Onward To Delusion
There is a remarkable chasm apparent between a broad coalition which involves everybody from the optimists through the charlatans to the outright crooks that the future of crypto is assured. The trouble is the folks in government who are given those fiddly tasks like ensuring trust in the financial system, protecting investors and ensuring the banking system doesn’t go phut in a moment of distributed panic…disagrees.
So, the crypto meeja is outraged that Honduras dares to stand alongside the likes of China because Gary Gensler eventually allowed crypto ETFs with a huge health warning:
Honduras Watchdog Bans Institutions From Trading Crypto
Reuters
Following China's Footsteps, This Country Banned Crypto Trading
BeInCrypto
Elsewhere it’s all lawfare or related antics:
US Prosecutors In Binance Case Urge Judge To Accept Plea
The Economic Times
US Prosecutors In Binance Case Urge Judge To Accept Plea Deal
Bloomberg
We have in the past noted how the total winner out of the crypto boom have been lawyers. Well, Sullivan & Cromwell may yet upend that thesis as they have been sued by FTX investors for allegedly helping SBF’s delusional concept of management: FTX Investors Sue Sullivan & Cromwell Claiming Law Firm Aided Fraud (The Business Times).
The lawsuit notes Sullivan & Cromwell’s services “went well beyond those a law firm should and ordinarily provides…” “...Lawyers were eager to craft not only creative but misleading strategies that furthered FTX’s misconduct.” Ouch!
In the global HQ of FTX, Bahamas Bank Deltec Accused Of Giving Bankman-Fried 'Secret' Credit To Buy Tether (BNN Bloomberg).
Even the cops down under have allegedly been involved in crypto theft: Aussie Cop Accused Of Stealing 81 Bitcoin During Raid: Report (Cointelegraph).
In hack of the day, Decentralized Exchange FixedFloat Exploited For $26M in BTC And ETH (Yahoo Finance) while Coinbase Drops Native Bitcoin Payments From Merchants' Platform (Cointelegraph) again restricts the access to BTC payments.
At least there’s more encouraging news from the land of the rising sun as Japan Seeks To Allow Certain VCs To Invest Directly In Crypto And Web3 Startups (The Block). Having passed cabinet, the proposal now moves to the Diet for legislative approval. Neighbouring Japan, South Korean Ruling Party Pledges 2-Year Delay For Crypto Tax As Elections Loom (Cointelegraph).
In people news, Ex-Ripple Exec Is Now CEO Of Crypto Intel Firm Crystal Blockchain (The Block).
No sting in the tail but this is worth pondering as everybody gets excited about ETH, Cointelegraph reports 2024 Will Be The Ethereum Network's Biggest Year In History albeit one has to wonder might that be the peak given how relatively long in the tooth the system is already?
