Yikes.

Friday June 28th, 2024 - Issue # 75

(Any views expressed below are the personal views of the author and should not form the basis for making investment decisions, nor be construed as a recommendation or advice to engage in investment transactions.)

Well, for all of you who tuned into the presidential (yeah…very presidential) debate last night, I think we can all agree that it did not go well for Biden. Why his handlers dressed him in a Lex Fridman style stark black suit and a plain white shirt to highlight his deathly pale white complexion, I will never understand. From the moment the debate started, I felt strongly that we were witnessing the end of an empire, in real time.

Simple enough chart, but if you’ve ever read Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail by Ray Dalio, there’s hundreds of years of historical evidence behind it that verifies it's accuracy.

While I’m on Dalio, he wrote an excellent piece a couple of days ago that I thought I’d include here in case you’re interested in his thoughts around the current political environment — we can draw many comparisons to our situation here in Canada. You can read it here.

So, there’s no question that the debate was a disaster for Biden and the Democrats but it begs the question — why would they put him up there knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to win? It seems to me that this disaster was not an accident, it was intentional. Last night marked the earliest presidential debate in U.S. history. Why would the Democrats insist on scheduling Biden's debate so early? It appears they’re going to throw a Hail Mary and swap Biden last minute but they are on a very tight schedule and it’s a big risk with possibly very little upside.

Due to Ohio’s ballot rules, the Democrats have 40 days or so to find a replacement for Biden (needs to be wrapped up by August 4th). Firstly, Biden has to agree to step down, which I can’t imagine will be that hard although these political types seem to like to hold on to power as long as they can (I guess it only applies to those who know they are in power). But assuming the party can get Biden to agree to bow out, they then need to get Kamala Harris to step down as well because if she hangs in there, Trump’s going to have a field day.

So, what’s the game plan? Does Hillary Clinton put her gloves on for round two? Gavin Newsom, as creepy and unpopular as he is, was getting a lot of attention last night. Michelle Obama? Let’s face it, the Democrats are backed into a corner.

I know, right? Who am I to be talking about US politics, you come here for the Bitcoin to the moon stuff! I’ll come to that in a bit.

The question that we have to be asking ourselves is who the heck has been running the show for the last few years?! What the debate did last night, was confirm that the depictions of a senile old man with dementia were not just clips or sound bites taken out of context. It means that what we witnessed last night was likely peak Biden (after they juiced him up with god knows what) and that he’s been asleep at the wheel in the most important position in the US for years. In this type of deeply bureaucratic system, having a leader who is not all there (to put it gently) leaves subordinates to run a muck. Of course spending is out of control, inflation is high, and everything seems to be going to sh**. It’s been years of the proverbial students in the classroom without a teacher. Actually, more like an entire school of students without any real supervision. The place has been looted.

Click above if you want to cringe hard on a Friday. Pathetic.

This is Jesse Powell, one of the earliest and most respected leaders in crypto. He goes on to say: “…I am excited to join other leaders from our community to unite behind the only pro-crypto major party candidate in the 2024 Presidential election so the United States can continue to remain a leader in blockchain technology.”

The community has rallied hard behind Trump and has raised a ton of money for him. Trump has been speaking up about the right to self custody, making the US an even bigger force in bitcoin mining, and ensuring that the US is a leader in crypto.

I think it's safe to say that a Trump victory in November is massively bullish for our industry and for the economy as a whole.

Weekly podcast recommendations