 Welcome to Digital Asset News. Take the top stories in cryptocurrency and digital assets and bring it on to bite-sized pieces. So today we're going to talk about some interesting stories. First up, HBO's real time with Bill Maher. He did a segment to millions of his viewers, where he pretty much just laid out his thoughts on crypto and digital assets. And people were cheering and clapping and really celebrating everything. And I'm just going to hear to go over it and tell you, you know, it wasn't good and really how we should be treating these people that are really pointing the finger and just saying, this is a ridiculous market. And it's really going to encompass what is happening in the NFL, where Trevor Lawrence is the number one draft pick. He's taking his entire signing bonus in cryptocurrency. This is a great article written by John Miltimore. I encourage everybody to follow him. And I just really lays out why if you're laughing and jeering right now at crypto and digital assets, there's a reason and it's coming fast why you really need to pay attention because if you don't, things are going to pass you by and it's going to be pretty upsetting. And there's this article pretty much just lays it out. It's probably one of the best articles I have ever read for crypto and digital assets. So we'll take a look at that. But first, take a look at the market. So today it is May 2nd. This is Trade the Chain. Take a look at sentiment analysis. I talk about all the time. Links in the description, but we're at 2.2 trillion. So for everybody who bought the dip, congratulations. It's like we always talk about here. If you don't like the price of a crypto project, just wait a couple of days. It's like the weather in Houston. If you don't like it, it's going to change. And here we are. We're back to almost all our all time highs, except for Bitcoin. Bitcoin is only at 56.5 and dominance has slipped a little bit. And I think money is flowing into alts. That is just how it goes. So things go into Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a gateway crypto, as I call it. And then people get into alts such as Ethereum, which is almost knocking at $3,000. Binance Coin, 620, XRP, watch out, $1.57. And you take a look at these seven day averages. I mean, this is massive, 12%, 24%, 21, 38, 44% for Dogecoin. Hey, congratulations. I like Dogecoin holders. I don't hold Dogecoin and I've been talking negatively about it. But if it goes up, if it makes money, it makes sense. Good for you. Polka Dot and everything else and just everything's up just massively today. So it's a weird day because Wednesday's hump day and Sunday's dump day, in my opinion. But we're holding pretty strong. So for other people that are laughing, let me get to those stories. So before we get to that, I just want to cover just a little quick update. Turkey, a couple of weeks ago, they talked about banning cryptocurrencies for payments. Now they're still in the same course, but they're making progress. So this just came out yesterday late. And the Turkish government has updated the country's crypto regulation. This is published in the official Turkey Gazette. The official Gazette is like the main primary information hub for Turkey. And it states, the new rule adds crypto trading platforms to the list of entities covered by AML on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism regulations. The country's latest expansion of rules covering crypto transactions would take immediate effect. So right now, everybody has to comply. It's already been passed. The government previously said that it plans to establish a central custodian bank to eliminate counterparty risk among other provisions. So they want to keep some kind of control. They want to have the custodians be the banks. All right. So there's a medium. I know some people are not going to agree with that. But hey, sometimes you've got to crawl before you can run. Let's see how that works out. I don't know. Turkey central bank recently banned the use of crypto for payments and two Turkish crypto exchanges, Thodex and Vebitcoin, I guess, halted trading abruptly and are now being investigated for fraud. One, I think was mismanagement. One was just an outright fraud. So there is progress being made over there in Turkey. So great. This is good news, in my opinion, just not fantastic news. All right. So let's take a look at what is going on here. So this was, let me just refresh this. So Bill Maher, if you don't know in America, he's a comedian. I use that term loosely. Some people love him, some people hate him, but it doesn't really matter. And he went on a tirade for like eight minutes straight about just how awful crypto and the gel assets were. And what was striking to me was, you know, I thought I would hear some chuckles and a little bit of a laugh or clapping. But man, it was it was like overjoin us of people like really hating on crypto. One thing that was interesting, though, was that when he when he brought up Dogecoin, people were clapping like crazy. So, hey, you know what, if that's what it takes for people to be happy, so much the better. But he pretty much has laid it out and said, I don't believe in it. I think it's stupid. You don't understand. I don't understand. And that's just how it is. And people shouldn't be involved into it. And it's just really awful. And I thought it was kind of a sucky thing to say. But then I just, again, one of my fatal flaws, which is I always think that people are like me and they'll do all the research and they really get into it. But sometimes it just takes people time. And that's what it is. My story, if you don't know, my son brought home Bitcoin. He said he at his school, he had some kid who was going to sell him a 500 Bitcoin for 500 bucks. This was early, early. And I was like, that is so stupid. I didn't say stupid. I said, that's crazy. I don't think that's going to work. He's like, OK, I just thought I'd run and buy you. Now here we are, right? So it just takes people a little bit of time. So for Bill and for everybody else out there who doesn't get it yet, it's OK. You know, it's all right. I didn't get it initially first either. But once you do your research and take a look down, then you kind of get it. And if we take a look back at people who just didn't get it, besides good old Rob here at Digital Asset News, we can take a look at somebody like Jordan Belfour. And the Wolf of Wall Street, he said, hey, this was in 2018. He says Bitcoin shouldn't exist. He's baffled by the price. Warren's into a scam. That was in 2018. Fast forward to 2021. He did a video where he talks about, well, this is why the government will destroy Bitcoin. And then he comes out just a couple of months ago, March 24th, and said, hey, it's going to be awesome. And it's going to soar up to $100,000. And so it's just one of those things. And then on top of that, I mean, you'll have even JP Morgan who are, you know, they are old. That's all they do, finances, right? And I'm not going to poo poo all over Bill Maher because he's a comedian and he shouldn't talk. I mean, look at me. I mean, my history is marketing, health care, and just small businesses. And here I am talking to you about it. It's like, it's not like I am a cryptologist or I'm a programmer, but I some I believe in. And so if Bill Maher doesn't get it, it's not because I'm going to hate on him because, oh, you're a comedian. How dare you? It's just that you got to do a little more research. That's all it really comes down to, just like JP Morgan. And these are the guys that are in finances. And this is a nice little timeline. 2015, virtual currency will be stopped. 2017, Bitcoin's a fraud. It's a fraud. It'll never work up. Now he gets warmed up to in 2020. Then 2021, he says investors should invest 1% of their portfolio. And now just recently, what a week ago, he said, hey, JP Morgan's going to actively offer, manage a Bitcoin fund for you guys. So look, everybody has their own learning curve. And the only thing that concerned me about this video was just how wholeheartedly people were like, yes, this is fantastic. And yes, we don't like crypto. And it's dumb when you're right. And you get into that groupthink. And that is the most dangerous thing. So even on this channel, we could all be in groupthink. We all think that, oh, well, people are just like us. People just know it and get it and everything else. That is a prime example of how people just don't get it and just don't understand right now what's going on. So when people say, ah, we're not early, we're like in the fifth inning or sixth inning or whatever they say, that's not the truth. There's people out there that just don't understand. And really it's up to us to not reiterate the stories of the Bill Maher's of the world and the Charlie Munger's and the Warren Buffett's, but to take a look at, hey, look at these other institutions that are getting in. Look at all these people that are getting into it. Look at all these old world investments. I mean, you have like a mass mutual or a liberty. Or I mean, even Tesla's into it right now, even though it's a better, more technology driven company. These are the things that we should be talking about. And it's not like we should be looking down on people. Like how dare you say that? We're not going to get anywhere with that. Unless you're like me and you got some friends who are just hard headed and you just go, listen idiot, this is really what it is. You can say it out to like personal friends, but people are kind of like, I really get it. Sometimes it's just better just to, you know, just bring them into the fold and explain it and go, I see what you mean there. I understand I was the same way, but here's what I got and here's what it all comes down to is those crypto and digital assets. So that's just one of the, that's just the first part. And this really will come down to articles that we should be sharing. And this is one of those articles. So people, like I've always said in this channel, like I was in marketing for a long time, they have to see things seven to 10 times before they actually just get it, or they buy it or they buy into it. And this is just one story that makes a lot of sense. So Trevor Lawrence Clemson, number one, NFL draft pick, NFL for people who are outside of the United States. It's football, not soccer. I know it sounds weird, but that's what it is. So Lawrence's signing bonus will come in crypto. And we had covered this a couple of weeks ago because he signed a deal with Blockfolio or one of those, it's in here later. And I just thought it was like a separate deal that they're going to pay him in crypto for talking about crypto. But now he's taking his entire signing bonus, which is $22.5 million. $22.5 million. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of money. And what was interesting to me was that right here, it states that the crypto coins he asked for, the crypto coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Doge. Hey, so there you go. He's taking in Bitcoin, Ethereum and Doge. Nothing else? I mean, he might be, but this is what probably the majority. And moving forward, this is the part that we really should be talking about. Just to talk about people in society, people in the public eye who get it and are taking their payments in crypto. So on May 2019, Panda's offensive tackle and Bitcoin trailblazer like that. Russell Ocomb requests to be paid in Bitcoin. So when he was saying this, this wasn't 2019, mind you, when it wasn't even that hot of a thing, but he got it. And people, I remember these articles were like, that's stupid. Why would he do that? He can just take dollars that's going to go down because it's in a bubble. This is the great part. Ocomb's decision made him one of the highest paid players in the NFL. The result of Bitcoin's meteoric rise. When O'Kung, I don't want to say his name, you'll probably correct me, made his demand. Bitcoin was trading around eight grand, $8,000. And today the price is about $55,000. And imagine when it goes up to $150,000, which is what I predicted. These types of stories are the ones that don't get talked about a lot. The first story gets talked about a ton. He wants his salary in Bitcoin. And then every time it goes down, you hear people, it goes down with a moron. These are the stories we should be talking to all our friends and family and colleagues. And they're like, you know what, this guy O'Kung, he got at eight grand and now it's $55,000. And as it goes on later, it's going to go up. So just remember that number, $8,000. Bitcoin will go up, crypto will go up, digital assets will go up and down. That's just how it is. That was the original price. Anyhow, this is where it gets great. Some economists have warned that crypto is simply a bubble weighing to pop, arguing they have no intrinsic value. And the reason why I like this part right here is because John here has a great gift of showing both sides of the angle. I haven't read all this stuff. I'm going to probably actually do it. But I like this because it says like, well, here's one side, here's another side, and here's a counterargument. It's great. So, so, so, so, so Bitcoin looks like it's really is a bubble in multiple senses. Paul Krugman famously said in 2015, when it was trading for roughly 300 bucks. Again, you don't hear that too often, but we should. The economist said it's in a bubble of 300 bucks. And then some goldbugs say the same stupid stuff too, but that just shills for their Bitcoin fund or their gold fund, excuse me. A lot has changed. And I think that's true. Hedge funds have piled on, including investment guru Kathy Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, corporations are getting on the action, Tesla, da, da, da. And in a recent report, 101 million profit. All the things we have talked about ad nauseam on this channel, I just say it if you're new to the channel. And then it says, don't be surprised if your local Chinese restaurant or steakhouse is now accepting Bitcoin cash. Interesting. In fact, survey shows, I did not, I must have missed this. More than a third of small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S. accept crypto as payment for goods and services. That's a lot. I need to take a look at that. Surveys can be, you can take a very small sample and go, well, a third of them do it. So, but you're like, well, what's the sample size? 500. Okay. But it is interesting that even a third on this survey, they were accepting cryptocurrencies. So why? The question is why? And we know why, but it's good to get this information when people ask you why, why, why is that? So I think there is enormous risk we are running. Economist and former Harvard president Lawrence Summers recently observed. I think there's a real possibility that within the year, we're going to be dealing with the most serious incipient inflation problem we've faced in the last 40. And if we've talked about this before, we'll talk about it again. Quantitative easing or money printing is at an all-time high. We're going to see a lot more of it. So when you have that, you can't keep printing money for that long. I don't care about the helicopter money and the monetary theory. I just don't see how you can just print to oblivion and go, it'll be fine. It's not how it works. So the last thing to finish up, I think, which really makes it interesting is famous work, the de-nationalization of money. Economist F.A. Hayek noted that one of the primary lessons of human history from ancient Rome to the 20th century is that governments debase currency. So every time you hear about the gold bugs talk about, well, gold's been around forever and it's going to be great. It's going to replace everything. Sure, I own gold and silver. Why don't you own a little Bitcoin? Especially if you're going to talk about this, you know that all fiat has gone to zero. All fiat in the entire timeline of history has gone to zero at some point, all of it. So what makes you think that any of this fiat is going to keep going on forever? Just can't. I don't know when it is. It's like I'm saying tomorrow. Don't get me wrong. It's going to be around forever or for a long time, but not that long. And then Hayek argues that governments can't control themselves once lawmakers realize their control over money can serve as not just a medium of exchange, but as a source of power and ill-gotten wealth. They inevitably manipulate currency in a way that makes its harm. There's only one solution. The Nobel Laureate concluded, I don't believe we should ever have good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government because we can't take it violently out of the hands. All we can do is by some sly, roundabout way, introduce something they can't stop. And that, my friends, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what cryptocurrencies and digital assets really are built for. We're not mostly cryptocurrencies. And you got Okong and Lawrence, now even Jordan Belfort and a lot of different people just realizing, okay, okay, this is what we were missing. This is what we really should be doing. And I think that is what makes crypto great. So when we talk about these stories, you know, you're going to get a lot of traction on Bill Maher. But just remember, when we talk to these people, it's just because they're ignorant. Not that ignorant is a bad word. Just that they don't understand. First of all, people don't even know the history of money. They don't understand what money really is, what it's really backed by. You know, just everything about it. I mean, heck, just simple finances people understand. So when you talk to people, just realize that if you're here right now, you're in the right place at the right time, cut them a little slack and just try to explain it to them as best you can. And for that, I would just recommend this website. Not just kidding. No, really, I do. That thing's been in my head. DanTeachesCrypto.com. It's 100% free. So if you don't really want to explain to your friends and family and everyone else, just send them there. It's free. They sign up. I don't spam anybody. I created it free for this specific reason. And first of all, because people in like Sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh and different parts of the year, they can't afford a bunch of money. So just come on here and learn all about it that you possibly can in a condensed, simplified way. And then I'm giving that stuff like Bitcoin elevator pitches and you got videos about what is crypto and digital assets, how to actually work it, how it kind of works together, project reviews, everything you really want to know. And that really is the big thing. So that's all I have for today. Lastly, I will say this. We're going to do a live video today. There was a great question, which was Rob, what would you hold? Five to 10 cryptos you would hold for the duration for your kids and for your grandkids. And since I have both, I put this together. So it's going to be live. Alex Maschioli should be joining. We'll see how my schedule permits as he's living up in Puerto Rico. And we'll do this live and we'll talk about my five cryptos and how I see things going as far as like what I really want to hold onto for the real, real long haul. All right, so that's it. So there's all thanks for sticking with me. I appreciate it. If you like the video, give it a thumbs up. That always helps. Consider subscribing. A lot of things we talk about. Time sensitive. And you know, you don't miss anything. So that's it for today for this one. And hopefully I'll see you later for this new video.