December 24, 2021       /       Unchained Daily       /       Laura Shin

Daily Bits ✍️✍️✍️

  • Marathon Digital is expecting to increase its hashrate by 600% in 2023.

  • Meta’s incoming CTO is targeting “deep compatibility” with blockchain and Web3.

  • India’s crypto law might not be ready until May.

  • CoinShares execs are seeing retail investment beyond BTC and ETH.

  • Bitcoin miners generated $15 billion in revenue in 2021.

  • SHIB surged after a whale bought $136 million worth of the token.

  • Jack Dorsey’s unfollowing spree includes Marc Andreessen, Brian Armstrong, and Tyler Winklevoss.

  • SWIFT is planning to test how it could play a role in asset tokenization next year.

  • Adam White, Bakkt’s president, is stepping down.

  • Decentralized exchanges did $1 trillion in trading volume in 2021.

  • Elon Musk is still “pro-doge.”

  • The SEC rejected Valkyrie’s and Kryptoin’s spot bitcoin ETF applications.

What Do You Meme?

What’s Poppin’?

A New Crypto-Specific Regulator?

Bloomberg reported that Senator Cynthia Lummis, the Republican senator from Wyoming and member of the Senate Banking Committee, is planning to introduce a crypto bill in 2022 that would set comprehensive standards for the industry – including creating a position for a crypto-specific regulatory organization.

A senior aide to Lummis said the bill would “provide regulators with clear guidance on which assets belong to different asset classes, offer protections for consumers, regulate stablecoins, and create a new organization under the joint jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission to oversee the digital asset market.”

Lummis has been decidedly pro-crypto in the past. For example, in October, she disclosed a purchase of BTC worth between $50,001–$100,000. In addition, her Twitter profile picture featured Bitcoin “laser eyes” before. On Twitter, Lummis has already begun soliciting bipartisan support for the bill. “​​“Welcome bipartisan cosponsors! Please encourage your senator to reach out and consider it,” wrote Lummis.

Recommended Reads

  • Nic Carter on proof of work:

  • Multicoin’s Kyle Samani on why Ethereum DeFi has been underperforming:

  • Amber Group’s Sandra Aleow on kickstarting her Crypto Twitter journey:

On The Pod…

What Could the Crypto Media Do Better? Four Journalists Discuss

Merry Christmas (Eve)! For this special episode of Unchained, three other crypto journalists and I discuss their favorite stories from the past twelve months, how they would grade crypto journalism in 2021, and what they are looking forward to covering in 2022. Show highlights:

  • what stories Michael, Michael, Jeff, and I will remember from a ~busy~ 2021

  • why 2021 is “clearly the biggest year” yet for the industry

  • how CoinDesk, Forbes, and Decrypt can improve their news coverage in 2022

  • what Michael, Michael, Jeff, and I think about all the negative energy directed at journalists from the crypto and tech space

  • how mainstream media can do a better job covering crypto

  • predictions for what the biggest stories of 2022 will be

Book Update

My book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, is now available for pre-order now.

The book, which is all about Ethereum and the 2017 ICO mania, comes out Feb. 22. Pre-order it today!

You can purchase it here: http://bit.ly/cryptopians