Here is a CNBC video of Gary Gensler speaking about the need for regulation and enforcement, rules, and securities laws in 'crypto'. 'Protecting investors' and what-not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl628OFEGWA SEC Chair Gary Gensler on crypto: This field will not long persist without investor protection
I get a little frustrated and kind of peeved sometimes... when I hear these references to 'crypto' and 'innovation' and the 'crypto industry'. 'Crypto', that is OUTSIDE of BITCOIN is 99.9% scams, fraud, and unregistered securities trading.
It's all trading, and trading, and trading and creating tokens and tokens to market on 'telegram' or twitter... and it is overwhelmingly fraudulent and of little substance. And worse, the Coinbase and Krakens of the world have hired lobbyists, sent them to Washington DC successfully, to try to confuse SOME politicians that the SEC is getting in the way of 'innovation'. That innovation is "going overseas". Absolute Bullshit.
Friends, a group of Nigerians in a basement creating the next air-token yoyo-coin is NOT financial innovation. A pump-and-dump yoyo-coin, the next dog-coin, the next air-token 'defi coin'... it's all a HUGE distraction and it confuses the public.
It does nothing but confuse the public and delay the Bitcoin revolution.

From the article: While Bitcoin’s regulatory status is clear, Gensler criticized the broader crypto industry for its widespread disregard for existing regulations. He accused many market participants of ignoring rules and seeking exemptions from compliance.
According to Gensler:

“There are rules in place, but many have chosen to ignore them.” He added that this non-compliance has contributed to instability and confusion within the market.

My take? The Coinbase, Binance, and even Krakens in the world know that the overwhelming vast majority of the 'Crypto' space and 'Crypto' innovation and 'Crypto' trading is unregistered securities dealing. It passes the Howey test - an investment of money in a 'project' (absolute bullshit) in a 'common enterprise' (with your 'community') with the expectation of profit (1000x) based on the 'efforts of others' (the scammers and 'founders' and 'creators' of the project).
Create 1000 new yoyo-coins on Solana? They're unregistered securities if they're on US exchanges. Where is the investor protection? Where are the disclosures? How many 'tokens' are there for the insiders and 'founders' (an outrageous term). How big was the 'premine'? What did it 'cost' to make the tokens? (Basically Nothing). How many 'nodes' are there? (Probably one if that?) And if there's one node, or very few WHY is it a BLOCKCHAIN? BLOCKCHAINS ARE SLOW AND EXPENSIVE.
It's like hey let's create a gray-market internet casino, that ultimately burns to the ground and GOES TO ZERO, and call it 'innovation' where people can 'get rich quick'. Ya that's 'crypto' and if we 'block it' then we're BlOcKiNg InNoVaTiOn and it's "going overseas" which is imo 99.9% NOT true.
All this does is confuse the market and cause instability.
If I create a 'poop-token' and everyone thinks it's 'going up' so puts money 'in the box' and it consequently goes up... then I sell all the premined tokens WITHOUT ANY INVESTOR DISCLOSURES it's
  1. really scammy and
  2. do we think this is a good thing? Is this innovation?

There are A LOT of people who associate the yoyo-coins with crypto, A LOT that's all they think crypto is.
  1. 'Making money' with the 'yoyo-coins'
  2. 'making money with your friends on the internet' (your 'community' probably on Telegram)
  3. making that 1000x on Telegram (which is FILLED which scams)
  4. ???
And then the 'exchanges' that facilitate this unregistered-securities dealing and lack of investor protection... say the "Rules aren't Clear" and they want "Regulatory Clarity". They want to "innovate" so the US doesn't get "Left Behind" they don't want to be 'stifled'. It's 99.9% Bullshit it's outrageous.
Ethereum would be the absolute bare minimum which could qualify as not-a-security... and EVEN THEN the SEC has NOT said that it's NOT A SECURITY.

From the same article: In contrast, Ethereum, the second-largest crypto, has faced a more ambiguous regulatory environment. The SEC has yet to classify Ethereum as either a security or a non-security, leaving projects built on its blockchain under ongoing scrutiny. [Added context: this really means we want to DELIST this CRAP except we can't quite get it through the courts... and the lawyers at Coinbase have really deep pockets.]
Despite this uncertainty, the SEC has approved Ethereum-based ETFs but simultaneously initiated investigations into companies associated with the Ethereum ecosystem, such as Consensys and Uniswap. [Because they are centralized/dishonest].

I believe that the SEC is absolutely not without fault, where were they for the FTX, Celsius, Blockfi debacles... However this conversation is being steered in the wrong direction by the 'crypto' people.
The SEC chair stated: “This field will not long persist if you can’t build that investor trust in the markets.”
And by 'this field' he means the 99% unregistered securities, not-bitcoin distractions, that confuse the markets and go to ZERO anyway.
If bitcoin is to become money and a daily medium of exchange (which I think it will EVENTUALLY) then all the crapto stuff needs to be cleaned up and frankly done-away with. It needs to get delisted, sued, and eliminated from the exchanges so that the world can focus on the only 'Crypto' (a TERRIBLE term) that actually matters long term - Bitcoin.
Then we can focus on removing captial gains taxes or OTHER reforms to help people spend Bitcoin legally and transparently - but until crypto is eliminated it (this distraction) takes the air of the room and delays Bitcoin adoption and education in my opinion.
How many people would be victimized by scammers if Crypto goes to Zero and Bitcoin were a part of their daily lives for spending? Why buy the 'yoyo-coin' when you have Bitcoin to spend on your groceries and cup-of-coffee and get on with your life?
People should be allowed to what they want with their own money.
And what they do may seem (to you) stupid, inefficient and wasteful, but it's still their free choice and you have to accept it.
Crypto will exist, people will continue to be stupid and there's nothing you can do to change it.
Getting angry and upset because someone is wrong on the internet only ruins your own life and the durability of your keyboard.
What you should do instead is see how you can insulate your own life from the consequences of their mistakes.
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Ridicule and humiliate is the way to go. I always thought this was not compassionate or friendly, but it actually works. It can snap people out of stupid things. And it's fun.
Wait till their fav shitcoin is down and send them this.
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Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if it is stupid. Just dont listen to them.
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Public opinion, if only in the short term, is important too though.
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In the long term, they get laughed at.
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Very true. More importantly, however they get forgotten.
One day I believe historians will write about the 'crypto wars'... the same way they write about the unregistered securities markets of the early 1920s.
Or maybe the dotcom bubble in the late 1990s
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Crypto is cringe 😬
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re "this really means we want to DELIST this CRAP except we can't quite get it through the courts... and the lawyers at Coinbase have really deep pockets."
If the courts say whatever coin doesn't pass the Howey test, that is not a problem with the SEC. The SEC has to obey the court. So the problem is in the courts and has to be fought there.
On a superficial level, as long as we are dicking around on stacker news, I would focus on the reasoning for why Ripple is ok vis a vis howey, quote directly from the judge's opinion, and try to pick that apart. Try to use logic, not ridicule. Lawyers and regulators are human beings, and they do read forums like stacker news. So leave some breadcrumbs here for them. Words do matter.
On a deeper level...
Never forget, the courts have behaved badly before, including the supreme court.
#695003 "American Default: FDR, the Supreme Court, and the Battle over Gold – book review"
Maybe the actual problem is, would the dollar pass the Howey test?
Maybe not. Maybe the courts have difficulty admitting this.
Anyway this is probably not going to be solved by the SEC, but with a combination of ridicule and economic pain -- to all non bitcoin holders.
Doesn't mean we shouldn't fight it in actual court. And in the court of public opinion. And with our wallets.
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The best most complete example of the xrp securities issue I've read... comes from Matt Levine's column at bloomberg. It's behind a paywall unfortunately...
However it's really thorough. Basically... shares of a stock, if sold on secondary markets between investor to investor, are absolutely securities. Facebook/Meta for example didn't 'sell more shares' to the public for years. The existing shares were traded simply among the retail public and yet they were absolutely securities. Just because it's a 'secondary market' does not make something not a security... when it is a security if sold to institutional/accredited investors.
Anyway, Levine is really really sharp and his article goes into way more detail, more convincingly than I ever could.
The subtitle says it all "Crypto tokens are securities unless you are anonymously dumping them on retail investors"
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the problem with crypto is like the problem with men simping on OF.
some retarded YouTuber comes up with a scam token and people ape in because they are stupid and greedy.
in an ideal world, every time some fucking mornon on youtube or ticktok starts hyping some ponzi, people would just say 'NO', but they don't.
it's just financial Darwinism, greed and stupidity.
I've been there myself, I've been the rube. only education and a personal desire to get better is what will save people
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100% Education is Key Every great tool needs education on how to use it... and this is particularly true with bitcoin imo while the user interface improves and it becomes easier to send and receive.
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luckily we have a lot of podcasts and platforms that help educate people when they're ready. most people cant be bothered to spend 100 hours learning and mastering and they will be rekt as a result sadly. shouldn't be a problem for younger people coming up though i hope , it should be a natural skill acquisition for them
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It seems like Bitcoin would be a natural extension for all the young people (they've never known anything but digital)
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I do totally believe and want Bitcoin will take over, but will only one single project outside of it survive or not?
In other words, how high will Bitcoin dominance go?
Anyone who declares themselves as a radical maximalist should declare that number in my opinion, with an approximate timeline.
I have a target of ~70% myself for this cycle, late in 2025 I'll spend some weeks figuring out what it will be into and beyond the next halvening.
What is your number?
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I think 2025 is too soon... the bear markets are honestly the best for Bitcoin as a protocol because it's the most education and ideology-oriented. Not to mention the best time to DCA.
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I'm not saying I'll rotate fully out of Bitcoin at any point, but I will assess what to do for the coming years late 2025.
That includes things like hopefully buying more gold for any gains I have made, relocating, starting an offshore company and much more, so its very much an individual process.
And also by then I'll have an informed opinion on the next cycle, maybe that could even be very much a maximalist position if privacy on Bitcoin really improves!
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Privacy on Bitcoin is a very interesting conversation. Nothing wrong with good-old-gold of course. Although many folks think the btc is better (being digital for example).
I wonder if and when the 'gold community' has ever wanted to resurrect the use of gold transactionally... if that's possible. Gold used to be in coins and it's interesting to me if gold-people ever became interested in this again.
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What percentage of both the Bitcoin and gold communities has actually lived the next phase of the shitty Reset thing?
My suspicion is that this number is very low... The reason that I feel remotely secure and sane traveling here in Asia and the failing Europistan is that I normally carry some gold coins that can be converted to cash anywhere, along with some dollar bills, and then of course Bitcoin along with some Monero on my phones...
I'm super aware that what we live under since 2020 happened is a global, technocratic regime that definitely want me to fuck off & die, so I'm hellbent on turning that around right at the fuckers!
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That's really smart. I've heard of the 'travel with a rolex watch' thing before... as it's inconspicuous and valuable everywhere as a nice watch. However the way you put it is smart.
Personally I don't travel, when I do, with anything really valuable especially in Asia or any developing countries.
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Yeah, I have a long time friend who has the skills and mindset to make a profit on basically anything he touches, he's been into old watches for decades.
I'm tempted to getting an old, scratched up Rolex with his advice, but that depends on how this bull market shapes up :-)
Getting used to carrying something that is both valuable and easy to sell is a good idea for what we're all up against long term I think!
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If you argue from first principles, there can only be one blockchain per civilisation. All the others will eventually die.
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Ok. So your number for global Bitcoin dominance is 100%?
If so, when?
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Outside of stablecoins, which have their use, 'crypto' will be 95% Bitcoin. When? I don't know if I had to guess maybe 5-10 years. I think Bitcoin and a few proof of work projects will survive but it will be 95% Bitcoin. I believe that XMR will survive as a niche DNM coin for transactions maybe... but I don't believe that obscurity is the solution for global money as opposed to coinjoins and peer-to-peer alongside transparency coexisting.
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Yeah, I can totally see that happening!
Its also likely that we'll reach that 95% or so level except for stablecoins that will eventually end up as CBDCs, officially or simply in practical terms.
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I agree. I'm surprised, with all the talk of tether and stablecoins and their size and whatnot... that we don't see some kind of tether usage inside the united states.
I know obviously people have dollars inside the US so what's the use and everything yet... I think it's eerily absent lol.
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I've been living like an ancap since I walked away from everything mid 2020, 3 companies, a work permit and visa, part of a house and most of my belongings.
It was that, or maybe perishing in the bioweapons scamdemic!
YOLOing hard into Bitcoin and gold saved my ass, and since then I've used my fiat accounts as ramps. Now even that is impossible, so when we get into the manic phase I'm looking at selling some for cash, which is then converted to gold.
Stablecoins and Monero are simply a necessity for me, in many way I'm living the same way a lot of people do outside of the West, I have to be practical about things all the way!
Which is why having some Monero for VPNs and whatnot along with some stablecoins for flights and such makes sense.
And unless I'm a total outlier I do believe that the reality I live also is the reality which will shape adoption, at least for the part of the economy that will remain somewhat free...
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Good luck to you +1
Just imagine an Bitcoin ETF and even worst an Ethereum ETF …. Ohhh wait….
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Bitcoin ETFs ok in the near term. However the term 'crypto industry' is a huge huge misnomer. Bitcoin is just money. Imagine calling it the 'money industry'?
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I'm so tired of hearing about "crypto".
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It just needs to go away.
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I believe that truth always prevails eventually. It may take a while. It sucks that it gets in the way of people getting to Bitcoin but eventually they all have to see the truth.
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I agree with you. However the handwringing is unfortunate. I believe some/many of these issues have been greatly mischaracterized.
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Definitely. It's painful to watch. Super frustrating. I do my best to keep my head down and build what I want for my own future. Otherwise I feel kind of crazy.
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I know what you mean. Sometimes I feel like the crazy one with all this stuff... The bitcoin market is not mature yet, and a sign of this is people talking about 'crypto' and discussing 'crypto' that's pretty meaningless.
I guess the upside is that the price of bitcoin is lower... than it otherwise would be that can be a 2-sides of the same coin kind of thing.
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For sure. It's a reminder that we are soooo early. Some day the world will change. It's just hard waiting.
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Bitcoin, as a bitcoiner, sometimes feels like a lonely place.