Moving to Arkansas

Good morning. Today marks the fifth Altcoin Friday and the first time we've gone outside the top 100 cryptocurrencies in terms of market cap. We've got that piece in the three-hole, plus CBDC infrastructure supported by Visa, crypto as a relocation incentive, and more!

Bonus Content Coming: I'm targeting early next week the end of the month 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. The report is now in podcast form and can be found here.

Market Update (as of 8:15am 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. Arkansas Tries a New Strategy to Lure Tech Workers: Free Bitcoin
Northwest Arkansas...home to Walmart, the Ozarks, and hopefully a bunch of tech workers. The Northwest Arkansas Council, a non-profit based in the reigon, is offering select tech workers, artists, and entrepreneurs $10,000 in cash or bitcoin plus a bike if they move to the area. The council is trying to sell the region as a crypto hub and believes the marketing ploy will help get attention for more substantial investments like the University of Arkansas’ Blockchain Center of Excellence. If you'd like to apply, check out the application here.

SSS (sat-sized summary): Northwest Arkansas is offering $10,000 in bitcoin (or cash) to tech works, artists, and entrepreneurs that move to the region. The offer is not only meant as an incentive, but as a way to market the region as a crypto hub

2. Visa Partners With ConsenSys to Develop CBDC On-ramp Tool
What is a CBDC? A CBDC is a central bank digital currency and it differs from other cryptocurrencies in that it is "issued and backed by a government and transact on a centralized permissioned blockchain." So, Visa is partnering with ConsenSys, a blockchain software company, to help central banks and financial institutions build their own services on top of CBDC blockchains. Some examples of what this could entail:

- Allowing customers to spend the CBCD at any merchant that accepts Visa
- Streamline government disbursements - think stimulus checks or tax refunds
- Creating prepaid cards backed by CBDC that banks could issue

While the US has not taken any definitive steps to issue their own CBDC, there is ongoing debate in Congress and an upcoming report from the Federal Reserve on the topic. Many in the crypto community view CBDCs with some skepticism, if not scorn. The centralized nature of the coin combined with the fact they would be issued by a central bank is the antithesis of the Bitcoin network.

SSS: Visa is partnering with ConsenSys to build infrastructure on top of central bank digital currency (CBDC) blockchains. The infrastructure will allow central banks and other financial institutions to build services for their customers (e.g., payments, stimulus disbursement, etc.) using the digital currency. No CBDC currently exists in the US.

3. Altcoin Friday #5 - Kava ($KAVA)

Overview:
- Current price (as of this writing) of $5.04
- Market capitalization of $741.6 million (110th overall)
- Kava (different from the token) is a cross-chain DeFi platform offering collateralized loans and stablecoins to users of major crypto assets, including BTC, XRP, BNB, ATOM, and others
- KAVA (the token) is the governance and staking asset responsible for securing the network and voting on critical parameters

Use cases of KAVA:

- Security: validators of the blockchain receive KAVA as block rewards and in transaction fees
- Governance: the token is used for proposals and voting on critical parameters of the collateralized debt position system, including: the global debt limit of the system, types of supported collateral, their debt limits, collateral ratio, fees, and the savings rate for USDX
- Lender of last resort: KAVA functions as a reserve currency in situations where the system is undercollateralized

Note: Additional research from Binance can be found here, while the Kava docs can be found here

4. Research Round Up: 2021 Trends and Their Potential Future Impact
Earlier this year Fidelity Digital Assets released a report on 2021 trends and their impact moving forward. The full report can be found at this link, but the excerpt making the rounds this week is a section on bitcoin and the high stakes game theory at play when it comes to countries investing in the currency. The excerpt is below:

5. Reese gets it...Have a great weekend!

Weekend Reading:

What Is Yield Farming? The Rocket Fuel of DeFi, Explained - a good intro into Yield Farming, how it started, how it works, etc.

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

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.