It's OpenSea-son

Good morning. Based on the much higher open rate yesterday it appear my theory that including Eminem's name in the title got the newsletter flagged as spam on Monday. That's good to know on my end, and I'll avoid any name dropping of Marshall Mathers in the subject line moving forward. For readers of this newsletter, if you don't receive an email by 9am ET check your spam folders.

Today we've got heavy NFT content, large funding rounds in the DeFi and NFT worlds, traditional banks joining the party, and more!

Bonus Content Coming: I'm targeting early next week to have my notes out from Messari's Crypto Theses for 2022. I'll include a link to my notes in this newsletter, however, the full report is definitely worth a read.

Market Update (as of 7:45am ET):

My asks from you:
- Forward to your friends, family, and anyone that would be interested (check the Top Sharers leaderboard at the bottom of this email to see where you stand!)
- If you're new, hit that pink subscribe button just below this section
- Send any and all feedback to jmaxxyoungii@gmail.com
- Add us to your Contact List so this newsletter doesn't end up in your spam folder

Top 5:

1. Bitcoin at the Bank: Mainstream Lenders Dabble in Crypto Outside the U.S.
Banks outside of the U.S. are waking up to the need to serve their clients by providing access to cryptocurrencies. We've already covered Commonwealth Bank in Australia and the Deutscher Sparkassen-und Giroverband (German Savings Banks Association) in this newsletter, but we've yet to cover BBVA, Spain's second largest lender. Many banks have been hesitant to get involved in the crypto space given the lack of regulatory clarity and the high capital requirements proposed by the Basel Committee (global standards setter for banking regulation). However, BBVA is dodging the capital requirements by acting as the intermediary for clients to access crypto without the bank holding the asset on its balance sheet themselves. Would it be easier for bank customers to download an app like Coinbase and purchase crypto themselves without going through a bank? Maybe. But it's another avenue to onboard new users into crypto, which to me, is a positive.

2. Binance Labs leads $12M round for DeFi platform Woo Network
Woo Network, which just makes me think of Ric Flair (woo!), raised an additional $12 million in a Series A+ round led by Binance Labs. The Series A had previously raised $30 million for the DeFi liquidity provider. Where Woo differentiates themselves from other liquidity providers is by offering on on and off-chain liquidity to investors, institutions, exchanges, etc. From Peter Huo, Binance Labs investment director:

WOO Network adds significant value to the crypto ecosystem by providing deep liquidity and zero-fee trading both on- and off-chain. We are excited to expand our long-lasting relationship and explore further collaborations, especially on [Binance Smart Chain]

Currently, Binance has the highest concentration and volume of users of the Woo Network.

3. Thread on Chainalysis' 2021 NFT Report from @masonnystron
The full report from Chainalysis can be found here, but we'll uses Mason's thread to hit the high points. His thread is also below and he can be found at @masonnystron on the bird app.

Key Takeaways:
- CryptoPunks remain the king NFT with over $3 billion in volume since March
- Retail investors dominate total transactions, but institutions and whales dominate transactions when measured by value
- You're probably not making money flipping NFTs. 20% of user addresses on OpenSea account for 80% of secondary NFT sales, while just 5% of all addresses account for 80% of profits made on secondary sales
- The top 5% of NFT flippers on average pay 2.2 ETH more for NFTs
- Importantly, the best NFT investors are successful in ~72% of their flips but don’t have a much higher hit rate on flips than other successful investors. The top group simply invests more capital, buys more NFTs, buys "better" NFTs, flips more, and diversifies across collections

4. NFT Marketplace OpenSea Valued at $13.3B in $300M Funding Round
Late breaking Tuesday night news from the New York Times reporting that investors have valued OpenSea, the NFT marketplace, at $13.3 billion. That's up almost 10x from July in which the company was valued at $1.5 billion during a Series B funding round. In the last 30 days OpenSea has done 1.6 million Ethereum transactions and $2.4 billion in trading volume.

5. Ethereum Betting Site Polymarket Hit With $1.4M Fine: CFTC
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) decided to lay down the law on Polymarket, the cryptocurrency betting platform. The CFTC stated that Polymarket offered “off-exchange event-based binary options contracts” and “failed to obtain designation as a designated contract market (DCM) or registration as a swap execution facility (SEF).” In layman's terms, Polymarket let people bet on yes/no outcomes (e.g., will the Cowboys win the Super Bowl in 2022? Yes.) without being registered. These yes/no outcomes ("binary options") are considered swaps under the CFTC's jurisdiction and can only be traded on a registered exchanges.

Top Sharers of the Crypto Top 5:
1. Jake Y. - Greenville, SC
2. Cameron S. - New York, NY
3. Lauren A. - Nashville, TN

Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. I am not an attorney, accountant or financial advisor, nor am I holding myself out to be, and the information provided is not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation.