3/18/24: The $4.3M Dog With Hat šŸ¶ā›“ļøšŸ‡¬šŸ‡§

Top News

  1. Dogwifhat meme sells as NFT for $4.3M

  2. SBF should spend 40-50 years in prison says DOJ

  3. BTC ETFs to list in the UK but only to ā€œprofessionalā€ investors

Specsā€™ Breakdown

1. Dogwifhat meme sells as NFT for $4.3M

āŒā—Ŗ-ā—Ŗ ā†’ The original Dogwifhat meme, featuring a Shiba Inu named Achi, went up for auction over the weekend on Foundation by the dogā€™s owners.

The auction closed at a shocking 1,210 ETH ($4.3M) won by the legendary trader @NFDtoken.

Imagine being this dogā€™s ownerā€¦

For years you consistently post pictures of Achi on Instagram in various woven clothing and in 2018 you post the iconic Dogwifhat photo itself. Fast forward, in 2024 thereā€™s a memecoin named after your dog valued at nearly $3B and you sell the original Dogwifhat photo for a casual $4.3M.

This is not the first story like this, and it will surely not be the last. Andrew Kang just purchased the original Pepe meme from the 3AC estate for an undisclosed price.

Nothing to see here, just your standard bull market behavior.

The real question is ā€” is Elonā€™s recent Twitter post of dogs with hats a nod to $WIF or just a random coincidence?

2. SBF should spend 40-50 years in prison says DOJ

āŒā—Ŗ-ā—Ŗ ā†’ US prosecutors are urging a federal judge to sentence Sam Bankman-Fried to 40-50 years in prison + $11B in fines and forfeitures.

As a reminder, SBF was found guilty on seven different counts of fraud/conspiracy for lying to investors, fabricating documents, and millions in corrupt political donations/bribes ā€” harming thousands of victims.

Whatā€™s weird though is that prosecutors just published a document in which SBF considered a variety of ā€œrandom probably bad ideasā€ in an attempt to protect his image.

These ideas include:

  • Go on Tucker Carlsen, come out as Republican

  • Come out as extremely pro-crypto/pro-freedom

  • Come out with a strong anti-Binance stance

  • Leaking the document of ideas itself to the press

  • and more

For the avoidance of doubt ā†’ yes this document was written by Sam. What a weird guy.

Meanwhile, FTX bankruptcy claims are making 200% profits for hedge funds.

3. BTC ETFs to list in the UK but only to ā€œprofessionalā€ investors

āŒā—Ŗ-ā—Ŗ ā†’ The UK Financial Conduct Authority just agreed to list the spot Bitcoin ETFs, but only for ā€œprofessional investorsā€.

I reckon the criteria for ā€œprofessional investorsā€ is similar to ā€œaccredited investorsā€ status in the US which is determined by a certain net worth level, income level, or specific professional certifications.

While this is progress, itā€™s disappointing for UK retail investors who are forced to sit on the sidelines or find other ways to get crypto exposure.

I think people donā€™t realize that entire markets are still restricted from participating in the spot Bitcoin ETF economy, and when they come online will likely create massive tailwinds for the crypto market.

I reckon itā€™s only a matter of time before the UK FCA caves and lets retail invest in spot BTC ETFs ā€” hopefully (for the retail investors) itā€™s before the halving in ~31 days.

Everything Else

ā›“ļø Crypto & DeFi

  • Bitcoin hashrate reaches record high of 636.42 EH/s

  • Ethereum activity drops ether supply to lowest levels since Aug 2022

  • Slerf memecoin accidentally burns $10M from investors

  • Standard Chartered raises BTC price target to $150k by year-end

  • Redditā€™s community token MOON hits record high

  • Base active users rise 800% following Dencun upgrade

  • Kalshi prediction market now lets users bet on 5 cryptocurrencies

  • Activisionā€™s twitter account hacked to shill Solana scam

  • Cosmos-based Canto blockchain reverses plans on Polygon L2

  • AlphaOrBeta launches BNB Zone a new prediction & opinion market

  • Trader accidentally burns $1.36M in Tether

šŸ¦ Wallstreet & VC

  • BlackRock and Fidelity BTC ETFs in top 5 ETFs by inflows this year

  • Cetera advisory network approves the use of 4 spot Bitcoin ETFs

  • Figure raises $60M Series A for multi-asset trading platform

  • Obsucro Labs raises $9M round, token hits $30M valuation

  • Marathon Digital Holdings strikes $87M equip,ent deal before halving

šŸ›ļø Legal & Regulatory

  • SBF considers ā€œrandom probably bad ideasā€ to protect his image

šŸŒŽ Rest of the World

  • Nigeria SEC proposes 400% increase to crypto firm registration fees

  • Dubaiā€™s tax-free economic zone DIFC enacts new Digital Assets Law

šŸ–¼ļø NFTs & Metaverse

  • Remilia treasury drained for millions, founder claims he was hacked

  • NodeMonkes floor surges 53% and flips Bored Apes

  • NFT artist raises $10M in one day for Solaana memecoin presale

  • Starbucks is shutting down its Odyssey beta NFT rewards

  • Upland game reveals ā€œshare and buildā€ airdrop ahead of token launch

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