If crypto is booming, why is everyone trimming down

GM. It’s Wednesday, my dudes, and your daily refresher is here! We’re muddling up industry trends into a smooth, citrusy read.

👋 Consensys, dYdX, and DWF Labs had to say goodbye to some of their employees.

🍊 News drops: Joe Biden thanks Nigeria’s president for helping release Tigran Gambaryan, Robinhood enters the election contract market + more

🍍 Market flavor today

Strap in, space cadets! 🧑‍🚀 The Fear and Greed Index has climbed to 77 – we’re still cruising in the “Greed” zone. Bitcoin is flirting with the stratosphere, hitting $73.3K yesterday, just a hop away from its all-time high of $73.8K.

In economic constellations, the GDP – a measure of all goods and services produced between July and September – grew at a 2.8% annualized rate, falling short of expectations. This could prompt the Fed to cut interest rates, igniting risk appetite among investors. Translation: more fuel for the crypto rocket 🚀

Meanwhile, BTC ETF investors are getting more active, with $870.1M in inflows yesterday. As institutional investors gear up for launch, flows are expected to skyrocket – even the CFO of the State of Florida is getting in on the action, encouraging pension funds to consider investing in BTC.

Yet, retail investors are still on Earth time, showing no extra interest according to Google searches. Their loss, ’cause analysts at 10X Research are predicting BTC could reach $100K by the end of the year.

So, keep your helmets on and your eyes on the stars – this crypto journey is just getting started ✨

👋 Letting go

You walk into the office, sit down across from your boss, and they launch into this speech. For a second, you’re thinking, “Are you about to propose rn?” But then it all goes downhill – starting with “… But”, ending with the classic “It’s just business.”

And in that very moment, you realize: it’s time to dust off your LinkedIn account and prepare for all the “I start my day at 4 AM with a cold shower and a gym sesh” posts you’ve managed to avoid till now.

For those of you lucky bastards who’ve never had this experience, I’m talking about that moment when you find out you’re unemployed. And unfortunately, quite a few people from the crypto industry had to go through this lately.

1/ Consensys

While Bitcoin is having the time of its life, the rest of crypto… let’s just say BTC isn’t exactly representing the whole industry, which is still dealing with economic twists and regulatory drama. Here’s what’s on the radar:

– A cautious macro environment: higher interest rates, inflation, and squeezed liquidity;

– The SEC keeping things spicy with lawsuits against pretty much anyone who’s mentioned “crypto” at least once in their life.

And seems like Consensys – one of the biggest supporters of Ethereum – is feeling the pain, laying off 20% of their crew yesterday.

The timing isn’t totally random: just a few months ago, they got sued by the SEC for allegedly selling unregistered securities through MetaMask. They said this legal battle was kinda the main reason for their struggles, adding that the regulator’s power trip could end up draining millions from the pockets of countless crypto companies.

2/ dYdX

On October 10, dYdX founder Antonio Juliano returned to the CEO seat after a six-month break. In his comeback note, he admitted it’s been a rough year for dYdX – fierce competition and a tough market – and that if they want to stay relevant, something needs to change.

That something? Saying goodbye to 35% of their core team.

Juliano explained that back in startup mode, they were all about innovations: invented DEX aggregators, flash loans, leveraged tokens, you name it. But as they grew, they went from “let’s create stuff” to “let’s protect what we have.”

The growth brought in execs, processes, committees – all that big-company baggage. And they want to go back to where they started – cut all the middlemen and the whole hierarchy of management, leaving only Juliano and the builders.

Tell me this doesn’t sound like the plot of a rom-com. New kid tries to fit in with the popular crowd, realizes they’re losing themselves, and then decides to read books again (so quirky 🤪). The thing is, those movies usually have a good ending (a flashmob or something), and it might also be the case here – a fresh start and more opportunities.

3/ DWF Labs

Crypto venture capital company DWF Labs also joined the firing club – nothing major in numbers, but in terms of drama? Get your teacup and expect surprises.

This started when Hana, a Web2 venture capitalist, dropped this one bombshell on X. She said a DWF Labs partner approached her at a Hong Kong bar and offered her a job.

Things took a turn when she stepped away to the bathroom – the man allegedly spiked her drink. The waitress warned her about it, but it was already a little too late, as she had already taken a few sips of the drink.

Feeling super dizzy afterward, Hana knew something was definitely off. She managed to secure the CCTV footage of the incident and reported everything to the local police.

Her story went viral, and yup, DWF Labs noticed, too. Even though the situation is still under investigation, the company took the “better safe than sorry” approach and cut ties with the partner.

Reminder: protect yourselves out there, folks!

📰 News drops

✈️ US President Joe Biden thanked Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu for helping secure Binance exec Tigran Gambaryan’s release on humanitarian grounds. Gambaryan had been held in Nigeria for almost eight months, enduring serious health challenges while detained.

🪶 Robinhood steps up to rival Polymarket with election-based contracts for the US presidential race. Making election betting more accessible, their contracts are driven by market vibes and public sentiment.

💳 Coinbase teamed up with Visa to make crypto purchases instant for eligible US and EU debit cardholders. Now, users can deposit straight into Coinbase, easily invest in crypto, and even cash out to their bank accounts in real time.

📝 Vitalik Buterin dropped some fresh insights about the next phase in Ethereum’s journey, called “The Splurge.” This stage is all about boosting the network’s resilience, making it more user-friendly, and prepping it for future tech hurdles like quantum computing.

BitDegree says hi from sunny Dubai! 🌞

We’re here at Binance Blockchain Week 2024, diving into all things Web3 with some of the sharpest minds in the industry. It’s all about big connections (including the Legend himself – check the third pic), new collabs, and a whole lot of future talk – it’s gonna be an exciting week!

🍌 Juicy memes