Extremism and Cryptocurrency: The Story Too Big to Ignore
01/19/21 • 26 min
In this episode, Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Tanzeel Akhtar discuss why one of Justin Sun’s companies is linked to extremism, the insurrection of the Capitol on a blockchain, Iran taking the mining industry under control and also if Europe can regulate bitcoin.
Rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, livestreamed the action in DLive; a video streaming platform owned by BitTorrent, which, in turn, is owned by the Tron founder Justin Sun. They also received donations through the blockchain-based service. Crypto, extremism, deplatforming and the history of Justin Suns' ventures all are wrapped up in this story, which is too big to ignore.
The government of Iran wants to control crypto mining and has clamped down on miners again. In January, the country shut down 1,620 illegal cryptocurrency mining farms. The mining operations were disconnected from the national power grid and miners will face prosecution. Iran has been cash-strapped by the international sanctions for years, and bitcoin looks like another way to get the government the money it needs. But will it work? And will the rest of the world allow it?
In Europe, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is eager to go after “funny business” in the cryptocurrency markets. Lagarde believes the world needs to adopt comprehensive regulation to stop criminals, such as money launderers, from turning to bitcoin for help. She has called bitcoin a "highly speculative" asset. This is not the first time Lagarde has cautioned that cryptocurrencies should be taken seriously and called for global cooperation among worldwide regulators. Whether or not Lagarde is being taken seriously is yet to be seen.
CoinDesk reporters Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Tanzeel Akhtar mentioned these stories in today’s episode:
- CoinDesk: Tron-Owned Video Platform Dlive Criticized for Hosting Extremists, US Capitol Rioters
- The Verge: Hype Man of The Century
- CoinDesk: BitGo Launches Wrapped Bitcoin, Ether on Tron Blockchain
- Iranian Authorities Close 1,620 Illegal Cryptocurrency Mining Farms: Report
- Motherboard: The Era of Government-Friendly Bitcoin Miners Is Here
- The University of Cambridge: Bitcoin Mining Map
- ECB’s Christine Lagarde Says ‘Speculative’ Bitcoin Needs Global Regulation
Did you enjoy the show? We would love to hear what you think. Leave us a review on apple podcasts or your preferred service and talk to us directly via email at [email protected].
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this episode, Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Tanzeel Akhtar discuss why one of Justin Sun’s companies is linked to extremism, the insurrection of the Capitol on a blockchain, Iran taking the mining industry under control and also if Europe can regulate bitcoin.
Rioters storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, livestreamed the action in DLive; a video streaming platform owned by BitTorrent, which, in turn, is owned by the Tron founder Justin Sun. They also received donations through the blockchain-based service. Crypto, extremism, deplatforming and the history of Justin Suns' ventures all are wrapped up in this story, which is too big to ignore.
The government of Iran wants to control crypto mining and has clamped down on miners again. In January, the country shut down 1,620 illegal cryptocurrency mining farms. The mining operations were disconnected from the national power grid and miners will face prosecution. Iran has been cash-strapped by the international sanctions for years, and bitcoin looks like another way to get the government the money it needs. But will it work? And will the rest of the world allow it?
In Europe, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is eager to go after “funny business” in the cryptocurrency markets. Lagarde believes the world needs to adopt comprehensive regulation to stop criminals, such as money launderers, from turning to bitcoin for help. She has called bitcoin a "highly speculative" asset. This is not the first time Lagarde has cautioned that cryptocurrencies should be taken seriously and called for global cooperation among worldwide regulators. Whether or not Lagarde is being taken seriously is yet to be seen.
CoinDesk reporters Anna Baydakova, Danny Nelson and Tanzeel Akhtar mentioned these stories in today’s episode:
- CoinDesk: Tron-Owned Video Platform Dlive Criticized for Hosting Extremists, US Capitol Rioters
- The Verge: Hype Man of The Century
- CoinDesk: BitGo Launches Wrapped Bitcoin, Ether on Tron Blockchain
- Iranian Authorities Close 1,620 Illegal Cryptocurrency Mining Farms: Report
- Motherboard: The Era of Government-Friendly Bitcoin Miners Is Here
- The University of Cambridge: Bitcoin Mining Map
- ECB’s Christine Lagarde Says ‘Speculative’ Bitcoin Needs Global Regulation
Did you enjoy the show? We would love to hear what you think. Leave us a review on apple podcasts or your preferred service and talk to us directly via email at [email protected].
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Previous Episode
Police Brutality Is Global, So Is Bitcoin
From the CoinDesk Global Macro news desk, this is Borderless – a twice-monthly roundup of the most important stories impacting Bitcoin and the crypto sector from around the world. On this episode, Nik, Anna, Daniel and CoinDesk tech reporter Colin Harper discuss Nigerian protestors using bitcoin, the digital yuan reaching retail users in China, the IMF talking about crypto, and more.
In Nigeria, people are protesting police brutality and demanding the abolition of SARS, or the Special Anti-Robbery Squad police unit, an infamous special forces team known for abusing and harassing citizens.
CoinDesk reporter Colin Harper joins the conversation to talk about how The Feminist Coalition, a movement advocating for women’s rights in Nigeria, has been using bitcoin to fundraise and help people hurt by the police during the protests. After the movement’s bank account was frozen, it switched to bitcoin donations, using bitcoin as a censorship-resistant tool, just as activists in another part of the world – Belarus – are doing.
On the central bank digital currency front, China is charging forward with its digital yuan project: last week, about two million people got free digital yuans in a lottery in Shenzhen. People could spend the giveaway tokens in over 3,000 local stores, as Reuters reported. The consumers haven’t been impressed so far, but maybe that’s only a beginning,
Unlike in China, central bankers in the West are not that sure about CBDCs. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a report discussing the benefits of issuing digital tokens by central banks. Maybe the most interesting part, the International Monetary Fund talks about the Big Tech stablecoin projects and what’s at stake there.
Reporters Nikhilesh De, Daniel Nelson, Anna Baydakova and Colin Harper discuss these issues and more on today’s episode of Borderless.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Next Episode
New Regulators in Town: What’s Next for Crypto in DC
In this episode, Anna Baydakova, Tanzeel Akhtar and Nik De discuss what to expect from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration regarding crypto, how QuadrigaCX users are doing and trying to predict the future for Ripple.
President Joe Biden has named Gary Gensler as his pick for chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Janet Yellen as the future head of the U.S. Treasury. Gensler, the former chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is known for his series of lectures at MIT about blockchain tech. Yellen said recently she believes crypto is funding illicit activities, sending the bitcoin price down. What’s next? Nik De provides a short guide to what to watch.
Ernst and Young (EY), the bankruptcy trustee for the defunct Canadian exchange QuadrigaCX, is still trying to figure out how to value the firm’s cryptocurrency assets before disbursement to creditors. Timing is crucial here: The amount of money creditors will get depends on the day of evaluation chosen because the price of bitcoin changed a lot between February and April 2019, when QuadrigaCX’s court story was developing.
Last but not least, Ripple has been grappling with a bunch of troubles since the SEC filed a lawsuit against the company in December. The commission believes Ripple has been selling unregistered securities, namely the XRP tokens. The court case is still in progress, but soon after the lawsuit was filed, a number of exchanges and brokers suspended XRP trading including Coinbase, Kraken, OKCoin, Bitstamp, eToro, Crypto.com, Genesis and others. Now, a new SEC head is expected. Good news for Ripple? Probably not too much.
Stories mentioned in this episode:
- Gary Gensler Named as Joe Biden’s SEC Chair Pick (TA)
https://www.coindesk.com/gary-gensler-confirmed-as-joe-bidens-sec-chair-pick
- Janet Yellen Says Cryptocurrencies Are a ‘Concern’ in Terrorist Financing https://www.coindesk.com/janet-yellen-says-cryptocurrencies-are-a-concern-in-terrorist-financing
- Criminal Activity in Crypto Transactions Fell Sharply in 2020, Says Chainalysis
- Trustee of Collapsed Exchange Moves to Resolve Crypto vs. Fiat Creditor Claims Tussle https://www.coindesk.com/trustee-of-collapsed-exchange-to-ask-court-to-resolve-crypto-vs-fiat-creditor-claims-tussle
- Kraken to Halt XRP Trading for US Residents https://www.coindesk.com/kraken-to-halt-xrp-trading-for-u-s-residents
- Japan’s FSA Says XRP Not a Security: Report https://www.coindesk.com/japans-fsa-says-xrp-not-a-security-report
- Asia’s Retail FOMO Could Be Behind XRP’s Rally Despite SEC’s Lawsuit https://www.coindesk.com/xrp-asia-retail-fomo-rally
- Ripple CEO Walks Back Threat to Leave US https://www.coindesk.com/ripple-leaving-usa
Did you enjoy the show? We would love to hear what you think. Leave us a review on apple podcasts or your preferred service and talk to us directly via email at [email protected].
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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