Ten31 Timestamp 784,784
Macro data generally continued to look worse this week, as the latest PMI and job vacancy data pointed to the early stages of a contraction following central banks’ aggressive tightening cycle over the past year. At the same time, multiple central banks either paused rate hikes or pointed to the likelihood of faster than expected easing in the relatively near term. On the bitcoin front, the week saw a mixed set of regulatory developments at the state level – Texas and North Carolina advanced bills to restrict bitcoin miner activity to some degree, while the Arkansas legislature passed a more favorable framework for miners. The week was productive for privacy-oriented projects, including the first funding round for Mutiny Wallet, the announcement of a new collaboration between Mullvad VPN and the Tor Project, and another new all-time high for unspent capacity in Samourai Wallet’s Whirlpool.
Portfolio Company Spotlight
The Portfolio Company Spotlight is a new section of the Timestamp that will feature individual portfolio companies and their latest updates on a rotating basis.
Ten31 recently completed an investment in Mutiny Wallet, a self-custodial lightning wallet combining privacy best practices built in by default with accessibility for new bitcoiners. The wallet leverages BDK and LDK to offer a unique web-first design, functioning as a progressive web app (PWA) capable of running on virtually any smartphone without the need for downloading from a third-party app store, which enhances both new user onboarding (particularly in emerging markets) and censorship resistance. The team – composed of lightning veterans Tony Giorgio, Ben Carman, and Paul Miller – is also working on a variety of new features including a next-generation node implementation tailored to Mutiny Wallet, integrated Vortex Coinjoins, and DLC applications.
Selected Portfolio News
Zaprite released a set of major new updates to its UI, invoice flow, and more:
Zaprite also announced a new integration feature with the ZEBEDEE wallet:
Ledger’s upgraded multisignature UX is now available for use with Unchained vaults and Caravan, Unchained’s open source coordinator:
Unspent capacity in Samourai Wallet’s Whirlpool reached new all-time highs again this week, crossing the 7,000 BTC threshold for the first time:
Media
Cathedra executives Rete Browning and Isaac Fithian joined the Compass Mining podcast to discuss their recent work on underclocking ASICs.
Ten31 Advisor Parker Lewis co-authored an open letter to Texas State Senator Lois Kolkhorst regarding proposed legislation to limit bitcoin miner participation in grid balancing programs in the state.
Matt Odell joined the Bitcoin Review podcast to discuss Mutiny Wallet, BDK, and more. Matt also participated in a discussion of federated Chaumain Mints on lightning hosted by Bitcoin Magazine.
Market Updates
The latest monthly manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for March fell to 46.3 in March, down from 47.7 in February. All subcomponents of the index were below 50 (the level indicating contraction) for the first time since 2009.
Data for US job openings from February showed a M/M decline of over 600,000. Total job vacancies are now at their lowest level since May 2021. However, the lagging indicators of payrolls and unemployment both improved in March.
Blackstone’s $70 billion REIT vehicle restricted redemption requests for a fifth consecutive month, allowing less than 15% of $4.5 billion of withdrawal requests.
Bank lending activity declined precipitously in March following the failure of SVB and other banks, with total volume headed back toward March 2020 lows.
Against a deteriorating macro backdrop, an official from the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee suggested the central bank would likely need to cut rates “earlier and faster” than previously expected.
Australia’s central bank paused its rate-hiking to assess the impact of recent tightening on inflation, following the Bank of Canada’s lead from a month ago.
Bank borrowing at the Fed’s Discount Window declined W/W for the third week in a row, though use of the new BTFP facility increased again.
Long-running P2P marketplace Paxful indefinitely suspended operations due to key staff departures and regulatory issues.
DCG’s bitcoin mining arm Foundry will begin charging fees to miners pointing hashrate to its mining pool.
Regulatory Update
The US Treasury Department released an extensive report on the risks of illicit activity facilitated by so-called “DeFi.”
Texas Senate Bill 1751, a newly proposed law to limit bitcoin miners’ participation in grid balancing programs and associated tax abatements, passed a committee vote without opposition. The bill will now go to the full Texas Senate for a vote.
Local officials in a North Carolina county are weighing a one-year moratorium on new bitcoin mining operations.
However, the Arkansas state legislature passed a more accommodative bill establishing guidelines for bitcoin mining businesses intended to avoid specific discrimination against such operations.
Noteworthy
A Bloomberg report surveyed the $1.5 trillion in outstanding commercial real estate debt that will need refinancing over the next three years.
Malaysia and China are reportedly set to discuss an “Asian Fund” to reduce USD dependency.
ZeroSync announced a partnership with Blockstream to broadcast zero-knowledge proofs of the bitcoin blockchain for fast chain syncing via the Blockstream Satellite.
The privacy-focused Tor Project announced a collaboration with Mullvad VPN to launch a dedicated web browser with native, default privacy features.
Meanwhile, a recent report from SurfShark showed sustained recent growth in government agency requests for user data from big tech platforms like Facebook and Google.
Various Mac users recently discovered that a PDF of the bitcoin whitepaper has been buried within every version of MacOS since 2017.
Travel
Nashville BitDevs and Meetup, April 11-12
Austin BitDevs, April 20
Bitcoin 2023, May 18-20
Nashville Ten31 Tribe event, June 14
Nashville Lightning Summit, July 13-14