Trade To Black Podcast #14: SAFE Banking Momentum Builds But Risks Remain
In this week’s Trade To Black Podcast (formerly, the Diamond Hands Podcast), we again speak with Benjamin A. Smith with Anthony Varrell about crypto and U.S. cannabis markets. Regarding the latter, the news flow dominating the market continues to be whether the SAFE Banking Act—which sponsors attached to a mainline bill called the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)—will be included as an amendment in the NDAA. Either way, this question will be a defining regulatory moment in industry’s history and likely decide the trajectory of the price action in AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (MSOS) in the short term.
Annual ratification of the NDAA before calendar year end is automatic, having passed each year for the past fifty. So, a decision on SAFE Banking amendment inclusion into the NDAA can be considered an imminent event—although there are rumbling it may not get ratified until next year.
Episode #14 CliffsNotes…
Cannabis
@2:24 We start off with cannabis and Ben’s opinion on where SAFE Banking is going in the NDAA. Lots of moving parts. MSOS hit early in the week on reports of negotiations stalling, which could have opened-up tax loss sales.
@3:58 Anthony agrees and actually participated himself in tax loss selling with hopes of buying back early next year.
@4:53 Anthony explains why he booked his cannabis losses and how crypto losses can be booked against these losses.
@6:25 Ben has had conversation with other leading U.S. cannabis executives who feel SAFE Banking has a good chance of being passed based on the information they are receiving.
@7:49 Discussion centers around upcoming German cannabis legalization.
@10:12 Ben’s story titled U.S. Cannabis’ Big Regulatory Moment: SAFE Banking NDAA Union Within Reach, published on November 25, received good traction on Reddit. It went #1 on r/economy and r/weedstocks, and was published on r/wallstreetbets (11.2 million subscribers). The big takeaway: there is big interest in the sector.
@12:33 Is the interest level in the space at an all-time high? The panel thinks it is.
@13:56 Anthony is going all-in if SAFE Banking fails and the sector declines another 20-25%.
Crypto/NFTs
@17:30 Big global corporation such as Adidas are making investments in the NFT space. Anthony discusses the significance of it all.
@21:00 Trojan horse for the adoption of NFTs and crypto.
@21:39 What would you recommend if you wanted to get into the NFT space?
@23:14 The transparency in crypto means anyone can see what you own at anytime with a wallet address.
@26:38 Is $4000 the new base for Etherum?
@28:16 What is Wall St. getting wrong about crypto and how fast do you think proper regulations will materialize?
@31:07 Anthony explains how he’s making $1000/day passively staking his coins using Olympus Dao.
@33:06 Will crypto ever get co-opted by the traditional banking system?
To watch Trade To Black Podcast #13, click here.
