If you live in a glass house, don’t throw stones.

It’s hard to criticize, or have your criticism taken seriously, if you’re not on solid footing.

But Ripple, coming fresh out of victory against the SEC, just had its glass house renovated.

It has a new kitchenette, a new half-bath on the second floor, and — most importantly — tempered glass walls.

Now Ripple feels confident enough to start making some demands of its own, and Ripple CEO & Co-Founder Chris Larsen is taking U.S. President Biden to task.

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Espresso Shots

☕️ Crypto Holds Firm Against Inflation ⚔ 🪙

Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced little-to-no shift in price after the Consumer Price Index Summary revealed that inflation in August was at 3.7% — which is 0.1% higher than economists’ predictions.

Inflation is down since last June’s staggering 9.1%, but still higher than the Fed’s ideal rate of 2%.

And gas prices are much to blame. “The index for gasoline was the largest contributor to the monthly all items increase, accounting for over half of the increase,” read the report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Inflation’s bad, but deflation can be worse. Just ask anyone in Maryland about my sixth birthday, which is still referred to with hushed tones as “the Bouncy Castle Tragedy.”

☕️ Crypto 4 Kids 🪙 👶

Copy trading exchange, Bitget, has just launched a program to empower kids and get them ready for a blockchain-based future.

“Blockchain4Youth” is Bitget’s new initiative which includes an under-30 hackathon with $50,000 in cash prizes, as well as programs and lectures at established universities.

But the most important part of Blockchain4Youth is the global outreach. Bitget intends to recruit at least 100 young people from developing nations around the world.

"Bitget acknowledges the immense potential of young crypto users, who are growing up amidst decentralized technologies. Their pivotal role in driving digital asset adoption cannot be underestimated," said Gracy Chen, Bitget’s managing director, in an interview with CoinDesk. "With Blockchain4Youth, we are harnessing their curiosity, creativity and innovation to develop groundbreaking solutions that will foster market growth and advancement."

We’re already affectionately calling these child crypto enthusiasts “pre-gens.”

☕️ Coinbase Will Support Lightning 🪙⚡

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Coinbase will integrate the Lightning Network into the exchange’s BTC payments.

In addition to revealing this new development, Armstrong also went on to tweet that “Bitcoin is the most important asset in crypto and we’re excited to do our part to enable faster/cheaper Bitcoin transactions.”

The inclusion of the Lightning Network should only speed up Coinbase’s payment process. And Armstrong isn’t the only one who’s optimistic — Coinbase’s stock popped up 1.4% following the release.

To further his support of Lightning, Brian Armstrong is installing an old-timey weathervane atop his San Jose home.

Spilling the Beans

Ripple CEO Rips Biden on Crypto ❌ 🏦

The Ripple ruling was the shot heard ‘round the world when it comes to unregistered securities cases against crypto firms.

The SEC hit Ripple with a lawsuit regarding the sale of Ripple’s native XRP token, arguing that it constituted the sale of an unregistered security.

But a federal judge ruled that was not the case.

It was certainly a decisive victory, one that similarly beleaguered firms, such as Coinbase, could rally behind Ripple’s win as a powerful precedent.

But let’s be real: it wasn’t a total victory. Judge Analisa Torres also ruled that the sale of XRP to institutional customers did constitute investment contracts, and would therefore be an unregistered security.

But for the crypto market, that ruling was good enough. XRP almost doubled in price the day after the ruling.

Now, in many ways, the mixed Ripple ruling is indicative of the battle of inches that American crypto has been waging for the past several years.

Chris Larsen, Ripple’s CEO, has had enough of the uncertainty, and wants decisive action, which is why Larsen called out Biden and ineffective crypto regulation in a recent interview with Bloomberg.

“This administration made a really bad call,” said Larsen. “They pretty much killed San Francisco from being what it was — the blockchain capital of the world”.

What’s more, that really bad call was actually a series of bad calls — namely the Biden administration’s 30% tax on crypto mining and the August crackdown on tax reporting for digital assets.

And Larsen didn’t shy from discussing the greatest American nightmare: pushing industry overseas.

“We owned it, and we don’t anymore. Because the Biden administration decided, for whatever reason, they wanted to push this industry offshore.” Larsen continued. “And so it’s London, Singapore, Dubai that really are the global capitals of blockchain.”

It’s the catch-22 of American industry. If we’re unsure of a new industry and not ready to capitalize on it, someone else will.

But what does Larsen’s clapback mean for crypto?

In the short term, nothing much. If the sitting president was beholden to the criticisms of individual citizens, Instagram would be a much more powerful tool.

But it does give us hope for the future. If enough powerful CEOs like Larsen speak out, they might garner enough American support to force the hand of policymakers in Washington.

But in the meantime, is Joe Biden hearing any of this from behind his signature aviator sunglasses? We can only hope that his thoughts are turning to crypto. But he’s probably thinking about ice cream.

Meme of the Day

It’s ELECTRIFYING! 🎵

Crypto 101

Lightning Network: A layer-2 blockchain linked to the Bitcoin blockchain. BTC transactions can be offloaded here for faster transaction speed.

The Lightning Network can reach this speed through the use of multiple, peer-to-peer payment channels.

The Last Sip

Inflation isn’t just about consumer prices, if inflation gets too high, America will float away like an untethered balloon. That’s why everyone in our office wears weighted boots. Protect yourself.

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.