Sup, nerds! Before we jump in…

This year at Consensus we’re partnering with Bellwether on-site content studio who will be recording 5 minute profile interviews on May 29th & May 30th at Nolcha Shows! 

This is how the piece would look and feel. Will you be in Austin? Want to be featured? Fill out this form to be considered.

ALSO, we’ll be touching the grass on Memorial Day this year so we’ll see you back in the inbox mid next week.

Alright! That’s it. Here’s what you’re getting in today’s edition:

• 💅 This is cool: Ethereum ETFs: approved!

• 🔎 This seems important: CBDCs: (on their way to being) banned!

• 🤝 Partner: Restore Your Youth​

• 🔪 Let's dissect this: The House just approved the FIT21 bill!

Terms used in this edition (click for an explanation, or ask Web(GPT)3!):
Stablecoin, web3.

💅 This is cool:

Ethereum ETFs: Approved!

In one sentence: US investors will soon be able to buy ETH via the stock market (investors buy ETF shares → the ETF buys ETH), which should attract a new class of investors to ETH.

Before you yell at us for titling this edition ‘The biggest day in crypto history (maybe ever)‘ — let us say this:

It ain’t because of the Ethereum ETF. Not alone at least.

Three massive pieces of news broke yesterday, and we’re going to cover them all — starting with the Ethereum Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) approvals.

If the headline wasn’t clear enough: it was approved!

This means that (once they go live) US investors will be able to buy ETH via the stock market (investors buy ETF shares → the ETF buys Ethereum), giving the purchase of ETH the ‘regulatory green light’ allowing big investment firms to invest without fear of ending up in court.

(And more investment = higher prices).

When will they go live for trading? Magic 8 Ball says: “Reply hazy.”

Thing is: this was a SUPER last minute approval (until Monday — it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that it was going to get canned).

So expect it to take a couple weeks at the very least.

The takeaway:

Crypto is becoming a bi-partisan issue in the US.

Whether by choice, or by force of their constituents — both sides of the aisle are starting to embrace the technology.

And while it’s still early days yet…

The violent 180 we just witnessed gives us tangible hope that America will soon become a hotbed of crypto innovation once again.

We love to see it!

🥇 Want the news before anyone else?

🔎 This seems important:

The U.S. House Just Passed a Bill Banning the Federal Reserve From Issuing a CBDC

In one sentence: The U.S. House passed a bill that seeks to ban CBDCs (aka centralized gov. owned crypto that can be ‘switched off’)…now it just needs to get through the Senate.

You know those recurring nightmares we all have?

The one where all your friends and family are stuck inside of a burning building, while no one is heeding your calls to help you help them?

No? Just us. Weird.

Well, we feel a similar sort of panic when we think about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

If you’re unfamiliar with the idea of CBDCs, the basic gist is this:

It’s a government owned/issued US dollar stablecoin.

Which, on the surface, sounds harmless — but it opens the door for some pretty dystopian concepts to weasel their way into our reality.

The largest and most concerning being:

A centralized programmable money would allow the government to essentially 'switch your money off’ (not to mention track every cent you earn/spend without needing to serve your bank a warrant).

We’re not saying they would, just that they could — and that’s scary enough on its own.

The good news is:

Congress is fighting it! In fact the U.S. House just passed a bill that seeks to ban CBDCs all together.

Now, it still needs to make it through the Senate, which is a taller task by comparison — but it’s worth celebrating regardless.

Cause it finally feels like someone (congress) is acknowledging the burning building that’s filled with our friends and family (CBDCs).

🤝 Partner:

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🔪 Let's dissect this:

The House Just Approved The FIT21 Bill!

In one sentence: The House approved the FIT21 bill which aims to provide regulatory clarity in the US for the web3 industry.

Let’s cap things off with our third massive piece of good news for the week.

Remember on Wednesday morning when we wrote about how “One of the most important bills for crypto (ever) is about to be voted on” (that was literally the title of the piece)?

Well, that vote happened.

And the bill was passed.

As a recap, the bill was called the ‘Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act’ (aka ‘FIT21’).

The three BIG things it aims to do are:

1. Clarify questions around which agencies have the responsibility to regulate various aspects of the crypto industry

2. Create consumer protections for the 52 million Americans who own crypto

3. Give web3 developers looking to launch projects in the U.S. clear rules to play by.

Again, like the CBDC bill from the previous article, the FIT21 bill has only passed the House so far and still needs to get through the Senate.

But heck, things are looking promising.

And if/when this bill passes the Senate, we’ll finally have some clear rules to play by > which in theory should lead to more innovation > which improves the economy and attracts more liquidity (money) to the space.

Who’s up for a running chest bump ahead of this long weekend?

CBDC’s, Explained