The AB Newsletter is for informational purposes only. Do not construe any of the following as investment, financial, or other advice. You make your own decisions.
The AB Newsletter is a culmination of research and perspectives from the diverse minds of the AB Team. Ultimately our focus and mission is financial freedom. In newsletter #2 we cover:
Highlights:
Traditional Finance (TradFi) - Is the Fed Pivoting?
Crypto Regulations Incoming - SEC vs. CFTC
Securities Tokenization Market - Blockchain Backed Securities
Altcoins - Our Recent Buys & Watchlist
1. Traditional Finance (TradFi) - Is the Fed Pivoting?!
As a result of the banking crisis, the Federal Reserve has begun to reverse its monetary policy. Although they did not explicitly state that they have ceased tightening during their conference, both their balance sheet and market projections indicate a shift towards easing.
The Fed's balance sheet has increased, reversing two-thirds of the quantitative tightening implemented over the past 12 months. Additionally, the Fed funds futures market, which predicts interest rate levels in a year, now anticipates a pause in rate hikes and rate cuts throughout the next 12 months.
https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/interest-rates/cme-fedwatch-tool.html?redirect=/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html
When the Fed eases monetary policy, the dollar weakens relative to asset prices, causing asset prices to rise. Consequently, assets such as Bitcoin and others are expected to rally as the Fed alters its course.


However, the situation is not entirely straightforward, as the Fed often reverses course in response to a financial system breakdown or an impending recession. In the event of a recession, credit becomes tighter, individuals sell assets to raise cash, and asset cash flows and valuations plummet. Given the ongoing banking crisis and the presence of numerous other macroeconomic concerns, it is plausible that traditional markets will worsen before improving. Renowned investor and centa-millionaire David Sacks predicts that numerous negative ripple effects will emerge from the Fed's tightening, suggesting that we are merely in the early stages of this process.

Bitcoin's rally in the face of these traditional macroeconomic issues has been an overwhelmingly bullish indicator for the asset class. As an alternative to the banking system and the Federal Reserve, Bitcoin was created to address their inherent flaws, and its rally demonstrates its potential as a competitor.
Balaji Srinivasan, the former CTO of Coinbase, has publicly wagered that Bitcoin will reach $1 million within 90 days due to the cracks emerging in the banking system. While this price level may be improbable within such a brief timeframe, his thesis is likely to prove accurate over a more extended period, and it is supported by the recent price action.



As the Federal Reserve persists in its manipulation of the US dollar and the economy, leading to inflation, recessions, and banking crises, public awareness of these issues will continue to increase. Alongside many others, we believe Bitcoin, ETH, and white-hat noble projects in the digital asset ecosystem will provide outstanding alternatives and solutions to these issues.

2. Crypto Regulation: Incoming
First they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you. [We are here]
Then they join you.
Traditional financial markets continue to toe the line of a complete meltdown following the recent collapse of SVB and Signature Bank. As investors look to pivot and avoid the recent pitfalls of centralized banking there have been significant inflows to crypto currencies such as BTC & ETH. However, this trend does not come without consequence as federal regulators have ramped up their fight against crypto assets, exchanges, and advocates in an attempt to smear the industry and rebuild trust in traditional markets.
In what seems to be a tidal wave of assaults on the industry, the SEC has issued several Wells notices to major crypto entities including exchange Coinbase ($COIN) and blockchain TRON (TRX) regarding their staking services and asset listings.
In non football terms, a Wells Notice is formal notice from the SEC informing a recipient that the SEC is planning to bring enforcement actions against them. Coinbase CEO, Brain Armstrong adamantly defends the industry further.


SEC chair Gary Gensler has repeatedly attacked crypto exchanges claiming they are operating as unregistered securities exchanges in the US. But what’s really making everyone scratch their noggin is that the CFTC, opposing their brother government agency, seems to believe the top crypto assets are actually commodities, not securities.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is taking legal action against major global crypto exchange Binance and CEO, “CZ”. The CFTC alleges the company knowingly offered unregistered crypto derivatives products in the U.S. against federal law. The CFTC is charging Binance with violating laws around offering futures transactions, illegal off-exchange commodity options, failing to register as a futures commissions merchant, and directing its employees to falsify their locations through the use of virtual private networks.
In similar fashion to Brian of Coinbase, CZ adamantly defends Binance’s many efforts and accolades towards cooperation and compliance with government regulations. With best in class technology from both Coinbase and Binance, we suspect maybe…just maybe… it’s the regulations that need to improve?
3. Securities Tokenization Market
The Securities Tokenization market refers to assets that are intentionally securities, plan stay securities, and plan to cooperate fully with the SEC, all while leveraging underlying blockchain technology to optimize certain business processes. In the blockchain space, many real world assets (RWA’s) are being backed through blockchain to create range of improvements in liquidity and efficiencies. The AB team has experience applying these tech-stacks to a range of private assets from real estate, to precious metals, to rare collectibles, and more. Here’s a couple reads our team found interesting:
Deconstructing JP Morgan's "Institutional DeFi" Forex Transaction: A Case Study
“JP Morgan Chase, specifically their blockchain unit, Onyx, made some incredible waves a few months ago with the announcement of the forex trade they had successfully completed.”
“Onyx performed this transaction on Polygon, an EVM-compatible sidechain, to keep transaction fees minimal and latency time low, but beyond that, the environment they constructed was a permissioned one, allowing only whitelisted traders access and permission into the transaction and protocol itself. Put another way, rather than use a private blockchain, Onyx chose to use a public blockchain, but a private permissioned protocol, with on-chain identity and other controls in place to make the transaction possible and compliant.”
European Securities Platform DEFYCA to Release Tokenized Private Debt Protocol on Avalanche
“DEFYCA will join a growing roster of hybrid protocols that combine blockchain-based decentralized finance with traditional finance (TradFi) systems to cater institutional investors who are seeking yield-earning opportunities.”
“Crypto and traditional capital markets are increasingly getting commingled in decentralized finance (DeFi) with protocols offering tokenized versions of real-world assets (RWA) such as bonds and credit on the blockchain for investors. Private debt funds, which DEFYCA is aiming to bring to Avalanche, manage $1.6 trillion of assets, according to a report by Broadridge.”
Altcoins: Our Recent Buys & Watchlist
Disclaimer: By no means should our buys and watchlist be takin as financial advice or investment suggestion. In the nature of transparency we appreciate the ability for our network to be aware of the projects we are currently researching and participating in.
Recent Buys
Optimism (OP) @ $2.24
Arbitrum (ARB) @ $1.23
Polygon (MATIC) @ $1.13