Credit Where It's Due

Biden Does Right by Crypto in His E.O.

I am pleased to say that the executive order on digital assets that the Biden White House released today was about as good (and dovish) as I could have hoped for. I feared that Biden and his Boomer posse would attempt to crush the digital asset industry with this E.O., yet they didn’t. Instead, they did quite the opposite, and I’m grateful for this.

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Prominent figures in the space seem to feel the same way.

Ryan Selkis 📖 🖊🔑 @twobitidiot

1/ The devil is in the details, but just read the EO in full, and it's about as good as it gets. Assuming we avoid WW3, it's going to be a busy year for crypto engagement in DC! Some thoughts... 🧵

Pomp 🌪 @APompliano

The United States just publicly said they want to be the leader in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. The global competition is underway.

Should we thank Biden for this, though? Not totally - and yes. Primarily, I think we can thank the crypto lobbyists who have been “going ballistic” lately, as reported the Economist. We can also probably thank Sam Bankman-Fried, the CEO of crypto exchange FTX and the second largest contributor to Biden’s campaign. However, I will give Biden his credit where it is due. He’s the big boss right now, and this is his order. So, thank you, Joe Biden, for providing space for America to take the lead in this industry.

Not So Fast, Oligarchs

In other news, it seems that it will be harder than expected for the Russia’s government and its oligarchs to evade financial sanctions using crypto. Forbes wrote a great piece on how while the Kremlin most likely won’t use crypto to evade sanctions, while some everyday Russians will likely use it to preserve whatever wealth they have left after the crash of both the Ruble and the Russian stock market. Jake Chervinsky, head of policy at Blockchain Association, a group that helps to shape policy around crypto, also shared an excellent Tweet thread on this topic:

Jake Chervinsky @jchervinsky

1/ Russia can't & won't use crypto to evade sanctions. Concerns about crypto's use for sanctions evasion are totally unfounded. They fundamentally misunderstand: - how sanctions work - how crypto markets work - how Putin is actually trying to mitigate sanctions I'll explain 🧵

Digital Asset Arweave Being Used to Preserve Ukraine’s Records

Also, beyond everyday Russian and Ukrainian people preserving what wealth they have left in crypto, a digital asset used to store records called Arweave ($AR) is currently being used to store land records and other important documents so that Ukraine can preserve much of the data necessary to rebuild the country once this conflict has ended. Isn’t it great that New York’s BitLicense protects us from using exchanges that sell Arweave?

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So great.

Please Be Careful

Speaking of buying digital assets, I still truly have no idea what comes next as far as their prices are concerned. Use cases for $BTC and $ETH are stronger than ever in the wake of not only the current conflict in Ukraine, but also what went on in Canada a few weeks back (feels like an eternity ago already, eh?). However, that doesn’t always mean that the prices of these assets will automatically reflect that. For the first time in the four or so years that I’ve been studying this space, I truly have no sense of what might come next as far as price action. Apparently, I’m not alone in this either.

Ari Paul ⛓️ @AriDavidPaul

Big picture global macro: even wall st global macro traders aren’t used to this level of complexity. Traders on Wall St trying to figure out how a wheat shortage in Eastern Europe may impact Vietnamese manufacturing etc. /1

udiverse black @udiWertheimer

look frens three days ago you were all calling for all time highs now you’re calling for nuclear war and $5k bitcoin here’s the truth you have no idea what you’re talking about none of us have any edge just shut up and wait like everyone else lol

Raoul Pal @RaoulGMI

Bitcoin IS correlated with risk in the short term, of course it does, it's an asset and they all do! It is subject to short-term liquidity and behaviour, but its long-term trend is EXPONENTIAL, unlike most other risk assets. I don't know why people struggle with this...#NOISE.

What’s most important right now is that you have dollars/fiat to make sure that you and your family’s needs are met. Inflation data comes out tomorrow, and it will likely be brutal.

Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth @biancoresearch

Many have asked for an inflation adjusted gas price chart. Here you go.

My heart breaks and my gut hurts over this economic turmoil. People need a fucking break, and the world just keeps throwing haymakers.

And so I send a big virtual hug to you all. In the midst of the sadness and pain I feel for the world right now, I’m more grateful than ever for all of you - all of the family and friends that read this. I love you all, and I hope you are all okay.

Best,

Frank

Twitter: @frankcorva

Sven Henrich @NorthmanTrader

The last time wheat was this high the global financial crisis ensued.