The War for Control

Governments around the globe have opposing stances on Crypto, ICO’s and their use. Some have new malls and shops opening that accept crypto. Others offer credit and/or debit cards which immediately convert crypto from various crypto wallets and accounts into fiat currency for nominal exchange rates and immediate spending. Some nations embrace crypto to give access to the billions of unbanked who are essentially non-participants in the global economy.

Meanwhile, some of the supposed freest nations on earth gather and conspire at their secret annual conferences and behind closed doors to make every effort to regulate, control, manipulate, tax, and dominate the crypto-sphere. We need not look far for examples of this behavior, in some of the largest nations on earth citizens cannot participate in ICO’s, exchanges come under scrutiny, are raided, shut down, threatened, and the governments scream fraud and manipulation. So, what is really going on?

Of course, with ICO’s there is bound to be scammers. Its no different in IPO’s in stock. They just pay off people to create red herrings, meet SEC regulations, and then only ACCREDITED investors can get the IPO. It gets pumped up, and dumped to the poor retail buyer whose broker all the while is committing fraud getting him into the “IPO After Market” on nothing more than hype.

If that were not bad enough front running goes on electronically as bad as it did in the trading pits of old. I have literally seen brokers miss a stop order, have the market bounce and go straight up, the broker turns to his buddy and says hey, I sold you 100 S&P’s at $X for 50%, then the customer never got a chance.

You see, it’s all about the regulation if it’s a market that governments, and the political elite and their cronies, cannot manipulate and control themselves.

The Truth

If you happen to be a member of the political elite in a nation that claims to be free, you may fear decentralization and the honesty and trust it brings to all aspects of business and politics, not the least of which is currency. With crypto and smart contracts, we can have currencies that are not manipulated, inflated, and controlled by the elite, a political group in power, or a global banking consortium that serves to enrich only themselves. If it threatens them and their power and way of life, even though beneficial for billions of people around the globe, they have to figure out a way to squash it, steal it, or manipulate it for themselves. Oh yeah, by the way, who gave governments the right to tax you for trading with your neighbor in a non-currency non-asset (as governments long insisted) instrument that they did not create or have any part in. Their regulations are not about money laundering, or fraud, or protecting the public, or any other thing, the only thing that it's about is that governments want to make certain they get their pound of flesh in tax revenue. Basically, its akin to a street thug saying pay me for protection, similar to how the mafia or gangs of old (and maybe new I dont know) operated. Of course, when it was little and not a multi-bilion dollar market they shrugged it off. It's a bubble, it's not a real currency, it has no backing, its not a real asset like gold or silver. That was their stance then. Now they want to classify, categorize, manipulate, tax, and oh did I say control and manipulate, and REGULATE for their benefit, then let me reiterate them. Thats what its all about. In the United States the government wants you to declare and pay taxes even if you trade one crypto for another and made a profit on one. Yet they do not consider these assets or currencies? So next, let's tax little Johnny, because he brought 2 1 dollar packs of bubble gum to school and traded them for 10 packs of licorice and 3 packs of gummy bears and then sold those to his neighbor for 10 dollars, but he only paid 2 dollars for his gum originally. Lets tax little Johnny too. Oh yeah and don't forget to tax the neighbor's kid who cuts your lawn and 20 other lawns in the neighborhood.

Get it straight people, the government wants nothing more than to track your every single move, everything you do, every activity you participate in, whatever you buy, whatever you sell, right down to your underwear and groceries. They want every penny they can get and they want complete control. Crypto currency with true decentralization takes that away from governments, and that is why they will fight it, in any way they can for as long as they can, and they will cling to their old ways. Centrally controlled government run currency is not freedom, nor is it truly constitutional, at least not until the constitution was amended regarding taxes. If you reside in the United States, you are not free, and the government is so over-reaching that they threaten overseas business and even entire nations to comply as well. In fact in the United States, just look at the list of countries you are named with who are refused crypto trading accounts on numerous exchanges.

Just look at all the ICO's you cannot participate in because of your nations absurd over-reaching regulations and need to control its population and tax them to death.

Learn about taxes here.

Regulation - Made to Serve Elites, Political Parties and Central Banks

If a medium of exchange (currency) can be controlled by a single entity or individual it is not a decentralized blockchain.

If some party can issue more of it, modify its properties, change its structure or contractual obligations, prevent it from being used, freeze accounts, confiscate it, or in any way change it without mass consensis then its not a real or valid decentralized currency or blockchain.

Those in power often govern by fear mongering, and they cite the worst-case examples of their loss of control (money laundering, contraband purchasing, drugs, scams, terrorism, etc…) in order to justify and impose regulation that will benefit them and inhibit the masses. They will tell you its to protect the public. In reality, it’s not about protecting the people, it’s about keeping them enslaved and enriching themselves no matter the cost. The medium of exchange is not the problem. The bad actors breaking other laws are. Drugs, firearms, money launderers, these will persist no matter the medium of exchange. Crypto currency is not the problem, bad actors are, laws and regulations inhibiting personal freedom and liberty are.

The above images are but a small sample of how governments abuse their power to enact laws to suppress the people. The entire premise of crypto is decentralization and stripping that power from centralized sources, thereby limiting centralized control over entire populations by enacting laws the majority of citizens never get to really understand or come to consensus on. Those in power manipulate and rig the game to favor themselves and they create laws to squash anything that gets in their way. In addition, they use the media and their existing power, and all the tools they have to do whatever it takes to maintain control. They lie, they cheat, and they steal in a rigged system. A decentralized currency takes away a great deal of that power. Below is a great example of the horrifying double standards employed by the elite in power.

The state of New York, in the United States of America and former head of NYS Department of Financial Services are a prime example of such over-reaching regulation and behavior of the political elite with the sole purpose to enrich themselves. With hidden agendas almost beyond belief and to maintain control for the rich and powerful or the political elite, Benjamin Lawsky, “The Sherriff of Wall Street” enacted sweeping legislation in the form of the New York State Bitlicense. Because of this legislation many small independent crypto organizations could not comply with the mountain of legal jargon in the regulations, nor could they afford to pay the fees associated with operating in New York. Consequently, many exchanges and companies moved out of or do not do business in New York. Many others including exchanges that do business with other United States citizens, will not open accounts for residents of New York state. Further, many of the smaller companies started by entrepreneurs and crypto evangelists with a vision, striving to capitalize on opportunities, could no longer afford to comply or operate in New York State. Lawsky, the head of the NYS Department of Finance was a man on a mission to enact these laws. Need we wonder why? To enrich his own, why else? Don’t believe me, just read between the lines. Shortly after enacting these laws, Lawsky left the NYS Department of Financial Services to start his own consulting company. We can only guess what they do right? Yes, you guessed correctly, they consult to organizations and help them navigate the ridiculous NYS Bitlicense laws that Lawsky himself enacted. I mean really, and this is perfectly ok with these folks and legal? This just smacks of elitism, yet it does not stop there. How about getting into positions of power - RIPPLE?, prestige, and wealth to accumulate and get rich on crypto via coercion, while stopping others from doing the same? Just do some research, the cronies know no boundaries and have no scruples. WE SHOULD BE OUTRAGED, IT'S A DOUBLE STANDARD!

One might ask, who is this Lawsky character that now sits on the board of several crypto organizations and has received millions worth of crypto? As it turns out, Mr. Lawsky just happens to have married Ms. Roth, now there is some crazy coincidence huh? Ya think senator Chuck Schumer was at the wedding? I mean Lawsky did serve as Chief Counsel to Senator Charles Schumer on the Senate Judiciary Committee. How does a kid from pennsylvania move to NYC and go to Columbia, then get right in the mix with Schumer and land a huge role in a newly created government position? Doesn't it make you wonder how? Oh I forgot to mention, his wife, Ms. Roth, is a Harvard graduate whose family partners in Schulte Roth & Zabel. One need not look very far in order to quickly discover that the prominent law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel has hundreds of attorneys representing thousands of clients on, yes you guessed it, financial, regulatory, compliance, and other such matters. Wikipedia reports they represent 100 of the largest hedge funds and more than 3,000 funds globally. Go see for yourself, and the more you dig the sicker you will become.

So, if this sweeping Bitlicense legislation that Lawsky rushed to enact was meant to benefit anyone, it was certainly not main street, nor was it to protect the masses or mom and pop from scams, drug dealers, money launderers, ilicit drug sites, etc…. Rather, it was a perfect mechanism to enrich the elite, while delaying the spread of crypto so they (The likes of organizations like The Lawsky Group, Lawsky’s new consulting company, and Schulte Roth & Zabel could position and figure out how to control or benefit from it, for themselves and their clients.

Right now, they are all scrambling to figure out a way to impose some regulations, taxes, and legislation whereby they can get rich and control, manipulate and cronyize the crypto space. It seems that Futures was the beginning of the end of what crypto was all about.

The Crypto Market Correction

We all saw it coming, but FOMO ensued. We saw the parabolic run up yet as we all know nothing goes up indefinitely. Yet still, people were scrambling to buy the all time highs. It was merely a matter of time before a correction had to take hold. That is what markets do. However, in this case it serves to embolden the fear mongorers as to their claims of "BUBBLE" and their warnings about how crypto is not legitimate, and media and government fear mongoring, and stories about the need for regulation or how the technology of blockchain is good but crypto currencies are doomed. This is exactly what governments and central banks around the world want. They would love to do whatever they can to destroy crypto currency values then come out with their own form using similar technologies in a non-decentralized government or bank controlled type currency. This defeats the entire purpose and premise upon which Bitcoin and blockchain was founded (Decentralization).