We’re pleased to introduce two new executive team members to Ether Capital. 🥳 Plus, we share our thoughts on U.S. President Joe Biden’s highly anticipated executive order on digital assets. 🇺🇲

TGIF! 🥂 It’s been a busy week. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

On Monday, we announced two new executives will be joining the senior management team at Ether Capital.

Ian McPherson is our incoming President and Chief Financial Officer and Jillian Friedman is taking on the role of Chief Operating Officer! 👏

Together, they bring years of banking, law and cryptocurrency experience that will help take us to the next level. 🚀

Ian joins us from traditional finance where he most recently served as CEO and CFO of several private wealth management organizations. His resume is quite impressive and includes 17 years of investment banking in London, UK, and Toronto. He has also facilitated more than $75 billion 💰 👀 in capital raising and structured multiple M&A transactions as both a principal and advisor.

Jillian is a banking expert and lawyer who has been actively involved in the cryptocurrency space since 2014. Despite being crypto native, she also joins us from traditional finance and worked at National Bank of Canada 🏦for the past seven years. Jillian was responsible for creating and overseeing the bank’s blockchain and digital asset efforts with a focus on the wealth management, capital markets and risk sectors. 💡

As Ether Capital transitions from passive ownership of digital assets to an operating business model, we are expanding our team with a diverse set of skills to seize new opportunities in the industry. 🏹

A big congrats and welcome to Jillian and Ian. We have our work cut out for us and look forward to all of the exciting opportunities in the months ahead!

On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden issued the long-await executive order 🥁 on digital assets and the crypto community breathed a sigh of relief. 😮‍💨

International sanctions have prompted urgent calls for regulation of cryptocurrencies, so many in the industry felt this EO would introduce new sweeping measures to crackdown on digital assets. 🔨 🚫

The framework to guide the industry is actually very encouraging. It focuses on six key areas:

Even U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen — who is often critical of cryptocurrency — commended Biden 👍 for his “coordinated and comprehensive approach” to digital asset policy.

Rather than try to snuff out 🕯️ this asset class, America seems to recognize the industry’s potential and is working to build 🧑‍🏭 a framework that will hopefully make sense. The EO highlights innovation as a key priority rather than an afterthought. This is what enables platforms like Ethereum to grow 🌻 and thrive as the bottom-up composability of these networks is what leads to great technological discoveries. Although the framework is promising, the devil 😈 is always in the details and it remains to be seen how much room the industry will have to flourish.

We’re not going to see things change overnight, but at least Americans now have a roadmap 🗺️ to go by. In order to create appropriate guidelines, it will be essential for industry players to have a seat at the table to help officials understand network activity, while ensuring the new rules don’t impede on innovation. ⚖️

The American regulatory system is complicated 🤔 — something we discussed on our podcast with U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce last December. In the U.S., they like bucketing 🪣 assets but the crypto industry is not so cut and dry. Different products provide different economic services, with the underpinning 📌 of an entire financial system. This is something they will have to keep in mind in order to develop an effective framework.

What does this mean for Canada? 🍁

Not sure yet! We’re hoping the new executive order lights a fire 🔥 under Canadian officials to properly regulate the space. Considering Ethereum got its start in Canada, we risk falling behind 🥀 other nations when it comes to being a leading country at the forefront of change and technological advancement.

Another key part of Biden’s executive order is assessing the viability of a U.S. central bank digital currency. ICYMI we hosted a webinar with Carolyn Wilkins, former Sr. Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, in February about this very topic. We loved it so much that we turned it into a podcast. 😉

When you think about privately-issued 🪙 stablecoins, although they are often pegged to hard assets like the 💵 U.S. dollar, they operate in a decentralized environment. If a central bank issues a CBDC, the question is how much control is the bank willing to give up?

Carolyn raised a good point ☝️ when she talked about the possibility for central banks 🏦 to leverage platforms like Ethereum in a way that provides added security, but allows them to link to a decentralized world. 💡 This could help address many inefficiencies that plague traditional financial systems, including things like cross-border payments.

There are new use cases every day and ways to utilize smart contract technology that goes beyond just finance. This is why we are so focused on Ethereum because it acts as a global settlement layer for a wide range of activity. Institutions and individuals can plug 🔌 into the infrastructure and build on top of it — similar to how apps exist on smartphones 📱. What’s really powerful to see is communities across the world 🌎 rally behind this cutting-edge technology 🛠️ and cooperate to ensure its success. While some might find it intimidating, the intellectual mindshare that exists in the industry is what leads to great discoveries 🧑‍🔬 and proves there’s more to this asset class than price speculation.

Our friends at Purpose Investments launched an initiative this week to help Ukrainians who are suffering as a result of the war. 🪖

Bay Street Toronto for Ukraine is calling on Canadian business leaders to donate at least $91 in recognition of the year 1991 when Ukraine was founded. 🇺🇦

The funds will go directly to the Canadian Red Cross ⛑️ to help out with things like medical aid, food and shelter for those in need. The Canadian Government 🇨🇦 and corporations including Purpose Investments have also agreed to match donations! 💰 💯

If you’d like to contribute, you can go directly to their website.

Buy, Sell or HODL? 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you’re an advisor, you have probably received countless cryptocurrency enquiries by now. CoinDesk recently published an insightful article that highlights the importance of having a sound investment thesis behind your portfolio.

Ukraine Crypto Donations 💰

Cryptocurrency could become a “economic breakthrough” according to Alex Bornyakov, Ukraine’s deputy minister at the Ministry of Digital Transformation. The country has received close to US$100 million in digital asset donations following Russia’s attack.

Ethereum 2.0 Milestone 🏆

There’s now more than US$25 billion betting on Ethereum’s upgrade that’s expected in the coming months. Now you see why we’re so bullish on staking? 🥩 So far, we have staked more than $69 million of our ether balance (20,603) to help secure the network and take part in this new-ish form of validation. We have already accrued more than $540,000 in staking rewards since December 2021. 📈 😎

The industry is quickly evolving and there’s a lot of information to keep up with. That’s why we want to help! 🦸

Email us your questions and we’ll respond to as many as we can. While we can’t provide investment advice, we do want to steer you in the right direction so you can be informed.

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