Hodder Law Weekly Newsletter - February 17, 2023
Hello everyone, I hope you are all having a great week! The price of Bitcoin as of Friday, February 17 at 5:35 p.m. EST is $24,487.
Headlines.
Binance withdrawals surge as Paxos-BUSD drama weighs on the exchange. Nearly $831 million flowed out of Binance on Monday making it their worst day since November. Investors are spooked by regulators moves against Paxos and the Binance-issued BUSD stablecoin which accounts for 35% of all Binance trading activity.
SEC under fire for regulation by enforcement in Kraken staking action. The SEC ruling resulted in a $30 million fine for Kraken and the end of their crypto-staking services in the U.S. Commissioner Hester Pierce made a dissenting statement questioning whether Kraken registering with the SEC would have even been possible.
Are the remaining US crypto giants staring down the barrel of the US Government's gun? You can expect further action from government regulators in a fight with Crypto companies over what defines a security. While SEC chairman Gary Gensler wants crypto companies to register with the SEC, a former SEC lawyer stated that “there is no path available under current law for a crypto exchange to register with the SEC.”
Regulating Crypto by Enforcement and Stealth Will Set the US Back. With regulators making it more difficult for average Americans to participate in the crypto industry, it’s pushing those investment opportunities into the hands of Wall Street and also outside of the U.S. And with many of the world’s largest tech companies investing in blockchain/crypto projects, ill-informed government regulation will move innovation away from the U.S.
PayPal Held $604M of Customers' Crypto as of Year-End 2022. The payment company has allowed users to buy and sell crypto since October 2022 and holds $291 million in Bitcoin. Although until June last year, users weren’t even allowed to move their funds to external wallets, which is always a huge red flag.
As its Central Bank Limits Cash and Pushes a CBDC, Nigeria needs Bitcoin! Since less than 0.5% of Nigerians adopted the eNaira, the government is limiting cash withdrawals to coerce citizens to use the CBDC. It’s turned into a dystopian nightmare with people’s access to their money in jeopardy and cash being sold at a premium.
Bitcoin Saved Me From A Russian Missile Strike. There’s no safer asset in a war zone than Bitcoin, as real estate investments can be destroyed in an instant. Giving governments the power to print unlimited amounts of money to be used to fund tyrannical war efforts should be a relic of past eras.
HODLCast
CRYPTO REGULATION UPDATE KRAKEN FINED $30M AND MORE COMING! This week's HodleCast discusses all the details around the SEC action against Kraken's staking services. SEC's enforcement Action against Kraken. Read all about it on my blog from the Hodder Law Firm website.
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” – Confucius
Make it a great week! Sincerely, Sasha Hodder Hodder Law sasha@hodder.law www.hodder.law
