30th July 2024 > > Nashville part 2.

tl;dr

Nashville, and some of its potential consequences.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

In light of comments made at Nashville (see below), seasoned crypto-watchers are surprised at the lack of follow-through price action. BTC briefly touched $70k but its upward trajectory was forcibly stopped by the US government moving $2bn of BTC from a known wallet, presumably with the intention of selling it.

One doesn’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to recognise that all agencies of the government, not least the Federal Reserve itself when manipulating interest rates, act in accordance with the wishes of their political masters. This crude attempt to stymie the benefits of a more open approach to the crypto world will likely backfire.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – The least surprising headline ever

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Let’s talk Nashville

It is a shame that these days I feel compelled to make the statement below, but it seems there are just too many people who are so narrow-minded in their outlook on life that if I don’t reinforce this point, they will probably press delete before reading much further. However, if you feel triggered by the mere mention of some high-profile political figures, then the CCC really isn’t for you, and I wish you godspeed.

Nothing in this commentary should be taken as political support for any person or any party. I am writing merely from the crypto point of view.

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Now that is out of the way, we can start to unpack some of the events of the last couple of days starting with Trump’s appearance in Nashville at the BTC 2024 conference.

We expected some warm words of support for the crypto industry, and we certainly got that:

“Bitcoin is not just a marvel of technology, as you know, it’s a miracle of cooperation and human achievement.”

I can’t argue with that sentiment.

Trump has previously stated his intention to make the US the dominant force for BTC mining, which paved the way for his declaration in Nashville that he would make BTC a strategic reserve along with gold and oil. Though he didn’t suggest that the US would buy BTC, his plan is for the Fed to keep all current and future seizures of BTC by law enforcement for the reserve. This ongoing source of BTC not only costs the US taxpayer zero to accumulate and hold, it locks up an increasing amount of an increasingly scarce resource in the most diamond of hands. We all have to be pleased about that.

Probably the biggest cheer of the day came in response to this statement:

“I will fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new SEC Chair on day one. The moment I’m sworn in, the persecution stops and the weaponization ends against your industry. I will appoint new SEC chair who believes America should build the future not block.”

There is no doubt that Trump’s conversion to the crypto cause is nothing more than political opportunism, and it is very possible that if does become the next President he fails to follow through on these promises. But at the very least, the conversation is heading in the right direction for those of us who wholeheartedly support liberty and freedom.

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Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy also made an appearance. His conversion came from his heartfelt horror at the actions of the Canadian government during Covid, specifically the use of the Emergencies Act to freeze bank accounts of the “Freedom Convoy” truckers who were engaged in entirely lawful protest at the suspension of our long and dearly held rights. Over to you Robert:

“… the Canadian government portrayed it publicly as kind of a terrorist event. They began using technologies like facial recognition systems to identify people who are participating and then freezing their bank accounts. I realized at that time that transactional freedom was as important as freedom of expression that is protected by the First Amendment.”

The Canadian courts agree. Justice Richard Mosley on behalf of the Federal Court of Canada stated:

“There was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable.”

The man in charge, Justin “blackface” Trudeau, a darling of those who are some of the most illiberal members of our society, will face no sanction. Trudeau supporters should take note of Robert’s take:

“Americans who are buying Bitcoin understand that there’s a real link to ending government corruption, to property rights, to personal freedoms, to self-sovereignty, to decentralization … all the things that we care about.”

Robert also supports the addition of BTC to the strategic reserves of the US, but he went much further than Trump. He wants to keep not only the 200,000 BTC currently held by the government, but to add 500 BTC daily until the reserve reaches at least 4mm BTC. Go Robert!

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Senator Cynthia Lummis agrees with Trump and Robert:

It seems to me that the political direction of travel is becoming clearer by the day. Who else will follow?

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Away from Nashville

Just over 8,000 miles from Nashville, Johnny Ng, a Legislative Council Member for Hong Kong, is a key driver of crypto adoption in this offshoot of China, with the full support of President Xi and his cabal of murderous henchmen who persecute the Uyghur Muslims on a daily basis.

Though he must temper his language a little (it doesn’t take a lot to suddenly find yourself in trouble with the local authorities for simply expressing an opinion, much like the experience of the Canadian truckers) Johnny would like to see a BTC strategic reserve for Hong Kong too:

“Regarding Bitcoin becoming an official financial reserve for a country or region, I think this is worth considering. The global acceptance of Bitcoin is constantly increasing, and Bitcoin is seen by the public as ‘digital gold’ in the context of its technology, so in the future, it is indeed possible to research and consider including Bitcoin in strategic financial reserves, as long as it is compliant.”

Once one or two governments start buying BTC, the rest will surely follow.

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A little closer to home, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry wants to get involved too:

“Louisiana is a leader in bitcoin—banning CBDCs and protecting self-custody. We should continue to lead by having a strategic reserve of bitcoin like Trump suggests!”

There’s an idea which could have some interesting repercussions. If individual states start building their own reserves of BTC, for the immediate and direct benefit of the voters in that state, the momentum towards wholescale adoption of cryptos in the US would become unstoppable. That is one exciting prospect.

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The background to all of this is a very frightening number – the size of the US debt pile is now $35 TRILLION, equating to more than $100k for each and every US citizen. Jodey Arrington, House Budget Committee Chairman, makes it plain that politicians of all stripes are to blame for this irreparable state of affairs:

None of the Presidential candidates have any sort of plan to deal with this problem apart from the tired old notion of printing more money.