You might be reading this newsletter on your iPhone, right now. It’s a device that revolutionized everything, including how we see the world.

The iPhone has become as much a part of everyday life as rainy days or second-hand vape smoke. You expect to see an iPhone when you go outside.

Now, a new device is on the scene, and it hopes to do to crypto, what the iPhone did to the world. Keep reading, we’ll tell you all about it in today’s newsletter.

Espresso Shots

☕️ The SEC VS Congress ⚖️ 🏦

A House Committee is demanding that the SEC give them access to documents pertaining to the charges against Sam Bankman-Fried…

And the SEC are dragging their feet.

So much so, that the House Committee on Financial Services penned a letter to Gary Gensler, demanding that he turn the documents over immediately.

“We sent you a letter requesting documents related to charges filed by the (SEC) against Sam Bankman-Fried. Ignoring the deadline, the SEC actively impeded Committee staff,” the letter reads.

Gensler and the SEC have until April 17th to turn over the documents, one day before normal Americans will have to turn over their taxes.

Which means for one day, Gensler will have to experience the fear and anxiety that average people feel during tax season.

☕️ Infighting at the SEC ⚖️ 🥊

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce is criticizing her boss, Chairman Gary Gensler’s announcement that he's doubling down on applying securities laws to crypto.

“Make no mistake: many crypto trading platforms already come under the current definition of an exchange and thus have an existing duty to comply with the securities law,” said Gensler.

“Investors in the crypto markets must receive the same time-tested protections that the securities laws provide in all other markets." Gensler went on.

Commissioner Peirce believes the announcement “sends a message that we are uninterested in facilitating innovation and competition in the financial markets and instead seek to protect incumbents.”

Furthermore, Peirce feels this stance presents an “ambiguity that undermines fundamental First Amendment protections.”

Gensler has reportedly said that he’s fine with members of the SEC having different opinions than his own, but privately wishes Hester Peirce would stop coming to his Open Mic nights if she’s just going to heckle him from the front row.

☕️ Sweden Kills Bitcoin Mining 🇸🇪 ⛏️

Sweden’s plan to increase energy taxes by 6000% per kilowatt and remove tax incentives for data centers may be the death knell for crypto in the region.

This system has made crypto mining “prohibitively expensive in Sweden and could ultimately destroy the industry,” said Jaran Mellerud, a senior analyst at Luxor Technologies, a crypto mining service.

The largest contributing factor is that most of Europe is currently in the midst of an energy crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine. But Sweden was once a data hub that seemed poised to weather the storm.

In 2017, Sweden offered a 98% tax cut for data centers, but this legislation will make that a thing of the past and the future looks bleak for Swedish crypto.

In Sweden, crypto mines may soon be even harder to assemble than their stupid IKEA furniture.

Spilling the Beans

Is This the iPhone of Crypto? 📱 😳

What will it take for crypto to go from a small, niche industry to mass adopted tech?

Well, one crypto company believes the answer to that question can be found by looking at Apple.

As Steve Jobs presented the iPhone to the world, he revolutionized the way we communicate, transact, and consume entertainment.

Solana would like to do the same.

Solana is the 11th largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Its native token SOL has had a wild few years, once worth as much as $250. But it fell below $10 as recently as January.

Now, the Solana ecosystem is looking to break out once again, this time by following the Apple playbook.

Hardware is not an easy game to play, especially in the world of cryptocurrency. But in many ways, it’s also a logical next step. How do we onboard the next billion people into crypto?

First, we have to make it easier to join the ecosystem.

We can’t expect everyone and their mother to figure out how to use decentralized wallets and master all the intricacies of self-custody. At some point, we have to make onboarding easier.

One solution is to create traditional tools that function in untraditional ways or, in other words, meet people with the technology they’re comfortable with.

That’s where the Solana phone comes in. The Solana Saga was first announced at an event in New York in June of 2022.

At first, little was known about the device other than that it would be tied to the Android ecosystem - a necessity given Apple’s 30% fees for app-based transactions.

Now, after nearly a year of build up, the Solana phone has finally found its way into the hands of curious users.

So: What’s the verdict? Is the Solana Phone about to change everything?

Well, no, not everything. According to a review from Decrypt, the phone looks and feels like a lot of other smartphones out there.

It has competitive dual camera technology, a recognizably sleek design with a ceramic back, and it’s completely 5G compatible.

But where the phone stands out is with its built in web3 features. The phone itself has native self-custody wallet features, which require your biometric signature via a fingerprint scanner.

The phone also has a decentralized application store which is currently short on offerings but allows for far easier web3 use on mobile than existing options.

The real gem here though is native onboarding. The phone itself walks you through setting up your wallet and can be completed in just a matter of minutes.

Ultimately, the phone seems to simplify and upgrade crypto transactions on mobile which tend to be pretty frustrating. Despite that, it doesn’t look poised to fly off the shelves.

That said, Solana doesn’t really seem to care about mass marketability. Solana’s cofounder Anatoly Yakovenko has implied he sees the phone as more of a strategic play to developers.

If that’s his goal - then the Solana phone is already a success.

Crypto developers are thrilled at the possibility of a mobile ecosystem that will support web3 as opposed to suppressing it.

But as for commercial success, the Solana Saga is likely too niche of a product. It may drive some passionate Solana users but it’s not likely to grab users from other ecosystems.

For our part, it’s really cool to see an innovative new take on how to get people into crypto, though this still feels like a draft or an early concept of a far larger idea.

Ultimately, what we’d really love to see is a mobile phone that could serve as a cold wallet and support every token, the way Ledger wallets do.

Whoever pulls that off (looking at you Ledger) may have the actual Apple moment that Solana has been chasing.

And hopefully one day, the Solana Phone will supersede the iPhone as the choice device for collecting advertising data on American children.

Meme of the Day

This is probably the most haunting image we've ever created for this newsletter. Sorry.

Crypto 101

Zero Knowledge Proof: And no, we’re not talking about ignorance.

A Zero Knowledge Proof is a technical protocol in which one party can communicate a verifiable truth to another party without having to reveal additional information.

This is particularly essential in privacy. What if you could prove to a bouncer that you were over 21 without sharing your actual birthday and government ID? Or you could open up a bank account without telling the bank teller your social security number?

Those are Zero Knowledge use cases. Privacy is only becoming a bigger issue, so expect to hear about this tech, and this term, a lot in the coming years.

The Last Sip

Before we looked it up, here’s what we thought the SEC (the Securities Exchange Commission) stood for.

• The Small Elderly Client

• The Society for Elvish Care

• Snacking. Eating. Chewing.

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.