Airdrop for ETH Holders? + how Decentralized Identities stop phishing attacks and identity theft.
As Ethereum's merge nears ETH price is rallying as it may mean free tokens for holders.
With the Ethereum Merge 2.0 coming up in 10 days, all eyes are on what will happen as the merge happens and ETH moves to Proof of Stake. Though it’s not a guarantee, if there is a hard fork, ETHPoW coins should automatically go into your wallet. If not, I will send claiming instructions in the first newsletter post-merge!
Secondly, I want to discuss Decentralized Identities (DID) in this episode. Your personal information in Web2 is insecure and decentralized logins can help you protect your personal information from identity theft and phishing attacks. More on that below! But first, market analysis.
$BTC:
BTC broke out of its falling wedge pattern, though there has been no rally thus far. It looks like it’ll continue the sideways chop inside the green lines. Birbicator still shows bearish signals and the volume does not look extraordinary. Bitcoin Dominance bottoming in charts below are a positive sign for Bitcoins growth relative to altcoins, but that could mean that it just loses less than altcoins if there is a drop.
$ETH/BTC:
Ethereum is looking strong relative to Bitcoin leading up to the Ethereum Merge in 10 days time. Part of this growth could be the buying demand for speculators looking to capitalize on the potential airdrop of a ETHPoW coin from a hardfork that may happen prior to the merge. Those holding ETH in cold storage wallets should receive a 1:1 of a new ETHPoW coin for each ETH they hold. What the ETHPoW Coin will be worth is a big speculation, but since it’s free for ETH holders, the demand to hold ETH beforehand is strong! Birbicator is showing a Bull Signal on ETH/BTC on the 12H, so ETH should continue to rise relative to BTC.
Bitcoin Dominance ($BTC.D):
Bitcoin Dominance (% of BTC’s market cap / total crypto market cap) continues to drop and is close to the former support in January 2022, back when Bitcoin rallied from 35k to 48k, and then continued to gain dominance at DeFi collapsed. If it bounces from this support level, I would expect Bitcoin to start rallying again! However, it won’t happen until there is a bullish signal on the Birbicator indicator.
Decentralized Identities and Web3:
As Web3 becomes mainstream, so will decentralized identities (DID’s) and single logins, rather than than 100’s of different insecure accounts on different websites.
Currently, providing all of your information to each platform you create an account on is a HUGE security issue, and most major social media networks have had data breaches, leaving our personal information in the hands of hackers now prone to phishing attacks and identity theft.
Don’t think you’ve been affected? Check your email address at Have I been Pwned to see how many known data breaches your info has been leaked in.
We’re already seeing a transition to “login with Google/Facebook”, though this bridge isn’t really an improvement, considering that if your Facebook account is banned, ALL of those platforms you logged in through Facebook are also unaccessible.
Enter Web3 identities. Whether it’s with Unstoppable domains or with Civic, finally your information is as secure as your Bitcoin kept in cold storage. Only you have access to it, and only have to provide platforms the minimal amount of personal information needed to do business with them.
But how do Web3 identities work? To learn more I speak with JP Bedoya, Chief Product Officer of Civic, on their decentralized identity solution, Civic Me for personal identities, how to maintain control of your identity.
With DID solutions, our personal information will be protected by the same cryptography as cryptocurrency, keeping it more secure than ever.
This is the third time I’ve spoken to Civic over the years as they continue to build out a DID. $CVC is currently a $115M Market Cap coin and was ~$400M Market cap in the highs of November 2021.
To learn even more about identity initiatives in Web3, I speak with Phillip Shoemaker, who is currently the Executive Director of Identity.com.
Phillip built the Apple App Store and started early investing in Crypto in 2010. Through his time at Apple he learned a lot about identities on the web and the current Web2 flaws.
Identity.com also has a DID management platform, pseudonymity and on-chain verification tools and more. We discuss the biggest obstacles in giving everyone a digital identity and how they are already working with Civic to make DID’s a reality.
Other Crypto & Markets News:
Bitcoin:
Georgia's government approves bill regulating #Bitcoin and crypto
#Bitcoin and crypto friendly politician Liz Truss selected as the new Prime Minister of the UK.
Bitcoin's mining difficulty increased by 9.26% overnight to 30.98 T. This was the second largest positive adjustment of the year.
DC Attorney General sues MicroStrategy and Chairman Bitcoin Figurehead Michael Saylor for tax fraud.
Vitalik Buterin tweets that Bitcoin’s Consensus algorithm Hash (SHA256) could survive quantum computer attacks just fine.
Crypto & NFT’s:
@joinstacked, the Web3 Version of Twitch, has raised $12.9 million in a Series A funding round led @PanteraCapital
Venture firm @a16z has created its own licensing regime for NFTs, aiming to help creators easily decide how to handle intellectual property rights for their work.
Luxury Brand Hermés Files #NFT Trademark Application.
Binance will cease trading in USDC/TUSD/USDP pairs and move USDC pairs to BUSD to concentrate and increase liquidity.
Binance has hired former Brazilian central bank president and finance minister Henrique Meirelles as a member of its advisory board.
World Markets:
Euro falls under $0.99 for the first time in 20 years.
India reports annual GDP growth of 13.5% in April-June quarter.
Electricity costs in restaurants and small businesses in across Europe increase almost 400% as energy crises continues to worsen in Europe.
80% of countries globally now have inflation above 6%, with some like the US just under 10% and places like London at 22%. With Bitcoin as the best returning asset over the past 10 years, it might be our best hope in preserving wealth in times of hyperinflation.
Continue to HODL and stack sats!
Ashton Addison
-CEO, Crypto Coin Show