In case you missed it…
General Technologies 🚀
🪨 China announced a restriction on the export of both gallium and germanium. These elements are key to the fabrication of chips, solar panels, and fiber optics. That said, US economists believe these restrictions might inflict more damage on China’s economy than the American one. This comes in the context of the escalating economic rivalry between the US and China. Here is everything you need to know about the semiconductor export war. Learn more on critical materials in the “Sustainability” section of the newsletter.
🧬 In the aftermath of COVID and lockdown, Medicine seems to be living a Golden Age. NY Time journalist describes how the conclusion of the human genome project, the discovery of CRISPR gene editing and the accelerated timeline for approval, directly inherited from the pandemic, has unlocked a golden age for new treatments (congenital blindness, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and HIV). A large array of these are based on the mRNA technology. That said, there are still challenges to be addressed, including global distribution and access to new technologies.
🎮 Microsoft sealed a $75B deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, a game developer, earlier this year. Although the company secured regulatory approval in Europe, China and other markets, it has hit roadblocks in the US and the UK. Legislators are discussing whether stopping the deal would create a monopoly or slow innovation.
🚲 VanMoof, the Dutch company once hailed as the “Tesla of Electric Bikes,” has filed for bankruptcy this week. The sales of its distinctive and stylish design, favoured by celebrities in LA and Paris, experienced a surge during the lockdown. Despite securing nearly $200m from investors like Balderton and Felix Capital, the company has been facing difficulties since 2021, especially with its newer models, and has struggled to manage the costs of repairs.
Podcasts
🎙️ Hear from Yuval Noah Harari, historian, philosopher and author of Sapiens among others, on Human Nature, Intelligence, Power, and Conspiracies — Lex Fridman Podcast
Sustainability 🌍
🔋 Main takeaways from the Renewable Energy Market Update (2023–2024), published by the International Energy Agency (IEA):
By Sector:
- 📈 Global renewable capacity additions are expected to increase by 107 GW in 2023, the largest absolute increase ever, reaching over 440 GW in 2023. This is driven by the global energy crisis and policy momentum.
- ☀️ Solar PV accounts for two-thirds of this increase, driven by expanding policy support and energy security concerns. Manufacturing capacity is projected to continue increasing and reach nearly 1,000 GW in 2024.
- 🌬️ Onshore wind capacity additions will rebound by 70% in 2023, reaching a record amount of 107 GW. There are still several challenges to overcome for the expansion of wind energy, with one notable issue being the struggle of wind equipment manufacturing to meet the increasing demand.
- 🚧 Investments in grid infrastructure and flexibility are required to support the rapid expansion of wind and solar PV.
- ⛽️ Biofuels have played a crucial role in ensuring energy security during the recent crisis but are currently encountering challenges, including expected price declines in 2023 and 2024 while remaining higher than pre-war levels, and an anticipated 11% expansion in demand by 2024 driven by existing policies aimed at achieving energy security objectives.
By Geography:
- 🇨🇳 China is expected to outpace the rest of the world in renewable capacity installations in 2023 and 2024.
- 🇺🇸 The United States will see a rebound in wind and solar PV capacity additions in 2023.
- 🇪🇺 Europe is accelerating renewable energy deployment, with a focus on distributed solar PV, to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas imports.
- 🇮🇳 India’s renewable capacity additions will increase again in 2023 and 2024, with faster deployment of onshore wind, hydropower, and distributed solar PV.
🚗 Key Highlights from the Global EV Outlook 2023, published by the IEA:
Overview:
- 💵 Electric car sales exceeded 10 million in 2022, with 14% of all new cars sold being electric.
- 📈 Electric car sales are expected to continue strongly in 2023, with an estimated 14 million sales by the end of the year.
- 🚀 The global share of electric car sales is projected to reach 35% by 2030 under existing policies.
- By Geography:
- 🇨🇳 China dominated global electric car sales, accounting for around 60% of the market.
- 🇪🇺 🇺🇸 Sales of electric cars in Europe increased by over 15% in 2022, while the United States saw a 55% increase.
- 🇮🇳 🇹🇭 🇮🇩 Emerging markets such as India, Thailand, and Indonesia experienced significant growth in electric car sales in 2022.
💎 Main takeaways from 2023, the Critical Minerals Market Review 2023, published by the IEA:
Overview:
- 📈 The demand for critical minerals in the energy sector tripled from 2017 to 2022, reaching a market size of USD 320 billion in 2022. This is driven by the energy transition, characterized by the rapid growth of electric cars, energy storage systems, solar PV, wind power installations, and other technologies.
- 🌏 Many countries have implemented policies to secure critical mineral supplies. For example, China is actively seeking to diversify its raw material supply portfolio.
- 💵 In 2022, investment in critical minerals development increased by 30%, while critical minerals start-ups raised a record USD 1.6 billion, demonstrating the growing interest and investor confidence in this sector.
- 🚘 Automakers and battery manufacturers are investing directly in the critical minerals value chain. The battery sector experiences transformative changes with new technology options.
- ⛏️ Exploration spending rose by 20% in 2022, particularly in lithium and uranium. Challenges remain in diversifying supply sources and improving sustainability practices.
Blockchain & Crypto 💸
👨⚖️ This month, one of the long-awaited cases for the crypto industry has been settled.
Here’s a quick summary:
- 🏆 Ripple Labs Inc. obtained a significant legal victory as U.S. judge ruled that the company did not violate federal securities law by selling XRP on public exchanges. However, the judge held that Ripple violated securities law by selling directly to sophisticated investors. Ripple’s CEO and Coinbase expressed optimism following the ruling.
- 🧐 This ruling may provide support for other crypto firms fighting against SEC jurisdiction. The SEC is reviewing the ruling, and the outcome could be appealed.
- 🏷️Calls for Congress to clarify the status of digital assets have been renewed.
📈 Many investors have expressed bullish views around the crypto market, from Arthur Cheung (DeFiance Capital) and Dan Morehead (Pantera Capital), calling for the end of the bear cycle.
🚀 Significant developments in the Ethereum ecosystem were unveiled at the ETHCC held in July 2023. Experts discussed various topics contributing to its growth in the crypto industry. To learn more, click here.
🇰🇷 South Korea’s National Assembly has approved the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, a bill aimed at protecting cryptocurrency investors by imposing regulations on crypto service providers and penalties for price manipulation and false promotion.
🤖 Space and Time has integrated OpenAI’s GPT-4 into a chatbox. The decentralized data startup backed by Framework VC, among others, aims to simplify database queries and management in their tamper-proof, decentralized data warehouse using zero-knowledge proofs.
📄 Tioga Capital’s view on Real World DeFi. To learn more, click here.
Podcasts
🎙️ Why Blackrock CEO is bullish on Bitcoin — Bankless
🎙️ Is the crypto bear market almost over? — Bankless
🎙️ Decentralised digital IDs with ENS domains — Bad Crypto Podcast
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