10th April 2024 > > Russia & Metaplanet.

tl;dr

The Russian government, in common with North Korea, is always trying to steal your cryptos. An overreaction to a BTC announcement might start a trend.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

Jim Cramer of CNBC has told his viewers not to expect rate cuts, all but guaranteeing we will be seeing them soon. Putting aside the near 100% negative correlation of his predictions and how the world actually turns out, he is one of those consensus followers who do not understand the difference between open and closed economies, one of the most important economic developments in the last couple of decades. There is no embedded inflation, it is merely a transient response to the excessive over-reaction to COVID. Government manipulation of interest rates that would put any private citizen in jail for evermore merely exacerbates the direction and impact of inflation.

Two days of weak inflows to the ETFs have been more than cancelled by the outflows from GBTC taking the shine off the week’s starting price action. Since launch, $16bn has left GBTC and $28bn has been scooped up by the other nine ETFs giving a net inflow of $12bn, a number which I find to be surprisingly low. However, the direction of travel is clear. One should not lose sight of that fact.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Telegram

I do try to avoid Telegram as much as possible given its Russian roots, though many crypto projects have a Telegram home.

Certik has warned that there is a major security vulnerability in Telegram:

“This issue expose (sic) users to malicious attacks through specially crafted media files, such as images or videos.

For security reasons disable auto-download feature. Please follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings.

2. Tap on "Advanced".

3. Under the "Automatic Media Download" section, disable auto-download for "Photos", "Videos", and "Files" across all chat types (Private chats, groups, and channels).”

Almost immediately the Russian propagandists were out:

“1069 year ago every crypto telegram user learned this,nothing new (sic)”

You can tell them a mile off.

This design “fault” is of course a deliberate vulnerability. Please change your settings.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Metaplanet

Metaplanet recently underwent a significant strategic shift, moving its focus from hospitality to being a “Web3 development innovator”. I struggle to understand the synergies there. Perhaps too much hospitality has clouded some thinking.

Yesterday, Metaplanet announced that it will acquire 1bn Yen of BTC to hold on its balance sheet, a little less $7mm. A company spokesman elaborated:

“This strategic pivot is not just about embracing digital assets but also about pioneering a future where finance meets innovation at its core.”

On reflection, that isn’t an explanation, it is PR speak that means nothing in the real world.

Immediately after the news, Metaplanet’s stock price virtually doubled, taking its market cap to just over $14mm, suggesting that investors are pricing the acquisition cost of BTC at zero. Perhaps they have taken advantage of too much hospitality too.