Censorship resistance and the lens of accountability

Also: the crypto-macro narrative conflict

“If you fear making anyone mad, then you ultimately probe for the lowest common denominator of human achievement.” – Jimmy Carter ||

Hello, everyone, good to be back! If you took a break last week, like I did, I hope it was refreshing and cozy, and that you’re all doing well. My Christmas was festive and cherished – I largely stayed away from the screen and spent more time slow-cooking, walking around the beautiful city I live in, developing a deeper appreciation for winter, and feeling some sort of order return to life. Now, I’m working on extending the December sparkle well into January. 🎄🎄🎄

Living in Spain sure helps with that as our holiday celebrations don’t end until the 7th. So, this newsletter will continue with its recent choppiness for another week, skipping publication on the 1st (a holiday pretty much everywhere), the 2nd (a public holiday here but I’m not sure why) and the 6th (Epiphany, a big deal in Spain).

I have MUCH to share when normal programming resumes. On the schedule are deep dives into some big-name tokenization projects, why most of them so far are missing the point, some unexplored side-effects of stablecoin growth, and how blockchain technology continues to transform our understanding of markets by putting new questions on the table.

Plus, I plan to resume the weekly recaps of key developments in CBDCs, tokenization, stablecoins and regulation on a rotating basis. These got pushed aside in favour of more market commentary, but I’ve missed doing them and believe they are a useful tool to spot patterns and tune out the noise. Wish me luck in keeping these emails to a reasonable length!

(No audio versions until next week as I don’t have access to my recording equipment until then, sorry!)

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

• The strength in narrative conflict

• Censorship resistance and the lens of accountability

If you’re not a premium subscriber, I hope you’ll consider becoming one! You get ~daily commentary on markets, tokenization, regulation and other signs that crypto IS impacting the macro landscape. As well as audio, relevant links and music recommendations ‘cos why not.

WHAT I’M WATCHING:

The strength in narrative conflict

After a spectacular first half of December, with BTC breaking through the glittery psychological level of $100,000, it looks like crypto’s gateway asset is limping into year-end.

(BTC/USD chart via TradingView)

BTC hit a peak of over $108,000 the day before the FOMC announced a 25bp cut as well as a hawkish revision of rate expectations for 2025. Since then, the price has continued to bounce around under $100,000 and is not yet showing signs of end-of-year joy.

Then again, a ~120% year-to-date gain is not at all bad, plenty to celebrate there.

What are the current headwinds?