#telfam I don't usually do this but what we heard this week confirms for me what I had hoped was happening behind the scenes at @telcoin. This is by no means financial advice. I’m just tired of the BS out there - good and bad. Read on:
2) Here's what I've gathered (and some speculation to consider):
Telcoin LLC (@telcoin) is a blockchain tech start-up founded in 2017. It’s a real company run by real people, with actual licenses all over the world.
3) During the previous bear market, they completely overhauled the company and its original staff, including 1 of the 2 original founders (though the community has suspicions that he’s still lurking around and (IMO) seems to be collecting a royalty percentage).
4) The current team’s makeup is predominantly senior-level execs that have backgrounds in cyber security, blockchain strategy, global business development, and banking law (generally speaking)
5) They are comparatively light on “boots on the ground” aka the executioners: developers, copywriters, art directors, UX, QA/editorial etc., which has led to some (IMO) minor bugs in their products and delays in responding to issues which has frustrated the community.
$TEL
6) However, they are hiring aggressively at this level. I chalk it up to growing pains, so long as they continue to improve as they have. This is not uncommon from other startups - sell an idea, secure capital, THEN build a team and execute.
7) The idea they started with seems to have evolved from simply ‘providing faster, more affordable cross-border remittances via the blockchain’ to a broader focus on creating a full suite of financial services and, more importantly,
10) They assisted with the writing and successful passing of new crypto legislation in the state of Nebraska, partnering with former banking regulators as well as the CEO’s college roommate, @Flood4Nebraska, who at the time was a member of the Nebraska State Legislature
11) but has since assumed office as a US Representative for Nebraska’s 1st District after winning a special election in Aug 22’ and is up for re-election Nov 8.
12) One could speculate that having a close friend serving in the US House of Representatives who’s well versed in the complexities of crypto regulation and whose name is on a bill written by @telcoin just might be noteworthy. Get out and vote Nebraskans. mikefloodfornebraska.com
13) In addition to literally helping write the law for crypto banking in Nebraska (that I would speculate will provide a foundation for other states to adopt)...
14) they have also lobbied directly with the Federal Reserve and the FDIC to proactively gain clarity around where federal law may be headed, as evidenced by...
15) two letters written on behalf of @telcoin by Dvorak Law Group, LLC, headed by the former head of the Nebraska Department of Banking, Mark C. Quandahl, who represents @telcoin
18) Additionally, @telcoin appears to have hired outside help to further their cause. They are listed as a client of Peetz & Co., a lobbying firm that provides ‘strategic council in government and corporate affairs’...
20) While all of that has been happening behind the scenes – and it’s important to understand how much of a time-suck that must be – they have also made considerable progress creating and improving the framework through which they intend to function as a ‘Digital Asset Bank” $TEL
21) In 2021, they built the backend liquidity platform known as Telx to facilitate the financial transactions offered through their front end products.
22) They setup this framework to allow tech-savvy individuals (and eventually companies offering @telcoin products to their customers) to participate in the liquidity engine (staking) and receive returns from the transaction fees. I’m over-simplifying but that’s the gist.
$TEL
23) They also launched v3.0 of the @telcoin app, which was a highly anticipated event for the community
24) Currently, the app functions as a digital wallet, remittance platform, and decentralized exchange, funneling all transactions through Telx liquidity pools, and they have indicated future plans to add more financial services to the app...
25) namely a more streamlined method for the average crypto user to stake liquidity in Telx but also (speculating here) more traditional bank offerings like lending, fiat currency exchange, custodial services, etc.
26) In 2022, they have continued to add functionality improvements and new features to the app. Additionally, and most interestingly (IMO), they partnered/bought stock options with a local bank in Nebraska.
27) For what purpose, we can only speculate, but one idea that comes to mind is that they intend to utilize the bank somehow to provide FDIC insured custodial services for user/partner fiat to be used as reserve backing for stablecoins.
28) Better to own part of the bank where they intend to custody both their own fiat reserves as well as their partners/users fiat so they can provide the same interest returns the bank would normally provide in addition to the FDIC security (all speculation)
29) As to what type of response and welcoming they received from the Federal Government since last summer and how far they’ve been able to push their way into a favorable position with the people who make the decisions – again we can only speculate.
30) As slow as government moves and based on how behind the Federal Government seems to be in laying the ground rules for crypto, I doubt they will achieve anything federally this year, despite the CCO stating they are...
31) “poised to be by end of this year to be the first company to have the federally regulated digital asset bank” (skip to 30:35 to see full presentation) #telcoin $TEL
32) The date ‘7-Dec’ is floating around the $TEL community due to a Rulemaking Hearing taking place in Nebraska but the stated purpose of the hearing does is....
33) ...to ‘take testimony and evidence concerning adoption of Rule & Regulations of the Department’ so I don’t think there’s anything coming out of that. ndbf.nebraska.gov/about/news-pub…
34) That said, just the possibility that this company may be in future headlines that read: “Fed backs @telcoin as first crypto bank” is enough to take a look for yourself. Anyone who has bought @telcoin tokens recently knows how little it takes to move the price.
@telcoin 36) What we can be sure of is @telcoin has taken the polar opposite approach as the vast majority of other crypto companies – they are proactively working with regulators and law makers BEFORE they make moves..
@telcoin 37) and are following whatever guidance they have to the letter-of-the-law, including (to the community’s loud dismay), never communicating out what they’re doing behind the scenes as has become the expected norm in the crypto space for some reason
@telcoin 38) This, in my opinion, is because they do not want to be seen as doing anything that could fall under securities law, that is to say (as defined by the SEC) “raising money by promoting/selling a token to buyers who in turn are anticipating profits”.
@telcoin 39) The only outward promotional communication you will find from the @telcoin team is around the SERVICES their products provide, which UTILIZES the $TEL token within the framework of those services.
@telcoin 41) None of this is meant as financial advice but more as a summation of what I’ve gathered over the past 2 years following @telcoin and the #telfam community.
@telcoin 42) And there’s a ton I left out – I haven’t even mentioned their efforts outside the US, which as we saw today is also steadily gaining ground. Take a look at all of this for yourself and decide. finance.yahoo.com/news/telcoin-e…
Within that context, he alluded to differences in their approach compared to other banks (without mentioning names) so I think it’s safe to assume that the other banks applied to the Fed as “de novo’ banks.
SECOND - he alluded to important differences (aka improvements) that they made with the Financial Innovation Act in Nebraska compared to the first charter that was written in Wyoming.
#Telfam
The #MWC23 page on the @telcoin website included an interesting bread crumb that may clarify the path the company is taking with the Federal Reserve.
Read on..
2) As far as I can tell, this is the first time they have used the language ‘Fed-Chartered’, which is different from being approved for a Master Account with the Fed, or approved for ‘Federal rails’ as Rajesh had stated previously.
#telfam The more I read up on it, the more it seems that the timing of @telcoin's Federal approval hinges on the outcome of the Custodia case against the Fed.
So let's get into the weeds on that. Read on:
2) The latest news is U.S. District Court of Wyoming Judge Scott Skavdahl ruled this past Friday (11-Nov) that Custodia’s case warrants a trial. bankingdive.com/news/custodia-…
3) The Fed argued that the 2 year delay in approving Custodia is not unreasonable because digital asset banks “present substantial risks and complexities requiring careful and diligent review.”
2) Firstly, a point of clarification: Regarding who would ultimately stamp the approval of @telcoin's master account with the Fed - The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City overseas that part of the country. federalreserve.gov/aboutthefed/fe…
3) However, the CEO of Fed Bank Kansas is a member of the FOMC so it would be hard to imagine the overarching ‘Board of Governors’ isn’t involved in the decision, given the spotlight on it.
2) It seems the Federal approval that @telcoin is seeking is not from the FDIC. In fact, they might not have any interest in that at all (yet), as I had thought.
3) That much was stated plainly by @telcoin's attorney (Mark) during a Nebraska hearing all the way back on Feb 23, 2021. Here’s the transcript from that hearing. It's fascinating to hear Mark and Paul (CEO) talk about all of this: nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/107/…