Hodder Law Weekly Newsletter - April 5, 2023
Hello everyone,
I hope you are all having a great week! The price of Bitcoin as of Wednesday, April 5 at 6:50 p.m. EST is $28,191.
Headlines.
Paxful to suspend operations. U.S. regulators have made doing business very challenging for crypto exchanges, including peer-to-peer platform, Paxful. And with a lawsuit by Paxful co-founder Artur Schaback disrupting their business, the responsible choice was to shut down Paxful to ensure the safety of customer funds.
Coinbase dominates US market with over 75% market share. Binance currently has an 8.3% market share, Crypto.com 6%, Kraken 5.4%, and Gemini 4.1%. With the SEC issuing a Wells notice indicating an imminent lawsuit, Coinbase may face challenges to hold on to its market share dominance.
Space Force major to Pentagon: Mine Bitcoin! In an MIT master's degree thesis, Jason Lowery argues that global superpowers should battle for proof-of-work supremacy on the Bitcoin blockchain rather than on the battlefield. Similar to sporting competitions during the Cold War, Lowery believes Bitcoin can be a conduit to peace between adversaries. Lowery’s thesis has now been published as a 400-page bestseller on Amazon.
El Salvador's Bitcoin boom: How the world's first crypto nation's big bet is stabilizing its economy, proving critics wrong, and paying back its debt. Two outstanding $800 million bonds have recently been paid back, alleviating any concerns about a default. Since making Bitcoin an official legal tender in El Salvadore, nearly half the citizens there have downloaded the Chivo wallet created by the government.
U.S. government case against Voyager-Binance.US deal has 'substantial' merits, judge says. While the $1 Billion deal was originally approved in March, objections from the U.S. attorney have delayed the decision. Judge Reardon hopes to resolve the issue quickly by asking the government to submit their brief by April 7, with Voyager to respond by April 18.
It sure looks like the U.S. is trying to kill crypto. With conspiracy theories gaining traction about a concerted effort by the Federal Government to crack down on crypto, clarity is needed quickly before the brightest minds in this industry leave the U.S. With regulators blocking crypto company's access to banking services with ‘Operation Choke Point 2.0,’ America feels a lot less like the land of the free.
The behavioral economics of Bitcoin. The challenge in Bitcoin and crypto being adopted by the masses is that most people have a hard time imagining how this technology will transform our future. Just as the internet, nearly 30 years ago, had many people thinking it was a passing fad, today crypto faces these same doubters.
Texas is Bitcoin country, with or without the U.S. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has made it clear that Lone Star State is open for crypto business. When Bitcoin mining was banned in China, Texas saw a huge influx of Bitcoin miners heading to the State. With Texas being the largest energy producer in the U.S. you can expect innovations in energy efficiencies in cooperation with Bitcoin mining operations.
HODLCast.
BlockFi has approved California customers to be refunded for payments sent after Nov 11, 2023. Executives like Zac Prince are still earning $400K per year. The bankruptcy trustee warned BlockFi that they need funds in FDIC-insured accounts. Watch the latest HodlCast on my YouTube channel.
It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.
Make it a great week!
Sincerely,
Sasha Hodder
Hodder Law
