Join me today for Episode 1026 of Bitcoin And . . .
Topics for today:
- IBIT BTC ETF In-Kind Redemptions
- France is Playing Russian Roulette
- Arizona Moves State SBR Ahead
- Razzlekhan's Fury at Netflix
- Metaplanet's $750 Million Bitcoin Play
#Bitcoin #BitcoinAnd
Circle P:
Cordyceps Mycelium Powder (50grams), 10,000 sats. Get yours at:
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The King Ranch Donation Pages:
https://www.ruralamericainaction.com/fundraising/save-king-ranch-and-agriculture-in-washington
https://www.givesendgo.com/Kingranch
Articles:
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/markets/nasdaq-proposes-in-kind-redemptions-for-blackrocks-bitcoin-etf
https://primal.net/e/note1yepwyjvqd5gnfj9xpdkr6dc0d3ag8dfmuj8djvtezx8lwnatvdrqauevtt
https://www.theblock.co/post/337438/french-authorities-investigate-binance-over-alleged-money-laundering-tax-fraud-drug-trafficking-report
https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/cryptocurrency-news/france-targets-crypto-gains-with-new-wealth-tax/
https://cointelegraph.com/news/arizona-bitcoin-reserve-bill-passes-senate
- https://www.cnbc.com/futures-and-commodities/
- https://dashboard.clarkmoody.com/
- https://mempool.space/
- https://value4value.info/
- https://fountain.fm/show/eK5XaSb3UaLRavU3lYrI
- https://geyser.fund/project/thebitcoinandpodcast
https://decrypt.co/303108/netflix-cease-desist-demands-bitfinex-bitcoin-heist
https://cointelegraph.com/news/metaplanet-750m-bitcoin-investment-strategy
https://atlas21.com/petrobras-set-to-enter-mining-using-excess-gas/
https://www.nobsbitcoin.com/alby-extension-v3-11-0/
https://atlas21.com/hive-digital-acquires-bitfarms-paraguayan-facility-for-85-million/
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[00:00:02]
David Bennett:
It is 8:57 AM Pacific standard time. It's the 28th day of January, 2025. This is episode 1026 of bitcoin and Nasdaq is in the news. The circle p is open for business. We'll get to that one. And then we got a note here from Lola Leitz. She's got a problem with her bank. Who would have guessed? Who would have guessed that Lola leads might actually have a problem with her bank. And it's not her problem with her bank. She's not like going on about how, you know, she hates banks and stuff. No. No. This is what her bank did to her. And speaking of that, French authorities are in the news and for more than one thing, Arizona in the news.
I can't wait to bring you that one by the way. Netflix, looks like they've pissed off Rosalcon. You know her. At one point or another, she was the richest rapper in the world. The meta planet is in the news as is Petrobras. And I'm shit you not. Petrobras. All I can think of is bra. Bra. And then Albie, we got some stuff out of that. And Hive Digital are doing things. They are. So, where do we want to start? Well, we're gonna start with this Nasdaq story here from Bitcoin Magazine. It's written by Mark Mason. It is Nasdaq proposes end sorry, in kind redemptions for BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF. Now this has kind of been talked about for the last few days.
Let's see what Bitcoin Magazine has to say. Nasdaq has submitted a groundbreaking proposal to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that would transform the operational framework of Bitcoin exchange traded funds. The proposal, focused on BlackRock's Ishares Bitcoin Trust, seeks to introduce in kind Bitcoin redemptions, offering a streamlined and cost effective alternative to the current cash redemption process. So you may be asking yourself, what are in kind redemptions? Well, under the proposed system, institutional players known as authorized participants responsible for creating and redeeming the ETF shares themselves, could opt to exchange ETF shares directly for Bitcoin rather than cash.
This innovation eliminates the needs to sell Bitcoin to generate the cash needed for redemptions, simplifying the process while cutting operational costs. While this operation or this option would only be available for institutional participants and not for you retail scumbag plebs out there. No. Not you retail investors. Experts might be suggesting that the improved efficiency could indirectly benefit everyday investors. Well, how? You're a scumbag pleb. You can't do this at the retail level. You can't just buy Bitcoin ETFs and then get the Bitcoin into your own wallet when you decide that you just don't want to be part of that ETF anymore. No. No. No. No. But but somehow or another, you're going to benefit because by reducing operational hurdles, in kind redemptions have the potential to make Bitcoin ETFs more streamlined and cost efficient for all market participants.
So why the change? Well, the cash redemption model implemented in January of 2024 when spot Bitcoin ETFs were first approved by the SEC, yeah, those were designed to keep financial institutions and brokers from handling the Bitcoin directly. This approach prioritized regulatory simplicity during the nascent stages of Bitcoin ETFs. However, the very rapid growth of the Bitcoin ETF market has created new opportunities to improve the infrastructure. With evolving regulations and a more mature digital asset ecosystem, Nasdaq and BlackRock now see a pathway to adopt a more efficient in kind redemption model.
So what are the benefits of in kind redemptions? Well, number 1 is operational efficiency, as has been said. It reduces the complexity and number of steps in the redemption process and streamlines ETF operations, saving both time and costs. Number 2 are tax advantages because avoiding the sale of Bitcoin minimizes capital gains distributions making ETFs more tax efficient for institutional investors. And lastly, market stability. This whole thing reduces sell pressure on bitcoin during redemptions, potentially stabilizing the asset's price.
Nasdaq's proposal coincides with significant regulatory developments under the pro Bitcoin Trump administration. Recent policy shifts such as the repeal of staff accounting bulletin 121 have paved the way for broader cryptocurrency adoption and the removal of SAB 121 eliminated barriers that previously discouraged banks from offering cryptocurrency custodial services creating a more favorable environment for innovations like Nasdaq's in kind redemption model. Since its 2024 launch, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF has emerged as a market leader with over $60,000,000,000 in inflows.
The Fund's consistent growth highlights institutional demand for Bitcoin investment products. Innovations like Nasdaq's in kind redemption model could further enhance Ibit's appeal to institutional investors. So in conclusion, Nasdaq's proposal to introduce these in kind redemptions for the Bitcoin ETF represents a pivotal moment for the Bitcoin ETF market. By simplifying redemption processes, offering tax efficiencies, and reducing the sell pressure on Bitcoin, the model stands to significantly enhance the appeal and performance of Bitcoin ETFs for institutional investors and not you retail guys out there because you suck. As the Bitcoin ETF market matures and regulatory support continues to grow, innovations like this are poised to drive further adoption. And if approved, Nasdaq's proposal could mark a critical step forward solidifying Bitcoin ETFs as a cornerstone of institutional digital asset investment while indirectly benefiting retail participants. Yeah. You get the crumbs, ladies and gentlemen.
You're the dog underneath the table hoping that your master gives you some crumbs. What b s. Anyway, last sentence, with a favorable regulatory climate and growing institutional interest, the future of Bitcoin ETFs looks brighter than ever. Alright. So there's the article. Nasdaq proposing Bitcoin ETFs, and they're not the only one. CBOE, the Chicago Board of Exchange or whatever, they are proposing the same for their particular models or or this particular model for their particular Bitcoin ETF instruments. And I'm pretty sure that those are not the spot. Those are the future the the future. So I guess that means that if you redeem a futures contract, you don't have to actually take it in cash.
Be that as it may, they're talking about these three benefits. The operational efficiency, I call BS on. I don't think I I just I mean, sure. Yeah. I mean, they don't have to sell sell it for cash. So I guess in a way, but honestly, I I think they're so set up for being able to do that. How hard is it? I mean how much efficiency do you gain by not doing that? Now the tax advantages, that's the thing. Being able to take your bitcoin directly off the bitcoin iBit ETF and put it into your own wallet, if hopefully they allow that, that will actually not cause a capital gains structural problem with your taxes. And that's good. I'm I'm all for that.
Now here's the market stability rant. Just because Ibit and their partners that, you know, help them custody and do all the things, since they don't sell the Bitcoin directly, sure, at that particular point, there's no sell side pressure on the market. However, this this begs the question, why would you buy your Bitcoin through an ETF instead of just buying it through something like Cash App or Strike? I mean, if your end goal is just to end up holding the Bitcoin, then you don't need to go through BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF.
And then say, you know, like 6 months down the road or whatever, you say, you know what? I want the Bitcoin myself. I just want an in kind redemption for this thing. I want to to hold the Bitcoin myself. Well, you don't need to do any of that. So the real question becomes and this is for people that are really, you know, better versed about the markets than I am to answer is why would you want to do this? What is the other structure that I'm missing in so far? Like, what was I able to gain out of the iBit situation?
Did I just allow the price to run up while I held the Bitcoin and I end up with more Bitcoin on the other side? Well, okay. That's fine. But, again, I don't really need to do that. So there's something here that I am definitely missing as to why you want to be able to get your Bitcoin out of an ETF. Because if you just wanted the Bitcoin in the first place, you can just go buy it. And you can just go buy, well, you can go buy from lightningspore.com, cordyceps mycelium powder. The circle P is open for business. And I am using Plebeian Market to find somebody to talk about this morning and I did. It's lightning spore. He's on Noster.
He makes his own mushroom stuff and in this one he is making cordyceps mycelium powder in 50 gram packs for 10,000 satoshis. What might you ask is cordyceps mycelium powder? Well, I'm glad that you asked. For the price of a cup of coffee a day, you could supercharge your energy with lightning spores, cordyceps, mycelium powder. This ancient mushroom magic is here to boost your stamina, endurance, and overall vibe. One scoop once a day because you deserve to feel unstoppable without breaking the bank. And that's important. The breaking the bank thing is actually really important about this because cordyceps is part of a supplement that my wife takes which is a whole bunch of different mushrooms.
However, to go get like a 60 tab or, yeah, 60 capsule bottle of this from from Paul Stamets outfit. I can't remember the name of it right now. Fungi Perfecti is one of his one of his companies. He's got another one. My I think it's called Myco Community. I'm not exactly sure, but it's got, like, 7 or 8 different mushroom powders. That thing is $75 a bottle. Actually, it's more than that for 60 tabs. It's like 80, $90 for where I buy it, which, you know, obviously, the only place that I can get it is kind of a health food store, and there's always a pretty good markup on that. But what it has done for her is let her actually not get sick all the time, like with flu, colds, you know, minor kind of just feeling down stuff.
It is a really, really good immune system booster and cordyceps is a major part of that. So if you are wanting to try something different, like let's say you're getting too many colds, you're you're maxed out on your vitamin d intake, which I highly recommend everybody take vitamin d or, you know, eat a lot of meat and go out in the sun because cholesterol converts into vitamin d under UV light. Yes, that's the way this shit works. If you're maxed out on that and you're still, like, kind of feeling under the weather, go try cordyceps mycelium powder in the 50 gram packages for a mere 10,000 satoshis. That's like a little over $10 And you can get it from lightningspore.com over here on plebian.market.
It is going to be something that I think you're gonna be really interested in doing. You're gonna support the Bitcoin circular economy. You're gonna support lightning spore. He's a noster pleb. He's a Bitcoin pleb. If you're not selling your shit for Bitcoin, you're not in the circle p. And if you want more information about this, this particular advert or not advertise with this particular stall in plebeian. Market is going to be in the show notes. It's a URL. You can just click it and go right to this particular product. So there you go. Circle P is now closed. We are on to Lola Leitz and her problems with her bank. And Lord have mercy, does she have problems with her bank.
She says on Noster. And if you're not on Noster, why? Get on Noster. Another day, another exchange I'm suspended from. Oh, it's not a bank. It's a Bitcoin exchange. What do we always say? Get your coins off the exchange. All of my funds are coin joined or swapped between Lightning Network and, God forbid, Monero for privacy before sending to exchanges triggering all sorts of nonsense AML flags. The exchange I'm with now is requesting proof of funds, meaning that it wants to see fiat coming into my bank account from an entity I have a business relationship with asking me to, quote, kindly assist them in surveilling me. Except that all of my business relationships are handled in Bitcoin, meaning that it's impossible for me to show proof of fiat funds.
Alternatively, the exchange says I could send them, quote, the address to which I received payment in the last year matching the amount of money I have exchanged on their platform. Obviously, no such address exists because I create a new address for every transaction and so should you. Additionally, much of my money comes in through donations for which I simply do not have an invoice. I could now send them every single zap I've ever received on Nostra in the past year. And for context, that would be over 250 zaps in the past week alone. Or I could move my business to Switzerland where I can exchange up to 1,000 CHF per day, KYC free for now, which is what I'm going to do.
However, since I'll be more heavily relying on peer to peer exchanges from now on, I'll likely have my bank account flagged for receiving weekly payments from randos on the Internet, making it fairly foreseeable that I'll be losing my bank account in the coming months as well. Jesus, the hits just keep on coming. Fundamental rights violations aside, the amount of complete nonsense work and with that cost, the system creates both for the government and private institutions is absolutely astonishing. If there ever was a true bullshit job, compliance officer would no doubt be it. In time, or rather, it's time that we end, the global discrimination complex inherent to the financial system in which we are all guilty until proven innocent only to upkeep an inefficient system that is useless in preventing crime but formidable for imposing mass surveillance upon the people.
So no, I will not kindly assist you in surveilling me. And if I die on this hill Until then, show me your favorite tools to pay my bills in Bitcoin. And she gives a screenshot of this letter that she got from her exchange and highlighted it says, we kindly request your assistance in understanding the origin of funds for your transactions. If you have your Bitcoin on an exchange and you've heard us time and time again tell you, you need to get your Bitcoin off of the exchanges. This is exactly why we tell you that. It's not really as much that you're going to get hacked. I mean, eventually, all exchanges are probably going to get hacked. But it's more about the exchange themselves rug pulling you, using some kind of bullshit ability to do so because the government told me to or some other reasoning to take your coins or to keep you separated from your coin.
So if you are an exchange user and if you're keeping your coins on an exchange, you need to get them off whether you coin join them or not. They will find some reason, some way, somehow, somewhere at some time to separate you from your Bitcoin, don't let them do it because the French have that all sewn up. And first, the French are gonna go after Binance. That's right. They're investigating Binance over alleged money laundering, tax fraud, and drug trafficking according to a report. This is MK Menelyov from the block. I probably pronounced it wrong, and I apologize. French authorities have stated that they created a judicial probe investigating the crypto exchange Binance over alleged money laundering, tax fraud, drug trafficking, and other charges, and I'm sure they probably involve children at one point or another, reported Reuters on Tuesday.
The probe follows France's prior investigation into Binance regarding supposed illegal canvassing of clients and money laundering as Reuters reported back in June of 2023. The French newspaper, Le Monde, also wrote at the time that the country investigated Binance over purported failures in its know your customer obligations in 2022. Quote, Binance is deeply disappointed to learn that Genelaco, whatever, a Paris division of the French public prosecutor's office, has taken the decision to refer this matter, which is several years old, to the French judiciary for further investigation.
While we do not usually comment on legal proceedings as a matter of policy, Binance fully denies the allegations and will vigorously fight any charges made against it. Binance's advances in AML and compliance have already been recognized by leading authorities including FinCEN, the DOJ, and OFAC. Among other things, noting that Binance has implemented enterprise wide AMLCFT, implemented financial action task force standards for AML and KYC, and improved employee AMLCFT training. End quote. Binance faces scrutiny for money laundering in the United States as well. In November of 2023, the exchange as well as its then CEO, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering with Binance agreeing to pay $4,000,000,000 of fines and Zhao yielding a $50,000,000 fine himself plus 4 months in prison.
Binance is the largest crypto exchange by monthly spot volume. So why is France all of a sudden crawling back up the underwear of Binance? Because as Binance themselves and the block admits in this particular article, these are old charges. What could possibly be going on in France that might turn the oh, here it is. France is targeting crypto gains with a new wealth tax. From altcoinbuzz. Io, I got this one. The French senate recently approved the 2025 budget which includes a new quote unproductive wealth tax, end quote. Unproductive wealth. This proposed tax would target a range of crypto assets and apply annually to unrealized gains. In other words, investors could be taxed on the increased value of their crypto holdings even if they haven't sold any coin.
The idea of taxing unrealized gains has sparked debates far and wide. Supporters argue it's a fair way to tax wealthy investors sitting on large, untapped fortunes. Critics, however, call it a slippery slope, claiming it unfairly penalizes those who are simply holding on to their investments. What's the next step? Well, it's a vote in France's National Assembly where lawmakers will decide whether or not this tax gets the green light. If passed, it could set a precedent in Europe where governments are increasingly focused on tightening crypto regulations. France isn't new to taxing cryptocurrencies.
Profits from crypto trades are already subject to capital gains taxes, but this new tax goes one step further by targeting the unrealized gains, something that hasn't been widely adopted in other countries. And for crypto investors, it could mean a heavier tax burden even during market downturns. This push comes amid broader discussions about regulating digital assets in the European Union. As crypto grows in popularity, governments are looking for ways to ensure that benefits don't come at the cost of lost tax revenue. Still, taxing unrealized gains is a bold move that could test the patience of crypto enthusiasts.
The proposal highlights the growing tension between governments and decentralized financial systems championed by cryptocurrencies. And while lawmakers aim to bring crypto into the fold of traditional finance, some argue that these moves could stifle innovation. Yes. That always stifles innovation. That's not what we're concerned about. Stop stealing my money. Stop stealing all of my money. Stop figuring out new and improved ways to take something that isn't yours, that you didn't work for, that you have no business in claiming. So France, at this point, is already teetering on absolute financial ruin as is the entirety of the EU.
It's ridiculous what's going on there. And people are leaving in droves. I can't remember if it was the Netherlands or Norway that introduced a wealth tax, and I don't think it was a tax on unrealized crypto gains. It was just straight up, we want a shit ton of your money or at least the money that we know you have. Whether unrealized or not, I don't know. I'm not sure. But what it did do was cause an exodus from that country of that country's wealthy people. And when that when those people left, their tax base of the country itself was actually hurt. France is going to experience the same thing.
All the countries that comprise the European Union are going to experience this. They're going to experience the wealthiest of them leave, and their tax base is gonna get worse. And the only people that are going to get hurt are the very poorest people because they didn't have the money to be able to leave. So since they're left, they're the ones that are going to have to take up the tax burden of all these rich people that are leaving because these rich people had the money to get out. Do I blame the rich? No. I don't. Hey, good for you. You got rich. Good for you, man. I hats off, pal. I hope you live to a ripe old age. Please don't steal anybody's money. Other than that, have fun being rich. Okay? That's fine.
But when you leave, and you have every right to leave, I would leave too. Just for somebody not to steal my money, I would bail. It's going to leave the poorest people in the worst position, and it's again, I'm not blaming the rich people. It's not your fault. This only has one center of blame, and that's the governmental authorities of any country that proposes or pushes or enacts anything that steals the wealth from anybody, no matter what size that wealth is. It's ridiculous and it needs to stop. And maybe Arizona has an answer.
Because Arizona, the senate, the state senate, has already moved forward with the Bitcoin reserve legislation that they were talking about. Zol tanavardai from Cointelegraph. Arizona lawmakers have advanced a Bitcoin strategic reserve bill, which seeks to deploy the world's first cryptocurrency as a savings technology the state. The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, SB 1025, cosponsored by senator Wendy Rogers and representative Jeff Wininger, was passed by the Arizona State Senate Finance Committee with 5 to 2 votes on January 27th.
Wow. 5 to 2. Pretty good. 5 out of 7 said, yes. We want this. Anyway, the bill is now going to move to the Senate Rules Committee for final debate and amendments. If the Senate approves it, it would advance the bill to the state house of representatives. The bill proposes the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve by the US Treasury for the storage of government Bitcoin holdings, which would also allow other public funds to store their digital assets in secure segregated accounts within the strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Interesting.
The bill would allow up to 10% of a government entity or public funds capital to be invested in bitcoin and other digital assets. It also opens the doors for pension funds to allocate resources to bitcoin, potentially increasing public interest in cryptocurrencies. Up to 20% of Gen Z and Alpha, Gen Alpha, are already open to receiving pensions in cryptocurrency, while 78% expressed greater trust in alternative retirement savings options over traditional pension funds. Arizona's decision to include bitcoin in its financial strategy could lead to a domino effect among other states, according to Andy Lien, author of and intergovernmental blockchain expert. He told Cointelegraph, imagine if your state decided to put some of your tax dollars into bitcoin.
It might encourage places like Texas or Pennsylvania, where they've already been talking about similar ideas, to jump on the bandwagon even quicker. However, he cautioned that a bitcoin reserve would require safeguards due to the cryptocurrency's volatility, noting that taxpayers could face financial risks similar to those encountered by crypto investors. As one of the most anticipated crypto related bills in history, the bitcoin act championed by Wyoming Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis has generated significant excitement.
The nationwide approval of a Bitcoin reserve could push Bitcoin above the 7 figure mark as soon as this cycle according to Adam Back, co founder and CEO of Blockstream, the inventor of HashCash and one of the most notable cryptographers in the industry. The potential approval could lead to a rapid price appreciation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But here's the thing, there are at least 13, 13, 13 other bitcoin reserve related bills at various stages in states such as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kansas, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Ohio, Utah, North Dakota, and Texas. Wow. That's a lot.
Bitcoin reserve proposals are gaining support and the success of this bill could bring in an influx of new institutional Bitcoin adoption. The regulatory expert, CEO or co founder and CEO of Fidium, Andastasia Platnikova, I think is how you pronounce it. Quote, analyst suggest that it could drive Bitcoin's price to $500,000 while attracting institutional investors like pensions and sovereign wealth funds further legitimizing Bitcoin as an asset. Yeah. I'm I'm not all that that up on on Bitcoin price predictions depending on what happens or what occurs. I think it's dangerous to do that, and that's one of the reasons why I never make price predictions on this show.
In fact, that's why we run the numbers. CNBC Futures and Commodities Oil is up a bit about a quarter of a point, 73.37. Brit, North Sea likewise up a quarter to 77.24. But natural gas, 5 points to the downside. Gasoline is up a half point to $2.3 a gallon. Gold is up over a point, and silver is up damn near a point and a half. Platinum is moving sideways and copper is up a half while palladium is down almost a full point. Ag. What's ag doing today? Biggest winner in ag is gonna be wheat. It is up 2 a third and the biggest loser is rough rice down 2 a third. Live cattle is up 1.79%.
Lean hogs up 1 a quarter while feeder cattle are up just under 1 full point. The Dow is up a quarter but the Nasdaq is up more 0.69%. Nasdaq is up 1.33%. I guess everybody's recovering from China going boo over the weekend and the S and P mini essentially is moving sideways. We've got a $102,000 no, 102,800 and $40 on a bitcoin. That is a $2,040,000,000,000 market cap and we can get 37.4 ounces of shiny metal rocks with our 1 bitcoin of which there are 19,000,000 816,107 and a half of in average fees per block are low. 0.04 BTC taken in fees on a per block basis.
There are 34 blocks carrying a measly 82,000 unconfirmed transactions waiting to clear at high priority rates of 7 satoshis per vbyte. Low priority is gonna cost you 5. 774.8 x of hashes per second is the security of the bitcoin network on a 1 week rolling average. And on to weak minds, weak markets, yesterday's episode of Bitcoin. And I got Mark with 210 sats. But Mark says that he's using Zap Planner to send me $5 a month. Thanks for reading the news I can use with no ads. No ads. I might tell you that again. When you're listening to like the the really heavy hitter podcast out there in the Bitcoin space, they have ads.
Lots of ads. The only ads that I will read to you are plebs that are like you, who have goods and services for sale in Bitcoin. I do it as a public service and hopefully if you buy from them, they will send me some satoshis on the other side. But other than that, this show gets no funding outside of zaps that you send me. When you stream these satoshis for listening to the show, when you give me boostergrams on things like fountain.fm, you know, podcasting 2.0 enabled apps. I don't get advertising revenue. I don't have River sponsoring me.
This is this is it. This is just me and you in a relationship, and nobody else is standing in the way. Mark, thank you. $5 a month, thank you. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that. And for all the rest of you guys, remember, the only reason that I bring you this show is because not only do I love doing the show, I love you. And I love people like Pies with a 100 sats that says thank you, sir. No. Thank you. And that's the weather report. Welcome to part 2 of the news that you can use. Netflix has been hit with a cease and desist order over Bitfinex Bitcoin heist documentary.
Actually, it's more of a demand. It's not really a cease and desist order. It actually says demand here from decrypt.co written by Jason Nelson. Attorneys for Heather Rosalcon Morgan, the rapper and social media personality, issued cease and desist letters to streaming giant Netflix on Monday concerning the documentary, biggest heist ever. Morgan is expected to report to federal prison February 4th for her role in laundering funds tied to the infamous multibillion dollar Bitcoin heist upon which the documentary is based. The letter shared with Decripps cited defamation and a violation of California's 2 party recording laws.
The production company behind the documentary, Library Films, was also named. Netflix didn't respond. In addition to defamation claims, Morgan alleges Netflix and Library Films violated the privacy of wedding attendees by filming her ceremony with husband, Ilya Liechtenstein, without guest consent. Quote, we attended a wedding with no idea that we would later appear at a Netflix documentary, Morgan's attorney Serena Wu told the crypt in an email. It is crucial. It's crucial to protect and uphold the privacy rights of private citizens. Well, the cease and desist letter demands that guest likenesses be immediately removed from the documentary with no further use.
Attorneys warn that failure to comply with these requests may result in legal action. In a separate cease and desist letter, attorneys for Morgan point to several statements from the documentary that they say are completely false and defamatory, including claims that Morgan and Liechtenstein purchased stolen passports, debit cards, and other identity documents from the dark web. These claims have no factual basis, the letter claimed, and perpetuates the lie that missus Morgan was a mastermind behind the heist. Quote, minimal due diligence would have revealed the falsity of your statements, including publicly available court findings that confirms that miss Morgan was not involved in the underlying hack.
Morgan's daddy, or rather father-in-law, the cease and desist letter claimed was also defamed by being called a hacker in the documentary. Quote, while this defamatory statement is not aimed at miss Morgan, it reinforces the documentary's disregard for the truth and willingness to make defamatory accusations without any basis, the letter said. The other cease and desist letter also cites California's 2021 2 party consent law arguing that recording wedding footage without explicit approval constitutes a legal violation. Quote, miss Morgan expressly reserves all of her legal and equitable rights and remedies, including the right to seek injunctive relief and recover monetary damages, the letter said. Yeah. You're gonna need the money there, Rosal Khan. If you decide if you decide not to comply with the demands above, miss Morgan will take all steps necessary to protect her rights.
Lichtenstein was convicted of hacking crypto exchange, Bitfinex, in 2016 and stealing stealing nearly a 120,000 Bitcoin or more than $12,000,000,000 worth at current price. In November, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Morgan, meanwhile, received an 18 month sentence for helping launder stolen funds in the case. Earlier this month, the self styled rapper released the first of 2 new songs, Rosalcon versus the United States, which was followed by diplomat pussy last week. Okay. So the California, 2 party consent law, I don't think she's got a leg to stand on if and only if that wedding took place on public property.
Even if they rented a venue, it's public property. When you're out in public, you have absolutely no expectation of privacy of your person anyway, like your face. Somebody taking a picture of somebody down the street, you end up being in that picture. Chances are good you'll never know, but even if you did, really? You're gonna make you're gonna make a thing about it? Now if this wedding had taken place on fully private property, and I don't know where the hell this wedding took place, but given the amount of money that they had, it probably wasn't a backyard wedding at at Bob's. Okay? It was probably in a very large venue. And again, even if you rent the venue, it's still public property.
I mean, it is. It's because the public is part of you have a segment of the public at your place. So I don't think that shit's gonna hold any water. I think that I think they just don't want this documentary to air or, actually, more to the point, it's probably that Heather Morgan just wants to figure out a way to make money because she lost all the Bitcoin. Anyway, whatever. It doesn't really matter because MetaPlan is probably gonna buy some more Bitcoin, maybe even Heather Morgan's Bitcoin. MetaPlan plans to raise $700,000,000 to buy Bitcoin. Ezra Raguera, Cointelegraph.
Japanese publicly traded company MetaPlanet is going to raise over 116,000,000,000 yen which is about 750,000,000 to fund more bitcoin purchases. On January 29th, actually, I think that they mean 28th, but on they say in here, on January 29th, the company issued 21,000,000 shares of 0 discount moving strike warrants. Meta Planet plans to use these shares to raise the funds needed to increase its Bitcoin holdings. The company called it the largest capital raise in Asian equity markets for buying bitcoin. The move aligns with Meta Planet's strategy to counter the yen's declining value and solidify its position as a leader in bitcoin adoption.
The $745,000,000 fundraising initiative marks just the first phase of Meta Planet's ambitious Bitcoin strategy. The company announced a goal to accumulate 10,000 bitcoin by the Q4 of this year, which would cost over $1,000,000,000 at current prices. And by the Q4 of 2026, Meta Planet plans to increase those holdings to 21,000 bitcoin worth approximately 2,100,000,000 based on current market values. Meta Planet representative, director and president Simon Gurevich said in a press release that the market recognized the company as Tokyo's preeminent bitcoin company.
Quote, our vision is to lead the bitcoin renaissance in Japan and emerge as one of the largest corporate bitcoin holders globally. This plan is our commitment to that future, Gurievich said. Meta Planet is currently the 15th largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Alright, so they're going after yet more Bitcoin and they're taking well, they're doing exactly what Michael Saylor said to do. Sell debt, print shares which represent debt of your company, sell those shares, use the actual fiat cash to buy bitcoin, and put that shit on your balance sheet so that the value of your company is tied to Bitcoin's rising price, and therefore you will be able to pay back your debt later on down the road. It is a very simple formula.
It is very simple. It doesn't mean that it will always work, I'm just saying that it is a very simple idea, and it looks like now Meta Planet is fully engaged in working that particular strategy as set forth by our friend, Michael Saylor. Whether you like him or not, he's right now, he's kind of our friend. That does not guarantee that he will remain so. So Petrobras or I mean, I'm sorry. Petrobras, set to enter mining using excess gas according to Atlas 21. And it's a Brazilian oil giant named Petrobras announcing a project to utilize excess natural gas, a byproduct of oil extraction, to power bitcoin mining activities. And the initiative involves collaboration with academic institutions including Universidad Petrobras and the the the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro Petrobras Cinepez Research Center will lead that project exploring not only Bitcoin mining but also potential blockchain applications across the company's various operations. My god, they're gonna put oil on the blockchain. This decision marks a step forward in Petrobras' decarbonization strategy.
Oh, f f f s. Sorry. That's me just trying not to be vulgar. Anyway, by converting waste gas into useful energy for mining, The company aims to reduce both energy waste and carbon emissions. Other companies such as Techpetrol, YPF, and PlusPetrol in Argentina, along with Russia's Gas Promenov, have already adopted similar practices recognizing the dual benefits of energy reuse and the opportunities offered by the mining sector. It ain't energy reuse. You're just actually starting to burn the gas that you don't have a pipeline set down so that you can sell it into the market. But, hey, whatever. They're going to make out like bandits if they just mine Bitcoin. Anyway, Albie extension version 3.11.0 is out.
It's got a card. I don't know exactly what this means because it means because it says card for importing nostril keys. And I don't know if that means a physical card that they send you in the mail. I don't know what's going on and I let's see if they'd say more about it. Pending transactions for Nostra Wallet Connect and more is also included in this release. And if you did not know, Albi is a Bitcoin lightning browser extension that connects to different wallet interfaces and brings deep lightning integration to the web.
The most recent update for the Albi extension brings several improvements and new functionalities to the lightning browser extension. New features consist of a dedicated card, card, like a credit card, for importing nostr keys along with improvements to language support now featuring singles, tamil and Russian. Key fixes tackle problems with battery consumption on Reddit and Medium, and also correct a user interface bug associated with blue boxes. Furthermore, users can now monitor pending and failed transactions for Nostra Wallet Connect, enhancing transaction tracking and transparency.
So I don't know what they mean by battery consumption on Reddit and Medium. I was unaware that Albie has anything to do or any connections with Medium or Reddit for that matter. So I'm gonna have to look into that, but I I don't know what this card is. Is it like a media card? Is it like a physical plastic card? Somebody from Albie, if you're listening, get a hold of me. Let me know what that shit's about. Okay? And last up for the day, looks like it's gonna be a shorter show. Hive Digital has acquired Bitfarms Paraguayan facility for $85,000,000.
Again, this is atlas21.com. Hive Digital has announced the acquisition of Bitfarms 200 megawatt facility in Paraguay for a total of $85,000,000 The agreement includes a payment of 56,000,000 for the facility acquisition, with $25,000,000 due at closing and 31,000,000 in semi annual installments. Additionally, 19,000,000 will be paid for energy deposit reimbursements and approximately 10,000,000 to complete remaining construction obligations. The Iguazu facility currently under development will be completed in 2 phases. The first phase, already 80% complete, will be operational by April and will provide a capacity of 6 exahashes per second. The second phase scheduled for August will add another 6.5 exahashes per second through water cooled ASIC implementations.
The operation is part of HIVE's broader strategic plan, which has received support from Paraguayan president Santiago Pena. With this acquisition, the company aims to reach a total operational capacity of 300 megawatts in the South American country, including the 100 megawatt facility announced last July. The executive chairman for Hive, Frank Holmes, stated, quote, reaching 3% of the global Bitcoin mining network by September 2025, powered entirely by green energy is a remarkable achievement, end quote. The company plans to increase its hash rate capacity from 6 exahashes per second to 25 exahashes per second aiming to generate annual revenues of $500,000,000 And for its part, Bitfarms has announced that it will reinvest the capital obtained in growth opportunities into the United States with the goal of rebalancing its portfolio to 80% North American operations by year end.
And this move will allow the company to reduce energy cost by 10% and focus on developing high performance computing and, of course, artificial intelligence infrastructure. Everybody's getting in on the mining game. So, that's it for the stories that I had outlined for you today. It the Nasdaq in kind redemption. I while I don't think it does as much as the story I read you at the first of the, at the first of that first part of the segment, I don't think it does as much as it says it does, but the the tax implications, those are real.
Those are really real. So if for whatever reason you had to take possession of Bitcoin from the ETF when you bought BlackRock's Ibit ETF and you move that over to your own possession, at least in the United States, right now, that would incur no tax problem. Whereas if you sold it into cash and you had any profits and you made over a $100,000 a year being married, I think is what the cutoff is, then you're going to pay capital gains tax on everything above that $100,000. In either event, I still think it's good. I just think we should be careful and not letting it get so overblown that we think it's going to, I don't know, send Bitcoin to the moon.
One of these days we'll get there. I promise. And when we do, I'll see you on the other side. This has been Bitcoin, and and I'm your host, David Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and hope to see you again real soon. Have a great day.
It is 8:57 AM Pacific standard time. It's the 28th day of January, 2025. This is episode 1026 of bitcoin and Nasdaq is in the news. The circle p is open for business. We'll get to that one. And then we got a note here from Lola Leitz. She's got a problem with her bank. Who would have guessed? Who would have guessed that Lola leads might actually have a problem with her bank. And it's not her problem with her bank. She's not like going on about how, you know, she hates banks and stuff. No. No. This is what her bank did to her. And speaking of that, French authorities are in the news and for more than one thing, Arizona in the news.
I can't wait to bring you that one by the way. Netflix, looks like they've pissed off Rosalcon. You know her. At one point or another, she was the richest rapper in the world. The meta planet is in the news as is Petrobras. And I'm shit you not. Petrobras. All I can think of is bra. Bra. And then Albie, we got some stuff out of that. And Hive Digital are doing things. They are. So, where do we want to start? Well, we're gonna start with this Nasdaq story here from Bitcoin Magazine. It's written by Mark Mason. It is Nasdaq proposes end sorry, in kind redemptions for BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF. Now this has kind of been talked about for the last few days.
Let's see what Bitcoin Magazine has to say. Nasdaq has submitted a groundbreaking proposal to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that would transform the operational framework of Bitcoin exchange traded funds. The proposal, focused on BlackRock's Ishares Bitcoin Trust, seeks to introduce in kind Bitcoin redemptions, offering a streamlined and cost effective alternative to the current cash redemption process. So you may be asking yourself, what are in kind redemptions? Well, under the proposed system, institutional players known as authorized participants responsible for creating and redeeming the ETF shares themselves, could opt to exchange ETF shares directly for Bitcoin rather than cash.
This innovation eliminates the needs to sell Bitcoin to generate the cash needed for redemptions, simplifying the process while cutting operational costs. While this operation or this option would only be available for institutional participants and not for you retail scumbag plebs out there. No. Not you retail investors. Experts might be suggesting that the improved efficiency could indirectly benefit everyday investors. Well, how? You're a scumbag pleb. You can't do this at the retail level. You can't just buy Bitcoin ETFs and then get the Bitcoin into your own wallet when you decide that you just don't want to be part of that ETF anymore. No. No. No. No. But but somehow or another, you're going to benefit because by reducing operational hurdles, in kind redemptions have the potential to make Bitcoin ETFs more streamlined and cost efficient for all market participants.
So why the change? Well, the cash redemption model implemented in January of 2024 when spot Bitcoin ETFs were first approved by the SEC, yeah, those were designed to keep financial institutions and brokers from handling the Bitcoin directly. This approach prioritized regulatory simplicity during the nascent stages of Bitcoin ETFs. However, the very rapid growth of the Bitcoin ETF market has created new opportunities to improve the infrastructure. With evolving regulations and a more mature digital asset ecosystem, Nasdaq and BlackRock now see a pathway to adopt a more efficient in kind redemption model.
So what are the benefits of in kind redemptions? Well, number 1 is operational efficiency, as has been said. It reduces the complexity and number of steps in the redemption process and streamlines ETF operations, saving both time and costs. Number 2 are tax advantages because avoiding the sale of Bitcoin minimizes capital gains distributions making ETFs more tax efficient for institutional investors. And lastly, market stability. This whole thing reduces sell pressure on bitcoin during redemptions, potentially stabilizing the asset's price.
Nasdaq's proposal coincides with significant regulatory developments under the pro Bitcoin Trump administration. Recent policy shifts such as the repeal of staff accounting bulletin 121 have paved the way for broader cryptocurrency adoption and the removal of SAB 121 eliminated barriers that previously discouraged banks from offering cryptocurrency custodial services creating a more favorable environment for innovations like Nasdaq's in kind redemption model. Since its 2024 launch, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF has emerged as a market leader with over $60,000,000,000 in inflows.
The Fund's consistent growth highlights institutional demand for Bitcoin investment products. Innovations like Nasdaq's in kind redemption model could further enhance Ibit's appeal to institutional investors. So in conclusion, Nasdaq's proposal to introduce these in kind redemptions for the Bitcoin ETF represents a pivotal moment for the Bitcoin ETF market. By simplifying redemption processes, offering tax efficiencies, and reducing the sell pressure on Bitcoin, the model stands to significantly enhance the appeal and performance of Bitcoin ETFs for institutional investors and not you retail guys out there because you suck. As the Bitcoin ETF market matures and regulatory support continues to grow, innovations like this are poised to drive further adoption. And if approved, Nasdaq's proposal could mark a critical step forward solidifying Bitcoin ETFs as a cornerstone of institutional digital asset investment while indirectly benefiting retail participants. Yeah. You get the crumbs, ladies and gentlemen.
You're the dog underneath the table hoping that your master gives you some crumbs. What b s. Anyway, last sentence, with a favorable regulatory climate and growing institutional interest, the future of Bitcoin ETFs looks brighter than ever. Alright. So there's the article. Nasdaq proposing Bitcoin ETFs, and they're not the only one. CBOE, the Chicago Board of Exchange or whatever, they are proposing the same for their particular models or or this particular model for their particular Bitcoin ETF instruments. And I'm pretty sure that those are not the spot. Those are the future the the future. So I guess that means that if you redeem a futures contract, you don't have to actually take it in cash.
Be that as it may, they're talking about these three benefits. The operational efficiency, I call BS on. I don't think I I just I mean, sure. Yeah. I mean, they don't have to sell sell it for cash. So I guess in a way, but honestly, I I think they're so set up for being able to do that. How hard is it? I mean how much efficiency do you gain by not doing that? Now the tax advantages, that's the thing. Being able to take your bitcoin directly off the bitcoin iBit ETF and put it into your own wallet, if hopefully they allow that, that will actually not cause a capital gains structural problem with your taxes. And that's good. I'm I'm all for that.
Now here's the market stability rant. Just because Ibit and their partners that, you know, help them custody and do all the things, since they don't sell the Bitcoin directly, sure, at that particular point, there's no sell side pressure on the market. However, this this begs the question, why would you buy your Bitcoin through an ETF instead of just buying it through something like Cash App or Strike? I mean, if your end goal is just to end up holding the Bitcoin, then you don't need to go through BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF.
And then say, you know, like 6 months down the road or whatever, you say, you know what? I want the Bitcoin myself. I just want an in kind redemption for this thing. I want to to hold the Bitcoin myself. Well, you don't need to do any of that. So the real question becomes and this is for people that are really, you know, better versed about the markets than I am to answer is why would you want to do this? What is the other structure that I'm missing in so far? Like, what was I able to gain out of the iBit situation?
Did I just allow the price to run up while I held the Bitcoin and I end up with more Bitcoin on the other side? Well, okay. That's fine. But, again, I don't really need to do that. So there's something here that I am definitely missing as to why you want to be able to get your Bitcoin out of an ETF. Because if you just wanted the Bitcoin in the first place, you can just go buy it. And you can just go buy, well, you can go buy from lightningspore.com, cordyceps mycelium powder. The circle P is open for business. And I am using Plebeian Market to find somebody to talk about this morning and I did. It's lightning spore. He's on Noster.
He makes his own mushroom stuff and in this one he is making cordyceps mycelium powder in 50 gram packs for 10,000 satoshis. What might you ask is cordyceps mycelium powder? Well, I'm glad that you asked. For the price of a cup of coffee a day, you could supercharge your energy with lightning spores, cordyceps, mycelium powder. This ancient mushroom magic is here to boost your stamina, endurance, and overall vibe. One scoop once a day because you deserve to feel unstoppable without breaking the bank. And that's important. The breaking the bank thing is actually really important about this because cordyceps is part of a supplement that my wife takes which is a whole bunch of different mushrooms.
However, to go get like a 60 tab or, yeah, 60 capsule bottle of this from from Paul Stamets outfit. I can't remember the name of it right now. Fungi Perfecti is one of his one of his companies. He's got another one. My I think it's called Myco Community. I'm not exactly sure, but it's got, like, 7 or 8 different mushroom powders. That thing is $75 a bottle. Actually, it's more than that for 60 tabs. It's like 80, $90 for where I buy it, which, you know, obviously, the only place that I can get it is kind of a health food store, and there's always a pretty good markup on that. But what it has done for her is let her actually not get sick all the time, like with flu, colds, you know, minor kind of just feeling down stuff.
It is a really, really good immune system booster and cordyceps is a major part of that. So if you are wanting to try something different, like let's say you're getting too many colds, you're you're maxed out on your vitamin d intake, which I highly recommend everybody take vitamin d or, you know, eat a lot of meat and go out in the sun because cholesterol converts into vitamin d under UV light. Yes, that's the way this shit works. If you're maxed out on that and you're still, like, kind of feeling under the weather, go try cordyceps mycelium powder in the 50 gram packages for a mere 10,000 satoshis. That's like a little over $10 And you can get it from lightningspore.com over here on plebian.market.
It is going to be something that I think you're gonna be really interested in doing. You're gonna support the Bitcoin circular economy. You're gonna support lightning spore. He's a noster pleb. He's a Bitcoin pleb. If you're not selling your shit for Bitcoin, you're not in the circle p. And if you want more information about this, this particular advert or not advertise with this particular stall in plebeian. Market is going to be in the show notes. It's a URL. You can just click it and go right to this particular product. So there you go. Circle P is now closed. We are on to Lola Leitz and her problems with her bank. And Lord have mercy, does she have problems with her bank.
She says on Noster. And if you're not on Noster, why? Get on Noster. Another day, another exchange I'm suspended from. Oh, it's not a bank. It's a Bitcoin exchange. What do we always say? Get your coins off the exchange. All of my funds are coin joined or swapped between Lightning Network and, God forbid, Monero for privacy before sending to exchanges triggering all sorts of nonsense AML flags. The exchange I'm with now is requesting proof of funds, meaning that it wants to see fiat coming into my bank account from an entity I have a business relationship with asking me to, quote, kindly assist them in surveilling me. Except that all of my business relationships are handled in Bitcoin, meaning that it's impossible for me to show proof of fiat funds.
Alternatively, the exchange says I could send them, quote, the address to which I received payment in the last year matching the amount of money I have exchanged on their platform. Obviously, no such address exists because I create a new address for every transaction and so should you. Additionally, much of my money comes in through donations for which I simply do not have an invoice. I could now send them every single zap I've ever received on Nostra in the past year. And for context, that would be over 250 zaps in the past week alone. Or I could move my business to Switzerland where I can exchange up to 1,000 CHF per day, KYC free for now, which is what I'm going to do.
However, since I'll be more heavily relying on peer to peer exchanges from now on, I'll likely have my bank account flagged for receiving weekly payments from randos on the Internet, making it fairly foreseeable that I'll be losing my bank account in the coming months as well. Jesus, the hits just keep on coming. Fundamental rights violations aside, the amount of complete nonsense work and with that cost, the system creates both for the government and private institutions is absolutely astonishing. If there ever was a true bullshit job, compliance officer would no doubt be it. In time, or rather, it's time that we end, the global discrimination complex inherent to the financial system in which we are all guilty until proven innocent only to upkeep an inefficient system that is useless in preventing crime but formidable for imposing mass surveillance upon the people.
So no, I will not kindly assist you in surveilling me. And if I die on this hill Until then, show me your favorite tools to pay my bills in Bitcoin. And she gives a screenshot of this letter that she got from her exchange and highlighted it says, we kindly request your assistance in understanding the origin of funds for your transactions. If you have your Bitcoin on an exchange and you've heard us time and time again tell you, you need to get your Bitcoin off of the exchanges. This is exactly why we tell you that. It's not really as much that you're going to get hacked. I mean, eventually, all exchanges are probably going to get hacked. But it's more about the exchange themselves rug pulling you, using some kind of bullshit ability to do so because the government told me to or some other reasoning to take your coins or to keep you separated from your coin.
So if you are an exchange user and if you're keeping your coins on an exchange, you need to get them off whether you coin join them or not. They will find some reason, some way, somehow, somewhere at some time to separate you from your Bitcoin, don't let them do it because the French have that all sewn up. And first, the French are gonna go after Binance. That's right. They're investigating Binance over alleged money laundering, tax fraud, and drug trafficking according to a report. This is MK Menelyov from the block. I probably pronounced it wrong, and I apologize. French authorities have stated that they created a judicial probe investigating the crypto exchange Binance over alleged money laundering, tax fraud, drug trafficking, and other charges, and I'm sure they probably involve children at one point or another, reported Reuters on Tuesday.
The probe follows France's prior investigation into Binance regarding supposed illegal canvassing of clients and money laundering as Reuters reported back in June of 2023. The French newspaper, Le Monde, also wrote at the time that the country investigated Binance over purported failures in its know your customer obligations in 2022. Quote, Binance is deeply disappointed to learn that Genelaco, whatever, a Paris division of the French public prosecutor's office, has taken the decision to refer this matter, which is several years old, to the French judiciary for further investigation.
While we do not usually comment on legal proceedings as a matter of policy, Binance fully denies the allegations and will vigorously fight any charges made against it. Binance's advances in AML and compliance have already been recognized by leading authorities including FinCEN, the DOJ, and OFAC. Among other things, noting that Binance has implemented enterprise wide AMLCFT, implemented financial action task force standards for AML and KYC, and improved employee AMLCFT training. End quote. Binance faces scrutiny for money laundering in the United States as well. In November of 2023, the exchange as well as its then CEO, Changpeng Zhao, pleaded guilty to money laundering with Binance agreeing to pay $4,000,000,000 of fines and Zhao yielding a $50,000,000 fine himself plus 4 months in prison.
Binance is the largest crypto exchange by monthly spot volume. So why is France all of a sudden crawling back up the underwear of Binance? Because as Binance themselves and the block admits in this particular article, these are old charges. What could possibly be going on in France that might turn the oh, here it is. France is targeting crypto gains with a new wealth tax. From altcoinbuzz. Io, I got this one. The French senate recently approved the 2025 budget which includes a new quote unproductive wealth tax, end quote. Unproductive wealth. This proposed tax would target a range of crypto assets and apply annually to unrealized gains. In other words, investors could be taxed on the increased value of their crypto holdings even if they haven't sold any coin.
The idea of taxing unrealized gains has sparked debates far and wide. Supporters argue it's a fair way to tax wealthy investors sitting on large, untapped fortunes. Critics, however, call it a slippery slope, claiming it unfairly penalizes those who are simply holding on to their investments. What's the next step? Well, it's a vote in France's National Assembly where lawmakers will decide whether or not this tax gets the green light. If passed, it could set a precedent in Europe where governments are increasingly focused on tightening crypto regulations. France isn't new to taxing cryptocurrencies.
Profits from crypto trades are already subject to capital gains taxes, but this new tax goes one step further by targeting the unrealized gains, something that hasn't been widely adopted in other countries. And for crypto investors, it could mean a heavier tax burden even during market downturns. This push comes amid broader discussions about regulating digital assets in the European Union. As crypto grows in popularity, governments are looking for ways to ensure that benefits don't come at the cost of lost tax revenue. Still, taxing unrealized gains is a bold move that could test the patience of crypto enthusiasts.
The proposal highlights the growing tension between governments and decentralized financial systems championed by cryptocurrencies. And while lawmakers aim to bring crypto into the fold of traditional finance, some argue that these moves could stifle innovation. Yes. That always stifles innovation. That's not what we're concerned about. Stop stealing my money. Stop stealing all of my money. Stop figuring out new and improved ways to take something that isn't yours, that you didn't work for, that you have no business in claiming. So France, at this point, is already teetering on absolute financial ruin as is the entirety of the EU.
It's ridiculous what's going on there. And people are leaving in droves. I can't remember if it was the Netherlands or Norway that introduced a wealth tax, and I don't think it was a tax on unrealized crypto gains. It was just straight up, we want a shit ton of your money or at least the money that we know you have. Whether unrealized or not, I don't know. I'm not sure. But what it did do was cause an exodus from that country of that country's wealthy people. And when that when those people left, their tax base of the country itself was actually hurt. France is going to experience the same thing.
All the countries that comprise the European Union are going to experience this. They're going to experience the wealthiest of them leave, and their tax base is gonna get worse. And the only people that are going to get hurt are the very poorest people because they didn't have the money to be able to leave. So since they're left, they're the ones that are going to have to take up the tax burden of all these rich people that are leaving because these rich people had the money to get out. Do I blame the rich? No. I don't. Hey, good for you. You got rich. Good for you, man. I hats off, pal. I hope you live to a ripe old age. Please don't steal anybody's money. Other than that, have fun being rich. Okay? That's fine.
But when you leave, and you have every right to leave, I would leave too. Just for somebody not to steal my money, I would bail. It's going to leave the poorest people in the worst position, and it's again, I'm not blaming the rich people. It's not your fault. This only has one center of blame, and that's the governmental authorities of any country that proposes or pushes or enacts anything that steals the wealth from anybody, no matter what size that wealth is. It's ridiculous and it needs to stop. And maybe Arizona has an answer.
Because Arizona, the senate, the state senate, has already moved forward with the Bitcoin reserve legislation that they were talking about. Zol tanavardai from Cointelegraph. Arizona lawmakers have advanced a Bitcoin strategic reserve bill, which seeks to deploy the world's first cryptocurrency as a savings technology the state. The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, SB 1025, cosponsored by senator Wendy Rogers and representative Jeff Wininger, was passed by the Arizona State Senate Finance Committee with 5 to 2 votes on January 27th.
Wow. 5 to 2. Pretty good. 5 out of 7 said, yes. We want this. Anyway, the bill is now going to move to the Senate Rules Committee for final debate and amendments. If the Senate approves it, it would advance the bill to the state house of representatives. The bill proposes the creation of a strategic Bitcoin reserve by the US Treasury for the storage of government Bitcoin holdings, which would also allow other public funds to store their digital assets in secure segregated accounts within the strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Interesting.
The bill would allow up to 10% of a government entity or public funds capital to be invested in bitcoin and other digital assets. It also opens the doors for pension funds to allocate resources to bitcoin, potentially increasing public interest in cryptocurrencies. Up to 20% of Gen Z and Alpha, Gen Alpha, are already open to receiving pensions in cryptocurrency, while 78% expressed greater trust in alternative retirement savings options over traditional pension funds. Arizona's decision to include bitcoin in its financial strategy could lead to a domino effect among other states, according to Andy Lien, author of and intergovernmental blockchain expert. He told Cointelegraph, imagine if your state decided to put some of your tax dollars into bitcoin.
It might encourage places like Texas or Pennsylvania, where they've already been talking about similar ideas, to jump on the bandwagon even quicker. However, he cautioned that a bitcoin reserve would require safeguards due to the cryptocurrency's volatility, noting that taxpayers could face financial risks similar to those encountered by crypto investors. As one of the most anticipated crypto related bills in history, the bitcoin act championed by Wyoming Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis has generated significant excitement.
The nationwide approval of a Bitcoin reserve could push Bitcoin above the 7 figure mark as soon as this cycle according to Adam Back, co founder and CEO of Blockstream, the inventor of HashCash and one of the most notable cryptographers in the industry. The potential approval could lead to a rapid price appreciation. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But here's the thing, there are at least 13, 13, 13 other bitcoin reserve related bills at various stages in states such as Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Kansas, New Hampshire, Wyoming, Ohio, Utah, North Dakota, and Texas. Wow. That's a lot.
Bitcoin reserve proposals are gaining support and the success of this bill could bring in an influx of new institutional Bitcoin adoption. The regulatory expert, CEO or co founder and CEO of Fidium, Andastasia Platnikova, I think is how you pronounce it. Quote, analyst suggest that it could drive Bitcoin's price to $500,000 while attracting institutional investors like pensions and sovereign wealth funds further legitimizing Bitcoin as an asset. Yeah. I'm I'm not all that that up on on Bitcoin price predictions depending on what happens or what occurs. I think it's dangerous to do that, and that's one of the reasons why I never make price predictions on this show.
In fact, that's why we run the numbers. CNBC Futures and Commodities Oil is up a bit about a quarter of a point, 73.37. Brit, North Sea likewise up a quarter to 77.24. But natural gas, 5 points to the downside. Gasoline is up a half point to $2.3 a gallon. Gold is up over a point, and silver is up damn near a point and a half. Platinum is moving sideways and copper is up a half while palladium is down almost a full point. Ag. What's ag doing today? Biggest winner in ag is gonna be wheat. It is up 2 a third and the biggest loser is rough rice down 2 a third. Live cattle is up 1.79%.
Lean hogs up 1 a quarter while feeder cattle are up just under 1 full point. The Dow is up a quarter but the Nasdaq is up more 0.69%. Nasdaq is up 1.33%. I guess everybody's recovering from China going boo over the weekend and the S and P mini essentially is moving sideways. We've got a $102,000 no, 102,800 and $40 on a bitcoin. That is a $2,040,000,000,000 market cap and we can get 37.4 ounces of shiny metal rocks with our 1 bitcoin of which there are 19,000,000 816,107 and a half of in average fees per block are low. 0.04 BTC taken in fees on a per block basis.
There are 34 blocks carrying a measly 82,000 unconfirmed transactions waiting to clear at high priority rates of 7 satoshis per vbyte. Low priority is gonna cost you 5. 774.8 x of hashes per second is the security of the bitcoin network on a 1 week rolling average. And on to weak minds, weak markets, yesterday's episode of Bitcoin. And I got Mark with 210 sats. But Mark says that he's using Zap Planner to send me $5 a month. Thanks for reading the news I can use with no ads. No ads. I might tell you that again. When you're listening to like the the really heavy hitter podcast out there in the Bitcoin space, they have ads.
Lots of ads. The only ads that I will read to you are plebs that are like you, who have goods and services for sale in Bitcoin. I do it as a public service and hopefully if you buy from them, they will send me some satoshis on the other side. But other than that, this show gets no funding outside of zaps that you send me. When you stream these satoshis for listening to the show, when you give me boostergrams on things like fountain.fm, you know, podcasting 2.0 enabled apps. I don't get advertising revenue. I don't have River sponsoring me.
This is this is it. This is just me and you in a relationship, and nobody else is standing in the way. Mark, thank you. $5 a month, thank you. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that. And for all the rest of you guys, remember, the only reason that I bring you this show is because not only do I love doing the show, I love you. And I love people like Pies with a 100 sats that says thank you, sir. No. Thank you. And that's the weather report. Welcome to part 2 of the news that you can use. Netflix has been hit with a cease and desist order over Bitfinex Bitcoin heist documentary.
Actually, it's more of a demand. It's not really a cease and desist order. It actually says demand here from decrypt.co written by Jason Nelson. Attorneys for Heather Rosalcon Morgan, the rapper and social media personality, issued cease and desist letters to streaming giant Netflix on Monday concerning the documentary, biggest heist ever. Morgan is expected to report to federal prison February 4th for her role in laundering funds tied to the infamous multibillion dollar Bitcoin heist upon which the documentary is based. The letter shared with Decripps cited defamation and a violation of California's 2 party recording laws.
The production company behind the documentary, Library Films, was also named. Netflix didn't respond. In addition to defamation claims, Morgan alleges Netflix and Library Films violated the privacy of wedding attendees by filming her ceremony with husband, Ilya Liechtenstein, without guest consent. Quote, we attended a wedding with no idea that we would later appear at a Netflix documentary, Morgan's attorney Serena Wu told the crypt in an email. It is crucial. It's crucial to protect and uphold the privacy rights of private citizens. Well, the cease and desist letter demands that guest likenesses be immediately removed from the documentary with no further use.
Attorneys warn that failure to comply with these requests may result in legal action. In a separate cease and desist letter, attorneys for Morgan point to several statements from the documentary that they say are completely false and defamatory, including claims that Morgan and Liechtenstein purchased stolen passports, debit cards, and other identity documents from the dark web. These claims have no factual basis, the letter claimed, and perpetuates the lie that missus Morgan was a mastermind behind the heist. Quote, minimal due diligence would have revealed the falsity of your statements, including publicly available court findings that confirms that miss Morgan was not involved in the underlying hack.
Morgan's daddy, or rather father-in-law, the cease and desist letter claimed was also defamed by being called a hacker in the documentary. Quote, while this defamatory statement is not aimed at miss Morgan, it reinforces the documentary's disregard for the truth and willingness to make defamatory accusations without any basis, the letter said. The other cease and desist letter also cites California's 2021 2 party consent law arguing that recording wedding footage without explicit approval constitutes a legal violation. Quote, miss Morgan expressly reserves all of her legal and equitable rights and remedies, including the right to seek injunctive relief and recover monetary damages, the letter said. Yeah. You're gonna need the money there, Rosal Khan. If you decide if you decide not to comply with the demands above, miss Morgan will take all steps necessary to protect her rights.
Lichtenstein was convicted of hacking crypto exchange, Bitfinex, in 2016 and stealing stealing nearly a 120,000 Bitcoin or more than $12,000,000,000 worth at current price. In November, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. Morgan, meanwhile, received an 18 month sentence for helping launder stolen funds in the case. Earlier this month, the self styled rapper released the first of 2 new songs, Rosalcon versus the United States, which was followed by diplomat pussy last week. Okay. So the California, 2 party consent law, I don't think she's got a leg to stand on if and only if that wedding took place on public property.
Even if they rented a venue, it's public property. When you're out in public, you have absolutely no expectation of privacy of your person anyway, like your face. Somebody taking a picture of somebody down the street, you end up being in that picture. Chances are good you'll never know, but even if you did, really? You're gonna make you're gonna make a thing about it? Now if this wedding had taken place on fully private property, and I don't know where the hell this wedding took place, but given the amount of money that they had, it probably wasn't a backyard wedding at at Bob's. Okay? It was probably in a very large venue. And again, even if you rent the venue, it's still public property.
I mean, it is. It's because the public is part of you have a segment of the public at your place. So I don't think that shit's gonna hold any water. I think that I think they just don't want this documentary to air or, actually, more to the point, it's probably that Heather Morgan just wants to figure out a way to make money because she lost all the Bitcoin. Anyway, whatever. It doesn't really matter because MetaPlan is probably gonna buy some more Bitcoin, maybe even Heather Morgan's Bitcoin. MetaPlan plans to raise $700,000,000 to buy Bitcoin. Ezra Raguera, Cointelegraph.
Japanese publicly traded company MetaPlanet is going to raise over 116,000,000,000 yen which is about 750,000,000 to fund more bitcoin purchases. On January 29th, actually, I think that they mean 28th, but on they say in here, on January 29th, the company issued 21,000,000 shares of 0 discount moving strike warrants. Meta Planet plans to use these shares to raise the funds needed to increase its Bitcoin holdings. The company called it the largest capital raise in Asian equity markets for buying bitcoin. The move aligns with Meta Planet's strategy to counter the yen's declining value and solidify its position as a leader in bitcoin adoption.
The $745,000,000 fundraising initiative marks just the first phase of Meta Planet's ambitious Bitcoin strategy. The company announced a goal to accumulate 10,000 bitcoin by the Q4 of this year, which would cost over $1,000,000,000 at current prices. And by the Q4 of 2026, Meta Planet plans to increase those holdings to 21,000 bitcoin worth approximately 2,100,000,000 based on current market values. Meta Planet representative, director and president Simon Gurevich said in a press release that the market recognized the company as Tokyo's preeminent bitcoin company.
Quote, our vision is to lead the bitcoin renaissance in Japan and emerge as one of the largest corporate bitcoin holders globally. This plan is our commitment to that future, Gurievich said. Meta Planet is currently the 15th largest corporate Bitcoin holder. Alright, so they're going after yet more Bitcoin and they're taking well, they're doing exactly what Michael Saylor said to do. Sell debt, print shares which represent debt of your company, sell those shares, use the actual fiat cash to buy bitcoin, and put that shit on your balance sheet so that the value of your company is tied to Bitcoin's rising price, and therefore you will be able to pay back your debt later on down the road. It is a very simple formula.
It is very simple. It doesn't mean that it will always work, I'm just saying that it is a very simple idea, and it looks like now Meta Planet is fully engaged in working that particular strategy as set forth by our friend, Michael Saylor. Whether you like him or not, he's right now, he's kind of our friend. That does not guarantee that he will remain so. So Petrobras or I mean, I'm sorry. Petrobras, set to enter mining using excess gas according to Atlas 21. And it's a Brazilian oil giant named Petrobras announcing a project to utilize excess natural gas, a byproduct of oil extraction, to power bitcoin mining activities. And the initiative involves collaboration with academic institutions including Universidad Petrobras and the the the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro Petrobras Cinepez Research Center will lead that project exploring not only Bitcoin mining but also potential blockchain applications across the company's various operations. My god, they're gonna put oil on the blockchain. This decision marks a step forward in Petrobras' decarbonization strategy.
Oh, f f f s. Sorry. That's me just trying not to be vulgar. Anyway, by converting waste gas into useful energy for mining, The company aims to reduce both energy waste and carbon emissions. Other companies such as Techpetrol, YPF, and PlusPetrol in Argentina, along with Russia's Gas Promenov, have already adopted similar practices recognizing the dual benefits of energy reuse and the opportunities offered by the mining sector. It ain't energy reuse. You're just actually starting to burn the gas that you don't have a pipeline set down so that you can sell it into the market. But, hey, whatever. They're going to make out like bandits if they just mine Bitcoin. Anyway, Albie extension version 3.11.0 is out.
It's got a card. I don't know exactly what this means because it means because it says card for importing nostril keys. And I don't know if that means a physical card that they send you in the mail. I don't know what's going on and I let's see if they'd say more about it. Pending transactions for Nostra Wallet Connect and more is also included in this release. And if you did not know, Albi is a Bitcoin lightning browser extension that connects to different wallet interfaces and brings deep lightning integration to the web.
The most recent update for the Albi extension brings several improvements and new functionalities to the lightning browser extension. New features consist of a dedicated card, card, like a credit card, for importing nostr keys along with improvements to language support now featuring singles, tamil and Russian. Key fixes tackle problems with battery consumption on Reddit and Medium, and also correct a user interface bug associated with blue boxes. Furthermore, users can now monitor pending and failed transactions for Nostra Wallet Connect, enhancing transaction tracking and transparency.
So I don't know what they mean by battery consumption on Reddit and Medium. I was unaware that Albie has anything to do or any connections with Medium or Reddit for that matter. So I'm gonna have to look into that, but I I don't know what this card is. Is it like a media card? Is it like a physical plastic card? Somebody from Albie, if you're listening, get a hold of me. Let me know what that shit's about. Okay? And last up for the day, looks like it's gonna be a shorter show. Hive Digital has acquired Bitfarms Paraguayan facility for $85,000,000.
Again, this is atlas21.com. Hive Digital has announced the acquisition of Bitfarms 200 megawatt facility in Paraguay for a total of $85,000,000 The agreement includes a payment of 56,000,000 for the facility acquisition, with $25,000,000 due at closing and 31,000,000 in semi annual installments. Additionally, 19,000,000 will be paid for energy deposit reimbursements and approximately 10,000,000 to complete remaining construction obligations. The Iguazu facility currently under development will be completed in 2 phases. The first phase, already 80% complete, will be operational by April and will provide a capacity of 6 exahashes per second. The second phase scheduled for August will add another 6.5 exahashes per second through water cooled ASIC implementations.
The operation is part of HIVE's broader strategic plan, which has received support from Paraguayan president Santiago Pena. With this acquisition, the company aims to reach a total operational capacity of 300 megawatts in the South American country, including the 100 megawatt facility announced last July. The executive chairman for Hive, Frank Holmes, stated, quote, reaching 3% of the global Bitcoin mining network by September 2025, powered entirely by green energy is a remarkable achievement, end quote. The company plans to increase its hash rate capacity from 6 exahashes per second to 25 exahashes per second aiming to generate annual revenues of $500,000,000 And for its part, Bitfarms has announced that it will reinvest the capital obtained in growth opportunities into the United States with the goal of rebalancing its portfolio to 80% North American operations by year end.
And this move will allow the company to reduce energy cost by 10% and focus on developing high performance computing and, of course, artificial intelligence infrastructure. Everybody's getting in on the mining game. So, that's it for the stories that I had outlined for you today. It the Nasdaq in kind redemption. I while I don't think it does as much as the story I read you at the first of the, at the first of that first part of the segment, I don't think it does as much as it says it does, but the the tax implications, those are real.
Those are really real. So if for whatever reason you had to take possession of Bitcoin from the ETF when you bought BlackRock's Ibit ETF and you move that over to your own possession, at least in the United States, right now, that would incur no tax problem. Whereas if you sold it into cash and you had any profits and you made over a $100,000 a year being married, I think is what the cutoff is, then you're going to pay capital gains tax on everything above that $100,000. In either event, I still think it's good. I just think we should be careful and not letting it get so overblown that we think it's going to, I don't know, send Bitcoin to the moon.
One of these days we'll get there. I promise. And when we do, I'll see you on the other side. This has been Bitcoin, and and I'm your host, David Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and hope to see you again real soon. Have a great day.
Introduction and Episode Overview
Understanding In-Kind Redemptions
