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⌐◪-◪ → Bye Bye, Gensler!

It’s official! Gary Gensler just announced he will be stepping down as the SEC Chair on January 20th, the same day Trump is inaugurated.

The full announcement from the SEC confirms his departure and mentions “crypto” four times—celebrating Gary’s regulate-by-enforcement campaign. The statement says he protected investors from fraud, wash trading, registration violations, and other misconduct.

While Gary certainly did bring a lot of enforcement action against crypto firms, I’m not sure it’s something he should be proud of. His war on crypto unfairly targeted legitimate companies like Coinbase while creating chaos that allowed scams like FTX to thrive.

Gary even met with Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives prior to their downfall, letting them slip through the cracks while doubling down on real innovators in the space.

Some argue his war on crypto was so harsh it was actually good for the industry—perhaps some mental gymnastics—but we can queue Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) by Kelly Clarkson anyway.

Needless to say, the crypto industry will be much better off without Gensler at the helm, ushering in a new era of financial innovation for America and the world.

If Bitcoin hits $100k the same week Gensler announces his resignation, it will be nothing short of poetry. The jury’s still up for who will replace him.

⌐◪-◪ → TradFi titans are coming!

Germany’s largest insurance company, Allianz, just bought 24.75% of MicroStrategy’s 2031 convertible note.

Allianz is not only Germany’s largest insurance company, but it’s also the second-largest in Europe after AXA. This is not only bullish for Bitcoin, but pretty funny considering Germany sold all of their 50k Bitcoin at $55k, leaving a casual $2.25B on the table.

To put into context how bullish this is... the largest insurance company in one of the countries with the most cautious investors just bought debt in the world’s biggest leveraged Bitcoin play—MicroStrategy.

If this doesn’t send a signal to all other corporations in Europe and around the world, I don’t know what will.

The Bitcoin prophecy is unfolding: first corps, then banks, then states, then nations. You are not sufficiently bullish, anon.

⌐◪-◪ → The council that will shape crypto’s future.

Reuters just reported that Trump’s “crypto advisory council” is expected to set up a strategic Bitcoin reserve, among other pro-crypto policies.

The council will likely be housed under the White House’s National Economic Council, which coordinates and implements the President’s economic policies.

A handful of crypto companies like Ripple, Kraken, Paradigm, a16z Crypto, and Circle are all scrambling for a seat on the council—in hopes they can help shape the future of crypto in America.

David Bailey, the CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, who arranged for Trump to speak at Bitcoin Nashville where he first promised a strategic Bitcoin reserve, said the council is still being “fleshed out.” He expects leading executives from America’s top Bitcoin companies to be represented.

While it’s a good thing that industry leaders are eager to participate, we have to be wary of bias and catering to special interests.

Meanwhile, crypto’s favorite clown and gold maxi, Peter Schiff, insists the council should “not include anyone from crypto” and that he should be the chairman.

Peter reminds me of Heath Ledger playing the Joker—fully committed to his character, no matter the cost. Funny seeing him FUD Bitcoin while begging to join the crypto council and shilling his own ordinals collection.

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