10th February 2023 > > Banning cryptos.

tl;dr

“Bans” just do not work.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

A few days of travelling, and this is what happens to the price of BTC? I need to stay at home more to look after you all.

I see several naysayer reports on the health of the NFT (non-fungible token) markets. In crypto terms NFTs are on a roll, thank you. Stick to the old fiat world and you will miss some amazing opportunities.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – The US “ban” on staking

We need to look through the headlines and try to understand what exactly is going on here.

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) is on a mission to “regulate by enforcement”.

Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC, has signally failed to achieve consensus in the world of regulation specifically, though not exclusively so, about cryptos. In many respects it could have been his defining and historical mission to do so. But he has been found to be wanting.

Which is a shame for a man of such intellect and achievement. I feel his pain (*).

…

Kraken – a centralised cryptocurrency exchange that the CCC treasury has never even looked at – has agreed to pay $30mm to the US government.

In the agreement both parties state that Kraken have not admitted or denied any wrongdoing though Gensler said this:

“Whether it’s through staking-as-a-service, lending, or other means, crypto intermediaries, when offering investment contracts in exchange for investors’ tokens, need to provide the proper disclosures and safeguards required by our securities laws,”

No-one would dispute that statement.

But the fact that the SEC settled at only $30mm implies that legal fees on both sides would far outweigh any final settlement, with the kicker that there was little prospect of success for the litigator.

…

That sentiment – that legal fees are disproportionate to the final settlement – is a concept which is unfortunately alien to my soon to be ex-wife.

Mostly because she has no track record of producing any income of note, and simply fails to comprehend that one needs to work for reward.

She is very happy in her twisted and distorted view of “rights” – generally in terms of claiming benefits, but also specifically with respect to me despite an extremely short relationship – with an ambition to financially decimate my child if she had her wicked way.

But that is a discussion for another day.

…

Back to the real story, but I think you are going to be disappointed with this.

I cannot tell you for certain what the ramifications of this out of court settlement will be. Anyone who claims otherwise (looking at you Twitter and Tik-Tok “influencers”) do not know of what they speak.

Crypto prices have clearly suffered in response.

Brain Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, pushed back against Gensler’s authoritarian approach:

“We need to make sure that new technologies are encouraged to grow in the US, and not stifled by [a] lack of clear rules.”

You are spot-on, fella.

This pullback is (probably) a short-term buying opportunity taken advantage of by the CCC Treasury, but you expect me to say that, and it most certainly does not constitute investment advice.

…

(*) Those four words are for the Californians amongst us. No-one else could ever believe I would write such empathetic nonsense.