General Counsel for @ChainArgos, building the searchable #blockchain with #ChainArgos. Views are my own.
Jul 14, 2023 • 17 tweets • 3 min read
1/17 So the @Ripple decision dropped and both sides are claiming a victory. I've read the decision so you don't have to.
So strap in, strap up and strap on (that's what she said) cause we're in for a ride.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/…
2/17 Both the @SECGov and @Ripple are claiming a victory on the District Court verdict. TLDR, here's what the court said:
$XRP sold to institutional investors (with paperwork etc) constitute securities under the Securities and Futures Act and should have been registered.
May 8, 2023 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Don't give up on your bitcoin
Don't make the wrong, seem right
The future of finance isn't won by might
It's written in legal oversight
Painted on the shills
That's where we'll get our thrills
(Sung to the tune of David Soul's "Don't Give Up On Us")
Don't give up on your bitcoin
The future of finance is worth one more try
If only we'd put up one more BUY
Just for a bear market
When maybe we hit our price target
Don't give up on bitcoin, I know
We can still come through
May 8, 2023 • 14 tweets • 6 min read
@binance has paused #bitcoin withdrawals, but that doesn't necessarily mean the end is nigh (it may be nigh, but that's for other reasons).
To understand what's going on, allow me a 🧵...
1. What is the Bitcoin mempool?
Every time someone "spends" #BTC, it first needs to be sent to what's called the memory pool or "mempool,"
BTC isn't transferred the way money is spent in the traditional sense.
Apr 27, 2023 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
Why aren't there so many, songs about crypto,
and what's on the other side?
Crypto's a vision, but only illusion,
cause crypto's got plenty to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it
I know they're wrong wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the Crypto Connection,
the fraudsters, the grifters and me.
Now because we can't all have gone to the University of American Samoa's fine Law School, here's what it means...
assets.ctfassets.net/c5bd0wqjc7v0/5…1. Requesting a Writ of Mandamus from the U.S. Court of Appeals against the SEC is a bit like telling your principal to tell your homeroom teacher to "do their job."
law.asia/stablecoin-sec…2. I argue that even if #stablecoins do not perfectly satisfy the four prongs of the by now familiar Howey Test for securities, established by the U.S. Supreme Court, substance should not be sacrificed for form.
Apr 25, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
1. Sadly the experience of #crypto investors in the likes of #Celsius and #BlockFi is similar to what could have happened to depositors at $SBNY, $SI and $SIVB.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…2. Most investors/depositors don't realize that when you deposit money with a bank or anything that looks on the surface to behave like a bank, all you have is an unsecured claim against that entity.
Mar 25, 2023 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Short sellers get a rough time because the psychology of the market is more often than not, unbridled optimism.
Yet their essential role in the market cannot be overstated.
The business model is simple.
Research the heck out of companies that appear too good to be true.
If management was 100% honest, 100% of the time, we wouldn't need auditors.
If auditors were 100% accurate, 100% of the time, we wouldn't need short sellers.
Ergo, short sellers play an indispensable role in a properly functioning market.
Mar 24, 2023 • 20 tweets • 5 min read
Remember Abraaj? The Abraaj Group was the PE industry's biggest scandal, lighting billions of dollars in investor's monies on fire and embroiling the Gates Foundation and some of the biggest investors globally in what was essentially a confidence scam.
A 🧵...(1/20)
Full credit to @william_louch and @ClarkWriting on their outstanding book #TheKeyMan which is a must read for any investor, especially those who tend to be swayed by appearances.
What if $BUSD as a security was a red herring all along?
Stay with me for a minute.
Looking at the case law, unless there are facts we are unaware of, it would be very challenging and nothing short of legal gymnastics to even attempt to argue $BUSD on Paxos is a security.
The caselaw can be found here. Everyone is looking at the Howey Test, but the real meat of the matter is likely to be covered by a different case Reves Et Al. v. Ernst & Young found here:
It depends - it's important to recognize the QUALITATIVE difference between $BUSD on the #ethereum#blockchain that is issued by @PaxosGlobal and regulated by the @NYDFS and the stuff that exists on the #BNBChain.
And boy is there a HUGE difference.
Just because #Paxos can't mint anymore $BUSD, doesn't mean that it's worthless, it ought to be redeemable (possibly at a discount) but not for zero.
$BUSD on the #BNBChain is an entirely different story.
Remember, $BUSD that's on the BNB Beacon Chain or BNB Smart Chain...
Should the dollar in your bank account be qualitatively different than the George Washington in your wallet?
Even if the denominations are the same?
Even when it comes to the fiat currency that we're used to, it can be argued that cash in the hand "feels" different from the money we have in our bank accounts.
But their effect is the same.
Outside of the first US$250,000 in FDIC insured deposits, everything else is risk.
