The Week To Be In Crypto [6/16/18]

Every Monday I will be putting out a post going over what I am thinking about, buying, selling, listening to, reading, etc in the cryptosphere. I am a full time crypto enthusiast, dad, husband, and enjoyer of life. None of this is investment advice.

Market Overview

Prices are still pretty low compared to the highs in December and January and pretty high compared to last year. I dont see this changing in the immediate future but I am terrible at calling prices so take that for whatever its worth. In positive news, the SEC officially stated that Etherem is NOT a security. In negative news, EOS raised 4 billion dollars but couldnt keep their chain running for a week. A lot of conversation out there now around tokenized securities (basically traditional financial asset (stocks, bonds, etc) on a blockchain). I have been following developments in this area for a while and it’ll likely be where the institutional money comes into crypto first. Coinbase working towards registering as an ATS is a sign that this is coming in the near future. I am not currently buying any but I am also high on exchange tokens and anything that will appreciate with an increase in volume. There WILL be another major inflow of capital at some point, picking things that are positively correlated to volume is easier than picking whats going to be a successful currency long term. Lastly , im interested in anything that has an earning component (proof of stake, masternodes, etc) but there are lots of scam tokens and masternodes for masternodes sake out there right now so nothing I’m overly enthusiastic about right now.

What I’m Buying

With markets being low I am in an accumulation phase, focusing on projects where I have high long term confidence and then taking advantage of any “lottery ticket” opportunities.

• REN (Rebuplic Network) — Protocol for decentralized dark pools — https://epicenter.tv/episode/230/. Working on getting enough for a dark node (100k). https://medium.com/blocktown/republic-protocol-analysis-and-valuation-e73fab4c32fc
• POLY (Polymath) — Security Token platform — https://blog.polymath.network/what-the-is-a-security-token-f4ff987620e8
• SPANK (Spankchain) — Live product with growing user base and strong tech. Have been crushing their roadmap — https://medium.com/spankchain/spankchain-camsite-launches-into-public-beta-db187bfade32

The only way you will find lottery tickets is with information asymmetry. How does an individual obtain some of that sweet asymmetry? You need to grind, follow rabbits down holes, and keep an open yet skeptical mind. I have been excited about the prospects for etherisc (protocol for decentralized insurance — https://etherisc.com/) for a couple months. Great idea, solid looking team, live products, and allowing for degrees of decentralization. Their token sale is starting soon (currently accepting early contributions) but while hanging out in their telegram it was mentioned that some tokens sold during the hackathon that spawned the project will be swapped 3.2:1 for the DIP token once the token generation event is done. Being an enterprising crypto enthusiast I checked the contract address on forkdelta and there were tokens available at a steep discount. Its a very new space and not everyone knows these tricks, more opportunities will arise, just keep your eyes open and ETH ready.

Events to Keep an Eye on This Week

Metronome (https://epicenter.tv/episode/224/) token sale. A “Cryptocurrency built to last”, Metronome is intended to live on multiple chains to build redundancy. Jeff Garzik is an OG and I like some of the economics they trying to build into it. The token sale will go for a week with 8 million tokens being sold through a descending auction. Price started at 2 ETH per MET, it will decrease about $1.50 every 5 minutes until all tokens are sold or the timer runs out.

Recommended Media

Just finished Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (https://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Hidden-Asymmetries-Daily/dp/042528462X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=). I highly recommend it (and really any of his books). Cant say I agree with all of his opinions but he provides a great framework for looking at the world from different and useful perspective. Starting Radical Markets because Vitalik said so https://vitalik.ca/general/2018/04/20/radical_markets.html

Other Reading

https://medium.com/xlnt-art/an-artists-dictionary-for-the-blockchain-ba097e59c26b (nice resource if you are just getting started)

Podcast highlights for the week

https://letstalkbitcoin.com/blog/post/lets-talk-bitcoin-369-the-internet-of-money — get hyped!
https://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/coinbases-adam-white-on-a-momentous-day-in-crypto-ep023
https://thebitcoinpodcast.com/category/crypto-til-infinity/ (some intro chat about crypto and then sweet jams, great listen while working, etc)

Other

HIGHLY RECOMMEND if you are interested in learning more about smart contracts on ethereum — https://cryptozombies.io/

Follow Me

twitter: https://twitter.com/Tompkins_Jon
linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejonathantompkins
telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/FqrpRUo8CKHV8gGKRuNNNQ (just created the group 5 minutes ago, lets see how this goes)

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