tl;dr
• CFTC does the unthinkable and says only Bitcoin is a commodity; opens gates for SEC and Gary Gensler• ZachXBT reminds us that influencers are not angels, even ones like BitBoy that is going after Kevin O'Leary• Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO, says the future of the markets lies in the tokenization of s...
• CFTC does the unthinkable and says only Bitcoin is a commodity; opens gates for SEC and Gary Gensler
• ZachXBT reminds us that influencers are not angels, even ones like BitBoy that is going after Kevin O'Leary
• Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO, says the future of the markets lies in the tokenization of securities
• Following Portugal's 28% crypto tax move, Italy jumps on board with 26%
• Kraken cuts 30% of its workforce, but offers a robust package to departing team members
Fed Chairman Powell spoke yesterday, the CFTC did a 180 on Ethereum but most people are watching the squirrels instead of paying attention to what is actually going on. Here is what is on my mind today.
1. CFTC Chairman, Rostin Benham, was speaking at a crypto event at Princeton university yesterday and stated the only crypto that should be considered a commodity is Bitcoin. This is going to make a lot of people choke for a minute. The 180 degree reversal places a huge percentage of the crypto space in the hands of Gary Gensler and the SEC. Well, in the United States. Yeah, you caught that. This is a macro event that could change where crypto companies do business and change how people in the US even get involved with crypto. There is going to be a huge wave of change that will stem from this major move.
2. While BitBoy, Ben Armstrong, goes after Kevin O'Leary, there are those like crypto sleuth, ZachXBT, that remind us that no one is perfect Furthermore, he says BitBoy had a flyer that offered a menu of services and fees for his influence types. Meaning, if you have the money, BitBoy would shill your project. Keep in mind that doesn't mean what some of these influencers speak about is all wrong. I compare it to movie stars and star athletes doing commercials for various products. It is up to us to do our own research. Lebron James is doing AT&T commercials, but I am with Verizon. Get my point?
3. Larry Fink, BlackRock CEO, says the future of markets is the tokenization of securities. I don't think he is wrong. Keep in mind that BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager with over $10.5T in assets under management (AUM). They are already working with the liked of JPMorgan to tokenize some of the securities they work with. This is going to bring a ton of money into the crypto space in new ways. One thing I have learned is to pay attention to there the money is going and what it is doing.
4. Remember when Portugal lured crypto people by being the most crypto-friendly in the world (at least that is how they billed it), then did a rug pull and hit people with a 28% tax on short term gains? Well, here come Italy with 26%. I am not surprised by any country within the EU making such a move. Italy is basically saying "You are not welcome here." since the new law only affects about 2.3% of their total population. Globally, I can see the stage being set and tilted for traditional financial institutions as crypto continues to grow.
5. Kraken cuts 30% of their workforce and they are not necessarily happy about it. They are also offering a pretty robust package, including 4-months pay, healthcare for the same period, immigration support for those working on company-sponsored visas and outplacement support. Sometimes you have to do things you are not happy with, but there are ways you can do it to lessen the pain.