This week in crypto we’ve seen Sam Bankman-Fried not fancying the idea of facing two U.S. Committee hearings, Bitcoiners cheering a generational recession, and Strike bringing Bitcoin payments to Africa.
No. 3 – SBF to Face the Music?
Sam Bankman-Fried’s recent interviews haven’t gone unnoticed by U.S. politicians, who demanded he appear before two committees next week – the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Both want the former FTX supremo to testify in front of them, with his argument that he doesn’t have all the facts yet not cutting any mustard with representative Maxine Waters.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers failed to respond to requests to appear before the deadline this week, which could mean that he is subpoenaed and ordered to attend, where the vague answers he has given so far in interviews will not, hopefully, be tolerated.
No. 2 – Bitcoiners Wrong to Cheer Generational Recession Fears
Bitcoin Magazine this week tweeted about investment giant Blackrock’s warning that a generational recession is on the cards, and the response from some Bitcoiners was toe-curlingly predictable.
“Bitcoin will work” and “it’s time to buy cryptocurrencies” were some replies to the news, but a true, global recession, worse than 2008 as Blackrock is suggesting, is not a time when anyone should be thinking of buying risk-on assets, and being so wedded to this concept that Bitcoin saves all is a dangerous fallacy.
No. 1 – Strike Brings Lightning Network Payments to Africa
Lightning Network payment platform Strike this week expanded its offering to Africa, following its deployment in El Salvador. Strike this week announced its Send Globally feature, which enables instant, low-cost payments to Africa, with initial coverage for Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana, allowing anyone in the U.S. to send bitcoin to users in those countries quickly and cheaply.
A successful trial period will surely see the Send Globally feature rolled out to more countries across the continent, finally helping bring Bitcon’s goal of being a peer-to-peer financial system to life.
