Direct from the desk of Dane Williams.
Following this week’s DOJ’s seizure of $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin, the strategic geopolitical games have begun.
What first caught my eye on in this epic story, was the fact that the LEO token hit a new all-time-high.
YES…
…No!
Sorry for the confusion friends, that’s BITFINEX’S LEO.
Not our very own LEO with a home on the Hive blockchain.
Ah, the perils of choosing a common brand name.
Not your keys, not your crypto
So what was the story behind the rip?
Well, Bitfinex’s LEO (again, NOT our LEO) saw a pump because the exchange promised to use any hacked BTC that they think they're getting back to buy back and burn the token.
Which is all good and well...
Except…
Well, they don’t actually have the BTC that they’re promising to use.
The US government does.
What’s really noteworthy here however, is that Bitfinex are a shady as fuck, non-US regulated bucketshop who have literally told the US regulator to metaphorically blow them in the past.
Do you think that the DOJ is going to just ask for their Bitcoin address and hand over the funds?
Not a hope in hell!
All that BTC is staying firmly in the hands of the US government and nobodyyyy is taking the keys from them.
Whats the old saying?
“Not your keys, not your crypto.”
Yep, sorry Bitfinex LEO.
You’re going back down where you started.
Long live the real LEO on Hive.
Buy Bitcoin
From a strategic, geopolitical point of view, this is where the story gets really interesting.
You see, the US government needs this Bitcoin.
I keep thinking about the following section from Pomp's latest Russia is playing geopolitical chess blog:
If Russia becomes sympathetic to the bitcoin and crypto industry, including putting the digital currency on their balance sheet or mining with state resources, it will force the hand of the United States. There is a global competition underway that has a decentralized, open system at the heart of it. Anyone can plug into the system. The game theory is that no one wants to start the cascade, but once your adversary does it, you are forced to adopt the technology or risk being left behind.
And in reality, the cascade that Pomp talks about has already begun.
Do you really think the US isn’t going to ensure that they have a stake in what every day becomes more obviously the future economic system to eclipse the current status quo?
This seizure literally puts $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin in their hands.
They aren’t giving it back to fucking Bitfinex of all people.
It’s the property of the United States government now.
Now, if the American government has Bitcoin, can Russia, China, the EU or anyone else that wants to be a player, afford to not also buy some?
If governments start buying BTC off the market in $3.6 billion chunks, what do you think that will do to price?
I think it’s safe to say that this is the sort of event that will certainly have an effect.
Whether you agree that the US government keeping the recovered Bitcoin is morally right or wrong is irrelevant.
The fact of the matter is that it’s happening and there’s nothing we can do but play along.
Buy Bitcoin.
Best of probabilities to you.