Between Monday and Wednesday, Bitcoin rose 11%. It posted its best day since May this week. What was going on?

A few different things (the first two are INSANE):

Those are massive announcements. If those things happened five years ago, Bitcoin would have been blasting through the roof (probably). But hey, we’ll settle for an 11% jump.

We also got some crazy new quotes from very influential people/organizations about crypto yesterday:

The message is clear: betting against crypto is equal to betting against BlackRock, Bank of America, Vanguard, and many other institutions who are moving in on the space heavily. (Not financial advice, do your own research.)

Bitcoin’s everyday price doesn’t actually matter that much. We’re looking at the long-term game here, assets that institutions are clamoring to get their hands on don’t tend to fall apart and go to zero. 

What do you think about the fact that we’re seeing crazier and crazier headlines for crypto adoption as BTC’s price struggles to get back to $100K?

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the crypto market downturn has cost the Trump family $1B of its estimated $7.7B crypto fortune. 

Here are the current stats for their companies and tokens:

That’s not a pretty picture, but that’s what happens when you tie your fortune to the welfare of crypto and go “all in” as the Trumps have, I guess. 

I think Charles Hotchkinson, founder of Cardano, worded it well when he voiced the “expectations vs. reality” of a pro-crypto administration. He said he was excited at first, as many in the industry were, because the US government had “become a bag holder.” However, he went on to say the following: 

“But sometimes, by having the big guy hug you, they hug too hard, and they love too much, and it crushes your ribs… So, what we’re having to contend with is, the US government, in a very hand-fisted way, has been in some cases a little unhelpful to the industry, so it created an irrational exuberance. And it interfered with our normal four-year cycle…

Not a pretty picture for the short- to mid-term macro in my opinion. But hey, I’m just here to send you the news, not to pontificate. Still, I think most people’s crypto bags are hurting, and even with the 11% gain, we could be in for a while of people selling as soon as BTC reaches their entry points again 😩

One of the co-founders of Binance (and the mother of 3 of CZ’s children) is becoming its new co-CEO. Yi He, who’s been with the crypto exchange since it was founded in 2017 and previously held the “head of marketing” title, is stepping up to help lead the company.

Yi He’s story is fascinating. She met Changpeng Zhao (CZ; Binance’s other co-founder and former CEO) in 2014, co-founded Binance with him in 2017, and then had 3 children with him over the following years. They’re still in a relationship today.

Not much is known about Li He other than the above, as she’s chosen to stay out of the spotlight in the past. But that will surely change moving forward; “CEO” is a role that requires you to be front and center all the time.

On the other hand, CZ has certainly stayed front and center even after going to prison for 4 months. He did receive a pardon from the president earlier this year (though Trump infamously didn’t know who he was).

CZ recently handed Bitcoin FUD-er Peter Schiff a slab of gold and asked him if it was real, to which Schiff said “I don’t know.” Yikes! Meanwhile, we all know if our Bitcoin is real or not, even if you can’t hold it in your hands. Interesting 😏

We really appreciate you reading our newsletter, and we’d love to hear your feedback.

It was a big week. Bitcoin’s doing better, the Trumps’ crypto wallets are not, and Binance got some new-old leadership.

Next week will be bigger. We have the FOMC rate decision coming up. A 25 bps cut seems like it’s already priced in, which is fine… unless the cut doesn’t happen. Then it could get ugly for crypto. We’ll see.

Same time next week? Sounds good.

Until next time,
- The Chain Team