Recent Developments

"At night I dream of a golden child with the same face as me. Separated by the vastness of space I miss my Monchichi. I take solace knowing we see the same stars twinkling high above. Without question, the most dangerous drug in the world...is love."

2023 Has been full of surprises. The relief rally finally showed up and BTC is pumping up like a new tire. If the momentum continues 30K is on the way. As I said in a previous blog, I don't think the bear market is completely over. If the weekly 50 ema moves back above the 100 ema I call that the silver cross (like the golden cross), then I'll become a believer that the next bull run has begun. In the mean time futures trading the swings has been a wild experience. Talking about riding turbulent waves. 

The recent developments in the Celsius case have revealed enough information on insider corruption that it's hard to believe Alex Mashinsky won't go to jail. I never wish incarceration on anyone but some people really ask for it. I won't bore u with all the litigious details. The most criminal evidence presented during the court hearing was, that Celsius encouraged new members to deposit funds. Then, they would take those funds and use them to pay for other members withdrawals. Alex knew they didn't have the money and continued to take yours. 

The situation is just as bad as it looks when reading it. What was just described is straight up theft! Even when u take in consideration FTX's role in the case, the operators of Celsius are still guilty. I don't rule out collusion between the two companies. There was a lot of backdoor dealings and greed that resulted in our funds being confiscated. The money is currently being gobbled up by lawyers while we creditors wait for the crumbs. The way things look there are two outcomes. The first, is that a big company buys Celsius and possibly repays creditors between thirty and fifty percent of their assets back. This is based on the value of the assets at the time of bankruptcy. The second, which is least appealing is that no suitable bid is presented and the case goes into Chapter 7 which is liquidation. In that case very similar to what is already occurring the lawyers get paid and the creditors receive nothing. Case over. 

When comparing the two option neither is very appealing. Still. Getting something back is better than nothing. According to the hearing dates we will know the verdict sometime in the next six months. If Alex does go to jail he won't be alone. He can hangout with his old buddy SBF and trade investing tips. Not long after my last post SBF was arrested for his role in the downfall of FTX exchange. When the police showed up at his door I bet SBF was more nervous than a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. You know he never expected to go to jail. Getting guys like them out of crypto is the right move for the industry. Now that so many big players are gone from the space a vacuum has been created. It will be interesting to see who steps in to fill it. 

One of my favorite places to create is ending next month. Bored.ai the place where I discovered digital painting and learned to appreciate the craft. They're closing the discord server March 15th. After spending the last year evolving with the system upgrades and running a community club...its a sad feeling for the journey to end. The upper management stopped providing funds for the discord but let the NFT project continue. Since the announcement several community members have put in bids to buy the server. It's a nice ideal but I'm not getting my hopes up. Digital painting is a great way to expand your vocabulary while exercising the imagination at the same time. Since learning "prompt engineering" (which is using descriptive words to generate an image.) I've found there are a lot of new AI digital painting companies.  Lucky for me a fellow club leader opened his own server call the the Alien Tech Club where I practice using many of them.

To be honest I haven't had a lot of time for painting, digitally or on canvas. Aside from doing some home renovations, and navigating difficult tax situations. I've been writing music and preparing for my show next month. I'm performing at the seventh edition of the RAHH (Raw Amsterdam Hip-Hop) event. It's the same crew, same place, dope beats and chill vibes. If you're in the area come through and party with us. 2023 has been keeping me busy and I'm enjoying the momentum. Hopefully things continue moving in a positive direction. 

Until Next We Speak, Be Well

Tha One an Only    

Strange Times

"In life sometimes events seem to be moving on the right track. In reality it's two small steps forward...one large step back."

Amber and golden leaves fell on the damp ground as I inhaled the cool autumn breeze. Summer is over. Winter is coming. There's always a sense of meloncholy when summer ends. Summer is the time to be outside with lots of festivals and cultural events going on. The lose of warmth and sunlight is the same as a spring love that's gone cold. My apologies for rambling...I sometimes get distracted when writing.

We're living in strange times. The musical landscape has changed a lot since I released my first EP in 2002. Back then musicians could say some outlandish sh*t and it would be taken as art. We had freedom of expression and it's interpretation was never taken as literal. That is no longer the case. In fact over the last twenty years its become the complete opposite. It's like one of those B-rated sci-fi movies where the persons transported to a parallel world. A place where all the rules are reversed. In the age of "cancel culture," every spoken word, written thought, or musical composition can get u imprisoned. (Facts)

Now musicians are catching cases off songs. Art has become evidence used for persecution. This reminds me of the witch hunts in the 1800's. It's become such a serious matter that legislation has been drafted to stop the practice. The R.A.P. (Restoring Artistic Protection) act was introduced to the House of Representatives back in June 2021. The focus of the bill is to limit how an artists creative expression can be used against them in a criminal case. In a fair society legislation like this should never have to be written. Unlike other forms of music such as rock, country, or blues. The predominant type of artists catching cases off song lyrics are rappers. 

To keep it one hundred. Its different if someone is stating all the facts to a crime with details and locations in a song. That's self incrimination and they deserve whatever punishment is appropriate for the crime. Using circumstantial evidence based off song lyrics is a fear tactic that stifles artistic freedom and creativity. Let me get off my soapbox. I just celebrated another year above ground and it has me contemplative. My love of making music hasn't changed, but my motivation to release it has been somewhat daunted. I despise drama. Recently, I had a situation where my words were used against me. That's a story for another day. Because of that situation I'm more cautious with everything I write.

To keep the stress compartmentalized I've been creating art. Although I've enjoyed developing my digital painting skills at Bored.ai, its not the same as canvas. The biggest difference is when I paint on canvas (or draw on paper) I can taste the colors. Even without having a preset ideal of what I want to create. Just by blending flavors together the painting goes its own direction and the image takes form. With digital painting u have to come up with the concept first then use descriptive words to generate the image. Both styles have pros and cons but my soul resonates with exploring new flavors. One of these days I'm going to take pictures of the two new pieces and post them in the gallery. 

The Ethereum merger happened today. For all the anticipation in the crypto space, the outcome was quite anticlimactic. Most people were expecting the big pump up to 3k to begin. Instead the price dropped to 1450. Right now eth is struggling to get back up to 1500.  There's a chance we could see the bottom this month. If that happens eth is falling below 1k. Some people are saying this is a great place to accumulate. (not investment advice) 

Not me. September is such a volatile month I'm going to wait and see where the price is at the end. Its better to be a little late to the party then too early. I have a small dydx trade open with a liquidation point of 1340. If I lose that trade...I know were going down. Usually after we hit bottom the price goes sideways for awhile. That's the place I would accumulate. (not investment advice) I personally believe the price will rebound before the end of the year. We got a glimpse of the relief rally without any strong momentum. It's just my opinion but the charts are saying a pump is coming. So. I have my bags packed and I'm patiently waiting to board that ride to around 3K. You do what lets u sleep better at night. Regardless of the price action the eth merge was a success, which is a big win for crypto.

Until Next We Speak, Be Well

Tha One an Only