Panic! At the Markets...

June 1st:

Hong Kong government approves trading the following tokens: $SAND, $ADA, $MATIC, $SOL, $AXS, $ATOM, $DOT, $UNI, $LINK, $LTC, $AVAX, $XLM, $ETH

June 5th:

SEC sues CZ Binance for having markets for: $SAND, $ADA, $MATIC, $SOL, $AXS, $ATOM, $FIL, $MANA, $ALGO, $COTI

June 6th:

SEC sues Coinbase alleging they were operating as an unregistered exchange and broker, with 13 assets listed on its platform that are "allegedly" considered securities. 

June 9th:

Robinhood decides to end support for Cardano $ADA, Polygon $MATIC, and Solana $SOL on June 27th, 2023 at 6:59 PM ET. If you still have any of these after termination of support, your assets will be automatically sold and converted into fiat. 

June 9th:

Cardano retraces to $0.25 level, Matic to $0.50, and Solana to $14

Russia’s Largest Bank, Sberbank announces plans to allow retail investors to trade Digital Assets

June 13th:
Crypto.com to Shut Down U.S. Institutional Services After SEC Lawsuits Target Industry

June 14th:
SEC releases Hinman emails in the XRP lawsuit #ETHGATE

SEC asks for more time to respond to Coinbase call for crypto clarity. The securities regulator says it would make a recommendation within 120 days on Coinbase’s rulemaking request but adds that the action has “no merit.”

June 15th:
BlackRock, the largest money-management firm in the world, with more than $9 trillion in assets under management - files an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, utilizing Coinbase Custody and spot market data to enhance accessibility for institutional investors.

My Journey into Crypto & the Blockchain Space

Quick article on my journey into crypto & the blockchain space. My career is in FinTech & IT Research/Data Analytics so naturally I've always been curious about the technology behind crypto & how it works. In 2020, I started trading and my roommate (an engineer) was urging me to look into crypto, saying it's the future yaddayadda. At first, I faded his advice thinking that crypto was a scam. A few bad trades later, coupled with some maxed out gambling accounts, I was desperate for some quick flips. Coincidentally, my aunt was also complaining about the lengthy, and expensive process it took to send money to her family abroad... she then brought up XRP. I started doing some research into Ripple, and what this team aims to achieve and shortly after was convinced that this was the future of finance and our remittance system.

XRP was my first investment in the space during late 2020, which introduced me to crypto, the blockchain, and everything it has to offer. Shortly after, the SEC threw the infamous lawsuit at Ripple, which dramatically suppressed its price for years to follow. Here we are, 3 years later with a potential verdict within reach, and what seems to be a successful outcome for the Ripple team and XRPCommunity. At the time of lawsuit, the SEC’s decision had encouraged me to look into other projects in order to diversify my portfolio. Thankfully, this brought me to Cardano! I have Ripple to thank for introducing me to crypto & IOHK for keeping me here. These teams have shown me the capabilities blockchain & crypto has to offer. It’s also good to note the SEC often settles, “a healthy settlement sends just as much of a message as a win in front of a judge.” Even with defeat it’s not like either of these teams are going anywhere. My point in all of this is, in the face of uncertainty…

1). Be confident in your decisions, if you did your research on this team and Cardano you shouldn’t be worried. The powers that be, want you to sell so they can scoop up your bags continuing the cycle of "the rich get richer and poor get poorer." 

2). While many of you are rightfully outraged by the SEC throwing lawsuits left & right… you need to realize that if this industry is to move forward in any way whatsoever, it needs more clarity.

Widespread adoption will never happen without clarity and legislation in place. Specifically towards large cap projects that have hundreds of thousands if not millions of individuals invested in them, including projects listed in the lawsuit such as $ADA, $SOL, $MATIC, $SAND, $FIL, $ALGO, $ATOM, and more. The sooner the SEC looks into Cardano the closer we get to clarity and hopefully, widespread adoption. With inflation INCREASING, trust in our banks DECREASING, Bitcoins halving approaching, and elections around the corner (*which include several presidential candidates endorsing bitcoin and the crypto space) I have no doubt that we will have our moment. Crypto will soon have its stage...

Don’t lose faith in crypto, and more importantly don’t lose faith in Cardano (or XRP for that matter - the outcome this lawsuit will have drastic implications on the entire crypto space). If you did your research, and made it this far you should be confident that they will likely come out of this unscathed and that this only brings us closer and closer to widespread adoption. Whether you’re in it for the money, or in it for its mission - widespread adoption, decentralization, security, accessibility and financial inclusion are the goals.

When you look down at your hands... ask yourself, do you see paper hands or do you see diamonds? Are you a 🍤 or are you a 🐋 A sheep, or wolf? Regardless of what you are, understand that your participation in the space matters and that as a community we need to come together, we need to continue to learn, and we need to continue to support the Cardano ecosystem. HODL 🚀