resolve Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse. My government didn’t like either option, so Sunday evening, it waved its magic wand and created a third way—guarantee all deposits.
You’re trying to predict “macro” when your government can wave a magic wand and change everything?
Credit Suisse is one of the most important financial institutions on earth and just got a $54 billion line of credit from the Swiss government. It’s not enough. As of this update, everybody’s scrambling to save it (they may have done that before you get this rundown).
If you’re wondering what this means for crypto, the market’s given us a very clear picture of what’s going on. This week’s pump changes nothing, we’ve prepared for this for a while.
Catch my most recent update so you can see what I see and plan accordingly.
I still believe the “macro” is too complicated and dynamic for any one person to assess. We know things will get worse before they get better, but we don’t know how much worse, for how long, and with what consequences.
At least nobody’s talking about Genesis, Grayscale, and Digital Currency Group anymore!
If you take the same approach with your finances as I do with my portfolio strategy, you’ll end up doing ok no matter which way the “macro” goes.
For crypto, let’s stick to the situation at hand. Look for the monthly issue within the next day or two. Premium subscribers, expect my next update will come closer to the end of this week.
Scroll down for more news, videos, and content you may enjoy!
US and China pumping the markets?
This week, the US central bank created $300 billion in new money and China cut its lending rates. Some people think these actions will put more money into the financial markets.
We’ll see.
The Fed still wants you to make less money, lose your job, and go out of business.
That $300 billion doesn’t actually go into the economy, it’s there to ease banks into failure and doesn’t keep the Fed from raising interest rates. In fact, it probably gives them a little more latitude because they can backstop some of the negative consequences of monetary tightening.
Watch this video from 2 Gray Beards explaining the situation.
China’s stimulus sounds good but you have to ask yourself why they need the stimulus in the first place. China’s economy is still held together with gum wads and rubber bands.
Fortunately for us, financial assets don’t necessarily reflect anything that’s going on in the real economy. As long as our governments hold magic wands, asset prices are meaningless.
Arbitrum airdrop FU
It’s official. Arbitrum will have an airdrop.
The airdrop snapshot took place on February 3, 2023 and the airdrop criteria favored early users and people who have lots of money. Almost like you had to be an insider to qualify…
Congratulations to everybody who qualified.
I included Arbitrum in my Airdrop Report—in hindsight, too late to qualify, but nobody knew that when I published it last month. Let’s hope for better luck with the other six airdrops.
Roblox Is Being Handed $150 Million By Government After Bank Collapse, Money Isn't Real
Bottom line: a huge gaming company, Roblox, got money from the US government to cover the deposits they lost when Silicon Valley Bank failed.
My take: the US government gave real money to a company that makes money selling fake money after that company’s bank gave its current money to the government in return for future money that they sold at a loss. That’s how a legitimate money system works, but your altcoin is a scam?
Why we care: if a gaming news website realizes your money is a meme, so does everybody else. Both the US government and Roblox can print their own money at will and give it to whoever they want. Whose money is fake?
Time to Worry About Altcoins?
Are you wondering why your altcoin isn’t pumping like bitcoin?
Probably natural volatility. Vagaries of the market. Most of the altcoins on my list of Altcoin Reports beat bitcoin over the past 24 hours.
At the same time, bitcoin beat most of them over the past seven days.
These things happen sometimes.
Just wait until people start saying “nobody cares about altcoins, people only want bitcoin, altcoins are dead, US regulators are banning altcoins, etc.”
I’ve been in this situation a few times, it’s always the same. This two-minute video explains.
If we get an altseason, you’ll feel silly about worrying.
Of course, we’re not there yet. One week does not a rally make. We may never get another altseason. But at least you know what kind of things people will say and why you can ignore them.
Cybercriminals' crypto platform ChipMixer seized in international operation
Bottom line: Western governments shut down ChipMixer, a money laundering website.
My take: Tornado Cash, anybody? If only the authorities had shut down Tornado Cash during a banking crisis, we never would’ve heard about it. The social media algorithms and SEO strategists would have put something else in front of our faces.
Why we care: we can’t worry so much about the daily news that we forget about real, practical matters like privacy and financial liberty that skip our news feed and don’t move prices.
Jobs Corner
Messari | Sr. Backend Engineer, API | Link to position
Ripple | Marketing Analyst Intern (Summer 2023) | Link to position
RabbitHole | Senior Product Designer | Link to position
Gelato Network | Senior Partnership Manager | Link to position
Bebop | Front-End Engineer | Link to position
Wintermute | C++ Trading Platform Developer | Link to position
Phantom Wallet | Data Scientist | Link to position
Nethermind | UI/UX Developer | Link to position
Biconomy | VP Engineering | Link to position
Alchemy | Treasurer | Link to position
These jobs come from the ToolsForCrypto newsletter. If you’d like to post a vacancy here (for free), email mark@markhelfman.com.
Relax and enjoy the ride!
Weekly Rundown - March 19, 2023