Dispatch #183: Nexonians Unite the World for Bitcoin

Mar 15 4 min read

Dispatch

In this patch of your weekly Dispatch:

A Great Cause ⭐
A Price Discovery 🤯
A Successful Launch ⛓️

The Big Idea

Nexo’s Bitcoin Emoji Petition

Important: Dispatch Public Service Announcement!

In a week that has seen one of the most epic displays of a Bitcoin bullrun, there somehow manages to be an even bigger idea than the price discovery taking place right now.

Gather around, everyone. This is big. How and why there is no official Bitcoin emoji on Earth is beyond us. Or at least it was. Until we brought over some big players in the crypto community and spearheaded the cause.

The petition for the official Bitcoin emoji is backed by thousands of community members already signing. Here is your opportunity to meaningfully join in and help us get that Big Orange Idea across in tune with today’s digital world. Who wouldn’t love a Bitcoin emoji?

And don’t even get us started on whether Bitcoin deserves one – there are over 1.2B addresses and it flipped silver's market cap!

We honestly feel privileged to lead such a colorful pack of the blockchain and cryptocurrency sectors. Big kudos to all our supporters: Brink, Bitget, Chainalysis, Polygon, Brave, BTC Inc, Hacken, CryptoQuant, Nansen, Unstoppable Domains, Liquity, Mara, Busha, Zulu, Bware Labs, Meta4 Capital, Sift, MarketAcross, Bitcompare, Bithomp, Milkroad, Crypto Oasis, Cadenza, NGC Ventures, FinanceFeeds, DA Capital, Relayz, xPortal, ZimaBank, and WWVentures.

Sign the Petition!

So join in this cause and sign the petition, dear Dispatch readers, because who wouldn’t love to spam the Bitcoin emoji in their chats.

The Latest In…

A week Of All-Time Highs

We’ve lost count how many times Bitcoin posted new price records in the week in its journey to discover prices – you could almost say we’re in space! Here’s some guidance from the control tower on Earth:

Bitcoin hit Wednesday’s record high of $73,637, driven by a $1B inflow into US ETFs. Notably BlackRock, witnessed record flows, signaling growing institutional interest in Bitcoin as a legitimate asset class.
Analysts caution that Bitcoin (BTC) may be due for a 20% cooling-off phase to $58,000-$59,000, although the outlook is bullish for the long term, media reports. ⬇️
Research from JMP Securities predicts $220B in inflows to ETFs over three years, potentially driving BTC's price to $280,000. JPMorgan (it wasn’t a typo) suggests the Bitcoin spot ETF market could hit $62B in three years from today’s $10B. ⬆️

The Latest In…

ETH Round-Up

Ether surged past $4,000 for the first time since December 2021, but there was bigger news. Ethereum's Dencun upgrade launched, promising lower transaction costs across layer-2 networks – gas fees have already dropped several folds across Optimism, zkSync, and Starknet and they are expected to plummet by 75% after settlement contract updates. Here’s what some smart people said to media about it:

"I think that this upgrade will have the biggest effect for users of all the Ethereum upgrades yet. I hope Dencun will unlock new use cases that were not possible before," said Marius Van Der Wijden, Ethereum core developer.
"Dencun will single-handedly expand Ethereum from a country backroad into a four-lane highway,”" said David Silverman, Polygon Labs VP of Product.

And the (hidden) Dencun effect? Polygon’s MATIC and Arbitrum’s ARB surged 10% before the upgrade, reflecting optimism in the community. Despite retracements post-upgrade, both tokens still boasted a solid 7% gain over 24 hours. Optimism (OP) saw an impressive rally of nearly 10%, echoing the overall enthusiasm surrounding the upgrade.

The Latest In…

A Bullrun for EU Lawmakers?

European lawmakers had a packed week too with some notable developments:

The European Banking Authority (EBA) introduced “asset reference tokens” (ARTs) under MiCA regulation, unifying stablecoins and pegged assets. In a nutshell EBA sets guidelines for ART issuers, reflecting the EU's dedication to crypto innovation and transparency.
The European Parliament approved new rules targeting sanctions violations, including cryptocurrencies. Led by Dutch lawmaker Sophia in ’t Veld, the legislation aims to enforce consistent penalties across member states.
The European Parliament also passed the AI Act, a milestone in comprehensive AI regulation. The Act introduces a risk-based approach, banning AI threats and providing transparency guidelines.

The Week’s Most Interesting Data Story

The Dynamics of Bitcoin Cycles

Here’s a fun peek at crypto cycles and dynamics. The blue line shows how much long-term holders have sold off since their peak, while the red line tracks the rise in short-term holder supply from its lowest point. Historically, a dip of 14% to 25% in the blue line signals distribution pressure during bull market peaks, while the red line spikes over 83% at market tops. Currently, we're only about 30% into the typical distribution cycle, according to Glassnode.