19th December 2021 > > Crypto bans.

tl;dr

Cryptos cannot be banned.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

Sajid Javid appears to have effectively announced a lockdown before next weekend:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/12/18/should-respond-early-omicron-trends/

Occasional Series – Clingfilm

Does anyone have a life hack for clingfilm, or should I just accept at the tender age of 54 that it is a lost cause?

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Banning BTC

Let me make this very clear – it is NOT possible for governments to ban cryptos, because of the fact they are decentralised.

It is possible for governments to ban mining as has happened in China, a ban which has been a great boon to the entire crypto industry. It is possible for governments to regulate crypto related entities that operate on their sovereign territory.

But it is simply impossible for governments to prevent the movement of cryptos between wallets in exchange for goods and services.

Elvira Nabiullina, governor of the Central Bank of Russia, has been ruminating on the mooted ban for some crypto activities in Russia.

The collective psyche of the Russian ruling elite is one of coercion and control. Cryptos are an anathema to that ethos – Putin and his murderous henchmen are disinclined to allow plebs like the rest of us to make our own decisions.

Nabiullina summed that up by saying “… you know that our attitude towards cryptocurrencies is of, to put it mildly, scepticism” which is a late but strong entrant into the award for understatement of the year 2021.

She continued:

“We seek to prevent the Russian financial infrastructure from using crypto transactions. This is quite doable."

And to the limited extent of preventing Russian banks from being involved in cryptos she is right – that is doable. As is banning the existence of exchanges in Russia, on pain of hard labour somewhere in Siberia.

But do not believe the hype – this is far from an attempt at a blanket ban, a ban that would be guaranteed to fail.

Reserve Treasury Protocols (before they all go to zero