27th May 2024 > > US politics.

tl;dr

It’s only ever about politics.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

ETH has had a good week with a 25% uplift in the price. The SEC appears to have gone quiet about the second half of the approval process for spot ETH ETFs, but past experience is that the SEC can move very quickly indeed when it wants to. I remain convinced this is a buy the rumour, buy the news event. I guess we shall soon find out.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – US politics

Crikey.

My gosh, this Presidential race to be crypto friendly is really firing up.

Before we go any further, may I remind you that the CCC remains fiercely apolitical. Our only prejudice is against those who decry the crypto revolution, for very good reasons.

The naysayers favour oppression and control, over our freedom and liberty. There is only one side to take in that argument, if you are a liberal and believe in the concept of democracy, however imperfect it might be. I know you agree, because otherwise you would not be reading this.

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Right now, in the US, there is only one person talking loudly and positively about cryptos. I do sincerely hope this changes, for that would mean that both contenders for the Presidency are in favour of the crypto revolution.

But I can only comment on what is in front of me, and that is what I will do.

Let us start with the negatives.

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Regardless of whether you believe that it is right that some drugs are illegal and some are not, that is the world we live in. We are fortunate that in a liberal democracy, we can influence those laws.

Russ Ulbricht was convicted of running a criminal enterprise, money laundering, and several other felonies, for operating the darknet site Silk Road. Not dissimilar (so I am told) to other consumer goods websites like Amazon, Silk Road was a purveyor of a number of illicit items, mostly banned narcotics.

His punishment is two life sentences plus forty years. I am not really sure why the extra forty years was added, but it’s always nice to have your work recognised and to be rewarded with a bonus.

You might think drugs should be legal.

You might think that giving life sentences without parole is unconscionable.

You might think that Ulbricht was a freedom fighter.

You might also value Ulbricht along with his counterparts such as Edward Snowden and Julian Assange, who are also seen in a similar light by some people.

If so, you are wrong, at least on the last point. Snowden and Assange are far worse than Ulbricht on all levels, moral and legal. But if you conflate the three, you are in wholehearted agreement with Trump’s point of view first expressed back in 2019. Way to go. Did you know that you and Trump had so much in common?

Trump has now said:

“If you vote for me, on Day 1, I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht to a sentence of time served. He’s already served 11 years, we’re gonna get him home.”

The annual ritual of the Presidential pardon for two previously doomed turkeys on Thanksgiving Day is one thing. A Presidential pardon for a convicted felon is taking it a step too far. This is not good if you believe in the benefits of law and order.

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Then there are the platitudes that mean nothing. One simple example will suffice:

“I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency.”

Don’t get me wrong, he is entirely right about that. But the Fed cannot create a USD dollar CBDC without approval from both houses, and that will not happen. To reinforce that point, a bill to specifically stop the Fed from even working on a CBDC has already been passed by the House. We have high hopes that the Senate will follow suit.

Still, it is nice to be reassured on this particular point. The US, Switzerland, and Slovenia remain as the cheerleaders for a CBDC-free world. If only the UK and the EU would join them.

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So, is there anything positive to say?

There is this:

“I will ensure that the future of crypto and the future of bitcoin will be made in the USA, not driven overseas.”

That is good to hear. And there is also this, though it is in Trump’s rather obnoxious style:

“To the nation’s fifty million crypto holders, I say this: I will keep Elizabeth Warren and her goons away from your bitcoin.”

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Make no mistake, cryptos are going mainstream politically. I hope that Joe Biden takes counsel from Chuck Schummer, Majority Leader of the Senate, on this topic and embraces cryptos more than Trump. There are votes in it.friendly as possible.