*Cue the opening brass of “Hail to the Chief.”

My fellow Americans, in this next election cycle, one of the most important, divisive conflicts in American politics will finally be addressed.

And no, it’s not any of the ones you’re thinking of. We’re talking about Bitcoin.

Bitcoin’s a maverick, an outlier. It’s been shooting wolves with Sarah Palin and going hiking with the ghost of Ralph Nader.

But is it finally time for Bitcoin to take its seat in the White House?

The Only Real Hacker Repellant

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Espresso Shots

☕️ DOJ Drops Political Charges Against SBF ⚖️ ❌

The DOJ will no longer charge Sam Bankman-Fried for his questionable political donations, as they weren’t mentioned in the extradition treaty from the Bahamas.

The DOJ sent Judge Kaplan a letter detailing its decision to drop the unlawful campaign contributions charge.

SBF had donated $46.5 million in political donations to the Democratic party in an attempt to curry favor in Washington. But SBF’s political donations breached both sides of the aisle.

The entire list of SBF’s political donation recipients can be found here.

The charges will be dropped, which is a big win for SBF. But he’s actually never worried about being dropped, even when he was a baby. Because SBF’s huge, curly hair would act like a springy helmet.

☕️ Clashes Over Crypto Bills 🪙 ⚔

Democrats and Republicans are warring over three crypto bills.

The first, the Financial Innovation and Technology (FIT) for the 21st Century Act, a bill attempting to clear up the regulatory framework around crypto, has been stymied because Democrats feel that the current framework is too favorable to the crypto industry, with too little consumer protection.

An additional bill, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, has also been halted as a result of the same, bipartisan disagreement.

Lastly, the Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act is still under heated negotiations due to what Democrats feel are regulatory oversights that would lead to conflict between regulators and federal authorities.

Republicans such as Rep. Patrick McHenry are criticizing Democrats and the Biden Administration for a “lack of urgency.”

Meanwhile, Democrats like Maxine Waters insist that Republicans are rushing this legislation.

“Important legislation takes time,” said Waters in a Cointelegraph report. “The chair is impatient and has decidedly to abruptly end our negotiations and move forward with the bill that is deeply problematic.”

What? Democrats and Republicans disagreeing? In Washington? Expect droughts in August as the country undergoes a nationwide spit-take epidemic.

☕️ SEC Passes New AI Rules 🤖 📕

The SEC has passed new rules governing brokers’ AI usage when it comes to trading.

These new guidelines would severely hamper companies such as Architect, which hoped to bridge the gap between AI and crypto trading.

The SEC believes that the use of “optimization functions” or certain data analytics would represent a conflict of interest for brokers.

Though if the SEC continues down this road of analytical restrictions on AI, Gensler soon won’t be able to ask his in-home Alexa if he “looks cute.”

Spilling the Beans

Bitcoin on the Ballot 🏦 🇺🇸

Whether American politicians like it or not, Bitcoin has become an inexorable part of American life.

And presidential candidates can no longer afford not to have an opinion on it. When it comes to crypto on the campaign trail, silence is deafening.

That’s why, good or bad, all of the contenders in the next presidential race will have to have some stance on crypto.

Because the president’s outlook on crypto is crucial. The President staffs the SEC, the regulatory body which has somehow become the ultimate bulwark between crypto and American legitimization.

Not to mention the president has a heavy hand in drafting tax policy. They’ll play a large part in deciding how lucrative or even feasible America’s future in crypto trading will truly be.

But historically, the White House hasn’t been very kind to crypto.

We know all about Biden’s SEC, but Trump’s SEC wasn’t much better.

Trump very publicly espoused anti-crypto sentiments. But while Hester Peirce, chairman of the SEC under Trump, eventually earned the moniker “Crypto Mom” for her stance against crypto overregulation, she wasn’t fighting so hard when she was in office.

Now, enough about the past. Let’s turn to crypto’s political future.

As we’ve mentioned, every candidate in this race is going to have some take on crypto. But for the sake of brevity, this deep dive is going to focus on two.

First, there’s Vivek Ramaswamy, a newcomer to the political sphere. Ramaswamy is a 37-year-old biotech- and self-described “anti-woke crusader”. Naturally, he’s a GOP candidate.

Listen. Ramaswamy’s young, and he’s a long-shot candidate. But his stance on crypto is one that we certainly agree with.

Ramaswamy recently criticized rival Ron Desantis for Desantis’ claim that if elected president he would “protect the ability to do things like Bitcoin.”

“I understand this stuff in a much more deep and rich way,” said Ramaswamy in an interview with CoinDesk. “Even the way he said that, ‘Do things like bitcoin.’ When we think about the leader we want in the White House, that needs to be somebody who understands the ‘why.’”

We can’t argue with the idea that crypto education is important. That’s why we have this newsletter, to help people develop crypto fluency.

So on this one, we’re with Ramaswamy. Besides, at this point, it’s almost your patriotic duty to mock a presidential candidate saying he’s going to protect your right to “do Bitcoin.”

But speaking of mockery, let’s turn our attention to the other side of the aisle.

Robert F. Kennedy is running on the Democratic ticket. He’s certainly got the genes for the presidency, but what else does he have going for him?

On the negative side, Kennedy has faced skepticism for positions that don’t align with most other candidates.

But when it comes to crypto, Kennedy has a clear agenda.

Kennedy intends to exempt Bitcoin from capital gains tax. Furthermore, he’ll begin backing the U.S. dollar with inflation hedges like gold or other precious metals.

It’s a solid plan, but one that Kennedy will probably never get to enact.

Famously, Trump dropped a couple of unsavory morsels on the campaign trail and that didn’t stop him from being elected.

Kennedy may have some wild takes, but few would argue he trumps Trump on charisma — let alone Trump’s cult of personality.

Ramaswamy’s a long shot. And Kennedy’s a much longer shot.

But regardless of America’s next sitting president, this race is already a win for Bitcoin.

Because it cements Bitcoin in the conversation. Crypto no longer has to hide in the shadows.

If Bitcoin is discussed regularly, on a national stage, that lends full legitimacy to cryptocurrencies, no matter how the next administration feels about its regulatory future.

But as JFK once said:

“Ask not what Bitcoin can do for you, ask what you can do for Bitcoin.”

Premium Market Report

Evaluating Investment Strategies Across Stocks and Cryptocurrencies
Source: Beincrypto

📃 Summary:

Meme of the Day

It’s always so convenient, isn’t it? 🤦‍♂️

Crypto 101

Stablecoin: Crypto backed by an asset such as a fiat currency, or physical asset like gold.

This leads to less fluctuation in price. This stability should make stablecoins more appealing to American legislators — but as we learned today, that’s still not the case.

Some of the most popular stablecoins are Tether, USD Coin, and Cardano’s Djed.

The Last Sip

In addition to crypto, here are the three biggest topics we hope to see covered in the next election cycle.

3. Abolish Burger King.

2. Can we all just agree we don’t need to take our shoes off at airport security anymore? And laptops can stay in bags.

1. Shifting the nation’s focus from border security to stronger surveillance for the shelf of Chipotle to-go orders.

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.