Welcome to the 'Meme Economy'

Also: MicroStrategy buys $1B more bitcoin, Square swimming in BTC revenue.

February 24, 2021 The top stories in bitcoin, crypto and more – all in one place, delivered daily. Sponsored By: By Daniel Kuhn If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.  Sound bites Nyan Cat is one of the most recognizable and ubiquitous internet memes, seen hundreds of millions of times, a fact that makes its creator, Chris Torres, proud. Until recently, the image hadn't garnered the young artist direct cash flows. That changed last Friday when a non-funigible version of the animated cat sold for 300 ETH.    "Nyan Cat really broke the barrier on memes and NFTs. I see this as a revolution of art, a way to recognize the owner and monetize your work," he said on CoinDesk TV this morning.    Welcome to the "meme economy." Watch the full interview here. Market intel Bitcoin regained ground and U.S. bond yields dropped after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell squashed fears of an early unwinding of monetary stimulus. SPONSORED BY NEXO Your digital assets deserve a savings account in their BEST INTEREST. Leading crypto lender Nexo treats you, your crypto and your fiat to industry-best Crypto & Fiat services, featuring:    * Up to 12% interest on digital assets, paid out daily! * Yields available on BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XRP, XLM, EOS, TRX, LINK, BNB, PAXG, USDT, USDC, TUSD, PAX, DAI, HUSD, GBP and EUR. * No minimum or maximum limits on funds deposited, offering infinite opportunities to earn. * Full flexibility with no lock-in periods, so you can withdraw your funds anytime. * #ZeroFees on all transactions. * Military-grade wallet security and top-tier insurance on all custodial assets with SOC 2 Type 2 certified crypto custodian BitGo. Get started at nexo.io. At stake A big day for balance sheets MicroStrategy purchased another $1.026 billion in bitcoin Wednesday, bringing its total hoard to 90,531 BTC, worth some $4.78 billion. The business intelligence company, which is now better known for its bitcoin evangelism than its actual products, issued zero-interest debt to finance the purchase – in some sense making it a de facto bitcoin exchange-traded fund. CoinDesk's Danny Nelson gives an overview of CEO Michael Saylor's increasingly bombastic bitcoin pitch. Square also bought more bitcoin, paying approximately $170 million for 3,318 BTC. It executed the deal with an average price per coin of $51,235.70, meaning the investment is in the red. It should be said, MicroStrategy's most recent BTC allocation is also worth less than the dollars invested.   Why does this matter? Square putting 5% of its balance sheet into bitcoin is a huge vote of confidence for the asset. However, as CoinDesk's Nathan DiCamillo notes, buying at market tops could prove JPMorgan's theory that few non-crypto companies are likely to follow in MicroStrategy, Telsa or Square's footsteps given bitcoin's volatility. Most companies like making dollars, not losing them. Still, as Square proved, there are ways to make money with bitcoin that don't involve direct investment. The revenue it made from selling bitcoin on Cash App swelled to $4.57 billion in 2020, clocking $97 million in gross profit. Introducing "Money Reimagined," exploring the future of money on CoinDesk TV From the world leader in crypto news and events, the all-new CoinDesk TV covers the rapidly evolving world of digital finance and its role in the global economy.   CoinDesk's Money Reimagined, a newsletter and podcast series, expands into television with the same critical look at the issues and people that are influencing the future of money and economics as we know it. The TV series is a video production of the eponymous weekly podcast hosted by CoinDesk's Chief Content Officer Michael Casey and The World Economic Forum's Sheila Warren.   Watch "Money Reimagined" Saturdays at 12 p.m. ET on YouTube or CoinDesk.com. Top shelf Capital flows Alameda Research is leading a $40 million investment into Oxygen, a Solana-based platform that aims to become a Robinhood for decentralized finance (DeFi). Multicoin, CoinDesk sister company Genesis Capital and CMS joined the round. The platform will be integrated into the Google Maps alternative Maps.me, in which Alameda has previously invested. CoinDesk's Ian Allison dives in. CoinShares has launched a new Ethereum exchange-traded product (ETP), with each share backed by .03 ETH. The EPT will trade on the Swiss SIX exchange and already has around $75 million in assets under management (AUM). Kinks in the chain NFTs are having a moment and causing confusion as to what exactly these tokens are. CoinDesk's Brady Dale explains the tech behind the trend. People have paid $600,000 for a Nyan Cat NFT and over $1 million for a CryptoPunk, but in most cases, the image or media being represented doesn't live on the blockchain – meaning those files could be taken offline. Stakeholders are working on solutions to the issue, though the industry has yet to settle on best practices. Banks, meet blockchain Canadian bank VersaBank will soon launch a stablecoin for commercial use. In what's claimed as a first, the VCAD stablecoin is issued and backed by deposits at a North American bank and will be redeemable for Canadian dollars. Meanwhile, the East Caribbean Central Bank has executed the first retail transaction for its "DCash" digital currency. The transactions took place in a supermarket in Grenada on Feb. 12, and could eventually see use across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union trading bloc. Digital finance startup Bitt is a technology provider for the project. Quick bites Money moves Nigerians are paying a hefty premium to buy bitcoin. Here's why. (CoinDesk) The links between bond yields and bitcoin. (CoinDesk) A lawsuit against Bancor into its allegedly unregistered £153 million security offerings has been dismissed. (CoinDesk) 177-year-old Swiss bank Bordier & Cie SCmA adds BTC, ETH trading (Decrypt) Canada's Purpose Bitcoin ETF holds more than $470 million in BTC (Decrypt) Crypto futures market saw $6 billion in liquidations, setting a record. (The Block) On tech The 'Unique Opportunity' to Upgrade Ethereum's Virtual Stack (Valid Points/CoinDesk) The bitcoin blockchain is helping keep a botnet from being taken down. (Ars Technica) Opera gets in-browser crypto options. (CoinDesk) There's a new social network that uses MPC and blockchain to keep your data private. (CoinDesk) Chainlink is leveraging off-chain data aggregation. (CoinDesk) Sperax launches mobile app Sperax Play to connect everyone with modern money   Sperax Play is a mobile app whose initial utility is a decentralized crypto wallet where users have full control over their accounts. Ultimately, Play will grow into a community hub for  Speraxians, crypto enthusiasts and everyone interested in decentralization.    Mine, add, earn, play.    Sperax Play makes crypto easier than you think. Who won Crypto Twitter? ATTENTION: Scammers have been sending fraudulent emails with links to sites disguised to look like coindesk.com. If you are in doubt about a link, type https://www.coindesk.com directly into your browser; do not copy and paste. Remember, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Blockchain Bites   A newsletter from CoinDesk   See Previous Editions Copyright © 2021 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.    250 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10003, USA You can manage your preferences here or unsubscribe from all CoinDesk email.