Ethereum to $22k, Coinbase Smart Wallet, Free Money (zkSync Airdrop Preview)

Hi Friends —

The stock market was actually crazier than crypto this week. The famous meme stock investor (aka Keith Gill / “Roaring Kitty”) behind the famous Wall Street Bets saga is back.

He looks like this 👇, and lost ~$300 million on Friday… just google it for the full story (it’s wild).

Luckily, crypto is never boring so we still have plenty to talk about (see our full episode here). Today we’re discussing Ethereum price predictions, Coinbase’s new product to help you get started in crypto, Robinhood acquiring Bitstamp, and free money. Let’s get started!

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Markets

Bitcoin

BTC gained ~2.5% this week and is trading around $69,400 at the time of writing. This places the big orange coin slightly above its former all time high of $69,000 in 2021 but less than its absolute all time high of $73,835 achieved in March.

The price gain was driven by strong ETF flows (wall-street buyers), and investor optimism about potential interest rate reductions (Europe and Canada lowered rates). The positive sentiment was tempered by strong US employment data on Friday, a sign that US interest rate cuts are still a ways off.

Ethereum

ETH was down for the week with a ~2.3% loss. The token is currently trading at ~$3,700, well below its 2021 all time high of $4,867.

After its ginormous 25% gain a couple of weeks ago on the ETF approval, investors are arguing about how much demand there will be for the product once it’s launched. This demand will likely dictate how much ETH moves in the coming months. See my take on ETH ETF demand here.

If you’re looking for some technical analysis, check out this tweet from one of my favorite traders. His price prediction squiggles are shockingly accurate…

Stephen’s predictions played out to the T over the past week, indicating that he has a firm grasp on the market. I’ll be paying attention to his analyses moving forward and will keep you updated. For a more detailed explanation of his tweet, see our latest show here.

Ethereum to $22,000 !?!

On the topic of prices, Wall Street is predicting Ethereum to $22,000 by 2030. $90 billion asset management firm VanEck released some research on all things ETH this week. Price predictions for 2030 came in hot:

• Bear: $360

• Base: $22,000

• Bull: $154,000

These numbers were determined by forecasting Ethereum’s free cash flow and applying a valuation multiple - a technique used in traditional finance.

The range is a little wide imo… nonetheless its cool to see Wall Street apply traditional valuation models to ETH. For my full take, see our video here.

Coinbase Smart Wallet

Coinbase announced the launch of Coinbase Smart Wallets (CSW) this week:

For context, crypto wallets are software applications that enable you to store your crypto and make transactions.

Currently, crypto wallets suck. Quality mobile applications hardly exist, users have to learn complex private key management skills, and sending transactions requires multiple confusing steps.

Using a crypto app should be as easy as downloading an app on your phone, logging in with your password or google account, and paying with a single tap. This is Coinbase’s goal with the Smart Wallet. Here’s what you need to know:

• Users can leverage Face ID, Google Profiles, or Finger Print authentication to use crypto apps

• Users can make transactions with crypto wallet balances or with Coinbase account balances

• CSW will be integrated with thousands of crypto apps at launch

• App developers can choose to pay for their users’ transaction fees

If you’ve been hesitant about using crypto, this is your sign to start. Coinbase Smart Wallet will make the process as simple and safe as possible. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ll be back next week with my review 🫡.

Our discussion about CSW can be seen here.

Free Money (zkSync Airdrop Preview)

The gang is getting free money again. (Yes, this happens in crypto a lot. I’ll make a video soon explaining how you can participate).

zkSync, the leading Ethereum zk-rollup, is about to release details about their token. For those that have no idea what a zk-rollup is - its basically another blockchain built on top of Ethereum that enables cheaper transaction fees. If you’re a nerd, they achieve this using giga-brain math magic that you can learn about here. Back to the money…

So zkSync is about to announce that they will release a token for their network, and that they are “airdropping” it to their users. Users can sell the tokens for dollars (if they want) so they’re basically getting free money - pretty cool right.

This is standard practice in crypto and it’s one of the main strategies projects use to attract users. Its a win-win. Projects get users and users get free money.

The rumor mill says that zkSync will announce the token next week so stay tuned for details. This is just a primer so if you have any questions about it in the mean time let me know!

Other News

• RobinHood Acquires BitStamp - the retail trading platform agreed to buy crypto exchange Bitstamp in a $200 million all-cash deal. A huge signal that the company is doubling down on crypto, despite increasing regulatory pressure.

• Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) - Wall Street giants BlackRock and Citadel announced plans to launch a new national stock exchange in Texas. Rumor has it that TXSE will be crypto friendly.

• Roaring Kitty x GameStop - stock land is getting wild again. The meme stock investor (aka Keith Gill / “Roaring Kitty”) behind the famous Wall Street Bets saga is back with a multi-million dollar position in Gamestop, fueling market volatility. He hosted a YouTube livestream on Friday which was… interesting.

Thanks for reading!

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