Decentral Block Post

In the most recent episode, Comic-Con legend, Gareb Shamus discusses how he has used storytelling to build engagement and a “maker world” that grows and strengthens communities.

What started off as a newsletter about comics, founder Gareb Shamus’ passion project, ultimately became known to the world as a magazine titled Wizard. According to Shamus, Wizard  was the outlet in which he could “create a voice” and share with his friends the things he had discovered that excited him.

Shamus touched on the importance of building elements of engagement and not limiting creativity within communities to further “unite them around what they love.” More importantly, he explains how building engagement allowed him to reach billions of people around the world in a way that made it “fun to be a fan of culture.”

There’s a natural synergy between comics and nonfungible tokens (NFTs), a topic discussed in great depth in this week’s episode of NFT Steez, a bi-weekly Twitter Space that explores the intersection of NFTs, culture and all things Web3-related.

“We need to promote storytelling”

When asked about the role storytelling will play in the Kumite NFT project, Shamus explained that Web3 allows for greater participation and engagement whereby multiple stories, from multiple points of view can be told and expressed. In launching Kumite NFT, Shamus describes that it brings the hero's journey to holders and in this way, “everyone can be a hero in their journey.” 

Bitcoin (BTC) headed for $20,000 after the July 11 Wall Street open amid fresh warnings to “prepare for new lows.”

$20,300 eyed as next support zone to hold

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD failing to recover losses that had immediately followed the weekly close at $20,850.

The pair had nonetheless locked in its best week’s gains since March, these nonetheless apt to unravel as market uncertainty lingered.

For on-chain analytics resource Material Indicators, the level to watch was a trendline acting as support since June.

“BTC fell back below the 21-ay Moving Average after the Sunday close,” it wrote in a summation-like Twitter post alongside a heatmap of buy and sell interest on major exchange Binance.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), a global financial regulator including all G20 countries, is preparing to propose international regulations for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in October.

The FSB on Monday issued a statement on the international regulation and supervision of crypto asset activities, announcing a major crypto regulation effort.

The watchdog is planning to report to the G20 finance minister and central bank governors in October 2022 on regulatory and supervisory approaches to stablecoins and other crypto assets. By that time, the FSB targets a public consultation report on the review of recommendations, including “how existing frameworks may be extended to close gaps and implement the high-level recommendations.”

The G20 authority also plans to submit another public consultation report that proposes recommendations for promoting global consistency of regulatory and supervisory approaches to other crypto-assets.

“These combined efforts of the FSB and the international standard setting bodies are aimed at minimizing the risk of fragmentation and regulatory arbitrage,” the FSB noted.

Solana (SOL) still has room to fall in the near term, but SOL/USD can rally 5,000% if it follows in the footsteps of its top rival Ethereum. 

That Ethereum 2018 fractal

SOL's risks dropping to $15 on anticipations it would behave like Ethereum during the market crash in 2018.

Notably, Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH) price fell to nearly $79 in December 2018 after undergoing a 95% correction earlier that year from its peak of $1,529. Afterward, it underwent a long recovery, rising nearly 6,000% over the next four years and thus hitting a record high of around $4,950 in November 2022.

Solana, which rivals Ethereum for its top spot in the smart contracts sector, has fallen by over 85% after peaking out in November 2021 at nearly $267. That leaves the token with the room to fall by another 10% when measured from its said record high.

Popular analyst PostyXBT says SOL could decline to $15, thus mirroring Ethereum's bear cycle in 2018. What's more, the Solana token could see an Ethereum-like recovery in the coming years that could take SOL price to over $750, he adds.

Solana (SOL) still has room to fall in the near term, but SOL/USD can rally 5,000% if it follows in the footsteps of its top rival Ethereum. 

That Ethereum 2018 fractal

SOL risks dropping to $15 on anticipations it would behave like Ethereum during the market crash in 2018.

Notably, Ethereum's native token Ether (ETH) price fell to nearly $79 in December 2018 after undergoing a 95% correction earlier that year from its peak of $1,529. Afterward, it underwent a long recovery, rising nearly 6,000% over the next four years and thus hitting a record high of around $4,950 in November 2022.

Solana, which rivals Ethereum for its top spot in the smart contracts sector, has fallen by over 85% after peaking out in November 2021 at nearly $267. That leaves the token with the room to fall by another 10% when measured from its said record high.

Popular analyst PostyXBT says SOL could decline to $15, thus mirroring Ethereum's bear cycle in 2018. What's more, the Solana token could see an Ethereum-like recovery in the coming years that could take SOL price to over $750, he adds.

There is an old Arabic proverb: “The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on.” It could summarize the journey to date of Tether (USDT), the world’s largest stablecoin. 

Tether has been embroiled in legal and financial wrangling through much of its short history. There have been lawsuits over alleged market manipulation, charges by the New York State attorney general that Tether lied about its reserves — costing the firm $18.5 million in fines in 2021 — and this year, questions voiced by United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen as to whether USDT could maintain its peg to the U.S. dollar. More recently, investment short sellers “have been ramping up their bets against Tether,” the Wall Street Journal reported on June 27.

But, Tether has weathered all those storms and seems to keep moving on — like the proverbial caravan. On July 1, the company announced that it had dramatically reduced the amount of commercial paper in its reserves, which has been a sore point with critics for some time.

Embracing U.S. Treasury reserves?

Tether’s commercial paper reserves are expected to reach a new low of $3.5 billion by the end of July, down from $24.2 billion at the end of 2021. The company added that its “goal remains to bring the figure down to zero.” 

Many stablecoins like Tether are stand-ins for the U.S. dollar, and they are supposed to be backed 1:1 by liquid assets like cash and U.S. Treasury bills. But, historically, as much as half of USDT’s reserves were in commercial paper, which is generally seen as less secure and more illiquid than Treasuries. Hence, the potential significance of the commercial paper statement.