Dispatch #8: Nexo Invites You to #tokenUp with Nexonomics

In this patch of your weekly Dispatch:

• Nexo hints at a “season of innovation” with the first two Nexonomics releases
• Michael Saylor’s lucky number is 17,732 (BTC)
• JP Morgan launches digital coin for commercial use, will other banks follow suit?

The Big Idea

Nexonomics: The Next Big Thing That Is a Series of Things

Following an epic teaser video, on Wednesday Nexo unveiled an initiative centered around its native token. Nexonomics is a series of upgrades and features, to be revealed progressively by end-2020, designed to drive the tokenomics, reinforce the utility, and nudge up the value of the NEXO Token in the digital economy.

Further incentivizing the use of NEXO, the company introduced Earn in NEXO – an opt-in that offers an extra 2% APY for savings in all digital and fiat assets the Nexo platform carries. The complementary feature went hand in hand with a 1% bump in savings interest rates on all supported cryptocurrencies to as much as 6% APY.

In this historically low-rate environment, Nexo aims to build a stable fixed income tool that’ll complement clients’ investment strategies in times of great market volatility.

Nexonomics is a firm statement that NEXO is an especially well-designed token that has yet to unleash its full potential and value.

The Latest In…

Bitcoin

If you had any worries about Bitcoin bulls getting concerned about a larger “risk-off” macro environment, fear not. MicroStrategy’s president disclosed that they’re looking to add to their Bitcoin holdings (which have increased in value by 22% in the last couple of months). On top of that, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor revealed that he personally owns 17,732 BTC. 👀

The Latest In…

DeFi

Another high profile hack, this time to recent industry darling Harvest Finance, which had rocketed to over $1B in TVL. The hacker drained $33.8M before returning $2.5M. Additionally, hundreds of millions flooded out of the protocol, and the price of the native FARM token cratered. Adding a bit of intrigue, Harvest claims that the attacker is a well-known personality “in the crypto community”, but that they have no interest in doxxing them.

The Latest In…

Institutions

First announced in February 2019, JP Morgan’s ‘JPM Coin’ is now live for commercial use, according to executives. Apparently, a major tech firm will be using JPM Coin this week for transactions. In their announcement and related press, JPM argued that the move to launch publicly demonstrated that the crypto industry was past the Gartner Technology Hype Cycle’s “peak of inflated expectations.”

The Latest In…

Regulation

In what some will see as a blow to crypto regulation, the SEC director who was the first to articulate the notion of ‘sufficient decentralization’ is stepping down. Bill Hinman was Director of the Division of Corporation Finance and in addition to creating legal space for digital assets, also initiated FinHub – a program that facilitates the SEC’s engagement with fintech innovators and developers on regulatory issues such as distributed ledger technology and automated investment advice, among others.

The Week’s Most Interesting Data Story

Investor interest in Bitcoin is UP

The above statement might be extremely obvious to those reading this, however now we have some juicy numbers to back it up. In their just-released “Bitcoin Investor Survey” Grayscale found that more than half – 55% to be exact – of US investors were interested in Bitcoin, up 19% from the year before. For more than 63% of them, the COVID-19 pandemic (and central bank response) were a key factor. The findings also show that of the investors who reported investing in Bitcoin, 83% did so within the last twelve months.

Hot Topics

What the Community Is Discussing

It is important to remember that, although they use similar rails, central bank digital currencies are not the same as decentralized cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin has started to take the spotlight in the latest rally, but where does ETH fit into things?

Whatever one thinks of JPM Coin, it is startling how starkly the company’s attitude has shifted

Our Take

@AntoniNexo This Week

• Commenting on Nexo’s big story of the week, Antoni said: “With volatility rife around the second COVID wave and exacerbated by the US elections, we want to give our clients the financial stability and opportunities to guarantee their peace of mind – now and for the future. Few financial service providers can offer this. That Nexo can raise interest rates and scale up the NEXO’s tokenomics in times like these confirms how vital it is to maintain a sustainable business model and the importance of a market-neutral strategy.”
• And he’s been keeping an eye on the PayPal story and what it means for Bitcoin’s price and our space in general: “Since the initial explosion in late 2017, the price of Bitcoin has continuously fascinated dedicated and casual crypto investors alike. It now enjoys the status of a real driver of popular sentiment and gauges where the world of digital finance and cryptocurrency stands. The recent flurry of institutional activity – particularly the involvement of a household brand like Paypal – has undisputedly impacted the price of Bitcoin as mainstream interest and trust in this form of investment often increases following such news. We firmly believe that digital finance is the key to a new and improved financial system and we take pride in providing solutions that allow people across the world to harness the potential of this up-and-coming industry.”

What to Watch for Next Week:

• Can Bitcoin hold resistance at $13,000 despite the rest of the market moving risk off?
• Is Harvest finished or can they recover from this attack?
• Which bank tries to copy JPMorgan first?