‘Crypto is done pumping’: Joshua Henslee tells us the bear market is here

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After covering a busy BSV Global Blockchain Convention, BSV thought leader Joshua Henslee is back to share his thoughts on Bitcoin SV and the digital currency industry as a whole. In this one, he shares why he believes ‘crypto’ is done pumping. He certainly has some compelling reasons for believing so.

Coinbase insiders dump stocks as worrying signs emerge

Henslee begins by pointing out that Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) executives dumped huge amounts of stock in November 2021 at the peak of the everything bubble and how the company’s stock price has continued to slump since. He also draws our attention to a recent Coinbase admission that customer funds could be used as collateral in the event of bankruptcy.

Combining these events with the recent loan Coinbase took from Goldman Sachs, Henslee speculates that the company is in need of money, and Coinbase insiders dumped because they know there’s trouble ahead. Why would insiders be offloading stock left and right if they believed there’s a bright future ahead?

Sam Bankman-Fried is diversifying and hedging his bets

Henslee then points out that one of the industry’s poster boys, Sam Bankman-Fried, appears to be diversifying after buying a stake in Robinhood. This is investing in a competitor to some extent, but Robinhood makes most of its money from stock trading, so Henslee views this move as Bankman-Fried going “risk-off.”

Henslee points out that this move could be viewed as sensible risk diversification, but even that stands in contrast to the popular narratives promoted by industry leaders. Not long ago, they were promoting the idea that digital currencies and blockchains would replace everything and revolutionize the entire financial system. Now, we see those who have profited greatly from that narrative buying into the legacy financial system and companies like FTX offering equities, morphing into a sort of legacy financial system company. What gives?

“If these guys were really trying to disrupt and change things, we wouldn’t see them making partnerships with Goldman Sachs and Robinhood,” Henslee rightly says. It’s a testament to how the industry has largely sold out and given up on its original principles in favor of hedge funds and banks pumping their bags.

People are redeeming Tether at a rapid pace as markets crater

The rapid rise of Tether has raised plenty of eyebrows over the past few years. Henslee points out that the leading stablecoin has seen billions of dollars of redemptions in the last few months, meaning big players are cashing out of USDT at a pace unseen before.

Is the market losing confidence in Tether? It wouldn’t be surprising after the UST algorithmic stablecoin collapsed recently. However, the redemption of Tether at such a pace signals that lots of large holders of digital currencies are fleeing into real dollars. This clearly shows a lack of confidence in Tether and the prospects of the digital currency markets as a whole in the near term.

“Tether is clear as mud when it comes to auditing and showing what it has,” Henslee reminds us. He emphasizes that if the offshore stablecoin issuer was really interested in changing the world, it would leverage blockchain technology to be totally transparent instead of using the same playbook as many central and commercial banks.

Key takeaway—the bull market is over

To summarize this latest video by Joshua Henslee, he believes the bull market we’ve seen for the last couple of years is over. He points to the leaders of the industry and urges us to follow their actions. When we do, it doesn’t look good; Coinbase insiders have dumped their shares, Sam Bankman-Fried is moving into equities, and whales are cashing out into USD at a rapid clip. Overall, Hensleee believes that digital currencies are done pumping, as the title of this video suggests.

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of groups from BitMEX to Binance, Bitcoin.com, Blockstream, ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple, Ethereum, 
FTX and Tether—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.