15th August 2023 > > PYUSD & SBF.

tl;dr

We look at PYUSD for a third time. SBF is not happy, which only adds to our crypto joy.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

Still no movement in crypto prices. Until we have some action, let’s look at another pleasing graph of historical price action courtesy of @Kevin_Kelly_II:

For more detail:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1691200100922724353.html

Occasional Series – Dirty money

One of the tired old tropes that circulate around cryptos is that their major use case is for laundering money. The UN estimates that 2-5% of global GDP is based on that activity alone, larger in size than the entire market cap of cryptos. The EUR 500 note was surely invented for one purpose only.

Tom Tugendhat, security minister for the UK, wrote in the Torygraph yesterday:

“In the aftermath of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, we moved swiftly to crack down on dirty money, freezing Russian assets worth more than £18billion in the UK.”

Which begs the question, why did it take an invasion of Ukraine to prompt this crackdown?

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – PYUSD (PayPal stablecoin)

Not content with the launch of PYUSD, PayPal have announced their very own Cryptocurrencies Hub:

https://www.paypal.com/us/legalhub/cryptocurrencies-tnc#paypal_cryptocurrency_terms_and_conditions

Some PayPal users are now free to buy, sell, hold, and spend cryptos with PayPal as both the executioner of their trades, and the custodian of those crypto assets. Importantly, cryptos can also be sent to external wallets, allowing for self-custody, and received from external wallets.

When I say some users, this facility is limited to US customers (but not those in Hawaii) who also have other hurdles to clear. We won’t get into the details of who qualifies and who does not, for they are not important. There is no doubt that if PayPal’s Cryptocurrency Hub is successful (and there is no reason to think otherwise) it will be rolled out to all half a billion or so of PayPal’s current client base.

At a stroke, PayPal has solved two of the most difficult, yet not intractable, problems that are a barrier to wholesale retail adoption of cryptos – ease of execution, and custody.

PayPal also brings its brand, and its associated customer loyalty, and customer trust, to the crypto world.

Crypto adoption is happening, right here, right now.

…

Maxine Waters, Representative for California, who is an important (if ill-informed and misguided) opponent to crypto adoption, must be seriously unhappy with this news. Water’s stance is a simple one – stablecoins, and other cryptos, should not exist without suitable regulation, but she works very hard to prevent that regulation being enacted.

You ain’t fooling us, Waters.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Sam Bankman-Fried …

… is now being held in MDC Brooklyn, apparently one of the worst jails in the US, which is a high bar to jump.

According to CryptoPotato:

“Lawyers have complained about overflowing toilets, plastic in inmates’ meals, and contaminated water, amongst other horrific living conditions at the MDC. On one occasion during winter in 2019, inmates suffered days without heat, electricity, and hot meals due to a power outage. Prisoners who protested the conditions were pepper sprayed, thrown in solitary confinement, and had their toilets shut down.”

Once again, couldn’t happen to a nicer chap.