Special Episode on Geopolitics, Political Emergencies and Global Regulations

Crypto is in the news again for its role as a source of funding for the Canadian “Freedom Convoy” protests. Cryptoassets like Bitcoin are permissionless open-source software, like email. Email can be used by anyone, including those you disagree with. That doesn’t make email or Bitcoin bad. And while many disagree with the actions of the protesters in Ottawa, it’s also true that Bitcoin is being used by freedom fighters in Belarus. And with foreign aid banned and 98% of Afghanis undernourished, women in Afghanistan use Bitcoin to buy food to feed their families. Demand for censorship-resistant money globally will only grow, acting as a tail-wind for crypto.

On the other side of the world, Russia invades Ukraine and The U.S. and its allies impose sanctions as punishment. If Russia is cut off from the U.S. payment network SWIFT will it turn to China and its Central Bank Digital Currency? Perhaps Putin softened his stance on Bitcoin recently knowing it may become a more important tool in his monetary arsenal? Only time will tell, but as the ancient Chinese proverb says “May you live in interesting times.”

Finally, while the U.S. prepares an executive action to regulate the cryptoasset industry, India (with over 100 millions crypto users) takes steps to legalize it. With a young and tech-savvy population and dynamic economy, can India be a global leader in this industry? How will the additon of potentially a billion more Indian crypto users impact the price?

On this episode of DeFi Decoded, Andrew and Alex break down these major news events and discuss the long term implications for Bitcoin, DeFi and the broader cryptoasset market.