Last week was a *walloping.*
US Senators pressure co's to leave Libra & won; the SEC took down a $1.7B ICO; the IRS said forks are taxable; and censorship became the hot new export from China.
Buckle TF in, it’s Long Reads Sunday #68! 👇
US Senators pressure co's to leave Libra & won; the SEC took down a $1.7B ICO; the IRS said forks are taxable; and censorship became the hot new export from China.
Buckle TF in, it’s Long Reads Sunday #68! 👇
2/ Seriously, this LRS is like Rekt Week edition. To get a preview and see if you’re really up for it, check out this summary from @CarpeNoctom. Okay, you still with me? Here we go!
@CarpeNoctom 3/ Let’s not mess around and start with the A-Bomb that was Stripe, eBay, Mastercard (and Visa about 30 minutes later) all announcing their withdrawal from the Libra Association effectively at 4:59 pm Friday. FBs @davidmarcus said don’t count them out yet
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus 4/ The withdrawals came after US Senators Sherrod Brown and Brian Schatz wrote open letters to the CEOs urging them to exit the ‘chilling’ project. @brucefenton captured the frustration of politicians strangling new technologies in their beds
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton 5/ Sorry, I want to move on, but lets seriously take a minute and read the letter from the Senators. It basically says “if you do this, not only are you enabling child sex predators, but we’re going to come after your business.”
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton 6/ Others had different responses. Some, like @alex_dreyfus, @_RJTodd and @arrington seemed to put it in the category of “that which does not kill them makes them stronger”
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington 7/ For others, the whole episode reinforced the stakes of the non-state money game, and served as a reminder of the fundamental political power inherent in the long shadow of Satoshi’s ghost.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington 8/ Earlier in the week, @HaileyLennonBTC asked “why can WeChat and Telegram have “cryptocurrency” but FB can’t?” Welp, just minutes after Libra’s big news dropped, SEC went all “hold my beer” and dropped this doozy.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC 9/ All in all, Friday was a fitting summation to a week that was basically just an all-angles crypto pummeling. To get the skinny on the rest of the crypto week, get the Long Reads Sunday email. getrevue.co/profile/nlw
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC What, what the hell?
Yep, I’m trying something new. My observation over the past few months is that Twitter has been throttling threads. Because of that, I'm going to be experimenting with ways to move more attention over to the newsletter.
Yep, I’m trying something new. My observation over the past few months is that Twitter has been throttling threads. Because of that, I'm going to be experimenting with ways to move more attention over to the newsletter.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC I might release the rest of this content to Twitter later, but for now, if you want the full LRS, check out the email edition. getrevue.co/profile/nlw/is…
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC [Picking up the thread from here. I'm still not sure what the best answer is, but the people who produced the content curated here did great work and I want to make sure they get max exposure, even if Twitter algos treat it like it's weight loss pill spam! Onward!]
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC 9/ The most worrisome issue for some with the SEC’s emergent halting of the Telegram token distribution was what it suggests about their opinions on SAFTs. See this thread with commentary by @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley 10/ This wasn’t the only hammer the SEC dropped this week. On Wednesday, the agency released a massive, 112-page order disapproving the latest @BitwiseInvest bitcoin ETF proposal. @jchervinsky can’t see how things change under the current leadership.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky 11/ The IRS also popped in with their first tax guidance since 2014. The contentious question was that they seemed to indicate that recipients of airdropped tokens of forked chains would be subject to taxation. @CoinCenter summary:
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter 12/ For the definitive explanation, however, on the IRS guidance, there is no better source than @lopp.
First, on three contentious issues that arise
And second, on the overall feel
First, on three contentious issues that arise
And second, on the overall feel
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp 13/ The one Govt bright spot came from the CFTC. @ChairmanHeath jumped in saying that the CFTC considered Ethereum a commodity and expected derivative products soon.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath 14/ Weeks like this are good reminders of how lucky we are to have a stalwart legal corps to break these regulatory actions down. There are lots of people to shout out here, but for a full recap check out @prestonjbyrne’s new regular “Not Legal Advice”
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath 15/ Speaking of Ethereum, DevCon5 was this week. Of course, scalability and the transition from eth1->eth2 was top of mind. Here’s @sassal0x summing up @VitalikButerin’s publishing tear
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin 16/ Another big announcement was that Multi Collateral Dai was just around the corner, coming as soon as November. @cyounessi1 discusses here the impacts in terms of both governance and risk
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 17/ One project that got some buzz — and not all good — was OpenLibra, the idea of which is to take the good stuff from Libra but leave the whole complicated messy FB relationship behind. While some were excited, the general reaction was skeptical
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 18/ Meanwhile, the rest of the world chugged along. The Fed, for example, announced a plan to buy $60B in Treasury Bills monthly starting in October. This tweet from @Travis_Kling happened before the announcement but captured the sentiment
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling 19/ We also saw the uncomfortable challenge of trying to participate in Chinese markets without losing principle. The NBA censoring employees and fans and Hearthstone kicking out gamers for pro Hong Kong statements are emblematic of a larger challenge.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling 20/ Even as that export of censorship was happening in other domains, we saw the challenge for crypto cos operating in China as well. After Binance announced that it was accepting Alipay/WeChatPay, those cos aggressively re-stated their anti-crypto stance
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling 21/ As @udiwertheimer describes, the stakes of the AliPay/Binance conversation are bigger than just one exchange and one payment solution.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling @udiWertheimer 22/ In just 20ish short tweets we’ve seen just how classically crypto chaotic this week was. Let’s wrap w just a few pieces of great content that are worth checking out on their own terms, starting w @hasufl’s latest research on bitcoin’s security model.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling @udiWertheimer @hasufl 23/ This one is a bit of a cheat, since it’s actually a 12-in-1. @Obstropolos threads up the twelve articles he’s written over the last year, about everything from futility tokens to TCRs to DeFi.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling @udiWertheimer @hasufl @Obstropolos 24/ Zoom out and read this epic from @morganhousel on demographic shifts, rising inequality and access to information.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling @udiWertheimer @hasufl @Obstropolos @morganhousel 25/ Ah shit. Let’s actually get one more about Facebook, Libra and the letter. @collins_belton captures why it feels ominous and gross no matter what we think of the company it’s happening to.
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling @udiWertheimer @hasufl @Obstropolos @morganhousel @collins_belton 26/ And finally, huge congrats to @PeterMcCormack for the launch of his new podcast Defiance. As you can probably tell from this LRS, the theme is one I think is massively important
@CarpeNoctom @davidmarcus @brucefenton @alex_dreyfus @_RJTodd @arrington @HaileyLennonBTC @lex_node @prestonjbyrne @stephendpalley @BitwiseInvest @jchervinsky @coincenter @lopp @ChairmanHeath @sassal0x @VitalikButerin @cyounessi1 @Travis_Kling @udiWertheimer @hasufl @Obstropolos @morganhousel @collins_belton @PeterMcCormack Welp, there is is.
As I said above, it's going to be an ongoing experiment to figure out the right format or combination of formats for this. Sign up to get it via email here getrevue.co/profile/nlw
And as always, thanks and happy long reads!
As I said above, it's going to be an ongoing experiment to figure out the right format or combination of formats for this. Sign up to get it via email here getrevue.co/profile/nlw
And as always, thanks and happy long reads!
