I am planning to start series of posts every Sunday on a weekly basis. Most of topics will be what I have learned from news articles, blog posts, and events happened in the crypto world, and my opinions regarding each topics.
I am sure I have my bias against certain issues, and I am definitely not an expertise on these subjects. They will just be my thoughts, and sometimes my rant. Hope nothing controversy.
Without further ado, let's start with this week's topic:
Meme Coins
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It is undeniable that dogecoin has become an online sensation through Elon Musk's blunders on Twitter; and later Shiba Inu also sweep away all veteran crypto investors sanity.
Even though I personally do not know many notable decentralized financial applications regarding about the Dogecoin blockchain; Shiba Inu is a meme token on Ethereum without any practical use cases. However, non-crypto users knows them, and believe them.
Many traditional enterprises or businesses want to keep up with this trend.
Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Cinemas, claimed on Twitter that the AMC mobile application software will support Bitpay payment services; Dogecoin and Shiba Inucoin will both be accepted [1].
Bitpay is a multi-cryptocurrency payment and trading platform; it also includes national currencies from many countries.
Cryptocurrencies also include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin[2]. OK, an non-crypto might not know what Litecoin or Bitcoin Cash are, but every one surely knows Bitcoin or Ethereum, at least the name of them.
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CEO Aron mainly mentioned $DOGE and $SHIB in his tweet, and the rest were just labeled as other crypto currencies. I have a feeling that he's just following the meme coins' trend, not really wanting to invest or build a futuristic financial/trading system with crypto.
When Dogecoin just hit her popularity on the Internet, Newegg, a famous electronic retailer in North America, which I have bought many hardware/component from, announced that Dogecoin would be added as one of the many payment methods on the website[3]. However, starting from April 19, 2021, I still have not seen where to add my crypto wallet yet.
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Vlad, co-founders of the Robinhood app, in which became notorious by manipulating Gamesshop's stock, hailed Dogecoin as the future currency of the internet and people. The reasons listed are mainly speed, low cost, reduce of power usage[4]…
I have to mention Mr. Elon Musk himself, first announced to allow bitcoin to purchase Teslas. Then, claimed Proof of Work mining protocol wasted too much energy, prohibited Bitcoin transactions. At the same time, appraised Dogecoin, which was also Proof of Work, allowed as the solely crypto currencies that can be used to purchase teslas[5].
Of course, I'm not saying that Meme coins such as Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are not worth of any investments. Every crypto has its own destiny. they may not support countless DeFi projects like Ethereum or Binance Smart Chain, or striving to connect all blockchains like Polkadot blockchain ecosystem. At least, when invest at the right time, can make someone a millionaire overnight.
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World rich elites thinks about how to develop their own legacy and maximum their profits. Even though many elites are enthusiastic about cryptos; however, their wealth comes from traditional financial means. Any investment are just portion of their portfolios, they won't go all-in into one specific investment.
If we want crypto and blockchain to become the one of the future currency in the world, we must do it ourselves. While every programmers who believes in crypto can actively participates in open source web3.0/blockchain projects, non-technical people can spend time to fully understand trading/investing in DeFi, and know how to protect themselves while using peer-to-peer networks[6].
We cannot rely on rich people, or any one else for that matter. Take the revolution in our own hands.
New Regulations
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Celsius has announced its platform will stop rewarding US based non-verified accredited investors when they deposit more crypto currencies into their interest account after April 15; the tokens deposited before will continue to receive interests[7].
Only federally accredited investors can continue to put new funding into interest accounts and continue to earn interests.
According to SEC's rules, accredited investors are:
- Have earned more than $200,000 (or $300,000 plus spouse or spousal equivalent) for the first two consecutive years of the current year, and are expected to earn the same for the current year,
- Has more than $1 million in assets,
- Possess financial professional licenses: general securities representative license, private securities issuance representative license, and investment advisor representative license[8],
Luckily I do not have any fund in Celsius; however, it is not the only platform restricted by any recently developed US laws. New Jersey-based crypto lending platform BlockFi, which I am a customer with, and the New Jersey Bureau of Securities have an ongoing fight over whether customers in the state are illegible interest accounts[9].
Centralized exchanges like Binance, Huobi cannot operate in the US soil. BinanceUS is like a red head stepchild, nothing useful on that platform; with the exception of trading, there are no other Binance services on the US based one; at the matter of the fact, starting this month, the staking function is going away[10].
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Personally, I have nothing against interest taxation. We have to pay tax when we earn interests in our bank accounts, there is no difference here; and since cryptocurrencies are recognized as securities in this country, each transaction is taxed as well.
Each country has their unique crypto laws, especially the United States.
Unlike El Salvador, which has adopted Bitcoin as a legal currency; we are not like China, which has e-RMB, although it is not decentralized, at least it's on a blockchain instead of arbitrary numbers in the database[11]; of course not to mention Russia, we do not have an economic sanction that make it impossible to trade crypto (at least one plus).
The official recognition of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency in each country is different, so it is understandable to abide by the laws of the country before becoming legal tender.
However, in my honest opinion, as a potential global currency, every country should have used a same standard; it is somewhat unreasonable for a country to have different standards and different regulations.
It is hoped that one day, people all over the world can truly have a new generation of currency system after fiat; making money, an indispensable thing in life, more convenient.
Works cited
https://twitter.com/CEOAdam/status/1515021890431164424
- CEOAdam- https://cointelegraph.com/news/amc-theatres-mobile-app-accepts-dogecoin-shiba-inu-and-more
- https://www.newegg.com/d/Info/NewsroomDetail?ID=1944
https://twitter.com/vladtenev/status/1514684174002634768
- vladtenev- https://www.tesla.com/support/dogecoin
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer-to-peer
- https://cointelegraph.com/news/celsius-announces-only-transfers-from-accredited-us-based-investors-will-be-able-to-earn-rewards
- https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins/updated-3
- https://cointelegraph.com/news/blockfi-ordered-to-stop-onboarding-new-jersey-based-customers
- https://support.binance.us/hc/en-us/articles/5152269009047
- https://www.fpri.org/article/2021/05/how-china-seized-the-initiative-on-blockchain-and-digital-currency/