Economic Isolation – Chung’s Weekly Digest (3/13)

The world warms up to crypto-assets but remains deeply concerned of its inherent characteristics.

Ukraine-Russia Conflict and Inflation 

Bitcoin ($BTC) and other equity markets continue to be buoyed by the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict and the possibility of a hawkish stance by the Federal Reserve (FED). 

Bitcoin now ranges between $38k to $40k as market participants are standing on the sidelines for FED’s interest rate hike announcement. A raise of 0.5% is expected, and it marks a shift in the US’s monetary policy. This will be the first interest rate hike since 2018.    

Investors are still undecided if Bitcoin should be treated as a store of value or as a technology-based asset. The stark difference is that the latter is a risk-on asset while the former is a risk-off asset. 

The ongoing crisis in Ukraine and new measures to economically isolate Russia is causing a lot of uncertainties. There is a looming threat of reprisal from the nuclear powerhouse. Unless there is a ceasefire or a de-escalation of tension, investors are likely to adopt a wait-and-see attitude.  

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Weekly Recap

PancakeSwap updates IFO structure. 

Muhammad Ali Experience is now on Binance NFT. 

FTX announces global expansion with FTX Europe. 

Tether moves to Lugano to build a center of excellence for blockchain adoption in Europe. 

KuCoin opens first virtual office in the Metaverse. 

Scaramucci advocates Bitcoin adoption and predicts a $500k Bitcoin.  

Binance launched a payment company called Bifinity.  

Avalanche Foundation launches a $290 million multiverse incentive program. 

Biden issues executive order on crypto. 

Crypto.com join the Blockchain Association of Singapore. 

PancakeSwap now has limit orders.

Polygon network faces stagnation, downtime. 

Binance.US was named as ‘best overall’ exchange by Futurism.  

Top four project on MVB IV were hosted by BSC.News on YouTube 

Leaked image of Pancakeswap’s perpetual trading leads users to question the exchange’s originality. 

Chainlink VRF v.2 will have a significant impact on projects and developers on BNB Chain. 

Senator Cynthia Lummis prepares to integrate crypto into the financial system through ‘Responsible Financial Innovation’ bill. 

Binance moves to prioritize investor’s funds with cold storage insurance. 

DaoDao to change how DAOs launch and function.

Socios distances itself from Russian sports. 

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Market Sentiment

Bitcoin price did not move much since last week. 

Bitcoin is in a period of stagnation until a clearer path on the US monetary policy emerges. 

Many continue to believe that Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH) are strong hedges against rising inflation.

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Coins to Watch

Terra ($LUNA) – $UST growth trajectory will push $LUNA price to astronomical figures. $LUNA is burned to mint $UST.

$LUNA continues to garner a lot of attention. It is the top three trending coin on Coingecko.

Bitcoin ($BTC) will start to steal the shine from gold as a store of value. Determinative scarcity is the most important criteria for an asset to hold its value. Gold does not guarantee this criteria is met. 

Bitcoin ($BTC) is the most widely accepted crypto asset in the world and it has the biggest market cap. 

BNB ($BNB) has a huge ecosystem. Holding the exchange token guarantees a 25% on trading fees on the Binance exchange.   

Many countries are opening their doors to Binance. Binance provides the most liquid exchange for crypto assets listed on its platform. 

Projects and initiatives launched on the BNB Chain will drive utility. Furthermore, the real-time burning mechanism of $BNB is creating deflationary pressure to price appreciation.  

Economic Isolation Punishes the Innocent

Many world leaders felt the need to voice their dissent through sanctions. The aggressor must pay the price for its actions. However, economic and financial sanctions are incapable of targetting only Kremlin. Sanctions will first hit the most vulnerable, and The immediate victims are the innocent and impoverished Russians. 

The ripple effects of sanctions will also ‘injure’ countries and individuals that are dependent on Russian produce, products, and commodities. If sanctions can be imposed on a sovereign state by weaponizing restricting financial access and weaponizing currencies, there is no guarantee that it will not be used against individuals. There is also no guarantee such censures will only be used for the ‘right’ reasons. 

Hence, it is important that an alternative must be present to allow for self-sustenance. There is Bitcoin. 

Source : bsc.news