There’s never a dull moment on the blockchain. Here’s what you need to know this week:

Bitcoin

$58,000.24



4.90%

Ethereum

$2,972.42



1.63%

Tether

$1.00



0.02%

Solana

$133.78



4.20%

USDC

$1.00



0.00%

XRP

$0.51



2.89%

See the latest prices

BTC UPDATE

Bitcoin just hit 2023 highs, Arkansas advances key mining bill, and other BTC threads to watch

Amid a chaotic start to 2023 featuring bank failures, recession fears, and persistent inflation, Bitcoin has quietly had a strong year to date — logging a 80% gain since January. And on Monday, BTC kicked off the week by hitting a new high for the year, even as markets anxiously awaited the U.S.’s latest inflation report on Wednesday. So what’s behind the rally? Let’s take a closer look at BTC’s price action, what analysts are saying, as well as a promising legislative development in Arkansas.

• Bitcoin surpassed $30,000 on Monday, a new peak for 2023, and the highest price since last June. After trading near the $28,000 range for the last month, BTC’s breakout lacked a clear-cut catalyst, but analysts had several theories ranging from a surge of buyers who were vocally frustrated with a recent New York Times piece about BTC mining’s energy usage, to BTC’s renewed appeal as a safe-haven asset amid banking sector uncertainty. Discussing the latter, finance giant Bernstein opined, “if you like gold here, you should like Bitcoin even more.”

• Since January, BTC has appeared to benefit both as a risk asset and as a hedge asset, a result of its shifting narrative. Early in the year, BTC rallied on signs that inflation could be easing and the Fed could thus slow its rate-hike campaign (typically a boon for risk assets like crypto). In March, BTC rallied (alongside refuge assets like gold) as rate-hikes pressured regional banks, casting doubt on U.S. banks and the dollar. Today’s inflation readout should offer insight into which BTC narrative is more relevant to investors as recession fears grow.

• Meanwhile, Arkansas became the first state to advance a “Right to Mine” bill, aimed at protecting BTC mining. The Arkansas Data Centers Act of 2023 seeks to codify guidelines for corporate and individual BTC miners, prevent “discriminatory” taxes, and guarantee mining firms have the same rights as data centers. At the same time, the bill mandates that miners must pay applicable taxes, and operate in a way that does not strain electricity grids. The bill, which awaits Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature, provides stark contrast to a Texas bill, which aims to restrict mining incentives.

Why it matters… In the harshest moments of 2022’s crypto winter, many analysts observed that the crypto industry was facing its first serious downturn in the global economy as BTC shed 65% of its value throughout the year. But 2023 is a different story. Bitcoin's latest rally past $30,000 means it is easily one of this year’s best performing assets, up nearly 80% since January. BTC has outperformed the S&P 500 (+7.5%), gold (+10%), and even Meta’s impressive run (+72%). As one crypto CEO recently put it to Reuters: “The recent surge in bitcoin's price is like a breath of fresh air after a long, cold crypto winter.”

FUTURE SELF CARE

Three popular strategies for minimizing next year’s tax bill

Was your tax bill an unwelcome surprise this year? The good news is it’s never too early to get ahead of next year’s tax season by reviewing a few common tax considerations relevant to crypto. With some careful planning, you may be able to minimize any unwanted tax bill surprises for tax year 2023. Here’s what to consider: 

• Know how long you’ve held your crypto. In general, if you hold your crypto for more than a year, and then sell it, your gains will be taxed at a lower, long-term capital gains rate. If you sell your crypto after holding it for less than a year, you’ll be taxed at a higher, ordinary income tax rate. 

• Make losses work in your favor. Your crypto losses aren’t all bad news — you can, with some limitations, use them to your advantage. If you have more capital losses than gains, for example, you can use up to $3,000 a year to offset other gains. This amount carries over to future years, indefinitely. 

• Try donating to charity. It may make financial sense to donate some of your appreciated crypto. By supporting a worthy cause, you may be able to see some tax benefits.

TAKES

SBF’s philosophy on bookkeeping, how Satoshi ended up in your Mac OS, and more quotes from the week

Found Money… “We sometimes find $50m of assets lying around that we lost track of; such is life,” was how Sam Bankman-Fried is said to have described the state of record-keeping at trading firm Alameda Research, according to a new report released this week by FTX’s current management team that chronicles SBF’s myriad “control failures.” 

Hell or High Water… “It has truly been a year from hell for crypto. But the headlines obscure a broader story of how the industry has survived—and even grown stronger,” was Fortune’s optimistic summary of the cryptoverse as it introduced the inaugural edition of its “Crypto 40” list that recognizes the firms that “matter most in business.” (Disclosure: Coinbase was included in the rankings.)

GhOSt in the Machine … “​​Is there a secret Bitcoin maxi working at Apple?” was one theory offered by blogger Andy Baio to explain why a copy of the Bitcoin white paper can be found in every version of macOS released since Mojave in 2018. Baio called attention to this curiosity in a post last week, in which he also offered a more humdrum explanation: “Maybe it was just a convenient, lightweight multipage PDF for testing purposes, never meant to be seen by end users.”

NUMBERS TO KNOW

$10 million

The amount of money raised by CryptoGPT, a layer 2 AI-focused blockchain, in its Series A round, at a valuation of $250 million. Blockchains with an AI focus have seen a surge in popularity following the excitement generated by chatbot ChatGPT earlier this year. CryptoGPT recently debuted a Web3-focused AI assistant called "Alex.” 

3,003

The number of NFTs being released to honor the 40th anniversary of David Bowie’s hit song “Let’s Dance.” Owning the NFT will unlock access to an unreleased version of the song that was produced in 2002. The NFTs will be sold on a “pay as you want” basis, with proceeds going to charity.

68%

Percentage of adults in Colombia who believe crypto is “very or somewhat likely” to become a reliable source of payment, as compared to 38% of adults in the United States, according to a recent Morning Consult survey, which found crypto-positive sentiments to be more common among a handful of Latin American countries than in the U.S.

DISCLAIMER

This material is the property of Coinbase, Inc., its parent and affiliates (“Coinbase”). The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Coinbase or its employees and summarizes information and articles with respect to cryptocurrencies or related topics that the author believes may be of interest.

TOKEN TRIVIA

When did Ethereum originally launch?

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