Donald Trump Recognizes BTC, AI & Energy Nexus
The Daily Crypto Update for Institutional Investors
Reporting By CNBC Has Bolstered The View That Trump Is Interested In Using BTC Mining To Support Energy Development In The US - There Is Growing Public Awareness That BTC Can Benefit Energy Interests, Including In The Context Of AI ComputingÂ
US BTC mining executives that met with Trump on Tuesday have expressed being impressed by Trump’s level of understanding of BTC mining. Jason Browder, SVP of Government Affairs at Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA) said the group was ‘very impressed by how in the weeds he was on some pretty dense topics when you’re talking about artificial intelligence, data centers, energy buildout, and transmission.’ According to Browder, ‘he’s been speaking more about energy independence, jobs, and technology’ and that Trump ‘understands very well in this context of, we need more energy, and there’s a grid power competition between the US and China.’ Following the event, Trump posted on Truth Social that believes the remaining BTC should be mined in the US and that this ‘will help us be energy dominant!’ Trump’s mining roundtable came following last week’s fundraiser in Silicon Valley, hosted by David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, where Trump declared himself the ‘crypto president.’ Ryan Selkis, the founder of crypto data site Messari, told FT Trump spoke about AI, energy and crypto at the event.Â
The seeming focus on overlapping energy, AI and BTC and crypto policies from the Trump campaign coincide with a growing awareness in the broader public that such a nexus exists. Last week, we wrote about a deal between computing resources firm CoreWeave and BTC Miner Core Scientific (NASDAQ: CORZ). The 12-year hosting agreement will see Core Scientific host CoreWeave’s high-performance computing operations. As part of the deal, Core Scientific will revamp several of their existing sites to accommodate CoreWeave's NVIDIA GPUs. In a research report released in April, CoinShares (STO: CS) projected that BTC miners would increasingly pursue income from AI computing. The report indicates that AI computing can generate higher revenue in certain energy-secure areas. Last week, Bloomberg published an article titled, ‘AI’s Insatiable Data-Center Demand Makes Crypto Miners Targets.’Â
Takeaway: BTC proponents have long highlighted that mining has numerous benefits for public energy interests. In some places, this dynamic is playing out in practice. In emerging markets, BTC is serving as a subsidy for energy infrastructure development. While in Texas, BTC mining is helping manage variations in supply and demand. As such, Trump’s position on mining is not without empirical support.
CRYPTO HEADLINES
SEC Chair Gary Gensler indicated potential approval for ETH ETFs within three months. During a Senate Banking Committee hearing on June 13, Gensler discussed the SEC's expected approval of S-1 registration statements for ETH ETFs this summer, following the approval of 19b-4 filings from eight companies on May 23. When asked if ETH is a commodity, CFTC Chair Rostin Benham said yes, while Gary Gensler explained that ETH Exchange Traded Products have been approved rather than providing a ‘yes or no’ answer as requested. - link - @Cointelegraph
Bernstein analysts anticipate BTC could reach a price of USD 200,000 by 2025, citing potential demand from spot BTC ETFs as a key driver. Asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity are expected to manage ETFs that could hold an estimated USD 190B in assets by 2025, a substantial increase from the current USD 60B. The effect of BTC's recent halving event, which cut the new daily supply, is also expected to contribute to a price surge due to lower selling pressure alongside heightened demand. - link - @TheBlock
Bernstein initiated coverage on MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), with an outperform rating and price target of USD 2,890. The analysts underpinned the thesis, which represents ~95% upside on the stock, with their updated forecast of BTC reaching USD 200k by 2025, and USD 1M by 2033. - link - @CoinDesk
US Congressman Thomas Massie said it’s ‘way past time to re-introduce a bill to end the Federal Reserve’ after reading The Bitcoin Standard. Discussing the initiative in an interview, Massie said he’s received support from ‘two dozen co-sponsors,’ which represents an increase of 10x in co-sponsors supporting the bill over the past decade. - link - @BitcoinMagazine
Bitfarms (TSX: BITF) disclosed plans for a new US mining facility, and raised guidance for its expected power capacity to 648 MW by 2025. The new site, situated in a state with deregulated energy, seeks to enable a substantial increase in hash rate. Shares of BITF rallied ~15% following the announcement. - link - @TheBlock
Paradigm has raised USD 850M to launch its third crypto fund. The firm, established in 2018, will focus on ‘projects at the earliest stages’ for the newest fund. - link - @Paradigm
Manta Network, a layer-2 blockchain specializing in privacy and zero-knowledge proofs, announced a USD 50M ecosystem fund. Starting June 15, the fund will support diverse projects through investments and grants, focusing on innovative market changes. - link - @CoinDesk
FINMA closed crypto-friendly FlowBank for failing to meet capital requirements. Switzerland's financial regulator took action on Thursday, referencing significant non-compliance with the capital adequacy rules. Founded in 2020 with a crypto element, FlowBank has entered bankruptcy proceedings. - link - @WSJ
Bitfarms (TSX: BITF) announced plans for a new US mining facility, and raised its 2025 hash power target to exceed 35 EH/s in 2025. The Sharon, Pennsylvania site will contribute up to 120 MW of power, augmenting Bitfarms' total capacity to 648 MW by next year. Shares of BITF rallied ~15% following the announcement. - link - @BITF
Binance's tax charges in Nigeria have been dismissed, according to a source cited by CoinDesk. The Federal Inland Revenue Service shifted focus away from executives Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla to concentrate solely on the company. The two individuals continue to face a different set of allegations in a money laundering case. - link - @CoinDesk
A BIS survey found that central banks are increasingly interested in CBDCs. 94% of the 86 banks surveyed are exploring digital national currencies, with a preference for issuing wholesale rather than retail CBDCs within the next six years. - link - @CoinDesk
Crypto hardware manufacturer Trezor unveiled its latest custody solutions at the BTC Prague 2024 event. The new offerings include the Trezor Safe 5, a wallet designed exclusively for BTC transactions, and the Trezor Expert, a service facilitating user onboarding. - link - @Trezor
TOP ARTICLES
OPEN-SOURCE RESEARCH / LONG-READ OF THE DAY
Bitcoin Mining Stabilizes Power Grids Strained by AI Data Centers, Ryan Condron for CoinDesk, June 13, 2024
Ryan Condron, the creator of Lumerin Protocol, 'a foundational layer technology using smart contracts to control how P2P data streams are routed, accessed, and transacted,' argues how BTC mining can benefit energy grids supporting large AI resources.Â
CRYPTO MULTIMEDIA
Erik Voorhees On Bitcoin & AI, What Bitcoin Did Podcast, June 12, 2024
Erik Voorhees, the founder of Satoshi Dice, ShapeShift and Venice.ai, talks about a range of topics, including the interplay between AI and BTC.Â
CHART OF THE DAY
May and June have seen a fixation on US crypto policy. However, as we wrote at the start of the month, US policy is not the be-all and end-all for the asset class. BTC and crypto have exhibited independent adoption curves in various jurisdictions, driven by local circumstances...
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