Crypto Weekly Issue 48

CEO Nathan Hill nathan@cryptoweeklymag.com

Editors Letter

ISSUE 48

Welcome to Crypto Weekly

Publisher Colin Woolley colin@cryptoweeklymag.com

Editor Robert Stone editor@cryptoweeklymag.com

Another week has gone by, and this is our 48th issue of Crypto Weekly I am Rob Stone, the Editor and, along with the guys at CMC, hope to bring you another weekly read about significant happenings in the world of crypto.

Sub-Editor George Smith

Advertising Kryptochik kryptochik@cryptomag.finance

Writing and painting are organic forms of self-expression I resonate with Creatively, I identify as a sensualist, I love tactility in art It is an impressive experience for me I want to be surrounded by it and to make love to it Dry old crypto talk far beyond the interest of the normal reader becomes a soulnourishing transcendent epistle worthy of transcription by monks of the crypto revolution

Design Dilin Divan dilin@cryptoweeklymag.com

It's also how I feel about Crypto Weekly & Crypto Magazine It's my chosen focus and means in the world of cities and people I always feel it necessary to take whatever I am doing as means and sustenance and make it a deeply immersive experience To treat it with the respect of a student to their master to the utmost degree in order to transcend normality and make it soulful nourishment I have got to get to the root of life to see and feel it clearly Yes, crypto is life Crypto is freedom from those who feed off of the people of Babylon like a fungus— extracting sustenance by the point of law and gun

It has been another smashing week with crypto, and a lot has happened in the last week because the music never stops in the cryptosphere, and time keeps rolling on I hope you all enjoy what we have brought together for you this week Please let us know your thoughts, and if you would like to see something featured, please do get in touch

editor@cryptoweeklymag.com

Robert Stone Editor

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has done a lot despite 'fraud,' says Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin

Whilesuggesting FTX's collapse resulted from fraud, Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin cautioned critics to be more discerning Although Bankman-Fried's crypto empire continues to collapse amid federal probes into possible mismanagement of customer funds, Vitalik Buterin, who has been vocal about crypto adoption and blockchain technology, isn't ready to dismiss everything he's done

Buterin tweeted, "Downgrading everything SBF believed in automatically is an error… We must figure out what contributed to the fraud and what didn't " This crash has been compared to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy and Enron, Theranos, and Bernie Madoff fraud cases

Following a failure to secure a rescue, FTX and 130 affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, and Bankman-Fried stepped down from his position as CEO as a result Buterin looked for a silver lining in the chaos that hit crypto markets earlier this year

His comments came after the Terra token had collapsed in May, which could be a good sign, he said at the time �

Despite the turmoil, he warned against expecting limitless growth in the cryptocurrency market and suggested returning to "principles-based

thinking " Among the recommendations he made were to "evaluate systems based on their steady state, and a more pessimistic view of how they will perform under extreme conditions, as well as whether they can wind down "

Buterin warns of DeFi risks.

Vitalik Buterin warned against DeFi (decentralized finance) and self-custody pitfalls, specifically bugs in smart contract codes, in a tweet from his verified Twitter account� In response to the loss of trust in centralized exchanges, which led to

record exchange outflows, Buterin wrote, "The DeFi and self-custody ethos did very well this week " To prevent smart contract exploits, Buterin advised developers to keep their code simple and perform audits and formal verification.

"My biggest concern is if we have $10B in a ZK-rollup 2 years from now and it gets hacked due to circuit constraint bugs or the EVM wrapper," wrote Buterin, attaching "Hardening rollups with multiproofs "

—Crypto Weekly

As crypto exchanges saw a record-high week of outflows of bitcoin following the FTX saga, industry leaders have begun advocating self-custody solutions �

—Crypto Weekly

U.K. POLICE HAVE CRYPTO EXPERTS STATIONED NATIONWIDE

An official with the U K National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) has deployed crypto tactical advisers to investigate and secure digital assets associated with crimes At a hearing on Tuesday for the new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency bill, Andrew Gould, staff officer for NPCC's cryptocurrency portfolio, said that "all forces and regional organized crime units have officers trained and equipped to do that "

Law enforcement will be able to freeze crypto assets associated with criminal activity if the British government passes the bill Yet police

agencies have already increased their efforts to target criminals who use crypto for money laundering or terrorism financing According to Gould, "the government's additional 100 million pounds sterling helped the NPCC strengthen its crypto capabilities " Reports indicated that in 2018, police chiefs lobbied the government for funding to train and equip 250 crypto tactical advisors

According to Gould, the U K government has seized cryptocurrency assets worth hundreds of millions of pounds within the past year or so "The police force has procured

a number of investigative tools and a capacity for storing seized crypto," he explained� Police seized cryptocurrencies from Komainu during investigations in January to provide them with a more "robust" means of storing them� Despite this, Gould still believes crypto is too costly for the NPCC to keep up�

Our officers are struggling in the face of the growing complexity of crypto assets," Gould said, adding that their tools can't handle everyone An investigation is best conducted by using more than one tool Gould said, "That's very expensive ”

Furthermore, Gould explained that the police have difficulty retaining staff while competing with the hard-to-turndown salaries offered by the private sector� "One of my sergeants just got offered 200,000 pounds to move to the private sector We can't compete with that at the moment� That's probably the biggest risk we face in this area," Gould said The NPCC has not responded to a request for comment at present time Some police officers in the U�K� earn salaries ranging from anywhere between 28,000 to 100,000 pounds a year

—Crypto Weekly

Considering the profound impact stablecoins could have on the established banking system, U S regulators must ensure the digital tokens fit in without disrupting it, according to Martin Gruenberg (chairman of the FDIC). Gruenberg's agency will significantly impact how stablecoins are regulated in the United States Recent sanctions against firms that misrepresent how FDIC deposit insurance backstops the FDIC has also imposed their operations

Gruenberg said that U S banks have increasingly offered crypto services, including custody of customers' digital assets, which is why his agency has remained cautious about accepting regulated lenders to participate

FDIC

CHIEF SAYS STABLECOINS COULD FUNDAMENTALLY ALTER THE BANKING SYSTEM.

Gruenberg noted that the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FDIC) also inputs into the federal government's policy towards stablecoins, which will work with the Federal Reserve's future realtime payments system, FedNow Besides being used for trading volatile cryptocurrencies, stablecoins are necessary to create a digital currency issued by a central bank in the U S "A stablecoin for payments could fundamentally alter the banking landscape," Gruenberg said A new form of shadow banking could be created with payment stablecoins, "possibly resulting in forms of credit disintermediation that may harm the viability of many U S banks "

President Joe Biden has yet to name a permanent replacement for Gruenberg, who previously served as FDIC chairman Two people were nominated last month to join the board, and the next chairman is reportedly on the way Aside from his roles at the Financial Stability Oversight Council, Gruenberg is involved in cross-agency crypto oversight efforts� However, he has been openly skeptical of the usefulness of crypto�

According to him, the industry has primarily focused on trading, and so far, we have not seen many benefits� "It remains to be seen if there is any potential there "

To deal with stablecoins, he said Congress should pass new legislation

because "our authority is clearly limited, particularly when it comes to protecting consumers as well as provisioning of wallets and similar services by non-bank entities "

As Gruenberg sees it, stablecoins would be sufficiently safe if they were offered through bank subsidiaries, fully backed by short-term treasury bonds, and placed on regulated "permissioned ledger systems "

"Knowing all parties involved in payment stablecoin activitiesincluding nodes and validators - is crucial to ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, preventing terrorism financing, and deterring sanction evasion "

—Crypto Weekly

Cryptocurrencies Recognized as Financial Instruments by U.K. Lawmakers

TheU K Parliament just approved the regulation of crypto assets as financial instruments and products Parliament's lower house, the House of Commons, held a lineby-line reading of the draft Financial Services and Markets Bill, which outlines the U K 's postBrexit economic strategy regarding financial services and markets

As part of the debate about the bill, legislators considered several proposed amendments, including one proposed by Andrew Griffith from the People's Party that would include crypto assets within regulatory oversight It was already outlined in the draft bill that a number of measures would be included to extend current regulations on stablecoins, which are essentially cryptocurrencies linked to other assets such as the U S dollar or gold

"This amendment essentially involves treating crypto assets

similarly to other financial assets, without preference Nevertheless, it brings them within the sphere of regulation for the first time. I favor the efforts to give legal recognition to digital assets in a broader

Minister, will support the efforts to do so While serving as finance minister during the Boris Johnson administration, Sunak introduced the markets bill - and thus the stablecoin rules - when he was finance minister

also be regulated, and companies that aren't authorized to operate in the country could be outlawed

With crypto included in the bill, Griffith points out that the country's Treasury will be better positioned to respond quickly to developments in the cryptocurrency sector and deliver regulation in a way that aligns with its broader approach to financial services regulation

sense." Griffith, the finance and city minister, said before lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the amendment

The crypto industry, which is currently celebrating the announcement that Rishi Sunak has been appointed as the country's new Prime

In the crypto provision, which uses the definition of "crypto asset" in new clause 14, Griffith said it clarifies that crypto assets may fall into the scope of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which governs regulated financial activities Crypto promotions may

The Treasury will consult with industry and stakeholders before implementing the powers to ensure the framework reflects the unique benefits and risks associated with crypto activity Despite this, the rules remain a long way from becoming law As soon as the House of Lords approves the amendments, the bill will be sent to King Charles III for his royal approval�

—Crypto Weekly

Edward Snowden Calls Tornado Cash Sanctioning "Profoundly Authoritarian"

It was revealed in a leaked video earlier this year that Snowden, who blew the whistle on NSA surveillance nearly a decade ago, helped launch the privacy coin Zcash in 2016 He has been a vocal advocate for crypto, despite arguing that Bitcoin is too public Snowden said the crypto community should have taken the U S government's ban on Ethereum mixing tool Tornado Cash more seriously

The Tornado Cash blockchain protocol (launched in 2019) enables users to pool and "mix" coins so that their origins and destinations are hidden OFAC (the Office of Foreign Assets Control, part of the U S Treasury Department), banned American citizens from using Tornado Cash and a long list of Ethereum wallet addresses in August By banning wallet addresses that had interacted with Tornado Cash, centralized crypto projects could

comply with OFAC or remain non-compliant�

During a remote presentation on October 27 at Camp Decrypt in Napa Valley, Snowden said Tornado Cash is like a water fountain in a public park, as it "does nothing without human provocation… Just push a button, and that's when privacy comes out," he said "You can't do anything without pushing it, but it's a very simple thing. I find it deeply illiberal and profoundly authoritarian to suggest that this is a bad thing, much less a thing that warrants giving the government unlimited sanctions powers—to say nothing about kicking in the door or imprisoning the poor bastard who built it in the park for us to enjoy—that is something that is deeply authoritarian and deeply illiberal�"

Despite protests by Snowden, the U S government's targeting of Tornado Cash was largely due to Ethereum's

public-transaction history model, which displays each wallet's history publicly "Everywhere you go, you've got this giant history cruft following you," he said "If you create chain explorers, and people can see everything you've done with Ethereum smart contracts, that's problematic Of course, people will want their privacy, and who should deny it? No one "

This is not an issue unique to Ethereum as Snowden demonstrates how "Bitcoin also suffers from the same problem, but at least they don't see as much contract-based activity on BTC They only see addresses A and B sending to each other "

According to the former NSA and CIA contractor, blockchain sleuths still follow the digital trail by following the blockchain, charting it, seeing where it splits and then tracing its path back to a common node or tracking spends In 2013, Snowden said it

would have been easy to track Bitcoin transactions with the tools he had at the NSA, “I was using Tor, and I was using mixed services, even though I used Bitcoin to rent the servers I used for communicating with journalists and for passing massive archive files over the internet anonymously ”

"As a result of Tornado Cash's crackdown, some wallet providers have built mixer-like tools However, this is not sufficient," Snowden said, "It needs to be built into the protocol People should be able to transact effortlessly, anywhere and anytime, just as they can with real money… like when you access Gmail through a web browser (using HTTPS), privacy protections should be built into the protocol In this way, we prevent the kind of nonsense we see the U S government engaging in with OFAC and Tornado Cash " —Crypto Weekly

"HYPERBITCOINIZATION" COULD HAPPEN IN A FEW YEARS, SAYS SAMSON MOW

Inthe Eurozone and the United Kingdom, doubledigit inflation rates have led to some governments becoming more open to Bitcoin The process is currently being accelerated by one Bitcoin evangelist meeting with officials. In

September of last year, El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender This past April, the Central African Republic followed suit Some elected officials in places like Portugal and the United Kingdom are increasingly interested in BTC

Blockstream, a blockchain infrastructure company started by Bitcoin pioneer Adam Back, had Samson Mow as its chief strategy officer for half a decade � A $1 billion bond backed by Bitcoin was issued

by El Salvador under the guidance of Mow

From conversations he has had with politicians, Mow believes that we are only a few years away from "hyperbitcoinization"when Bitcoin becomes the

dominant currency in the world� "Hyperbitcoinization might take 20 or 30 years if every country in the world is included� In an interview with CoinDesk, Mow said, "I think it's definitely possible around 2030 for most countries in North America, Europe, and parts of Latin America and Africa "

Global South Meets Global North.

African, Asian, Oceanian, Latin American, and Caribbean countries typically suffer from debilitating socioeconomic woes such as political instability and hyperinflation. Because of these conditions, Bitcoin and its native currency are often more popular among Global South citizens

"In comparison to someone born in Canada or the United States, you have an easier time understanding Bitcoin But things are changing," Mow added “You get Bitcoin much quicker in the Global South, where there has been rapid inflation or hyperinflation, which can result in your currency devaluing massively and requiring a wheelbarrow to transport it "

In an article published in the Global North, Mow explains how conditions in the Global North (Europe, North America, and Australasia) are

converging with those in the Global South While Canada avoided doubledigit inflation this summer, its northern neighbor made headlines earlier this year when it ordered banks to freeze accounts related to citizens who donated to Canadian trucker protests Objecting to the government's stance can lead to the freezing of a protester's bank account Therefore, moving to Bitcoin or another self-sovereign currency should drive people to do so

While Mow is knocking on the doors of other political leaders, many are calling for a more libertarian approach to governance For instance, he had an intriguing fireside chat last week with a U K Member of Parliament, Lisa Cameron�

More significantly, Mow has built a relationship with Miguel Albuquerque, the president of Madeira, a Portuguese autonomous region near North Africa dubbed the "Bitcoin Beach of Portugal " Several reports claimed Madeira had adopted Bitcoin as its currency after President Albuquerque had openly embraced bitcoin� As a board member of the Regional Forum of Economic Education, Mow focuses on making Madeira a technological hub�

Besides that, Mow said that he's also working with Prospera, an economic zone in Honduras that recognizes Bitcoin as legal tender "They're on the island of Roatan," Mow explained As for the United States, Mow explains, "We're working with Senator Indira Kempis, who is pushing for the adoption of Bitcoin in Mexico�"

As governments from the Global North and South become more

on the fact that bitcoin is not crypto There are three distinct categories: bitcoin, crypto, and stablecoins ”

A fourth category is central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). These are digital currencies issued by the central bank of a country The government on both sides of the north-south divide has already begun implementing CBDCs into their monetary systems, however Mow remains skeptical

educated on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, it seems the number of governments adopting BTC as legal tender is both growing and diversifying

There's still a great deal of confusion between Bitcoin and crypto Mow explained, "We had tried to schedule some meetings in South Korea a while back, but the climate was not great due to Terra's collapse We're trying to educate people

In his opinion, governments lack the ability to think about system design, "It will either take 20 or 30 years to make a proper transition, or it will just fall flat. CBDCs are conceptualized and theoretically crafted in a vacuum They won't work CBDC implementation will most likely cause hundreds of problems "

—Crypto Weekly

CRYPTO IS NOTHING WITHOUT PRIVACY AND RESISTANCE TO MEDDLING BY GOVERNMENTS.

Robert Stone

Blockchain and cryptocurrency projects must be censorship resistant to function as designed As long as a participant in a Bitcoin network complies with the predetermined technical criteria, nobody - not the police, not your neighbor - can stop that transaction� This has been a primary tenet of crypto from the beginning, one of the biggest drivers of the whole movement

A blockchain's immutable

transaction records may also constitute censorship resistance Distributed ledgers are the basis of blockchains The ledger containing details of all transactions ever made is stored and updated by every node in the system Any government or authority cannot alter or censor the details of a transaction This is one reason a democratic people may opt to have their governments implement Blockchain in all day-to-day governmental affairs Governments would

then become transparent, unable to get away with the mayhem they are used to, like secretly funding foreign incursions to bypass their people's will If they did, the people who hired them (their citizens) would see it

What are the benefits of censorship resistance?

Bitcoin and Ethereum, at least the major blockchains, are revolutionary because they return power to the people

This way, people can own assets without looking to governments for authority Governments can quickly turn sour or become dictatorships or oppress minorities Blockchains, however, limit the control of the government if people transact through them

There is also protecting the idea of privacy

While blockchain ledgers are publicly available, there is a possibility of complete privacy being implemented if we so choose it by simply

creating a code that works to implement it� Even though there are tracks to be followed on the Bitcoin public ledger, we still don't know who Bitcoin's founder (Satoshi Nakamoto) really is, although we may know exactly how many Bitcoins he probably has

One of the most important aspects of censorship resistance is that blockchains can never be brought down when a decentralized currency like Bitcoin is used Unless they control 51 percent of

the total hash rate on the network, no government or entity can bring down a blockchain as big as Bitcoin If it was tried, it would cost tens of billions of dollars with no guarantee that it would affect the Blockchain at all

The fact that Sam Bankman-Fried (the crypto billionaire known as SBF) sparked controversy with his article on cryptocurrency regulation a few weeks ago is not surprising According to him, blocklists should be

implemented - essentially, a list of wallet addresses that are prohibited from interacting with a blockchain since they may be connected to malicious activitiesand respect the OFAC deny list through a list of addresses that have been sanctioned and sustained by either OFAC or another trusted third party

I'll tell you what's wrong; if censorship resistance is removed, cryptocurrency's entire value, proposition, and purpose will be destroyed� Cryptocurrencies are supposed to empower otherwise unempowered people by granting them open access to financial tools� This problem was caused by an obsolete financial system remade with a fancy crypto wrapper that welcomes censorship on its own basis because it's new and fancy

The censorship resistance was already being eroded even as SBF discussed how things should go forward behind the backs of his competitors in the industry The news on Ethereum recently shows that more than half of the blocks were processed according to OFAC compliance recommendations in one 24-hour period following the Merge

Despite cynics' claims that crypto is just a Ponzi

scheme, we've seen enough evidence that Bitcoin is a useful and valuable asset� In my opinion, Bitcoin is only valuable and useful because it is censorshipresistant and should become more resistant as time goes on� Commerce breaks down if you require an allow list to transact Imagine having to prove your identity before you could purchase anything That would be the epitome of big brother looking over our shoulders An incredible boundary we all hold dear crossed to impose on humanity by the government The presumptive freedom of peer-to-peer transfers and decentralized blockchains must be maintained

With their sanctions, governments are telling us that free trade should be allowed for good people while bad people shouldn't be allowed to trade at all In addition to obvious examples like murder and extortion, the definition of good and bad varies depending on who sets them Suppose we allow governments to start censoring the Blockchain's activities

In that case, we will have a totalitarian imposition on commerce that the governments should ordinarily never be allowed to have, unless it is to sanction

governments carrying out illegal wars Crypto means absolutely nothing without censorship resistance� Using fiat is censorship resistant, so why should crypto regulations impose that power and authority over transactions?

There is, of course, one more step we should take here� It doesn't matter how much censorship resistance you have if you don't have privacy

as well This has been a problem with transparent networks like Bitcoin, which is not anonymous at all It is quite literally

the opposite of anonymous Identifiable addresses and balances are maintained in the Bitcoin public ledger, and anyone can see it

A vaccine mandate protest by Canadian truckers in February 2022 is an example The protesters received funds via crypto networks, but the transparency of these blockchains prevented them from withdrawing the funds for fear that their accounts would be frozen or suspended by the Canadian government

Although the government doesn't want me to receive Bitcoin (BTC), someone can send it to me anyway The Bitcoin network is resistant to censorship However, if governments can trace the transaction and see that the bitcoin came from you to me, they could take action against me for receiving funds from you outside the Bitcoin network The need for privacy and resistance to censorship is paramount This ensures that no government or organization can influence or alter

transactions on a blockchain, regardless of the amount of power they wield, just like they don't have the power to stop anyone from using fiat currencies The people of the world won't like it when governments start using central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

Censorship-resistant private cryptocurrencies will allow people the freedom of commerce they have always enjoyed when CBDCs impose a complete lack of privacy from those who want to regulate our every move

Final Thoughts

It is the darker side of censorship resistance that even bad guys who do bad things can get away with it because authorities cannot track or shut down blockchains Legislative assemblies worldwide argue this is why they want to ban cryptocurrencies

Well, if the logic is just, then fiat would also be banned, wouldn’t it?

This blatant misuse of censorship resistance within blockchains is being committed by a tiny fraction of individuals and could soon be addressed by improved technology� There is no reason to deprive people of their right to choose their own destiny without agreeing to every authority's whim

Centralized Finance's Flaws are Exposed For All to See and Learn From with the Fall of FTX.

Robert Stone

We crypto aficionados keep re-learning the lesson of decentralization the hard way In the absence of U S regulations and crypto's centralized development, FTX collapsed A decentralized and transparent protocol would never have been able to melt down Sam Bankman-Fried's crypto trading empire We should all realize that an alternative to government-backed finance has one crucial flaw: no backing from the government After centuries of mistakes by

finance, cryptocurrency speculators are slowly learning the lessons of the past decade

A top-five rival crypto exchange was provisionally rescued by the founder of the largest crypto exchange, Binance In the equivalent of a bank run, clients abandoned FTX After the problems were deemed too severe to overcome, Changpeng Zhao walked away. FTX has now filed for bankruptcy as its CEO resigned FTX's future looks grim, and the crypto economy's ripples have been devastating for some projects

Despite the deal, there would have been an obvious danger: Binance cannot be rescued by anyone due to its immense size� It will be left to the market to resolve a potentially systemic crypto crisis without the deal Even Mr Zhao, known as CZ, poses an obvious danger of relying on one person

What DeFi Can Do

Many reasons can lead to centralization, some of which are noble and intentional The carelessness of others is evident � By bringing the freedoms of the blockchain to traditional

Finance, DeFi allows users to earn interest rather than banks If criminals gain control of the central, private keys, putting that much power in one body can be dangerous The decentralized ethos would place that authority in a decentralized autonomous organization, if that was not possible, at least instituting a multisignature system

In my view, centralized offerings will not survive in the long run It's called survival of the fittest. We are in a state of evolution, and there's no reason for them

to exist since they don't offer anything new� The NYSE is better if you want to own centralized companies and trade assets in a centralized market

It does sound ironic that decentralized finance's main problem is centralization But the fact that we're even talking about this shows the importance that decentralization as an ideology commands in the world of crypto Economic incentives drive them to under-collateralize and risk user funds, just like the financial institutions that collapsed in 2008 Despite claiming to care about consumers, the companies play political games and cozy up to those who are supposed to regulate them This is exactly what SBF was doing CEO CZ of Binance didn't like it and said so It was the very reason he first announced he would sell all of his holdings, and the collapse of FTX precipitated from there

Problems with Centralized Financial Systems

Centralized financial systems can fail.

The Bitcoin white paper "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," published by

Satoshi

Nakamoto in October 2008, contained nine pages� Although Nakamoto conceived of Bitcoin before the 2008 financial crisis, his white paper was released at a fortuitous time� Even though the white paper was released in October 2008, the concept of Bitcoin was probably formalized in late 2006, and Bitcoin software was coded around May 2007

Multiple large banks went bankrupt during the 2008 financial crisis to avoid a global financial meltdown Globally, the 2008 financial crisis cost trillions of dollars and damaged trust between big banks and the public, who ended up paying the price As a result of such a crisis, everyone realized the danger of centralized intermediaries If these banks fail, all money held in them is lost forever except for up to 100k coverage with FDIC insurance

Centralized financial systems

can inflate the money supply.

Quantitative easing (QE) has become an addiction for monetary institutions since the 2008 financial crisis Central banks increase the money supply through quantitative easing to stimulate a weak economy Central

banks do not simply print money� Instead, they buy government and private assets Most often, it is bonds� It allows the government to spend more during economic crises and helps the private sector stay afloat. Before 2021, the U S economy showed no clear signs of inflation, but things have changed

The COVID-19 pandemic led the U S Federal Reserve to buy $700 billion in assets starting in March 2020 And the U S government responded by spending roughly $5 5 trillion on various relief measures with varying levels of effectiveness A $1 trillion infrastructure bill and a $3 5 trillion social welfare and climate change bill were proposed and passed by the Democrats not long ago, and doing so has resulted in inflation. To make conventional currency work, all trust is required It is essential that the central bank not debase the currency, but fiat currencies have a history of trust breaches Governments have a monopoly over the money supply, and they use it

Wealthy nations have generally experienced an economic decline due to heavy wartime expenditures, lavish social welfare, or both During the 1960s, President Lyndon Johnson's The Great

Society, combined with a war of attrition in Vietnam, led President Richard Nixon to remove the United States from the gold standard Because gold reserves were no longer required to back the money supply, increasing the money supply became too easy The dollar has slowly but surely devalued due to this decision Today there is more money printing going on in the U S than any other time historically

As the world's strongest economy since World War II, the United States has enjoyed a long period of economic prosperity But arrogance would lead us to think that such strength will continue indefinitely. A collapse of the U S dollar is almost certain one day National currencies and nations do not last forever According to ancient money history, governments cannot sustain massive spending levels without their money depreciating, devaluing, and eventually becoming worthless�

Centralized financial systems cannot be trusted.

We are not used to the government confiscating assets, except in cases of criminal activity like the FBI seizing drug dealers' assets Bankrupt governments take

desperate measures

When Greece was in a debt crisis in 2016, Greek tax authorities seized $1 6 billion from half a million bank accounts

Due to Venezuela's lack of bank accounts, cash transactions are critical to the country's economy Banks in Venezuela limited withdrawals to 10,000 bolivars per customer in 2018 when the economy was on the verge of collapse There would be long lines at ATMs, and people would have to wait hours to withdraw money Its largest and most commonly used bill, the 100-bolivar note, was removed from circulation in 2016 Bills worth 100 bolivars become worthless immediately

On the day of FTXs collapse, Venture and Web3 companies reported that CEXs lost most of their assets under management or treasuries Those who have funds on FTX will likely lose them Maintaining minimal funds on CEXs only for immediate trading is a hard lesson to learn

The decentralized exchanges and finance platforms, Uniswap, Balancer, Curv, and others, have continued to function smoothly, allowing users to exit crypto positions and make investments

at low prices Although users' portfolios may have decreased in dollar value, their assets remained accessible This is what consumer protection is all about

The DeFi platform is designed to preserve the benefits of Bitcoin and Ethereum: permissionless transparency, censorship resistance, and selfsovereign asset custody To avoid precisely the scenario that has played out recently, users should insist on a base settlement layer that is as decentralized as possible

In its final weeks, the FTX cryptocurrency exchange spent lavishly to court regulators, just as large financial institutions did during the 2008 financial

crisis According to DeFi's CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried was dealing secretly with the SEC and told the regulators there was a need for consumer protections At the same time, it has become clear the company was playing fast and loose with users' money

SBF ran the secondlargest CEX, and centralized platforms view DeFi as an adversary Consumer protection wasn't what he wanted from regulation, but rather to preserve his existing position and expand his competitive advantage He obviously had no care in the world for the members of his exchange or the tenets of decentralized finance that

the leaders of the crypto revolution hold sacred

This collapse is being monitored by regulators, as is their duty People with good intentions should see through Times Square billboards about environmental and social governance and lavish parties Centralized players are seeking DeFi regulation because they benefit from it Furthermore, regulators should recognize that DeFi has consistently outperformed CeFi regarding consumer protections

The FTX fiasco reminds us of the importance of decentralization if there are any silver linings� Decentralized projects could benefit from regulation that doesn't overprotect incumbents or harm actual decentralized projects, offering institutional investors the clarity they need to deploy capital By making it riskier to perpetrate scams, we could rid our space of many of them Layer 1 blockchains that deprioritized decentralization as a design goal have been hit the hardest

As smart investors, builders, and users have already noticed, the FTX collapse was a failure of CeFi, not DeFi This time around, many seem to have learned their lesson

OUR MISSION

HOW TO EARN INCOME WITH ETHEREUM IN THE MOST CONVENIENT WAY POSSIBLE

We all love earning passive income! I just let the experts set up the opportunity for me and in roll my earnings�

Ethereum's move to proof of stake allows its users to generate passive income by staking their coins

Reinvesting this income over time can result in above-average longterm gains due to the

compounding effects It's so simple to do� There is little you must think about to get in on this reliable way to guarantee positive gains far into the future Join us in learning how Ethereum can help you earn passive income, and why this makes the second-largest cryptocurrency even more appealing

Ethereum Staking is Convenient and Simple

Ethereum holders can earn staking fees by running their own validator nodes to process transactions and secure the Ethereum network �

However, this requires owning and committing

32 ETH tokens, which can cost about $32,000, making it prohibitive for some investors

Besides the upfront costs associated with running a validator node, there are other barriers to entry since it requires some technical knowledge to set one up, and validators must maintain a level

of online presence so that transactions can be processed and the Ethereum network can run smoothly � It's also important to know that running a validator comes with some risks since if you act improperly, you can lose your entire 32 ETH

Fortunately, several options make it easier than ever for investors and more casual users of the crypto market to generate staking rewards using less ETH and less effort

if they want to Investing in Lido's liquid-staked Ethereum derivative will give investors the advantage of earning interest and retaining liquidity with the ability to trade their Lido Staked Ethereum at any time Keeping control of your own holdings in your own wallet may be a good option for investors who prefer to avoid handing over control to a centralized entity or exchange

Some of my Ethereum will remain in normal Ethereum so that I can

crypto account, further enhancing Ethereum as an investment

Investing in crypto this way will compound your investment over time and make it work for you Coinbase Ethereum Staking

Staked Ethereum is Ethereum 2 0, which Coinbase lets users convert from Ethereum, and it's always the same price On Coinbase, Ethereum 2 0 earns 3 86% interest annually

once you convert it to Ethereum 2�0, you can't sell it or withdraw any rewards

Coinbase also offers a derivative known as Coinbase Wrapped Staked Ethereum, or simply "cbETH," which is a wrapped Ethereum 2 token that holders can trade with or withdraw from the exchange� Investors should be aware, however, that cbETH prices are not pegged to Ethereum prices and can vary

The Bottom Line

My favorite features of both services are that they offer staking rewards with no minimum investment and little effort Ethereum investors now have more than just one simple option for generating income from their investments rather than just selling high and buying low

Lido Finance Staking

The world's largest Ethereum staking pool for users, Lido Finance, allows users to convert their Ethereum into Lido Staked Ethereum and earn 5 1% interest Lido Staked Ethereum allows investors to earn an effective interest rate while also giving them exposure to upward movement in Ethereum's price and the ability to sell

buy non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with it or engage in other activities In contrast, the remainder of my Ethereum will remain in Ethereum 2 to earn the 3 86% yield and maintain a peg to Ethereum

In addition to the quarterly dividends I receive from my dividend stocks, I enjoy receiving passive income from Ethereum in my

The rate can fluctuate over time depending on how much Ethereum is staked� Coinbase pays out these staking rewards every day

The Ethereum network pays interest at 4%, and nearly 15 million Ethereum is staked Ethereum 2 0 cannot be sold or withdrawn until after Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade in 2023, so

Some of the market's top dividend stocks yield as much as 3 86% (with Coinbase) or 5.1% (with Lido Finance). The risks of using these types of services include not being able to sell your assets (if you are using Ethereum 2.0) or that the price of your holdings may diverge from Ethereum's price (if you are using Lido Staked Ethereum or Coinbase Wrapped Staked Ethereum).

George Smith

Amid the repercussions from the collapse of FTX, dominos continue to fall as continuous FUD is spread across the internet regarding centralized exchanges (CEX’s). Perhaps no event has had a greater impact on the industry in recent years than the folding of FTX however, it is at times like this where we must rally together and help one another instead of spreading FUD and misinformation There is a valid reason to be concerned about CEX’s, and it is a fact that you are much safer putting your money into decentralized exchanges (DEX’s), but this should never allow for unnecessary FUD and lies

After the news broke that FTX was filing for bankruptcy, widespread panic began circulating social media platforms in a game of Chinese whispers – which exchange was going to be next? The answer for many was Crypto com, and it wasn’t long before the tweets, rumours, and accusations began spreading like wildfire. Many of the accusations were completely justifiable as the platform has always been one of the more secretive in the public eye However, the misinformation began spreading so quickly that CEO Kris Marszalek took to

YouTube to perform a live AMA (ask me anything) stream, hoping to clarify all the FUD

Before we get to Kris’ response involving Crypto com’s future, let us take a look at what exactly was being said about the platform and why public concerns have heightened so much in recent days/ weeks

The first and biggest cause for concern regarding crypto com came in the form of a mispayment to an exchange called Gate io which immediately raised eyebrows After the fall of FTX, crypto exchanges were urged to release their cold and hot wallet addresses to ensure transparency for users and traders However, cold store information for crypto com revealed a huge transfer of 320,000 ether (roughly $400 million) to a wallet address on Gate io (a separate exchange platform).

Twitter user @ jconorgrogan was one of the first to raise this concern publicly, sharing a tweet with the transaction addresses He picked up on an interesting statistic, stating that the amount of ether transferred made up 82% of Crypto com’s total ETH holdings in their cold storage Marszalek claims that this transaction was simply sent by mistake,

and all the funds were returned to the original wallet� Rather suspiciously, the on-chain transfer data shows Gate io returning 285,000 ETH – there was still a large chunk missing This was the

amount confirmed by the exchange, however, upon further investigation, it’s clear that the remaining 35,000 ETH was sent to a different address� The reasons for the separate transactions are unclear

During the height of the panic, multiple users reported how their funds were taking longer than usual to withdraw or that they simply could not withdraw any funds In reality, the nature of most of these claims was FUD, which heightened the tension and concern of the FTX collapse� Crypto� com users were still able to withdraw their money

if they wished According to The Wall Street Journal, Argus Inc reported a blockchain analysis of withdrawals from Crypto com, where they found that “between 7 p m EST 12/11/22 and 5:30 a m EST 13/11/22, users withdrew a net $14 million worth of ether and $39 million worth of other tokens tied to the Ethereum network from Crypto com Over

that same time, Crypto com moved $33 million from other wallets to meet customer demands” Some transactions were taking slightly longer than usual due to the amplified traffic of withdrawals, but their funds were still being

withdrawn nonetheless

A spokesman for Crypto� com said that the platform was “seeing higher levels of activity,” but that “fluctuations in deposit and withdrawal activity does not affect our level of service ”

Whilst it seems like this was just a simple error, users were justified in their speculation before Maszalek’s clarification, as it’s not the first time Crypto. com have made headlines for wrongful transactions

FUD surrounding crypto com reached full sprint when Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) sent out a tweet, “If an exchange have to move large amounts of crypto before or after they demonstrate their wallet addresses, it is a clear sign

of problems Stay away Stay #SAFU”, an indirect sneer at Crypto com’s accidental transaction

It was quite obvious that this was what CZ was alluding to, only adding further fuel to the fire and causing more panicked withdrawals

Back in May 2021, Crypto com accidentally sent AUD $10 5 million ($7 million) to Melbourne-based investors, an amount that was supposed to be a AUD $100 ($67) refund. However, the story wasn’t found and reported until August 2022 Again, it was a simple error, and everything was settled, but it does beg the question of why these mistaken transactions keep happening

and quite a distance from last year’s all-time high of $0 96 It’s clear that the collapse of FTX, coupled with the timings of these mistaken transfers, have greatly impacted the public opinion of the platform

Marszalek explained the whole mishap on Twitter, additionally to the AMA video� He goes into detail and explains how it was a simple mistake involving whitelisted addresses and third-party exchanges, concluding with, ‘We have since strengthened our process and systems to manage

these

internal

transfers better’ Essentially, Marszalek has reassured users that their system does not allow funds to be sent somewhere it can’t be recovered�

Gate io also tweeted a clarification that included links to further evidence of the funds having been returned

After traction began building around the error, and before Maszalek cleared everything up, users began to withdraw their funds from the platform by the masses, and CRO (Crypto com’s native token) has fallen to a record low in over a year, decreasing by over 20% in a single night, and 40% from the prior week The current value of CRO at the time of writing sits at $0 068, not far above the all-time low value of $0 012,

Further controversy has also been thrown at Crypto com over its large spending amounts on sponsorship deals, specifically stadium sponsorships with ridiculously high price tags Users of the exchange have questioned how effective these sponsorship deals are, and whether the large costs are actually effective and justifiable. One of the biggest spends the exchange has splashed out on was the acquisition of naming rights for The Staples Center, costing the company an eyewatering $700 million Maszalek has disputed the concerns stating “We pay a small amount every year, which amounts to around 10% of our revenue This is not crazy compared to other companies Growth

to 70 million users is not possible without some investment into brand awareness”

There is some optimism to hold onto though, for

investors of CRO as the price has somewhat stabilized since Maszalek’s clarifications, and the exchange is due to release a fresh Proof-of-Reserves (PoR) audit within the

coming weeks to provide further reassurance and transparency Maszalek’s priority is now focused on restoring trust in the exchange and providing an open and honest

experience for users He describes recent events as “a critical moment for the entire industry” He thinks that transparency is “more important than ever, and safety and security of

users and funds remains the priority ” In fact, Maszalek almost looks at the fall of FTX as a positive event for the wider benefit of centralized exchanges, stating, “restoring trust in our category will take time, but it’s incumbent on us to send a strong message to the world that there are trustworthy crypto platforms ”

The downfall of FTX might yet be the uprising of reliable, genuine centralized exchanges that are here to stay CEX’s have been urged to share

their proof of reserves and investors now have the opportunity to confirm their funds are genuinely intact and secure, helping to prevent owners from misusing cold storage funds Maszalek has done everything he can to restore as much faith in his platform as possible, the next steps fall on the users, and it will be interesting to see how the market responds in the next few weeks

Will centralised exchanges be able to emerge from the ashes,

or will DEX’s take their place permanently?

Whatever happens one thing is clear; reassurance by mouth is not enough Maszalek agrees with this himself and aims to ensure Crypto com remains a trustworthy and fully reliable exchange in the future, “we will prove people wrong with our actions and not our words ” Investors need concrete proof� Both FTX and Celsius claimed solvency just days before filing for bankruptcy and collapsing Hard evidence is required for trust to

be restored and CEX’s to continue With centralized exchanges now taking extra measures to ensure PoR audits are completed, and total transparency is available for investors, those that cannot provide such details will be left to pay the price The rise of decentralized exchanges is a good thing for consumers, as their money is safer in DEX’s However, for absolute security and guarantee, you should only ever store your funds in cold Ledger wallets with a secure and personal seed phrase

Bitcoin is on a wild ride that has only just begun despite the FTX debacle.

Robert Stone

Iam amazed by the massive response to the FTX collapse by ill-informed crypto detractors proclaiming, "I told you so " Some of them are seething with angst and revel in what they see as the last days of crypto FTX is an exchange, and it is centralized Yes, they buy and sell crypto on it, but centralized exchanges are not a good idea for storing your assets longterm and are separate from the security and transparency that blockchain provides Suppose you are looking for universal integrity to escape the clutches of centralized exchanges and currencies In that case, you will find it in a blockchain-based exchange where integrity is a part of the code One plus one always equals two

People are in charge of a centralized exchange and will often not be as honest or smart as we would like� You can buy, sell, and trade crypto on a decentralized exchange if you want honesty and security, with a high degree of safety built into the system� Once programmed, tested, and launched, the blockchain code and ledger are incorruptible There are no trust issues unless they are programmed in Everyone can see the code and all that happens on these decentralized exchanges If you want the convenience of a centralized exchange because you are new and have yet to understand crypto, they are a lot more convenient, but they may not be safe (as was shown by FTX). If you use them, provide ease by not keeping

large amounts on the centralized exchanges long term Set up a wallet only you or those you trust have access to� Keep the access keys offline, along with any wallet recovery information� A safety deposit box may be a great place for big long-term investors to keep this information

So why is Bitcoin so enduring?

An unknown computer programmer invented a new type of money over 13 years ago and had nothing to do with banks or governments By downloading some free software over the Internet, anyone could join a network of computers that stored long strings of letters and numbers Thousands of other types of digital money, called "cryptocurrencies" have been created due to bitcoin's popularity, despite being little understood by the general public Investing in cryptocurrency could have gained five million percent over the last decade There was also the possibility of losing everything It has been a wild ride for me as well I bought my first Bitcoin in May of 2011

The paper was circulated on the Internet shortly after Lehman Brothers

collapsed during the financial crisis of 2008 Nobody has ever been able to trace who the author of that paper, Satoshi Nakamoto, is The paper proposed creating an "electronic cash system" that would allow people to send money online without the involvement of a financial institution

Computers running bitcoin software could work together over the Internet and perform typical bank functions, such as keeping accurate records and preventing fraud The computers constantly record bitcoin transactions "Blockchain" is a record that keeps track of who owns what on a network The system is innovative in that every computer on the network can keep a copy of every transaction ever recorded� As Bitcoin's price approached $70,000 per coin in November 2021, it looked unstoppable Since then, Bitcoin has lost nearly 75% of its value and currently trades at approximately 16,500

Would investors be wise to continue considering Bitcoin as an option for building a portfolio of investments after this experiment went off the rails? Bitcoin may be coming of age at 14, but there are still many

reasons to be optimistic

A halving, an important upcoming event, makes Bitcoin quite attractive at the moment, considering its history of sell-offs and recoveries

Historically, Bitcoin has experienced a number of crashes and rebounds.

Bitcoin has experienced huge drawdowns over the last couple of years, as anyone who has followed the story can tell you Over the past decade, there have been three crashes that are worse than this one

It's important to remember that Bitcoin recovered from these huge declines on all three occasions The current situation seems rather tame when you consider the reasons for previous crashes More

than 800,000 Bitcoins were stolen from Mt Gox, a Japanese exchange that handled more than 70% of all Bitcoin transactions in 2011 Despite this, Bitcoin recovered from this situation and surged to new highs Having survived an event as devastating as a 99% crash, I am confident Bitcoin will live on to experience new alltime highs

The Bitcoin “halving”

Next year's halving is the most important reason for future Bitcoin gains� Every four years, there is a halving event The Bitcoin protocol requires that miners receive half their reward after every 210,000 blocks are mined� When miners solved a problem in the early days, they received 50 Bitcoins� The number of tokens miners receive today

will be halved in about 18 months as the number of tokens is cut in half Bitcoin's value will rise if fewer coins are awarded to miners It's not rocket science The logic is as simple as supply and demand

It's all coming together

In recent weeks, the market has hammered bitcoin because the currency is considered among a wide range of risky investments due to billions lost to FTX investors However, investors should also keep in mind that the market is a leading indicator that usually recovers before the overall economy Only high-quality projects survive these serious downturns for the most part, and that is a good

thing If you have been around the cryptosphere for long, you will understand right away when I say most projects of the over 22,000 in existence today are not worthy of the code they are written in Let's wish them all quick deaths

Within the next 12 to 24 months, supply chain constraints caused by the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine could be resolved, easing inflation rates As a result, the Fed may shift its strategy on rate hikes, and investors may finally find the stimulus they've been looking for to boost economic growth The next halving and falling inflation could send Bitcoin's price soaring, considering that it tracked growth stocks almost exactly last year

Fed’s Neel Kashkari Lambastes Crypto Industry as “Nonsense” and a “Tool of Speculation”

George Smith

Neel Kashkari, who took office as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis on 1st January 2016, has berated the crypto industry in a quoted tweet from a recent Wall Street Journal article In response to the article, which focuses on the collapse of FTX, Kashkari tweeted, “This isn’t a case of one fraudulent company in a serious industry The entire notion of crypto is nonsense Not useful for payments. No inflation hedge No scarcity No taxing authority Just a tool of speculation and greater fools”

Kashkari leads the Bank’s many initiatives and sits in a rather influential position in the world of finance. He’s responsible for creating new monetary policies as well as generally overseeing all banking operations including supervision and

regulation It is always disappointing to hear negative opinions on the crypto industry from key financial figures, with JP Morgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon, also labeling crypto as a “Ponzi Scheme” in recent weeks Kashkari’s criticisms focus on the lack of regulations within the industry which is only natural considering his background in the centralized finance department In many situations, he is the one that comes up with new rules for regulatory instances, which is useful to remember when reading about his opinions There is clearly a certain bias inevitably leaking through as he is a strong advocate for centralized finance. However, this is not the first time that Kashkari has revealed his skeptical nature toward the crypto scene On 17 August 2021, while speaking at the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER)

annual summit held in Montana he said that he was far less optimistic about the current state of Bitcoin compared to a few years ago Rather than sparking financial innovation, Kashkari said the current landscape of crypto consists of “95% fraud, hype, noise and confusion ”

Whilst it is true that there

are many scams and fraudulent schemes in the crypto space, it does

“This isn’t a case of one fraudulent company in a serious industry. The entire notion of crypto is nonsense. Not useful for payments. No inflation hedge. No scarcity. No taxing authority. Just a tool of speculation and greater fools”

not comprise the whole industry� If one educates themselves these scams are relatively easy to recognize and avoid�

Decrypt reports Kashkari as stating how the U S dollar will always be more valuable than Bitcoin due to the government having a monopoly on printing the money He holds the view that “If you go into your basement and you want to produce your own currency, the Secret Service will come knocking on your door There’s no barrier to you creating your own Bitcoin [and] there are

thousands of garbage coins that are being created”

Kashkari’s attitude is not unreasonable�

The DeFi scene can be daunting and often highly risky if one does not educate themselves properly However, these statements take away all the positives from the industry Kashkari is clearly focusing on meme tokens and coins that have no real-world utility, but labelling these incorrectly as “Bitcoins”, despite being completely different

In February 2020, Kashkari also labeled crypto a “giant garbage dumpster” that has robbed people for billions His concerns are valid, but his comments seem often unnecessarily slanderous as if he doesn’t quite have a full grasp of the industry himself

Unfortunately, Kashkari will always praise regulated, centralized finance as this is the field in which he works It is therefore important to recognize bias in tweets and articles and distinguish credit from FUD It’s disappointing that so many leading figures share similar opinions, however as much as words may hurt, they will never stop the inevitable growth of our crypto revolution

KYC & AML Laws May Not Be the Savior From Corruption We Have Been Led to Believe.

Robert Stone

Many billions have been spent on anti-moneylaundering and know-your-customer protection. However, what have they to show for it?

How does cryptocurrency prevent money laundering?

An effective identity verification process during onboarding and transactions can help ensure traceability for money-laundering purposes and other criminal activity� Platforms that offer dynamic KYC provide the basis for

ongoing checks required to prevent fraud

Why crypto businesses need anti-money laundering regulations.

The idea of regulation and cryptocurrency has, at least in the past, been strongly opposed� It is a central tenet of the original crypto elite that crypto will eliminate

government powers of money, ending a monopoly that thousands of years of human civilization have had to endure

Yet there must be a sensible approach We do need to have rules

If, in fact, the monopoly is ended one day, rules of proper commerce, conduct, and procedure will undoubtedly be written into the code of decentralized autonomous organizations

There will be no more missing trillions from the Pentagon budget No

more 500-dollar toilet seats and thousanddollar hammers The primary difference is that governments will ultimately be held accountable in a way never dreamed of until blockchain came around As employees of the people, governments may be compelled by the people to use a blockchain structure to keep governments accountable due to their transparent nature and permanency of the ledger Everything they do will be recorded into the ledger of immutable truth for

all to see—a record that cannot lie and where nothing is hidden from the public eye One nice perk will be that governments can no longer print money or call a war

It's going to take time and evolution if that utopian view may be achieved or one similar We will create it as we go and see what it looks like when we get there But we have yet to arrive Right now, we have one of the many issues that will arise to fix. KYC and AML laws are not what they were meant to be

Crypto platforms do need regulation to survive Especially though centralized platforms have been the primary offenders when the losses of investor funds are counted, along with that, in the last few years, they have become a favorite of the cybercrime community

The money supply

This is a far cry from the original idea by Satoshi Nakamoto, who developed bitcoin after the 2008-2009 financial crisis to help the world opt out of state-controlled financial systems, through decentralization of the very tools that governments use to keep us subservient to their power But philosophies

evolve as landscapes change� Bitcoin, which is a basic premise, may have to widen its functionality to include the tools we need to keep Satoshi's dream a reality� Otherwise it may fall by the wayside like the dinosaurs of crypto evolution, used to replace centralized fiat economies But perhaps that was Satoshi's true intention all along He gave us what we needed to get started and man, did we get started!

What about KYC/ AML laws?

Today, the people behind the crypto platforms, centralized and decentralized, want varying degrees of regulation to help prevent the massive levels of fraud that the industry suffers� Still, there is a problem with all these good intentions

Know your customer (KYC) and implementing anti-money-laundering (AML) practices when onboarding customers has cost us much more than all initial coin offering scams combined - and what they have produced is worse than nothing, in my opinion As a result, they have erected an all-pervasive, global surveillance system This is a system that keeps billions of people in poverty, kills innovation, and gives the banking system an excuse to lock out any competitor that stands in its way

Millions are excluded from the financial system.

Since the Bank Secrecy Act was enacted in 1970, banking and financial institutions have been weaponized, turning them into unofficial secret

police Financial advisors and financers were ordered to monitor their customers' activities, pass "suspicious activity" details to the authorities, and prevent undesirables from accessing finance. Every year, financial companies incur billions of dollars in direct compliance costs� However, that is only the tiniest part of its social cost�

Similarly to the push to spread democracy around the world, the U S has encouraged KYC/AML regulations to spread worldwide Most countries have enthusiastically adopted them, and those that tried to resist, like Switzerland, eventually bowed to intense pressure Today, most countries of the world are joined together – administering the least publicized, most global form of Big Brother surveillance

Privacy issues aside, these requirements have ended up excluding an everincreasing number of groups from the financial system Immigrants, poor people, and anyone without an "appropriate" government-issued ID are left out of the formal financial sector.

There are over 10 million unbanked Americans and millions more in the U K However, developing

countries suffer the most The number of unbanked adults worldwide is estimated at 1 4 billion It has been a sad day for entire countries due to prejudice and laziness on the part of banks towards risk Women, the poorer, people with limited possibilities, and disadvantaged rural residents have been the most difficult to reach. The global monopoly of the financial system virtually excludes many small countries in the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Africa

Remittances are a vital source of income for forty percent of Somalia's population - people who use their hard-earned savings to feed their families back home It led to the starvation of an entire country after British banking decided remittance services weren't worth the trouble The British banks' excuse was that payments to Somalia were "high-risk," a euphemism for not worth the compliance cost of dealing with people with poor documentation

many innovative products and solutions never came to be because they did not fit, or could not afford, the current compliance regime How many services died because they could not get banking? How many startups withered because they were forced to spend precious capital on one attorney after another? How many alternatives to banking would the poor, the young, and all of us have if financial companies were not forced to be an unofficial arm of law enforcement? Are only the rich and white members of the "first world" worthy of participation in the world economy? This lack of respect for those who are kept out of the world financial system is just the way things are in the cryptosphere, where the powers that be wish to have full power and authority to keep the world's people under their thumbs like livestock to be herded by a shepherd that only means to exploit them fully as can be achieved

These requirements have led to the exclusion of an ever-increasing number of groups from the financial sector, regardless of privacy concerns Those without "appropriate" government-issued identification, immigrants, and the poor are excluded from formal financial

services because they are inconvenient The oppression is real, and humanity will never realize the extent of its effects

Is all that tragedy worth the cost?

To justify financial Big Brother, governments do what they always do in defense of intrusive measures They run through an ever-growing list of catastrophes and mayhem These include the North Koreans, organized crime, terrorists, dictators, Russian war sanctions evaders, and, most notably, people trying to hide their income so they won't be taxed

And perhaps they do frustrate the odd terrorist or oligarch, but reportedly not very much However, the question that is never asked is, at what cost? Is it worth the

more inconvenient, more expensive service we are all subjected to? Is it worth the exclusion of poor or marginalized people? Is it worth the entrenchment of the world's biggest bully, the banking system? Is it worth the massive troves of private information collected by every financial company and frequently stolen by hackers? Is it worth creating a massive, semi-privatized, global surveillance system? It had better be—otherwise, what a shameful, heinous waste

The sad thing is there are multiple alternatives to achieving the safeguards we need to protect ourselves and the crypto industry that would not exclude 1/6 of the world's people Still, we know the powers that be like it that way, and they will do everything in their power to preserve it�

Invariably, those who pay the highest cost are the weakest of us

Perhaps the greatest cost of KYC/AML is impossible to measure because it involves the cost of things that didn't ever happen We will never know how

“1380

“The Sims Of Web3”

NFTs are seen as a laughing stock by the uninformed.

Robert Stone

As far as NFTs are concerned, there is more to them than meets the eye NFTs are much more than the images you see about the latest craze in NFT art I understand the uniqueness and the fact that something is one of a kind may be valuable, but I truly think the crazy hyped-up image NFT space is only a fad, and I don't understand the infatuation Although, if things are working out like

the people who invest in them want them to - all power to them! But here is what a lot of people need to understand: NFTs are much, much more than jpegs Our daily digital lives could be revolutionized by this piece of technology

I like things that are useful or practical These images are just that, images, and you cannot do anything with them but admire them If they have that effect on you, you can

invest in them for future profit. Most people are lucky if they happen to get in on the ground floor of something that takes off I say lucky because most NFT projects certainly do not ever take off But these so-called works of exclusive art don't have a thing to do with the extensive uses of NFT technology Most of these image NFTs don't even function like true NFTs�

Generally, I'm not particularly eager to talk

to people about crypto in person because so few people are aware of all the craziness, scams and lies they see and latch on to, and are only about making fun of everything they have ever heard about crypto, no matter how I try to educate them As I am talking, they go on about their personal prejudices and ideas like I haven't said a thing they could hear� So I prefer to write my ideas and syndicate my articles to the world�

The news of an NFT with millions in sales instantly comes to mind when people think of NFTs They think of things like pricey art pieces, virtual avatars, Axie Infinity games, animal costume collections for metaverse avatars, and so on

Yes, NFT art pieces are unique They can't be traded for something similar NFTs are nonfungible The ability to replace something with another of the same value makes something fungible� For example, if

you have five $10 bills, you could exchange them for one $50 bill, which would still be the same amount�

We can buy and sell digital collectibles and artworks today, but NFTs hold much more potential than that� As well as their face value or digital representation, they are valuable because of the technology behind them (known as blockchain) which makes them unique and secure In order to ensure fairness in the

marketplace, blockchain technology is used on a decentralized platform with smart contracts Smart contracts on the blockchain are increasingly recognized for their potential to streamline business operations by individuals, companies, and other organizations

In a smart contract, predetermined conditions are met by running a program on a blockchain

In NFTs, they play a crucial

role Typically, they are used to automate the execution of agreements without the need for an intermediary, ensuring immediate certainty for all parties

Immediate execution of the contract occurs once a condition is met Due to the digital and automated nature of smart contracts, no paperwork must be processed, and there are no errors to reconcile resulting from manually filling out documents.

Since no third party is involved, records of transactions are shared across participants, so it's not necessary to question whether any personal information has been altered

Let's say you want to avoid dealing with paperwork when leasing a car You can save money and time by using NFTs

It is possible to program an NFT with exactly what should happen under certain conditions, such

as returning the car or if it is in an accident before it is paid off, and then let the smart contract execute the contract as agreed upon - without involving an intermediary or wasting time

What is the significance of this? There is one word to describe it: trust! Since smart contracts run on blockchains, no information can be changed once they've been set up - because no one can change them!

NFTs will transform our world in the coming years� It gives me a sense of awe and excitement because of the potential

disruption it could produce This does not just apply to those involved but to the entire world Since the advent of self-driving cars and artificial intelligence, we've made many technological advances The way forward is being paved by NFTs

People with angst like to use NFT images to make fun of digital art tokens They often don't know any better since they don't know what NFT functions are or the true potential of NFTs They need to learn how NFTs do important things and eliminate the need for intermediaries to put a

hand in transactions Yes, NFTs actually do things and can be for things Anyone paying attention would be astounded by the new NFT technology if they did have a handle on what they were looking at

The basic tenet of NFTs revolves around offering control and ownership over assets, digital or physical I am talking about real estate or even in the music industry for proper due to be paid for an artist and their music NFTs will one day prove you own your home or land, or that you have paid your mortgage

When you sell your home,

the NFT signifying the property will record the property's new owner� NFTs will also be receipts, and additionally, used as tickets to get into shows, or to show as a reservation for your hotel room� You may present an NFT as a pass to Disneyland, and all the rides you paid for will be recorded on it so you can get in All of this is recorded in perpetuity on the blockchain

So yes, NFTs are much more than art and very useful for many things They are also quite new, and more uses are evolving daily—Onward with the crypto revolution�

PROJECT 1

Shade Protocol (SHD) SILK

shadeprotocol

Developed on Secret Network, Shade Protocol consists of a network of privacypreserving Dapps Due to the high speed of the Secret Network, Shade has not only created a product that is privacy-friendly, scalable, and interoperable, but is also very easy to use

ShadeProtocol

Despite their inherent security, traditional stablecoins, such as those pegged to gold or fiat, have a major weakness; they lack privacy Using a stablecoin means that the merchant knows far more about you than with a credit card or debit card, allowing them to discriminate against you

holders the option to make their transactions private or public. With advanced flexibility and auditable privacy, SILK is a 4th generation stablecoin

Since inflation remains a growing concern globally, Shade Protocol offers a stablecoin that doesn't adhere to a single fiat currency or asset, but can react to global trends as they change With Shade Protocol, everything will be under one umbrella, including a decentralized exchange

Shade_Protocol

Based on the Secret Network and SNIP20 private and fungible token standard, SILK gives

PROJECT 2

Dogeliens (DOGET)

dogeliens

DogeliensOfficial

Dogeliens are coming The new king of meme coins has come from Puptopia to save the earth from mediocre cryptocurrencies The meme coin newcomer that could overthrow Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, Dogeliens Token (DOGET), is also one of the newly introduced ideas and has raised a huge amount in a heartbeat

Dogeliens (DOGET) is an upcoming meme coin that aims to offer individuals an enjoyable cryptocurrency that both maintains the meme coin pleasure whilst including utility value These combine to make it a token you’ll want to consider Dogeliens is predicated on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), which supplies the community with faster transaction processing and easy scalability

As governments consider how to interact and use cryptocurrencies, and more nations adopt cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation, at the same time the world's population becomes more familiar with cryptocurrency, stablecoins will remain a major topic of discussion The answer to the question of what a stablecoin should be, can be found in SILK

dogeliens

The coin supplies video games and academic info to newbies, aiming to assist the

uninitiated and those wishing to learn about cryptocurrencies Their purpose is to create one of the best blockchain-based training platforms to attract extra individuals to the crypto industry Dogeliens completed this by establishing the ‘College of Barkington,’ which provides customers with a broad assortment of content material

Dogeliens Academy, a new educational platform, will be launched by Dogeliens This platform will provide a virtual class with video content so that everyone may learn more about blockchain technology Dogeliens will also provide DeFi services like staking and trading, which will be supported by the platform’s DOGET tokens The token is also required for users to mint NFTs to engage in the platform’s play-to-earn (P2E) games and obtain DOGET token prizes� While Dogeliens aspires to imitate Dogecoin, it will not remain in its shadow Instead, Dogeliens will grow and recruit additional next-generation utilities within its ecosystem

PROJECT 3

Cookie Sale

Cookie Sale launched in February 2022, and aims to become one of the biggest launchpads for tokens on the BSC With its sleek design and easy-to-use interface, CookieSale looks to be adaptable and adoptable for developers and a safe environment for investors CookieSale works side by side with Kodi’s marketing & advertising agency Pitch. This benefits developers and holders of Kodi as well As a developer, you will be able to use CookieSale as an “A to Z” platform

From advertising to zhooshing up your “cookie” there will be something that satisfies almost anyone’s tastes As a Kodi holder, a percentage of the revenue generated through

PROJECT 4

Kodi’s mission is to create a one-stop-shop IDO platform and provide investors with an interactive Entertainment Network that will keep users engaged, informed, and entertained while investing in the crypto space

Clear Vision

Kodi`s vision is to create an ecosystem that will be a driver in promoting a safer economic environment for crypto investors to participate in and for developers to grow their projects. Kodi is creating an industry-first Entertainment Network that will become THE place for crypto investors to socialize, have fun, win prizes, and learn about everything crypto Is there anything more about Kodi? How do you, as an investor benefit? Kodi by itself, is an entertainment project Kodi plays games post podcasts, do AMAs, have tournaments, live streams, and play plenty of music� At Kodi there are two subsidiaries� "Pitch" being the in-house advertising agency, which is a one-stop shop, all things content creation, both in crypto and fiat. Branding, websites, commercials, you name it Kodi does it The Pitch Advertising Agency and

CookieSale will be bought back into Kodi and then airdropped to holders, holding 10 million or more Kodi tokens

Backed by powerful auditing companies such as Certik, SpyWolf, Brewlabs, Dessert Finance, Contract Checker, and HashEx developers will be able to choose between three pre-audited contracts or create their own and have it audited separately Other key features include liquidity locking, anti-bot features, custom airdrops, visual cues to aid in identifying safer investments, and more

One notable feature that stands out amongst other launchpads is that CookieSale will only charge a flat fee for listing Developers will be able to launch the right way, without the fear of a large sell from the launchpad taking profit.

CookieSale launchpad Cookie Sale will work in unison to become the go-to destinations for developers to build their brands and launch their projects With Cookie Sale, you can launch your project from A to Z Gone are the days of taking your token supply Kodi simply charges a flat fee, no strings attached.

So how do you benefit as a holder? Well, if you're, a holder of at least ten million KODI you receive BNB, rewards automatically deposited into your wallet You also can participate in Kodi`s weekly games where you can win, BNB for free But here's where things get really exciting Two percent of every transaction goes straight into the Kodi treasury contract The treasury buys back Kodi tokens, creating an increase in price, and stores them in the treasury Twenty percent of these tokens are burnt and 80% gets used to top up the staking pools as needed revenue generated through pitch and cookie sale also gets added to the treasury contract This creates the everincreasing price floor, whilst also removing tokens from circulation Go say hi on their telegram community, or check out their website at Kodicoin com

PART TWO: LAYER 2 CONSENSUS MECHANISMS: WHAT ARE THEY AND HOW DO THEY WORK?

ast week we went into a bit of depth about what layer 2 consensus mechanisms are, what they do, and how they work. We talked about Optimistic Rollups, ZK Rollups, and Validiums. I then discussed a bit about the contrast between layer 1 and layer 2 chains. Today I will finish up by explaining some of the more common layer 2's and what they do.

Layer 2 Examples

In general, layer 2s (which anyone can build), provide a greater range of options for end users as they harmonize with the Ethereum ecosystem� There can be a balance between the advantages of a layer 2 blockchain and the limitations of another layer 2

These are Some of the More Common Layer 2s:

General Layer 2s Defined

The general layer 2 project mirrors Ethereum's mainnet's performance and functionality, but with lower fees (gas). Here are a few examples:

Robert Stone

Optimism is a fast, stable, and scalable L2 blockchain built by Ethereum developers, for Ethereum developers.

Optimism's EVM-equivalent architecture scales Ethereum apps without surprises because it is built as a minimal extension to existing Ethereum software

Optimism

In spite of the fact that a new fraud-proof system is being developed, Optimism is an EVMequivalent system that makes transactions fast, easy, and secure using Optimistic rollups If L2s want to surf Ethereum’s wave of infrastructural network effects, they must become EVM equivalent

Optimism is a fast, stable, and scalable L2 blockchain built by Ethereum developers, for Ethereum developers Optimism's EVMequivalent architecture scales Ethereum apps without surprises because it is built as a minimal extension to existing Ethereum software As long as it works on Ethereum, it will work on Optimism for a fraction of the cost

Arbitrum One

A second Optimistic rollup, Arbitrum, mimics Ethereum's mainnet dynamics with a lower transaction fee

Boba Network

A fork of Optimism, Boba aims to reduce fees,

improve transaction throughput and enhance smart contracts' capabilities

Application-Specific Layer 2s

Unlike general layer 2 networks, applicationspecific layer 2 networks focus on improving the performance of niche markets Examples include:

Loopring

As a ZK rollup, Loopring provides the same security as Ethereum's mainnet with greater scalability, such as 1000x throughput and 0 1% transaction costs

zKSync

ZKSync is a Matter Labs rollup used by platforms like Binance In addition to supporting payments and token swaps, it also allows minting non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Abandoned Layer 2s

Layer 2 experiments and ideas do not always work The following are some examples of projects that attempted to solve a problem but did not succeed

Plasma

As announced in a blog post published in January 2020, the Ethereum research organization

Plasma Group is ceasing operations in its current form and donating the remaining funds to Gitcoin� Rollups based on optimistic assumptions have been chosen instead

Plasma chains are linked to Ethereum's mainnet via projects such as Polygon, OMG Network, and Gluon To regulate disputes and manage security, they use fraud-proofing techniques like Optimistic rollups Merkel trees enable an endless stack of these chains to help offload heavy data bandwidth from parent chains (such as the mainnet), since they are smaller copies of the Ethereum mainnet Only transfers are possible with plasma, not arbitrary contracts Hence, due to issues like high costs and difficulty withdrawing funds from plasma chains, it was abandoned in favor of Optimistic rollups

State Channels

Using state channels, two users can communicate via transactions with each other� Using multi-signature contracts (contracts that require the signatures of multiple parties to be executed), they allow both off-chain transaction and mainnet settlements to occur By doing so, high transaction throughput can be achieved and congestion and fees can be minimized State

channels and payment channels are the two main types of channels The rigid requirement that users lock up funds, combined with limited smart contract support and DeFi applications, led to its abandonment by 2021 A number of teams are still working on it, including CelerX Connext Network, according to Ethhub Additionally, Raiden Network may be in production or nearing completion

Resources and Considerations for Layer 2

Since layer 2 platforms are still nascent, there are still risks and varying degrees of faulty trust assumptions compared to transactions on the mainnet While layer 2s leverage the security of layer 1, they are only secure when fraud proofs are enabled, which they do not currently have Bridges on the blockchain (that people can use to move assets to layer 2) are in the early stages of development and have a lot of risks associated with them Before engaging with any layer 2, thorough due diligence through resources like L2BEAT is recommended By educating users about projects that meet their high standards and rigorous definitions of what a layer 2 project is, L2BEAT provides a comprehensive risk and analysis platform

of the week

Is The Bitcoin Bottom In?

by James Sides

James Sides is an experienced and well-respected trader who has been a friend of Crypto Weekly`s Editor for many years. He has a free-to-enter Facebook group if you would like to learn more from him called Crypto Common Sense. I highly recommend it. If you are interested in trading, anything that comes from James Sides is well thought out and will contain the nuances and richness that flow from a brilliant mind.