We’re already worried about inflation, a looming recession, and the dollar getting weaker every day.

But what if we were entirely out of dollars as early as June?

The U.S. may be emptying out its pocket and only coming up with lint if something doesn’t change soon.

More in the deep dive.

Espresso Shots

☕️ U.S. Court Orders SEC to Elaborate 🧑‍⚖️ 🗣

The SEC has been forced to respond to a query by Coinbase as to the regulatory body’s unclear guidelines on applying securities laws to crypto assets.

Coinbase’s complaint is backed by the SEC’s long unanswered response to a 2022 petition asking for clearing guidelines within the digital assets sector.

The SEC will now have a 10-day deadline to provide some sort of legal basis as to why they didn’t respond to the survey.

The motivator behind Coinbase’s strategy here may be a preemptive strike against the SEC, which hit Coinbase with a notice of future legal action.

Though as far as sleepover reform, a U.S. Court also advised Coinbase executives to stop putting SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s hand in warm water. It doesn’t work and will only make them prank harder and meaner in future arbitration.

☕️ Crypto on the Campaign Trail 🪙 🇺🇸

We’ve been predicting for months that crypto was going to be a big ticket item in the next election cycle and guess what, folks, it’s already happening.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democrat lawyer and member of the closest thing America has to a royal family, announced his presidential bid and immediately began firing off about the 30% crypto mining tax.

RFK is joined by the likes of Republican hopeful, Gov. Ron DeSantis in his pro-crypto, anti-government stance. DeSantis has recently said that he feels the introduction of a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) could be used to limit private citizens’ access to gas and restrict the number of rifles they can buy.

Ted Cruz has almost identical beliefs to DeSantis, but Cruz seriously should never try to run for president again.

RFK is upholding his family’s legacy by running as a Democratic candidate, but he has confessed to the press that he, “has no plans to be assassinated at this time.”

☕️ France Re-permitting Crypto Influencers 🇫🇷 💁‍♀️

The French Senate’s Committee on Economic Affairs has approved an amendment that would begin the legislative process that would once again allow registered cryptocurrency companies to hire social media personalities for paid endorsements and advertising.

This move is in complete opposition to a French bill that banned crypto influencers in March, with potential violators facing up to two years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine.

It would seem that the passing of MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) in European Parliament has brought new attitudes, and new crypto legislation, to the continent.

But no word yet if the government intends to regulate the most powerful tool of the French influencer, “the Self-oui.”

Spilling the Beans

US Out of Cash by June 🇺🇸 💵

The idea that the United States could completely run out of dollars sounds like the premise of a low-stakes, slightly boring HBO political drama. 

But as the American debt ceiling looms ever closer, it’s becoming a distinct possibility.

America is in debt. Which isn’t something we like to think about. Like credit card debt or student loan payments, it’s something you compartmentalize to the back of your mind so you can get joy out of that post-work happy hour.

But America’s debt problem undoubtedly dwarfs that of any of its citizens. So just how bad has it gotten? At the moment, it rings up to $31.38 trillion.

To make matters worse, in the midst of all that debt, we’re seeing serious economic inflation. The price of everything is going up.

And how do we combat inflation and a steadily rising debt? With the good, old American greenback.

The dollar has long been considered the world’s reserve currency, and with good reason. As a country, we spend like nobody else.

But the American dollar isn’t what it used to be. In fact, it’s weak, and only getting weaker.

Why? Because we’re being forced to print more and more dollars to combat those problems we mentioned above.

With a steadily weakening American dollar and a steadily growing national debt, from an economic perspective, our country is between a rock and a hard place.

Now, enter the debt ceiling.

The debt ceiling is the limit that the American government puts on itself when it comes to borrowing money.

In other words, the debt ceiling is basically a political ticking time bomb. Once a year, the US puts in place a “cap” or debt ceiling that limits our borrowing. 

But there’s a problem with that cap: we know we’re going to need to break it to pay off our other debts. So, inevitably, we raise the ceiling and kick the can down the road a bit further. 

This may sound insane and make you question everything you know about America’s economy, but America generally solves its problems in borrowing money by borrowing more money.

Now, we don't need to remind you that for every dollar America prints, the dollar in your pocket is worth less.

But in case that's news to you, inflation spells a slow death for sitting cash, making it all the more important to put your money to work.

Fear not though, there's ways to do that, like learning about the rapidly growing opportunities within the crypto space.

Of course, it helps to have a guide when you learn, and who better to be that guide than your friends at Coffee & Crypto? We'll make sure you have what you need to master the world of crypto.

If you're ready to get serious about your crypto education. Join 1-800-Bitcoin today.

Now where were we... Oh yeah! America's financial woes.

If America was a minor character in a mafia movie you’d be sure there was no way they were going to live through the second act.

Now, think of that inevitable visit from some mob goons as the debt ceiling. When they come visiting, it usually has catastrophic results. Kneecaps don’t usually make it through this scene.

Now, if we reach the debt ceiling, we’re in serious trouble. Once we hit that ceiling we are no longer allowed to borrow money (keep in mind this is a rule we made to restrict ourselves.)

So if we do hit that ceiling, we can no longer pay our debts. Which means, like many citizens across this great land, the US economy would default on its loans.

And if we default on our many, expensive loans, the results could be cataclysmic.

It’s the United States government’s responsibility to keep us out of this situation, but at the moment we are perilously, incredibly close to the debt ceiling.

The debt ceiling is $38.4 trillion and as we mentioned, our current national debt sits around $38.38.

And extrapolating from the United States’ current borrowing habits, we’re poised to hit the debt ceiling on the first of June, in only a few weeks. 

So, what happens if we hit it?

Like we said, the results would be cataclysmic. That means a downgrade in American credit agencies nationwide.

Businesses large and small as well as homeowners would see serious increases in borrowing costs.

It would send the average consumer confidence, which is already dwindling, plummeting to levels low enough to tip America into a horrific recession.

The defaults and consequences around that moment would put this country into an unprecedented economic position. One we really don’t want to be in.

What happens now? Well, in short, the same thing that always happens. 

Because the debt ceiling, like we’ve mentioned, is an arbitrary number we created to monitor… ourselves. 

Can’t we just raise it…? Well, yeah. Of course we can, it’s actually really easy. In fact, in the entire world, only the US and Denmark have laws that strictly limit borrowing. 

So what happens now? Well, a mini miracle needs to occur: we need the Republicans and Democrats in congress to come to an agreement. 

Given that the House manages the budget and the Republicans have a miniscule majority, both parties are going to need to come together here and either suspend or raise the ceiling.

It’s far from an outlandish proposal, the US Congress has raised the debt ceiling over 100 times since the end of World War II, including 3 times under Trump.

All that needs to happen in the next 30 days is an agreement between Congress and the White House or else our government quite literally runs out of cash… cool. 

But again, to liken it to a mafia situation, we’re not getting out of debt, we’re just buying ourselves some more time to pay off the circling sharks. We’ll still be in the red.

If America is serious about ever remedying our national debt, our federal budget is gonna need a pretty drastic overhaul. 

But until that happens… It's up to the folks in congress to hit snooze on this ticking time bomb before the whole thing blows .

Meme of the Day

"Porque no los dos?" 🤷‍♀️

Crypto 101

Fork: This isn’t the eating utensil with the little spears, but rather a diverging path in a blockchain. 

Forks are usually brought about by changes in software that create changes in protocol.

A hard fork is when new blockchain tech isn’t backwards compatible and requires all users to upgrade in order to continue participating in the network.

A soft fork is when backwards-compatible software is introduced, allowing new transactions and blocks to follow the updated rules, but without all of the current users needing to update.

The Last Sip

French legislation is once again going to allow influencers to push crypto. Here are some other, upcoming French amendments that have the country abuzz.

• Gluten-Free baguettes will once again be illegal.

• Children’s cigarettes will go back on the market, but naturally with only half the tar content of “adult” cigarettes.

• The re-release of Bordeaux-flavored Baby Formula.

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.