The Future of Crypto after Two High Profile Convictions

Cryptocurrency wunderkind Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy earlier this month, after it was revealed that FTX – the second largest crypto exchange at the time – had defrauded investors and embezzled $8 billion from its users. 

SBF’s company, which was overseeing $10 billion in trading volume per day back in 2022, did not even have an accounting department, and its financials, for obvious reasons, could not be trusted whatsoever. Needless to say, FTX collapsed into bankruptcy, and people lost a lot of money. Sam is facing 115 years in prison, and will most likely do at least a couple of decades in the big house.

Interestingly, in the wake of such a massive crypto scandal, the price of Bitcoin (often used as a reference point for the vitality of the entire cryptocurrency trade) did not experience significant movement on the day SBF was arrested in 2022, nor earlier this month, when he was convicted. It quickly recovered after a momentary dip of less than 1 percent.

Additionally, just last week one of the kings of crypto, Chengpeng Zhao, was convicted of violating anti-money-laundering laws, and was personally fined $50 million, forced to step down, and is facing possible prison time. Binance, the world’s largest crypto-trading platform, will pay a $4.3 billion settlement.

Again, BTC saw a small decline, which it rallied past after only one day. (To be fair, Binance itself saw a $1 billion net outflow in 24 hours). 

On the year, Bitcoin is up over 125%, Ethereum is up nearly 75%, and Solana is up over 300%. Dogecoin has dropped about 3% this year, but nevertheless, it is still up nearly 3,000% since 2020, despite being an actual, literal, transparent joke.

So what is the average investor to think? How are we to understand this deeply technical subject? Is the reward worth the risk? And will these high profile convictions have lasting effects on the crypto market, or are they just yesterday’s news?…

Last week saw a new record for online spending on Black Friday, as U.S. consumers spent just shy of $10 billion in a single day of online shopping, a 7.5% increase from last year. Total online spending for Cyber Week (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday) is expected to come in at $37.2 billion, per Adobe Analytics. Mobile accounted for over half of all online purchases, while in-store sales, by contrast to skyrocketing online figures, increased only 1.1% year over year for Black Friday…

Industry consolidation has been sharply increasing since 1997, and shows no signs of slowing down. In part, this may be due to decades of the Justice Department’s declining interest in antitrust suits, but more recently, the Biden FTC seems to have a critical eye towards massive acquisition deals. For some, consolidation is simply part of the industry life-cycle, while others worry about the negative consequences for small businesses and the effects of restricted consumer choice…

In 2022, 85% of U.S. respondents said they were planning on celebrating Christmas, although less than half seems to celebrate it as a religious, rather than a commercial, holiday. On average, Americans spend around $1,000 on Christmas. Last year’s holiday spending totaled just shy of a trillion dollars. Yes, trillion, with a “T.”..

Your weekly chance to test your Bible knowledge! The answer to today’s question may surprise you:

Q: What is the shortest book in the Bible?

Answer at the bottom

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Kingdom Leaders Need Mentorship –
3 Reasons Why

“If I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” – Isaac Newton

Tiger Woods is one of the greatest golfers of all time, but from the earliest age, he had his father, Earl Woods, to teach him, guide him, and shape him as an athlete.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most brilliant, influential composers of all time, but he had his father, Leopold Mozart (a composer in his own right), teaching him from the earliest age.

Mark Zuckerberg is one of the most innovative, successful tech entrepreneurs in living memory, but when things were not going well when Facebook was young, he had his mentor, Steve Jobs, to give him advice and guidance on how to reconnect with his core mission.

We often talk about the heroes, but it’s all too easy to forget that successful people usually have wise mentors somewhere in the background. If you do not have a mentor of some kind – even if you are already successful – you still need an older, wiser person to keep you on track from time to time. Here are 3 reasons why…

• Robert Fergusson of Relevant writes about the value of spiritually dry seasons.

• Stocks rallied, reversed course, and then moderated Tuesday, as investors weigh conflicting signals about possible interest rate increases.

• The Gospel Coalition releases an empirical guide for comparing Christian Universities.

• $16 McDonald’s Combo has Americans lamenting the state of the economy.

• Social Security Benefits set to increase an average of $59/month per person next year.
  

• Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's right hand man, has passed away at 99 years old.