23rd April 2025 > > The EU & California.

tl;dr

A rare display of dissent within the EU hierarchy demonstrates the revolutionary power of cryptos. California is telling us the same story of how cryptos are re-shaping the political landscape.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

A welcome return to inflows for the spot BTC ETFs of over a billion dollars in two days is accompanied by a strong BTC rally. Stocks are up too, as well as bonds suggesting market confusion as to where the Trump Tariff wars go next. I know I have said this before, but I find it hard to imagine anything other than good news from this point on – the US will strike new trade deals that involve the dismantling of non-tariff barriers to trade providing markets with short-term relief, and the rest of us with long-term gains as trade becomes less restricted.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Interregnum

I am off on a tiger hunt for a few days to shoot the beasts (photography, not guns you fool). See you on the other side.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Techies

This is what the techies were saying yesterday just before we broke $90k:

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Fight, fight, fight!

In a rare public dispute, the EU Commission is at loggerheads with the ECB.

The EU Commission was one of the driving forces behind MiCA (Markets in Capital Assets) that is (for now) the world’s leading piece of crypto legislation. Of course, it is not perfect, but it does provide a solid base for crypto entrepreneurs to innovate and develop.

That’s the idea anyway.

However, both Tether (issuer of USDT) and Ethena Labs (issuer of USDe) have exited Europe after failing to get MiCA recognition. The CCC has long been critical of both stablecoins as neither are fully backed with over 100% collateralisation of cash or cash-like instruments. USDT has been cleaning up its act. USDe continues with its cash and carry trade which is guaranteed to blow up one day. Rejecting USDe (and its sister EURe) was the only sensible decision. Approving USDT (and its sister EURT) with 100% collateral requirements would be the only sensible decision, but the EU’s bureaucratic processes do not allow for such creative thinking.

In response to these setbacks, the EU Commission is concerned that MiCA requirements are too strict, which is probably a first for any EU institution.

The ECB begs to differ.

Convicted Criminal Christine Lagarde has demanded a re-write of MiCA rules that would effectively ban any non-EU denominated stablecoin from operating within the EU, and to ban any non-EU company from issuing an EU denominated stablecoin. The Commission has seen through her dastardly plans immediately. In an internal paper, the Commission documents that:

“The risks arising from such global stablecoins seem to be overstated (by the ECB) and are manageable under the existing legal framework.”

Off the record, an official “…claims the ECB has recently been hyping the stablecoin menace to bolster political support for its controversial digital euro project.”

There you have it. Lagarde’s motivation as always is to replace cryptos – which pose a threat to her ilk – with CBDCs which pose a threat to the rest of us mere mortals. Meanwhile, the EU Commission is now firmly on the side of business and personal freedom which is a very surprising and very welcome development. Truly, the revolutionary force of cryptos is remarkable.

We must hope the EU Commission wins the day.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – California

I think this might be the first time I have the pleasure of writing about California in the context of cryptos, and it is a real pleasure. I always assumed that California – which ranks behind only the US, China, Germany, and Japan, in terms of GDP – was unlikely to be welcoming to cryptos. I have been proved wrong, which is great news all round.

A Committee vote (and so we are still a long way from actual legislation) has been unanimously passed protecting the rights of individuals to self-custody crypto assets and deems cryptos as valid and legal for payments for goods and services. It also explicitly prevents government entities from restricting the use of cryptos, and from imposing special taxes on cryptos.

Let me repeat – a unanimous decision. Not one dissenting voice. Warren and Gensler are no longer welcome in California.

…

Sometimes we see stuff that suggests that the partisan split between supporters of cryptos and naysayers is still in force (https://www.curiouscryptos.com/post/21st-april-2025-oregon-charles-schwab). California is showing us that increasingly there is bi-partisan support for cryptos, that it is only the dinosaurs that rigidly stick to their prejudices.

The political landscape in both the EU and the US is being re-shaped by the truly remarkable and peaceful revolutionary force of cryptos.