Kalam Crypto #123: Global Market Meltdown & What It Means For Crypto

“Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful” Warren Buffett

Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 123rd edition of CoinMENA’s weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. This week, we might be heading towards a global economic recession, with Japan experiencing an unprecedented meltdown and global stock markets trading like memecoins. Crypto is not isolated from this downturn; market volatility is natural. It is unrealistic for central planners to think they can temper volatility by fixing interest rates. Ultimately, the Federal Reserve faces a choice: allow the economy to correct, deleverage, and risk a full-blown recession and banking crises, or continue debasing the currency by printing money as they have since the 2008 financial crisis. As we’ve discussed extensively in past issues and blog posts, we think the latter is a far more likely outcome. As we say in crypto, the money printer is about to go Brrr. Behind the noise, here’s a quick rundown of the latest stories impacting the long-term value of crypto:

Lightning Round ⚡️

Morgan Stanley has become the first major bank to approve the solicited sale of Bitcoin ETFs to clients: This milestone enables wealth advisors to offer Bitcoin investment options through regulated vehicles, reflecting increased institutional acceptance of digital assets. The move meets rising client demand for cryptocurrency exposure and aligns with similar actions by other financial giants.

Tether Reports Monster Profits, Again: Leading stablecoin issuer Tether has released its Q2 2024 attestation report. The firm reported a net operating profit of $1.3 billion and has $5.33 billion in excess reserves. The company also claims to hold ~80,000 BTC. According to CEO Paolo Ardoino, this positions Tether as the 18th largest entity in terms of U.S. debt ownership!

Microstrategy Intends to Buy An Additional 2$ billion of Bitcoin: MicroStrategy now holds 226,500 BTC. Since the beginning of Q2, the company has acquired 12,222 BTC for $805.2 million. As of July 31, the total cost of their Bitcoin holdings is $8.3 billion, averaging $36,821 per coin. Additionally, MicroStrategy is filing to issue new equity to raise up to $2 billion.

Interest Rates Cut Coming: Did the Fed wait too long to cut interest rates? Markets seem to think so, with major stock indices experiencing their worst drawdowns since March 2020 and the 2008 financial crisis. The Federal Reserve decided to hold rates steady, expressing more caution than expected regarding a potential cut in September. However, the negative market response has increased the odds of a September rate cut, and there are rumors of an emergency Fed meeting to cut rates sooner.

Russia has passed two Bitcoin-related laws: one legalizes cryptocurrency mining from November 1, 2024, allowing registered entities and entrepreneurs to mine, while unregistered individuals face energy limits. The second law, effective September 1, 2024, creates an experimental regime granting the Bank of Russia authority to permit authorized companies to conduct cross-border settlements and digital currency trading.

Blog of The Week ✍️

When our CEO, Talal Tabbaa, wrote this a year ago, U.S. debt was $31.9 trillion. As of Friday, it crossed $35 trillion, and within 48 hours, an additional $100 billion was added. This blog is worth your time to understand the global debt issue and how Bitcoin can thrive in this economic climate:

https://www.coinmena.com/en/blog/5PJ1pfwPPr9lsIjdW2FQsF

CoinMENA News 🗞️

💳Discounted Card Deposits: Deposit via card now and take advantage of our reduced fees. The offer ends in a few days on August 8th. 💰Earn 20 USDC! Get 20 USDC by depositing or withdrawing USDC via the Stellar network! Act quickly, this offer is exclusive to the first 1,000 qualifying users. 

🚨New Feature Alert: Free USDT Withdrawals via Tron! Yes! You read that correctly. You can now withdraw (send) #USDT via #Tron’s TRC-20 anywhere in the world and pay ZERO fees! This special offer won’t last forever, so take advantage of it while it lasts! Read more about this offer here: https://www.coinmena.com/en/blog/3op9CEregyrmb7LuQdLqgB 

Tweet Of The Week 🐥

Quiz Corner ✅ 

Last week’s question: how many bitcoin does the U.S. government currently have?

The correct answer is c) 200,000

This week’s question is, how can you earn 20 USDC on CoinMENA?

A. By trading Bitcoin worth $500.   B. By depositing or withdrawing USDC via the Stellar network.   C. By referring a friend to CoinMENA.   D. By holding 1000 USDT in your account for a month.

See the answer in next week’s newsletter. Or check out our new learning platform https://university.coinmena.com/