Dangerous Global Crypto Plan!

It can be tough keeping up with all the three and four-letter international organisations that are lining up to take a swing at crypto. The WEF, the IMF, the FATF, the OECD and the BIS are some of the multitude who have not been shy about expressing their dislike for the industry. And - surprise, surprise - now the FSB is piling on too.

Before you furrow your brow too ferociously, I don’t mean Russia’s internal security service (though let’s face it, it surely can’t be long before they have a pop as well). No, I refer of course to the Financial Stability Board, the organisation founded by the G20 countries in the wake of the 2008 crisis to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again. Needless to say, nobody in any of those 20 countries got to vote for it.

The FSB recently issued some recommendations for crypto regulations in the G20 and, if approved, these recommendations will become regulations by the end of 2024. Time is of the essence, in other words. There are a lot of takeaways to be gleaned from these recommendations - one of the main ones being an ever-increasing urgency for decentralisation in crypto. There are, however, a good many more besides.

In today’s video, we go through what the FSB is proposing and what it could mean for crypto and for stablecoins, which are also in the crosshairs. Make no mistake, this gives us a taste of what is coming and, as the old saying goes, forewarned is forearmed…

You can watch that video here.

📈 Crypto Market Forecast 📈

Something is happening in the stablecoin market. First, Tron founder Justin Sun tweeted ‘4’, suggesting that something was going to happen to a crypto project he’s affiliated with (Tron has USDD, which is like Terra’s UST, and Justin Sun allegedly controls TUSD). Now, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao has warned that ‘stablecoins are not always stable’.

This begs the question of which stablecoin is at risk. CZ’s tweet offers a clue. He also said ‘impermanent loss is usually permanent loss’. For context, impermanent loss is something that can happen when you provide liquidity in DeFi. Logically then, the stablecoin must be DeFi-related. If it were USDD, then TRX would be looking weak, but it’s looking strong.

The top candidate therefore appears to be MakerDAO’s DAI stablecoin. For reference, DAI is used heavily in DeFi. MakerDAO recently introduced a buyback mechanism for its MKR token, and MKR whales - notably crypto VC firm a16z - have been selling heavily into the rally. This has led to speculation about whether DAI is at risk, and the evidence seems to be mounting.

Consider that just a couple of days ago, MakerDAO increased the yield that DAI holders can earn to as high as 8%. Obviously, the practical effect of this is that more people will purchase DAI to earn this yield. As we’ve seen with high yields in crypto however, no yield is risk-free. In this case, the risk could be coming from DAI’s collateral, which is mostly real-world assets.

It’s not just DAI either. As pointed out by Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik, Coinbase has started offering some generous yields on USDC too. This makes sense, considering that Coinbase earns a large part of its revenue from USDC reserves. The thing is that USDC is also heavily used in DeFi, meaning it could theoretically be the stablecoin CZ is alluding to.

At first glance this doesn’t make much sense because USDC is fully backed and regulated. Upon closer inspection, however, USDC’s compliance could be its Achilles heel. This is because of a provision in the US government’s defence bill that could require all wallets holding stablecoins to complete KYC. Issuers based in the US would be the first to comply.

This makes Binance’s recent decision to list a new stablecoin called FDUSD that much more intriguing. Some have taken this as evidence that TUSD is in trouble and Binance is getting ready to swap it out with FDUSD. However, it could be Binance preparing to capitalise on the outflows from more regulated stablecoins in the US when the KYC rules start to kick in.

That said, this assumes that the defence bill will pass through the House with this problematic provision. This is unlikely, given all the pro-crypto politicians in the House, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on. To clarify, the defence bill was only passed by the Senate. It will need to be passed by the House to be then signed into law by the president.  

And, there’s another stablecoin-related story you need to pay attention to. As some of you may have heard, US authorities just dropped their campaign financing-related charges against Sam Bankman-Fried. According to crypto analyst Adam Cochran, this could be because SBF cut a deal with US authorities to testify against Tether and Bitfinex (Alameda was the largest recipient of USDT).

Meanwhile, speaking of potential banana skins, the rejection of the pending spot Bitcoin ETF applications could be one to watch out for. When asked about these applications, SEC chairman Gary Gensler just started talking about market manipulation and fraud in crypto. Thankfully, it’s not his decision to make, but Grayscale is allegedly trying to slow down (or even stop) these applications too.

The TLDR there is that Grayscale told the SEC that the surveillance-sharing agreement that the asset managers have with Coinbase is insufficient for approval. This sounds insane, until you realise that Digital Currency Group has a multi-billion dollar hole it needs to fill, and GBTC is its biggest cash cow. Yes, it wants GBTC to become a spot Bitcoin ETF, but not yet.

You can learn more about that mess here.  

📲 Telegram Bot Mania 📲

Telegram Trading Bots are a thing now - and a thing that doesn’t look like going away anytime soon.

What in Satoshi’s name are Telegram trading bots, you ask?

Well, they’re chatbots that allow you to automate and execute on-chain tasks directly from the interface of the popular Telegram messaging platform.

They allow you to do a bunch of things, including sniping DEX listings, tracking wallets, farming airdrops, executing copy trades and even bridging funds across chains.

Trading and managing your favourite shitcoin is now as easy as texting your friend. Quite literally. Some of these bots even have their own crypto tokens that reward holders with a share in the revenue made by the bot.

This has led them to steadily rise in popularity this past month and has prompted major websites like CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko to create a dedicated token category that allows users to track the performance of these tokens.

This is no joke. The market cap of this category currently sits at over $200M - a whopping 700% increase from its $30M market cap just a month ago.

The funny thing is that 80% of the segment’s market cap comes from that of a single token - UNIBOT. So, what makes UNIBOT so special?

Well, apart from being one of the first players in the market, UNIBOT is actively releasing new features, such as mirror trading, DEX sniping and honeypot protection. It also seems to have managed to secure partnerships with major names like CoinGecko.

The UNIBOT token also provides holders with a revenue share, albeit with Safemoon-style ponzinomics. UNIBOT holders with a minimum of 50 tokens receive 40% of the bot’s transaction fees and 1% of all trading volume done via the bot. Holders who sell their UNIBOT tokens are also subjected to a 5% tax.

Personally, ponzinomics are something we would caution you to stay away from. But hey, with an average 24-hour fee revenue of $50K, degens might find it hard to resist. After all, crypto degens love their daily mix of risk, opportunity and novelty. And right now, TG bots are the strongest mix of all three.

But is that all there is to TG bots, or is there something more that’s driving their recent popularity and adoption?

Well, according to CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong, the seamless DeFi user experience TG bots provide is the major driver behind their popularity. Bobby believes that the current UI/UX of DeFi platforms is “one of the biggest pain points for onboarding retail into crypto.”

If you think about it, many would prefer being able to trade by sending a simple text message rather than going through the process of opening their laptop or mobile app, navigating to the DEX domain and then finding the relevant trading pair.

This makes TG bots attractive to new investors (mostly Gen Z TikTok traders), as they’re beginner-friendly (no seed phrases or wallet management), familiar, and they align perfectly with the YOLO mindset. For these new users, unfortunately, convenience and speed trump security.

And, when it comes to these bots, the security questions are legitimate. The TG bot has a copy of your seed phrase/ private key, which means that a simple hack or rug pull is all that stands in the way of your funds disappearing forever.

However, many are still betting on the TG bot narrative to keep growing. And, given how the hottest things right now are meme coins, NPC streaming, and hamster racing, I can’t say I’m all that surprised.

🙋 Welcome Aboard! 🙋🏼‍♀️

Like any self-respecting entity in crypto, Coin Bureau has been focused on building in the bear market. We want to be able to bring you more content and we want to be able to vary the type of content that we produce.

This isn’t easily achieved with just one, Guy-shaped face on the channel and so, for the last few months, we’ve been searching for someone to join the team and work alongside him. Finding the right person for that role wasn’t easy. They needed to have top-notch knowledge of crypto, experience of working in the industry and high-calibre presenting skills - and all that just for starters.

If you caught Friday’s livestream on Coin Bureau Clips then you’ll know Jessica Walker is that person. Jessica has worked in crypto for nearly a decade and her experience in mainstream finance, journalism and presenting go even further back. We’re delighted to have her on board and she’ll begin gracing your screens from next week. Please be sure to give her a warm welcome.

The bad news? Unfortunately, Guy has confirmed he isn’t going anywhere, so you’ll still have to put up with him for the foreseeable future. Sorry.

📊 Personal Portfolio 📊

BTC 37.18% | ETH 31.42% | USDC 17.11% | USDT 6.84% | USD 3.46% | ATOM 2.77% | DOT 1.22%

🔥 Deal of The Week 🔥

Are you in the market for a new crypto-fiat onramp? One that is fast, efficient, and easy-to-use. Well, something you may want to consider is the Swissborg app - a personal favourite of the team here at Coin Bureau.

On the app, you can buy crypto using around 16 different currencies and access dozens of major cryptos. And, when it comes time to cash-out back to fiat, Swissborg is also lightening fast and we have had money land in our accounts in a matter of minutes.

Even better, if you give Swissborg a try and deposit €50 you’ll get up to €100 for FREE!

👉 Try out the Swissborg app!

🔮 Video Pipeline 🔮

• Worldcoin Explained: What you need to know!
• Bitcoin & Countries With Hyperinflation
• CoinGecko’s Latest Crypto Report: What it Says
• The Man Who Predicted The Market: Pearls of wisdom?
• FED Press Conference Analysis: Worrying news?

🏆 What's New At CoinBureau.com This Week? 🏆

✅ Elrond to MultiversX: Exploring the Leap in Crypto Technology
✅ CoinGecko Review: A Guide For This Must-Use Crypto Tool!
✅ How to Buy Bitcoin on Bitget

📖 Quote of the Week 📖

Many new crypto investors forgo investing in BTC or ETH because they are looking for that 100x moonshot instead. However, these coins and tokens are hard to find and the chances of getting that 100x return are limited. A diversified crypto portfolio is therefore a must for any serious investor.

“Don't look for the needle in the haystack. Just buy the haystack!” - John Bogle (American investor, businessman and philanthropist)

Team Coin Bureau

Disclosure: Authors may own cryptoassets named in this newsletter. These are unqualified opinions, and a Coin Bureau newsletter, is meant for informational purposes only. It is not meant to serve as investment advice. Please consult with your investment, tax, or legal advisor.