Solana is the long-time second fiddle to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and even XRP.

Why do some brands enjoy the sun while others end up stuck in the shadows?

Because, as a wise man once said: “There’s a reason you’ve never heard of those other fast food chains.”

But what if the Jack-in-the-box and diet cola-enjoyers of the world are hiding hidden riches?

That appears to be the case with Solana, crypto’s redheaded stepchild. A couple of recent developments have all of us doing a double-take.

Is it finally time for Solana to take its place in the limelight?

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Espresso Shots

☕️ MetaMask’s New Functionality 🦊 ✨

MetaMask now allows users to convert their crypto into fiat currency and deposit it directly into their bank.

"The feature is currently available in the U.S., UK, and parts of Europe initially supporting ETH on Ethereum mainnet, with plans to expand to native gas tokens on Layer 2 networks soon," MetaMask added in a later X post.

MetaMask has also teased a potential PayPal functionality, as the two companies announced their partnership and future integration in December of last year.

Frankly, this is the most exciting mask-to-bank functionality we’ve seen since wearing a ski mask and ordering the teller not to panic.

☕️ Freezing Crypto in Korea 🪙 🇰🇷

The South Korean government plans to submit a bill allowing it to track and freeze digital assets related to North Korean weapons programs.

But that bill is only one development in a larger, South Korean effort to prevent North Korean digital attacks.

North Korea has developed some well-deserved infamy in crypto, and not just for the North Korean hacker group, Lazarus. The estimated $2 billion stolen in North Korean cyber attacks since 2018 comes to mind.

Additionally, South Korea may also be considering the formation of a cybersecurity committee, according to a local report. This would address the South Korean President’s demand for a cybersecurity overhaul, in addition to bolstering the country’s defense against all foreign hacks — not just North Korea’s.

But if South Korea really wants to cut down on hacks, they’ll have to have a long, hard conversation with elder citizens about the actual availability of local singles in their area.

☕️ Taxing The Metaverse 💸 👾

Christine Kim, a Harvard legal scholar and professor of law at Yeshiva University, just published a paper outlining tax arguments for the Metaverse.

Simply titled “Taxing the Metaverse,” the paper argues for Metaverse taxation on the grounds that Metaverse taxes are being deferred until an undisclosed or ambiguous moment of realization or major cash-out event.

As it stands, the Metaverse allows users to build their wealth entirely under its ecosystem, but Kim offers two pathways to immediate, plausible Metaverse taxation:

The first stipulates that individual platforms within the Metaverse withhold taxes for their users. The second would fall under residence taxation, and leave it up to users to calculate their own taxes, based on their region.

The Metaverse is a realm for experimentation, but it can’t continue to operate without any clear tax guidelines.

Ironically, laypersons reading Kim’s dense legal treatise on the Metaverse may find it… incredibly taxing.

Spilling the Beans

WTF Just Happened to Solana 🤨 🚀

Solana experienced a sizable price bump at the start of this week of roughly 5%.

And as bright spots go, Solana’s seems to break from bearish trends across the crypto market.

And that prompted us to ask, “What’s going on with Solana?”

Well, Solana’s price hike is the combination of two factors:

The first is that Solana was heartily praised earlier this week when MakerDAO CEO Rune Christensen touted MakerDAO’s NewChain — a new, native blockchain for MakerDAO that could potentially fork from Solana.

This drew some controversy as MakerDAO was historically built on Ethereum, even leading some critics to question Solana’s stability.

But Rune Christensen was quick to point out on the MakerDAO forum that Solana’s technical resilience and hardy developer community were able to deftly weather the FTX disaster, lending credibility to Solana’s long-term potential.

But even with the best of intentions, MakerDAO may have hurt some feelings. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, sold off the remainder of his MakerDAO holdings, some $580,000 worth, without a clear explanation.

But what may have added even more gas in Solana’s fuel tank than the MakerDAO publicity, was Visa’s recent involvement.

Visa just announced its partnership with USD Coin and the Solana blockchain as the financial giant moves deeper into crypto.

Visa intends not only to offer faster credit card payments, but crucially, it will enable merchants to settle with USDC instead of fiat currency.

“By leveraging stablecoins like USDC and global blockchain networks like Solana and Ethereum, we're helping to improve the speed of cross-border settlement and providing a modern option for our clients to easily send or receive funds from Visa’s treasury,” said Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto, Visa, in an official statement.

“Visa is committed to being on the forefront of digital currency and blockchain innovation and leveraging these new technologies to help improve the way we move money,” Sheffield continued.

It’s a big moment for Visa, but an even bigger one for Solana.

As we’ve seen with the ETF applications, TradFi’s attention toward crypto generates massive waves in the space. And sometimes a lucky crypto like Solana gets to ride those waves.

We hope that Solana will continue on this positive trend. In the meantime, we bid them a fair voyage, adieu, and So-lana for now.

Meme of the Day

Just what the US tax system needs, more complexity! 😵🥴

Crypto 101

Intentional Fork: An intentional fork occurs whenever a community makes a change to a blockchain’s protocol or set of rules.

For instance, MakerDAO, which has previously built on Ethereum, is now focusing on Solana, which will create a fork allowing for interfacing between two compatible blockchains.

More on accidental forks tomorrow.

The Last Sip

MetaMask has finally released a crypto-to-fiat, “sell” button. Here are some more features we’d like to see in the coming years.

3. Virtual fox hunts.

2. An AI assistant to patiently explain crypto to my dad.

1. MetaMask brand half-masks for cult meetings, masquerades, and corporate orgies.

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.