Usually, when you hear about buying a politician, it’s a purchase being made by a mobster or sleazy businessman.

But if you buy your politicians through the right channels, it’s both totally legitimate and cool.

And the crypto industry is keeping things entirely above board as it’s poised to make some major, political purchases in Washington.

But will crypto’s big Washington spend finally be enough to pave the way for regulation?

Espresso Shots

☕️ Bitcoin Fees Hit Heights 📈 💰

With a flurry of activity on the Bitcoin blockchain, Bitcoin fees hit their highest levels in two and a half years.

And that highest point was $37.58, but the Bitcoin fees have since dropped to around $25.24 at the time of writing.

Many believe the surge in Bitcoin activity is driven by a growing interest in ordinals.

And now that the Christmas fee is nice and plump, we can finally get around to decorating it.

☕️ Do-Kwon Wins Appeal 🏆 🙏

Do-Kwon, the former international fugitive and man behind the Terra collapse, won his extradition appeal in Montenegro.

Both the U.S. and South Korea have attempted to have Do-Kwon extradited to their respective countries, and the decision to extradite Do-Kwon, most likely to the U.S., was approved by the Montenegrin High Court.

But Do-Kwon appealed the decision and the high court has since been overruled by the Montenegrin Appeals Court.

Do-Kwon’s case has now been returned to the Podgorica High Court for a retrial.

We’re sorry, but foreign legal systems sound like absolute gobbledygook to us. Though, we’re fairly certain the Pogorica High Court is somewhere between the Department of Mysteries and the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.

☕️ The First ETF Ad 📺 🥇

Bitwise Asset Management, one of the Bitcoin spot ETF hopefuls, has announced the launch of the first ETF ad campaign.

The ad series will feature commercial actor Jonathan Goldsmith, better known as “the Most Interesting Man in the World.”

The tagline for the ads will be “Bitwise is Interesting” and the ads will run on social and digital channels as well as the Fox Business Network, Bloomberg, and CNBC.

It’s a cool concept, unfortunately, Jonathan Goldsmith is a little hard to understand. And it’s not the fake Mexican accent, it’s the slurring from being hammered on Dos Equis since 2006.

A Word Foam Our Sponsor

Land Your First Client In 5 Steps

Freelance Writers:

• Tired of getting paid per hour (or worse, per word?)

• Still relying on inconsistent word-of-mouth referrals?

• Ready to step off the freelancer hamster wheel?

Then you’re in luck! 

This FREE 5-day email course will help you:

• Craft an irresistible offer

• Charge premium prices

• Land your first $5,000 client

Click here to get instant access.

Spilling the Beans

Crypto’s PAC’n It In 🏛 🪙

There are many ways to get a reputation.

You can be tough and fight everyone in sight. You can be a wild child that climbs every tree and fence post. Or you can eat worms and become known as “the worm-eater”.

And what comes with that rep? A certain level of influence. And maybe the tough guy has a little more influence than the worm-eater.

But if you’re not up to the life-long challenge of earning influence, you can always buy it.

What Mr. Burns and Scrooge McDuck understand is that money can buy influence.

If you have a mansion with several sets of pillars, you have more influence than the average person, even if you’re a cartoon duck who’s addicted to swimming in gold.

And the crypto industry is taking a page out of Scrooge McDuck’s playbook and buying a little influence. 

$78 million worth, to be exact.

As we mentioned in our last newsletter, the forces of crypto came together to start making some headway in Washington.

In just three months, three Super PACs; Fairshake, Protect Progress, and Defend American Jobs, gathered a $78 million war chest to boost the number of crypto-friendly lawmakers in our nation’s capital.

Now, you may be thinking. Wasn’t this exactly what Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with? Trying to curry political favor for crypto with massive, political donations?

And the short answer is… no. Political PACs (Political Action Committees) are totally legal and a major part of the American elections system. 

PACs do buy influence, yes. But they’re highly regulated, as are all campaign contributions. That’s where SBF got caught. 

For a private citizen, the maximum donation to a political campaign is currently capped at $3,300 per candidate per election. 

Sam Bankman-Fried used what are referred to as “straw donors.” Meaning he gave money to other people to contribute to candidates he favored in order to get passed contribution limits.

He supposedly did this at least 300 times.

Super PACS are a whole different ball game. Unlike the stringent regulations a candidate has to follow, Super PACs can raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, and individuals.

The major regulation put on PACs is that they are not permitted to contribute or coordinate directly with any specific party or candidate. 

You may be thinking “Oh, they can’t contribute to a candidate? Then what’s the point?” 

But the most important word in that regulation is directly. So how do Super PACs operate? 

Super PACs run ads and they run a lot of them. And while they may not directly coordinate or contribute to candidates, they certainly endorse and run ads supporting those candidates.

Super PACs are often formed with specific political messages or ideologies in mind, in this case those are clear: electing pro-crypto individuals. 

PACs create their own political agendas, ads, and informational material in order to get voters to support their chosen candidates. You’ve more than likely seen a ton of Super PAC ads. They more or less dominate the airwaves during election years. 

All of this to say, crypto Super PACs may sound strange but they’re potentially a clever solution to one of crypto’s biggest issues: passing fair and concise regulation. 

Naturally, there have been some opponents to crypto’s new foothold in D.C., and one of the most vocal has been Senator Elizabeth Warren, but we’ll have a lot more on Warren later this week.

For now, we’re content to celebrate the fact that there are those out there who are doing the good work of fighting for widespread crypto acceptance.

Now, remember kids, being elected to anything is cool. But you know what’s way more punk rock? Forming a Super PAC to turn the tides of the election.

Crypto 101

Consensus Mechanism: In many ways, consensus mechanisms are the core of any blockchain.

Two of the most prominent consensus mechanisms are proof-of-work or proof-of-stake models, but the term is actually incredibly broad.

The rules of Monopoly are technically a consensus mechanism. A consensus mechanism is any set of agreed-upon rules that govern how people play or interact in a system, even in a game.

The Last Sip

The Last Sip: The oldest and most powerful consensus mechanism is “Noses”, in which every person has to touch their noses and the last person to do so has to do something unpleasant.

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

That's all for today! If this email got you hooked on our unhinged crypto takes, be sure to get a full dose on Twitter @GetCoffeeCrypto.

If you find yourself smiling at any of our dumb jokes, or even *learning* something - make sure to share this newsletter with your friends!

If you get 5 friends to sign up - or even enemies, we don't care - we'll send you our Bitcoin Bootcamp Ebook! This thing is packed with info and is the ultimate guide to the world’s ultimate currency.

Just hit the Click to Share button in the section below to get started!

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.