Wednesday, July 19, 2023

“It is not paradox to say that in our most theoretical moods we may be nearest to our most practical applications.” –  Alfred North Whitehead ||

Hello all! There were a few typos in yesterday’s newsletter 😞 sorry about that! It’s what I get for scrambling to get it out not too much later than my self-imposed deadline. Today’s email is a bit shorter and later than usual (and may still have some typos!) due to a schedule squeeze.

You’re reading the premium daily Crypto is Macro Now newsletter, where I focus on the growing overlap between the crypto and macro ecosystem. Thanks so much for being a subscriber! Nothing I say is investment advice. Nevertheless, I hope you find it useful – if so, please consider hitting the Like ❤ button at the bottom, I’m told it boosts the distribution algorithm.

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WHAT I’M WATCHING

Inflation divergence. Some startling inflation releases over the past couple of days point to further weakness ahead for the US dollar. More on this below.

Investors are still long big tech. The results of the latest Bank of America fund manager survey are even stranger than usual. More on this below.

Crypto fund raising reawakens? It has undeniably and understandably been a quiet time for crypto raises. While builders have been heads-down building, funding is wary of losses and weakened trust, and is distracted by the dazzle of AI. Yesterday, CoinDesk reported that funding for web3 projects was down 76% vs Q2 of last year. Yet funding in Q3, seems to be picking up, despite the lore that summer is supposed to be relatively quiet.

Yesterday we also saw news that VC firm CoinFund had raised $158 million to invest in crypto startups, while Polychain Capital had raised $200 million. Polychain’s goal is to reach $400 million according to an SEC filing, but $200 million is not bad in these markets. Plus, yesterday we also learned that a company that aims to leverage AI and blockchain for metaverse infrastructure closed a $54 million Series A – again, not a bad size given the recent trickle of similar announcement. We’re used to maybe one or two of these types of announcements a week – three in a day is enough to take note.

MARKETS