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It’s Arsen, bringing you the 10th edition of TLDR - the newsletter that keeps you informed AND entertained.

First, happy Sunday to 1260 of you reading today. I appreciate you.

Second, sorry for the clickbait title. This week Bitcoin was attacked from all directions. I think it’s important you read about it.

Alright, let’s get into it.

Here’s what I got for you this week:

• The Fed floods the market with liquidity

• Greenpeace FUD backfires

• A U.S. Senator is building an “anti-crypto army”

Estimated read time: 3 minutes and 33 seconds

THE FED HIKES RATES: BREAKDOWN

Bitcoin's ugly cousin, AKA the traditional monetary system, hasn’t been feeling too good recently. The money printer has been running hot for way too long. Now it’s time to chill down a bit.

Here’s what you need to know:

• The Fed raised interest rates by 0.25% - their ninth consecutive rate hike

• They dumped over $1 trillion from their balance sheet

• Rates are now 4.75% —> 5%

Here’ backstage view of how it went down:

Credit: @RD_btc

This is called quantitative tightening. By doing this, the Fed is trying to lower inflation by slowing down the economy.

But there’s one teeny-weeny problem: there’s a banking crisis. And the banks need cash. Like ASAP.

Let me explain. We’ve seen some heavy-hitter banks go down in flames:

1. Silvergate ☠️

2. Silicon Valley Bank ☠️

3. Signature Bank ☠️

4. First republic ☠️

5. Credit Suisse (re-branded to Debit Suisse) ☠️

6. Deutsche bank (soon ☠️)

And how did the governments intervene? They threw cash at these banks. Their respective governments bailed out all of them.

Remember how I said the Fed is trying to slow down the economy (quantitative tightening)? Well, pumping liquidity into the economy and bailing out banks is precisely the opposite of that.

Confused? You should be.

What the Fed is doing is equivalent to dieting by eating McDonald’s (if anyone from McD’s is reading this, please sponsor me). Good luck with that.

The Fed officials are pulling the good ol’ ‘trust me, bro’ saying that the U.S. banking system is ‘sound and resilient.’ But the only sound we hear is Powell pressing Ctrl + C and V on the Fed’s computer.

You thought 2008 was bad? That was only the warm-up.

We’re potentially entering a financial crisis, only with worse overall stats.

Enter Bitcorn🌽. Here’s why it will shine:

• Trust in banks is eroding. People will need an alternative place to save money

• Younger tech-forward generations trust software over people

• Rising inflation will pump asset prices (including bitcoin)

The Fed knows they’ve kept the money-printing party going for too long. They also know they then can’t stop:

1. Stop money printing = risk of the banking crisis

2. Continue money printing = your Filet-O-Fish gets more expensive, aka inflation increases

The Fed is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They will have to choose the latter. They cannot let these banks fail.

But Bitcoin will be ready. You will be ready. My meme folder will be ready. 🍿

Credit: @gregzaj1

GREENPEACE FUD BACKFIRES

- Mahatma Gandhi

We’re at the ‘then they fight you’ phase

Greenpeace has commissioned the ‘Bitcoin Skull’ - anti-bitcoin artwork meant to highlight how bad Bitcoin is for the environment. This is all part of the ‘Change the code, not the climate campaign.’

Little did they know, they accidentally created some of the most badass bitcoin artwork yet.

As soon as they revealed the artwork, it all backfired. Everybody who knows even the basics of mining pointed out just how misinformed the airheads’ over at Greenpeace are.

And this, ladies and gentleplebs, is what you call the Streisand effect. The more corrupt orgs like Greenpeace try to push misinformation about Bitcoin, the more they educate people about its benefits. Beautiful.

Even the artist himself expressed that the Greenpeace campaign no longer convinced him.

Here’s how Bitcoin’s energy mix is currently looking:

Credit: @DSBatten

The funniest part (or saddest)?

This whole anti-bitcoin campaign is funded by Ripple, a shitcoin project building an alternative to bitcoin (spoiler alert: it’s not)

I doubt Greenpeace will change its mind. Admitting their mistakes would force them to cancel the campaign (and stop accepting money from shady donors with an agenda).

Anyways, f*ck Greenpeace. Bitcoin has truth on its side.

And Bitcoin will outlast these climate terrorists.

Sorry to interrupt your reading. I have something you don’t want to miss.

I've written a ‘Bitcoin as Money’ research paper for my university. I’ve only shared it with my professor and kept it private until now.

Share TLDR with 1 person, and I will send you the research paper.

MEET THE “ANTI CRYPTO ARMY”

It’s over, guys. Bitcoin is dead.

The “anti-crypto army” is being built. And they’re coming for you.

This is the brainchild damage of our girl Elizabeth Warren - everybody’s favorite senile at the U.S. Senate.

No, this image is not fake. You don’t even have to create memes about it: they create themselves.

Now, Liz…can I call you that? Cool. I know you’re reading this. You don’t need to build an anti-crypto army. It already exists. It’s called the ‘bitcoin maximalists.’

It’s alright. You didn’t know, no biggie. Now that you do, kindly return to the retirement house and take your meds.

Jokes aside, Warren is targeting bitcoin as part of her re-election campaign. Imagine thinking bashing bitcoin is going to win you votes. Sigh.

Warren is 73 years old. So yeah, this is one of those “old man yelling at a cloud” situations.

Here’s behind-the-scenes footage of the first anti-crypto army recruits:

And remember this: if Elizabeth Warren is against you, you’re doing something right.

This week in a meme

Credit: @ICOffenderII

Job of the week

The crew over at Bitcoin News is looking for a social media intern.

This looks like a good opportunity if you’re young and want to break into the industry. They also pay in sats. 👀

From the archive

No comment is needed.

Uncertain times ahead of us. Central banks are trying to print their way out of the mess we call the “economy.”

I believe Bitcoin is a fix to this madness. That’s why I DCA into bitcoin using Relai - THE best place to stack sats in Europe. Yes, I said it. Fight me. Here’s why it’s the best:

• None of that custodial sh*t

• No verification or documents needed to buy/sell

• Bitcoin-only

But I work there, so I’m biased. Try it out for yourself by clicking relai.me/baggins.

Use the code BAGGINS to get 0.5% off your fees on ALL purchases forever.

And if you find a better app, let me know

That’s it for this one.

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See you next Sunday,

Arsen