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GM, reader, GM ā and welcome to Tokengraph. Arbitrum just launched its airdrop, but how did it go? Weāre also rolling out a new series of Podcast Breakdowns for you today. Stay tuned to hear about Balajiās wild Bitcoin prediction.
Coming to an inbox near youā¦
Arbitrum Airdrop Price Tanks 90%
Balaji: Hyperinflation, $1M Bitcoin
Do Kwon Arrested in Montenegro
Coinbase CEO: Vote Pro-Crypto
Greenpeaceās āSkull of Satoshiā
Arbitrumās highly anticipated airdrop launched yesterday, and it looks like people werenāt excited about the technology as much as they were anticipating selling the token ASAP.
Take a look at the sheer amount of transactions ā 2.7M, which is nearly triple the amount that Ethereum did:
So @arbitrum casually hit 2.7 MILLION txs today.
At an average of 31 tps thatās almost 3x what Ethereum did! š¤Æ
— hunter (@BFreshHB)
Mar 24, 2023
Starting at a price of $10.29 per ARB, the coinās price swiftly dropped all the way to $1.40 in just 30 minutes. It seems that everyone was trying to cash in as quickly as possible before the hype surrounding the airdrop died down completely.
The price of $ARB dropped by more than 90% as airdrop recipients rushed to sell their tokens, but data shows certain entities continuing to accumulate.
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph)
Mar 23, 2023
The claiming process itself was extremely bumpy ā the sheer amount of users that flooded Arbitrumās website caused it to crash, and strange things were happening with gas fee calculations, causing the estimated fee at one point to exceed $5.8B (an insane price for a gas fee, clearly an error).
Arbitrum network insanely congested, Arbitrum website down, Arbiscan down
Everything will likely return to normal in the next few hours.
But crypto still has a long way to go before it's ready for mass adoption.
— The DeFi Investor š (@TheDeFinvestor)
Mar 23, 2023
Wallets claimed anywhere from 625 to 10,250 ARB depending on the number of eligibility criteria they met.
Arbitrum is a layer 2 scaling solution blockchain for the Ethereum network. Its airdrop will remain live for users to claim their tokens for the next 183 days. It remains to be seen what ARBās price will do in the future.
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Former CTO of Coinbase and Co-founder of Counsyl Balaji Srinivasan has a rock-solid reputation within the crypto community ā but his recent $1M Bitcoin prediction is on a whole different level, even for his stellar track record.
He talked about his prediction and shared some deeper insights into the state of the market on this episode of the Bankless podcast earlier this week.
I will take that bet.
You buy 1 BTC.
I will send $1M USD.
This is ~40:1 odds as 1 BTC is worth ~$26k.
The term is 90 days.
All we need is a mutually agreed custodian who will still be there to settle this in the event of digital dollar devaluation.
If someone knows how to do thisā¦ twitter.com/i/web/status/1ā¦— Balaji (@balajis)
Mar 17, 2023
Not only did he predict that Bitcoin will hit $1M in 90 days ā Balaji also made two separate bets on it, each one worth $1M itself.
Show hosts Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman pushed against Balajiās wild prediction but still made space to acknowledge that the general sentiment of the prediction (i.e., Bitcoin could see a huge amount of mass adoption in the short term) needs to be taken seriously ā both because of current economic conditions and because of Balajiās spotless history of predicting developments within the crypto industry. Check out his book, The Network State, all about how blockchain and crypto will replace governments and fiat.
I donāt think people fully realize how fast the world sped up the past 6-8 weeks. The changes are so profound and exponential it isnāt easy to conceptualize it fully. Itās like the old world just melted away overnight. This past 2 weeks was like the lightning before thunders roar
— Nait Jones (@NaithanJones)
Mar 24, 2023
Here are the main points that Balaji hit on during the podcast:
US dollar will hyperinflate, leading Bitcoin to be worth $1 million within 90 days
Concerns about the US banking system including bank closures in the US and Europe
Central banks are discussing coordinated efforts to inject liquidity into the market
It is time for people to move their assets outside of the US banking system and into cryptocurrencies
Our take on Balajiās predictions? At worst, itās an incredible marketing stunt that has already drawn massive attention to his social media presence and to Bitcoin itself.Ā
Balaji is betting $1m that 1 BTC is > $1 million in less than 90 days
It's a $1m marketing stunt - everyone's talking about it, and he'll go on a huge media/podcast tour.
ā¢ Raises alarm for hyperinflation
ā¢ Makes $ back from price appreciation
ā¢ Eyeballs to his new podcast— Edgy - The DeFi Edge š”ļø (@thedefiedge)
Mar 18, 2023
But at best, we side with Ryan and David ā Bitcoin could see rapid mass adoption if the economic conditions continue to worsen at an accelerated pace, but we have no reason to believe that itās going to hit $1M.
The infinite money is here.
How we got here is a matter for history.
The question is how to get out.
Fed is launching their CBDC in July.
You have about 90 days to exit.
After that, youāre trapped.
In a devalued digital dollar.
Itāll be digital lockdown.
Or Bitcoin independence.— Balaji (@balajis)
Mar 22, 2023
Whether Balajiās prediction comes true or not, it is of paramount importance to just be aware of potential risks and to make informed decisions about your assets in uncertain times like these.
Which of the following projects had the biggest airdrop?
A.Ā BAYC (ApeCoin)B.Ā Optimismās second airdrop (OP)C.Ā Arbitrum (ARB)B.Ā LooksRare (LOOKS)
Scroll down to the bottom to see if you're right!
Other Top Stories Today š¢
Wanted by Interpol itself, Do Kwon has allegedly been caught in Montenegro along with his aide, Han Mo. Kwon has been on the run since the collapse of the Terra ecosystem last summer, making his way through Singapore, Dubai, and Serbia as he ran from the law. He now faces fraud charges from South Korea, the SEC, and NY federal prosecutors.
Ā
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, stated that he plans to organize an entire political force of crypto users (and voters) in a Twitter Spaces talk yesterday. The SEC just served Coinbase a Wells notice earlier this week, possibly signaling that theyāll be bringing legal action against the company for its staking activities or other services. Armstrong had the following to say on the subject: āWe are going to elect pro-crypto candidates in this country to make sure that our success is ensured.ā
Ā
Environmental group Greenpeace just commissioned āThe Skull of Satoshi,ā a large art piece meant to highlight Bitcoinās negative impact on the environment ā but the organizations intentions seem to have been thwarted, as the Bitcoin community has taken a liking to the piece. The installation is part of a movement that aims to get Bitcoin to switch from a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to Proof-of-Stake, which would save massive amounts of energy. However, Bitcoiners mainly just like the piece, and some have even adopted it as a mascot.
ā Trivia Answer
Answer: A.
Yuga Labs, the studio behind the BAYC NFT collection, airdropped as much as $200k worth of ApeCoin to BAYC holdersā wallets.
Web3 Resource of the Day
Bitcoin & The Banking Crisis | Caitlin LongĀ | Podcast from Anthony Pompliano
āMost people, because they havenāt lived through inflation or hyperinflation, have no idea that the dollar might not be stable.ā Sobering words from Caitlin Long on todayās resource, a Pomp podcast episode. Long is the founder and CEO of Avanti Financial Group, a bank that handles digital assets, keys, tokens and more. In this episode, she provides a comprehensive view of what led us to this economic moment in history and how bankruns and Bitcoin could change the future of banking finance.
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DISCLAIMER: This is not financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Do your own research.