đ Bitcoin + Retirement
*Read Time: 4 minutes, 54 seconds*
The Market âď¸ (24h %)
*Markets are subject to volatility, so the price may change
Bitcoin: $39,733.17 (+0.81%)
Ethereum: $2,923.50 (+1.21%)
USDC: $0.9998 (-0.02%)
Solana: $97.77(-1.46%)
Hey Tea Sippers đ,
TGIF⌠What a week, and I hope you are pumped for the weekend! Recent news is that Goldman Sachs has offered its first bitcoin-backed loan. Does this mean mass adoption is coming?
And for more recent news, and what youâve all been waiting for, drum roll, please⌠Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 Billion! Yes, you heard that right, in his acquisition he says:
âFree speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.ââ
Well, I guess weâll see where Twitter is headed in the next few years. As Elon Musk says the Town Square for free speech has arrived!
Anyways, we hope that you enjoy the stories we have for you. Grab your tea and start sipping!
Cheers! âď¸
1. Bitcoin Investing for your 401(K) Plan is being implemented by Fidelity Investment.
Fidelity is one of the most traditional financial planning platforms for individuals to be able to invest in their future. When I say future I mean retirement. They are the go-to wealth management tool helping users understand the retirement process in a simple and easy manner.
Whatâs The Tea?
Employees will gain access to this new product as soon as they get approval from their employer. They have the option to save up to 20% of their funds in bitcoin.
Dave Gray the head of the retirement platform writes,
âAs a leader in digital assets, we are thrilled to be the first to offer employers exposure to bitcoin for the core lineup of 401(k)s that reflects our commitment to meeting their evolving needs and our belief in the promise of blockchain technology for the financial industryâs future.â
It looks like this digital asset thing may be pretty promisingâŚ
If youâre not the first then follow the lead. Microstrategy, a business intelligence company led by Michael Saylor was the first to announce its adoption of bitcoin into its asset portfolio.
The Big Gulp âď¸:
As you can see the crypto space is advancing very rapidly. Although, there are many things that need to be flushed out, we now are seeing big traditional players looking for ways to implement digital assets into their systems. First Microstrategy, now Fidelity, whoâs next? The tea is to get into the digital asset space or get left behindâŚ
2. Polygon Partners with Stripe and Twitter for Stablecoin Payments.
Iâm sure you are all familiar with Ethereum by now. If not, it is a cryptocurrency that primarily serves as the base layer for the creation of decentralized financial applications like Uniswap (Essentially the Robinhood of crypto) to be built on. Now, Polygon specifically is a network that is built on top of the Ethereum network called an L2, which can mimic the functionalities of Ethereum, but does things a little differently. How, you might ask?
For one Polygon transactions are significantly cheaper than Ethereum transactions (Gas Fees). For example, an Eth transfer on the Ethereum network can cost $2.00 vs. on Polygon it can come up to $.00006.
The cons are that since itâs a new platform there are many things they still need to flesh out:
Mass adoption- They need to get more individuals into the platform since it is still not familiar to a lot of individuals. Crypto needs trust, and they must earn that.
Compared to Ethereum it is a less secure platform that is still being worked on and audited.
There are currently no auctions for items like NFTs, which they are working on flushing out as they continue to develop the platform.
Recent news is that Polygon has partnered with your favorite social media platform Twitter and your favorite payments processing platform stripe.
Twitter and Stripe have chosen to create the ability to facilitate payments via the use of USDC, a stablecoin.
Stripe currently âhandles 100 transactions per second. The Irish-American company plans to roll out the program to as many as 120 countries.â
In addition, with Elonâs acquisition of Twitter and his strong liking for Dogecoin, there will be many changes in terms of digital assets in the social media platform.
Stripeâs take on digital assets is:
âWhile the âstore of valueâ aspects of cryptocurrencies typically receive the most attention, we view the prospect of âopen-access global financial railsâ as being at least equally compelling. As a result, weâve been exploring ways to use cryptocurrency-based platforms to unlock broader access.â
The Big Gulp âď¸:
Polygon is one of the biggest scaling options on the Ethereum network. It has gained strong credibility and trust within the crypto world and has figured out ways to reduce costs so that many other enterprises and individuals can interact with the crypto ecosystem more seamlessly and easily. What's next is that companies will begin transacting different cryptocurrencies, initially stablecoins, to allow for more exposure and mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. To the moon, we go!
Extra Tea âď¸
BlackRock: The investment management company talks about the effects of Ukraine on Digital currency.
Bored Ape: There is a new restaurant being created modeled after the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club, the NFT brand.
Ethereum: Announces that they have pushed back their merger, and have plans to launch it within the next few months.
Robinhood: Lays off 9% of their staff in order to conserve their burn rate after launching a few new products such as their crypto product.
Tea Pods âď¸
If you have time, take a listen to this 10-minute podcast by Anthony Pompliano, who talks about Fidelityâs adoption of bitcoin in their retirement plan, he also gives an in-depth analysis of the current state of the U.S. retirement system.
If you have time, take a listen here.
Blog Pod âď¸
If you have time, read this new blog post on lending vs. staking. It should take up no more than 5 minutes of your time! :)
Click here to read.
Sencha Tea Fact of the Week âď¸
âThe total value locked in decentralized finance platforms is $75.03B.â
Since you made it this far!
If you or a friend know anyone interested in the space, feel free to recommend them.
And, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me: Kristian Lamarre.
Cheers!âď¸