Crypto News: Ripple, Silvergate, ADA, SEC Crackdowns & MORE!

Foreign Bureau Weekly News Roundup here are the Top stories in crypto this week Crypto Market chaos BTC collapses by More than five percent as crypto's most Important Bank shuts down its exchange Network and blue chip crypto companies Abandoned Ship everything you need to Know SEC targets staking rumors start to Circulate about crypto projects being Targeted by the SEC including liquid Staking protocol Lido Finance what could It mean for eth with the Shanghai Upgrade coming up Ripple lawsuit update Ripple's legal Counsel advises crypto companies to Leave the US and vows to appeal if the SEC wins its case while CEO Brad Garlinghouse warns of a dangerous Precedent why the change in tone Tether Fudd Rises usdt is allegedly used By Venezuela and Russia to evade Sanctions and tether allegedly used fake Documents to open bank accounts where is All this information coming from Finance fund returns anti-crypto Politicians accuse the exchange of being Involved in illegal activity and the SEC Argues that binance U.S is an Unregulated Securities Exchange how to Separate fud from facts And of course the thoughts of the one And only Ben Cowan all this and More in

Just a moment Good morning afternoon or evening thank You for tuning in my name is Guy this is Not Financial advice and here is the News Last week the crypto Market experienced A flash crash after silvergate revealed That it may not survive its recent bank Run and Regulatory scrutiny for context Silvergate is a U.S Bank that's famous For banking the biggest companies in the Crypto industry including most major Exchanges and stable coins The uncertainty around silvergate Resulted in the largest number of Liquidations from leveraged BTC Longs Since August which is ultimately why BTC Crashed so aggressively in a single hour What's bizarre is that BTC traded Sideways over the weekend maintaining an Almost perfect trading range of just a Few hundred dollars This is bizarre because BTC tends to be A lot more volatile This begs the question of what caused This sideways price action well one Possible answer is the closure of Silvergate's exchange Network or sen on Friday the sen allowed crypto companies To trade Fiat and crypto 24 7 just like The crypto Market as such the absence of Sen could mean that institutional Traders and investors are only able to Move large monies in and out of the

Crypto market during regular banking Hours I.E Monday to Friday during the Day I'll be doing an in-depth analysis Of silvergate later this week so stay Tuned now not surprisingly all the Blue Chip crypto companies that silvergate Was banking including coinbase Circle Paxos and bitstamp Abandoned Ship Shortly before the bank announced the Closure of the sen Most of these crypto companies have Since switched to using another crypto Friendly bank called Signature the only Problem is that signature is trying to Reduce its exposure to the crypto Industry as a result of all the Regulatory scrutiny back in December Signature announced that it would be Reducing its crypto deposits by 10 Billion dollars amounting to 50 percent Of the assets it holds on the behalf of Crypto companies if you watched our Video about operation choke point 2 You'll know that silvergate and Signature are facing regulatory scrutiny As part of a broader operation to cut Crypto out of the banking sector this Operation began in January and seems to Have entered its second phase as of late Last month This is because the Federal Reserve the FDIC and the OCC recently released Another statement to Banks that's eerily Similar to the one they published in

January before a string of crypto Crackdowns it's not clear how many more Crypto companies and projects will come Under scrutiny before the operation is Over now the good news is that blue chip Crypto companies should be fine the bad News is that newer crypto companies Could have a harder time surviving the Storm Regardless I strongly suggest keeping Any Fiat you have in your own bank Account and keeping any crypto you have In your own personal wallet if you don't Have a crypto wallet you can check out Our deals page in the description to get A discount you are welcome Now one of the crypto crackdowns we saw After the fed's initial warning to Banks Was related to crypto staking some of You may recall that Kraken settled with The SEC for offering staking Services The SEC alleged that Kraken staking Services were an unregistered Securities Offering like illegally selling stocks Some of you may also recall that I had Speculated that the SEC could go after Any defy protocols that are providing Staking Services too this is simply Because the SEC doesn't believe Defy is A thing the regulator sees D5 protocols As being the same as centralized crypto Exchanges worse even Lo and behold rumors have surfaced that The SEC has issued a Wells notice to

Liquid staking protocol Lido Finance Which is famous or inFAMOUS for staking Almost a third of all the eth on Ethereum's Beacon chain the rumor Surfaced after a comment from bankless Podcast co-host David Hoffman at the East Denver conference now David has Since backtracked on the statement and Said the Lido team informed him that the Rumor is false the thing is that the Lido team subsequently declined a Request from coindesk to comment on the Rumor call me crazy but well they could Have just said it was false again if That is indeed the case For reference a Wells notice is a Document that the SEC sends to an Individual or institution to inform them That it is planning to sue them for Whatever reason it gives the individual Or institution in question 30 days to Provide a written response arguing why The SEC shouldn't sue them in Eighty Percent of cases the SEC sues them Anyway so if Lido Finance did receive a Wells notice and that's a big if then This means that the liquid staking Protocol basically has a 30-day grace Period before the SEC actually cracks Down this means early April which is Coincidentally when ethereum's Shanghai Upgrade will go live as per the new Schedule In case you missed the memo it will be

Possible for ethereum validators to Unstake their eth and claim eth-staking Rewards from early April assuming there Are no additional delays of course it's Not yet clear what effect Shanghai will Have on eth's price but here is a Sobering statistic to consider at the Time of shooting this video only around 15 of each stakers are in profit According to June analytics aside from Those who staked right after ethereum's Beacon chain went live in December 2020 Almost every other eth Staker is Underwater Some would argue this increases the Likelihood that they will sell however Others would argue that the absence of Large profits means that selling is less Likely you could also make the argument That those who staked eth are likely Hodlers so they won't be selling at Least not their initial eth stake it's Conceivable that many eth stakers could Just sell their staking rewards now if You're wondering how Shanghai could Affect ethereum be sure to check out our Most recent update using the link in the Description Now one of the biggest concerns around The Shanghai upgrade is that the SEC Could see eth as a security after it Becomes possible to unstake and claim Staking Rewards this is because SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said that

Proof-of-stake cryptocurrencies are Securities on the same day as the merge Happened last September the catch is That eth is still technically a proof of Work asset in its qualities and will be Until unstaking is possible consider That former SEC director Bill Hinman Only said that eth was not a security When ethereum's consensus was proof of Work this apparent protection could Disappear after Shanghai in fact it's Possible that the SEC is waiting for the Shanghai upgrade to crack down on liquid Staking protocols like Lido Finance Because at that point it would be able To argue that eth itself is a security Now if the SEC dared to go this route it Would not succeed but it could try if There's a precedent in place I am of Course referring to the sec's lawsuit Against Ripple and two of its topics Executives a suit which coincidentally Began just three weeks after ethereum's Beacon chain went live in December 2020. Since that time Ripple has spared no Expense to prevent the SEC from Declaring Victory and xrp as a security For a long time it looked like the case Was going in Ripple's favor but this Seems to have changed over the last few Months and especially over the last few Weeks the first warning sign came last November when coinbase and other crypto Companies rallied behind Ripple now some

Would say the crypto industry getting Behind Ripple was a sign that a ripple Victory was imminent others would argue That this was in fact a sign that Ripple Wasn't doing as well as advertised and That the crypto industry was starting to Realize just how damaging the precedent Would be if the SEC won Naturally Ripple's legal counsel and its Top Executives have been consistently Confident that Ripple will come out on Top however their tone suddenly changed Last week with Ripple's legal counsel Advising crypto companies to leave the US and promising that Ripple will appeal If the SEC wins the case Then Ripple CEO Brad garlinghouse warned That an SEC win would set a dangerous Precedent for the crypto industry and Said that many crypto companies have Already started leaving the US Now maybe it's just me but these Comments were in stark contrast to The Confident rhetoric we've been hearing For the past two years I just can't Shake the fact that shortly before Coinbase and other crypto companies Rallied behind Ripple last November the SEC won its case against another crypto Project called Library many xrp holders Were concerned that this case would set A precedent for the Ripple case which Would result in an SEC Victory when you Combine these developments with the

Recent change in tone by ripples Council And top Executives it sounds like They're expecting the judge to side with The SEC now whether this actually Happens is anyone's guess but the fact They've seemingly lost confidence tells Me there's reason enough to be concerned Make no mistake if the SEC wins against Ripple they will go after more large cap Cryptos next the only crypto currencies The regulator won't be able to reign in Are those that are truly decentralized You can find out what that means using The link in the description Now you should also note that the SEC is Already in the process of going after Another large cap crypto and that's the Busd stablecoin issuer paxos received a Wells notice of its own in mid-February This means we could see the SEC Sue Paxos in the next week or two as the 30-day grace period ends as I've Mentioned many times before there is a Real possibility that the reasoning the SEC gives for suing paxos over its Issuance of busd will be applicable to Other stablecoin issuers particularly Those in the United States this is why The paxos news caused large amounts of Money to flow out of circles usdc most Of the flows out of busd and usdc have Been finding their way into tethers usdt Stablecoin that's because tether is not Us-based

Usdt's market cap has risen by almost 4 Billion dollars over the last few weeks And this trend is likely to continue if Uncertainty around U.S stable coins Continues to rise U.S Regulators are Aware of this but can't do much about it Because well tether isn't us-based the Caveat is that it was recently reported That some of the assets backing usdt Were being held by a Wall Street Bank All that U.S Regulators need now is an Excuse to seize or freeze these reserves As it so happens it was recently Reported that usdt was allegedly being Used by Russian and Venezuelan companies To evade U.S sanctions usdt is also used By Chinese Elites to move money in and Out of the Mainland according to chain Analysis note that the U.S and China are Not on the best of terms Fortunately for tether this fund can be Easily addressed by the fact that the Stablecoin issuer can and has frozen Usdt when it's been used for illicit Purposes in the past Unfortunately for U.S Regulators this Means they need a better excuse to seize Or freeze tether's U.S reserves than Plain old geopolitics well on Friday the Wall Street Journal published another Crypto flood piece this time it was About how tether allegedly used fake Documents and shell companies to get Access to bank accounts this provides an

Excuse for U.S Regulators to crack down And plays into the whole operation choke Point 2 initiative What's interesting is that the article Specifies that tether was allegedly Doing all of this in late 2018 and cites An email from one of tether's Executives As evidence this is interesting for two Reasons Firstly tether initially lost access to Banking services way back in early 2017 But had banking services by late 2018. Second and more importantly late 2018 is When crypto trading firm and Market Maker Alameda research had risen to Prominence if you watched our video About the tether papers you'll know Alameda research received most of the Usdt ever minted by tether this fun fact Is why part of me believes that Sam Bankman freed had access to information About tether that nobody else had such As internal emails Sharing this kind of information with U.S authorities would probably get you Off the hook from running a crypto Ponzi Scheme like FTX this is why Another Part Of Me believes Alameda was initially Created with the purpose of inflicting Damage on Tether but that is a topic for Another time in any case it's clear that U.S Regulators are looking for excuses To crack down on usdt and the Government-controlled mainstream media

Has been kind enough to give them no Shortage of excuses to choose from and It's not just tether they're targeting Either The fourth branch of the US government Has also set its sights on binance Courtesy of anti-crypto politicians like Elizabeth Warren who continue to insist That the exchange is a quote hotbed of Illicit Financial activity Fortunately for binance it's also based Outside of the US so it's been Unaffected unfortunately the same can't Be said for binance us which is based in The United States in case that wasn't Obvious In a recent hearing about Voyager Digital's bankruptcy a lawyer for the SEC stated that the regulator believes Binance us is operating an unregulated Securities Exchange For those unfamiliar binance us is in The process of buying Voyager digital's Assets something the SEC is trying to Stop on the grounds of investor Protection this is ridiculous because The terms of binance Us's Voyager deal Would see Voyager customers get almost All their lost crypto back In case that didn't make it clear enough U.S Regulators are looking for every Excuse they can to crack down on binance 2. the comments made by the sec's lawyer Are a classic example of the agency's

Infamous tactics argue that a crypto Company or project is doing something Illegal in a separate unrelated case Now so long as the SEC doesn't put its Money where its mouth is by suing Binance us the exchange should be safe But I'll reiterate that the only time Your assets are truly safe is when they Are in your custody if you insist on Keeping your crypto on an exchange at Least use one that's proven to be safe If you don't know which exchanges they Are our recent video on it is Recommended viewing and you can watch That by hitting that link in the top Right Now for what it's worth I find it Extremely unlikely that the SEC will sue Binance us this is because the reasoning In its suit would presumably be Applicable to all other crypto exchanges In the country this would amount to a de Facto ban on all crypto exchanges in the United States which is very unlikely if It does happen then I would say it's Bullish in the long term this sounds Insane Until you realize that a Crackdown on centralized exchanges in The United States would increase the Likelihood that foreign jurisdictions Provide favorable conditions for Exchanges to set up shop overseas where They can thrive A Crackdown on centralized exchanges in

The U.S would also underscore the need To develop decentralized exchanges and Decentralized alternatives to the Centralized components of the crypto Industry a radical decentralization of Everything is inevitable but it will Take time and investment and just Remember that the Crackdown on crypto We're seeing in the United States Appears to be a part of a much bigger Geopolitical picture where the US dollar Is slowly fading away as the world's Reserve currency the US is naturally Doing everything it can to maintain its Dominance I reckon we'd all do the same And with that said let's get Ben Cowan's Thoughts on what he's seeing out there In the crypto verse hey guy thanks for Having me pleasure to be here as always Today I want to talk about cardano and Its native token Ada and look at it Specifically on its USD pair but also on Its Bitcoin and ether pairs as well Additionally we can take a quick look at The bear Market from a few years ago and Make comparisons to the one today so if We first look at the USD pair which Often I think is actually the most Boring way to look at the valuation of An altcoin you can see it's actually Just been putting in a series of lower Highs and lower lows one of the things You may notice is that this downtrend Really started in August of 2021 August

September of 2021 and it's just been a Fairly brutal bear market for Ada so far If you were to take a drawdown from the All-time high you'll note that ADA has Gone down about 92 percent from the All-time high now while that might sound Like a lot and it is we also saw about a 98 drop last bear market so it's not Like it's things we haven't seen before And in fact if Ada drops say 94 from the All-time high that would put it at Around 16 17 cents or so somewhere Somewhere in that in that ballpark or so Now one of the things I think it's Important to think about is you know how Does this fair market compare to the Bear Market that we previously saw now a Lot of people might think and assume That the bear market for cardano ended In December 2018 and arguably I I think There's a lot of points that you could Say that it did in fact end in December 2018. we would we of course would be Remiss to point out that or to not point Out that we actually did put in a lower Low in March of 2020 and this goes to Show how all coins can show more Weakness when the overall Market is weak Than the Blue Chips but when the market Comes back strong these all coins can go Up or at least they have shown to go up Quite a lot if you look at this bear Market which is this orange line and Compare it to the 2018 bear Market that

Actually arguably lasted until 2020 Considering that eventually we did put In a new low again you could argue that The bear Market didn't adhere and this Was just sort of a slight deviation but If you were to take the bear Market from December 28 17 until March 2020 It would look something like this blue Line or it would look like exactly like This blue line and then if you compare The current bear Market that ADA is Experiencing it's the orange line and it Was actually around this time that this Rally over here finally started to sort Of give way a little bit into sort of The last major leg uh to the downside Over the next several months so when I Look at this it does continue to make me Cautious on the altcoin market just Simply because we know that whenever Bitcoin shows any type of weakness the Altcoin market can be quick to give back Gains one one key way to look at this is To sort of zoom in here and and look at Where Ada is right now and if we if we Look at this on a daily time frame it Actually might be somewhat helpful you Can see that ADA has actually gone lower Than where it was back in in February Okay it's already gone lower than that The reason why I'm pointing that out is Because Bitcoin has not I mean you know Bitcoin has not gone lower that doesn't Mean it's not going to but you you can

See that there is still relative Relative weakness in the altcoin market Again a lot of people sort of get Disenfranchised with the altcoin market During you know during tough times Because they they just tend to go down So much but then the thing we also know Is that at least the ones that are going To stick around for future Cycles when You take this out to the peak it can Actually look quite attractive so it's All about figuring out which all coins Are going to survive from one cycle to Another now I mentioned that it's also Important to look at these on their Bitcoin Pairs and their ether pairs as Well I want to look at this on a Bitcoin Pair you can see that ADA Bitcoin at Least so far is arguably an oscillator Uh potentially you could maybe make the Case that it's in an uptrend Um But even if it isn't an uptrend you're Still looking at a potential move to the Downside by Ada Ada's Bitcoin valuation By about another 50 or so right another 50 move to the downside uh even if you Want to make the case that the Ada Bitcoin valuation isn't an uptrend Furthermore what you may notice is that The Ada Bitcoin valuation continues to Go down in 2019 despite the fact that ADA USD did not put in a new low in 2019 We did in 2020 but Bitcoin USD was just

Simply outperforming the rest of the Altcoin or the altcoin market and so the Ada Bitcoin valuation continue to go Down even in 2019 so I would speculate That you're likely going to see Continued weakness on the Ada Bitcoin Pair over the next several months but Maybe by the end of this year early next Year we can see it start to pick up Again of course that's going to depend On a lot of things regulation risk uh we Got to get through all that first the Other thing to take a look at is the Ada Ether pair which is arguably also an Oscillator later but again if we're Going to be look at this as a potential Uptrend and say maybe the eight of Bitcoin evaluation is putting in higher Lows you could also look at the E the Ada ether valuation if you were to draw Sort of like a a parallel channel here While it might look like it's just an Oscillator you could also say is it also In a downtrend you know I mean there's Sort of two ways to look at this and Um I think you need to be somewhat open To sort of both of these outcomes if It's an oscillator then it's already in This you know it's been in this range That it would typically go to if it's a Bleeder then the Ada ether valuation you Know could still have another 40 50 move To the downside or so before it gets Into

Um you know into sort of the deep value Akin to what it saw back in 2019 and 2020. so I think it's important to be Somewhat open-minded on the 80 Bitcoin And a to Ether pairs in both cases I Still think you're you're seeing Continued weakness in the altcoin Market It should lead to General increase in in Bitcoin's dominance over the next Several months but as we know these Things normally turn themselves around At some point although I don't think They are quite turning themselves around Just yet thank you for having me on Again pleasure to be here as always I'll See you again next week Thank you Ben and Ben will be hosting Our weekly live stream on his channel This Thursday 9 A.M Eastern 2 p.m GMT 6 P.m golf time please do drop by if You're free and that's all for today's Coin Bureau weekly crypto review if you Enjoyed it you know what to do hit that Like button subscribe button and Bell Icon too If you're looking to maximize your gains During the bear Market the coin Bureau Deals page is where you should go you Can find the link to that resource and Many others in the description below Thank you all so much for watching and I Will see you in next week's episode Thank you