🐻 Will Operation Choke Point 2.0 kill crypto?

Hey crypto nerds, or should I say AI experts? There’s a great migration happening of crypto folks moving over to the land of AI. It’s amazing how people can become an expert almost overnight 👀.

In this issue, we continue to follow the story of the great bank crisis and how it has impacted crypto in its aftermath.

👋 New here? Subscribe to receive our newsletter 2x / week + exclusive content | 👍 Follow us on Twitter, Instagram & Youtube

In this issue:

📣The big story of the week. The aftermath of the bank crisis. What’s it got to do with crypto?

🚀The good. Starbuck’s first NFT mint sells out within minutes and Salesforce launches an NFT management platform for their large enterprise web2 clients.

🐻The big, bad FUD. Euler Finance loses almost $200 million in a flash loan exploit and Meta halts their NFT initiative.

📣The big story of the week

The aftermath of the bank crisis. What’s it got to do with crypto?

It’s been a while since Bitcoin saw past $25,000, but this week, we finally saw it crack. All it took was a major bank crisis to remind people why Bitcoin is the future and the only way toward a freer and democratized financial system.

It’s Bitcoin’s time to shine and it looks like this mini bull run may be a taste of what’s to come as traditional investors start to question the system.

Expect a tough battle ahead

But even though you and I may know this about Bitcoin, it doesn’t mean that it will be an easy path forward for us. In fact, it’s probably going to get a lot tougher as regulators crack down even harder on the industry by using the excuse of “consumer protection”.

I mean, look at what happened with Signature Bank. This crypto-friendly bank was suddenly shut down by regulators over the past weekend following the SVB collapse.

According to Barney Frank, board member at Signature Bank, regulators just wanted to shut down Signature to send a “very strong anti-crypto message” and insisted that they were not insolvent.

To make it even more obvious, the FDIC is requiring any buyers of Signature Bank to give up all their crypto businesses in the advent of a sale. So…they’re selling a crypto bank that can’t even do business in crypto anymore? Gotcha.

Operation Chokepoint 2.0

Here’s the thing, as the narrative for Bitcoin gets stronger and we reach more people, regulators are just going to make it tougher for us to succeed.

In fact, there is a “theory” circulating that regulators are intentionally attempting to cut the ties between crypto and the banking system to make it more difficult for people to on-ramp to the freer financial system.

This is known as “Operational Choke Point 2.0”. What is this? Let me tell you. It actually dates back to 2013 in the Obama-era. The Obama administration was trying to shutter certain industries, like payday lenders and firearm dealers by threatening banks to end their relationship with these clients.

Now the same thing is happening with crypto. Nic Carter writes all about this and warns us of the impending war to kill crypto by taking down the top crypto banks. I recommend taking a read.

So, what now?

Enjoy the mini bull run for now, but don’t get caught in the trap. The need for Bitcoin is only becoming stronger, which will lead to stronger attacks to bring us down. Stay safe and HODL strong.

🚀The good

☕ Starbucks dropped a limited-edition NFT collection that sold out in 18 minutes. The “Siren Collection” features 2,000 NFTs that sold for $100 at mint. The floor price is now up to $700.

🚀 Salesforce launches an NFT management platform for their large enterprise customers. The platform will help their big web2 clients create token-based loyalty programs and will avoid using web3 jargon like “blockchain” or “NFTs”. Mass adoption here we come!

🐻The big, bad FUD

💰 DeFi lender, Euler Finance, was drained of approximately $197 million in a flash loan exploit. To catch the culprit, they have launched a $1 million reward for information that leads to the arrest or return of the assets.

🛑 Meta is halting their NFT initiative on Instagram and Facebook. After a few short months, Meta has decided to “wind down” on NFTs and focus on supporting creators, people and businesses in other ways.

📣 Got something interesting to share?

Do you have a web3 product or service that you want to share? Get in touch with us by filling out this form and let's work together!