28th September 2023 > > Gensler & crypto adoption.

tl;dr

Gary Gensler under pressure once more. One possible crypto use case, and one almost ready to launch, driving global crypto adoption.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

With oil rapidly approaching $100, long rates are selling off hurting equities in the process. How’s that long bond/long equity diversification model working out for you?

The UK could have been almost entirely self-sufficient in terms of oil and gas, except for the twin disasters of ramping up windfall taxes on the industry, and a refusal – until just two days ago – to approve any new fields. At last some common sense prevails with the go-ahead for Rosebank, helping the UK to reduce its carbon emissions by limiting our need to import oil from the Middle East, in the future.

In the meantime, the increase in the cost of imported oil will feed into the inflation figures, with Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, ready to raise rates in his misguided belief that this will somehow help.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC

Once again, Gensler’s performance under pressure leaves a lot to be desired:

https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1707071783570952703?t=o90I3ZbPD1MwbF2KPeZrZQ&s=19

The killer accusation laid at his door is this one:

"It cannot be understated that a common theme throughout your career, sir, is your relentless loyalty to the largest financial institutions at the clear expense of innovation, competition, and everyday Americans."

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Microsoft

Leaked internal documents show a roadmap that includes a crypto wallet built into the next iteration of the Xbox.

The play-to-earn (P2E) paradigm has garnered much press attention and speculation without a great deal of real-world activity. In fact, P2E suffered a recent setback when the owner of Minecraft changed the licensing to specifically prevent users from earning cryptos, a facility that had been provided by third party operators. It might come to regret that decision.

An Xbox crypto wallet would draw in a lot of people to the crypto space, but before we get too excited too quickly, Phil Spencer, head of Xbox division, is managing expectations down:

“We've seen the conversation around old emails and documents. It is hard to see our team's work shared in this way because so much has changed and there's so much to be excited about right now, and in the future. We will share the real plans when we are ready.”

We will wait and see.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – MoneyGram

MoneyGram have announced plans to launch a self-custody crypto wallet:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/moneygram-announces-plans-to-launch-non-custodial-digital-wallet-301938171.html

Scheduled for Q1 2024, the wallet will allow for easy exchange between fiat and cryptos, with near instantaneous transfer to any other MoneyGram user, or for withdrawal from physical MoneyGram shops.

Thrillingly, for those of us with investments in XLM, this wallet is being built on Stellar.