More Connecticut Taxpayer Cryptocurrency Losses

 Cryptocurrency is unique.  From my view as an economist it is illogical to me.  Because why would I want to take my dollars and or Euros and convert them into an unknown virtual currency that is secured only by cryptography. This is what cryptocurrency really is.  It has no backing by any government, and has no oversight by any governing agencies.  It is unique in its difficulty to understand, and when you cash in cryptocurrency you apparently get your American dollars and or Euros back.  And you can just as easily lose money in your investment.  Just ask the Connecticut Taxpayer.   Because the taxpayer seems to have lost a great deal of money with Democrat Governor Ned Lamont's "unique" job creating indirect investment into the now bankrupt cryptocurrency giant, FTX.  How so? You may have read along the way that The State of Connecticut was very generous with Connecticut taxpayers monies by pledging $5 million dollars to Digital Currency Group ("DCG") to fictionally "move and grow" 300 jobs to Stamford, CT.  DCG now has had a great deal of its capital worth diminished to the implosion of FTX and its investments therein.  To further thicken the plot, the Lamont family Hedge Fund (Oak HC/FT) was an admitted "early investor" in Digital Currency Group  but Lamont maintains they divested of the investment before this sweetheart deal took place, even after trade-source verified multi-million dollar investments were uncovered by this fund, immediately after the election in November.  It is another episode of perfect timing for the Lamont family and the Connecticut Democrat Party. 

Once again in his weekly segment on the Lee Elci show on WJJF 94.9 this past Tuesday 1/24/23, Tony De Angelo has uncovered even more stunning Lamont connections to cryptocurrency.   The latest scandal again involves an even more complex connection between the the Lamont family Hedge Fund ("Oak HC/FT"), DCG, and its Genesis subsidiary's unregulated "Crypto" lending bank known as "Gemini Earn".  This lending bank is the latest casualty in the industry contagion caused by the collapse of FTX and a devastating blow to a business once at the heart of Barry Silbert’s DCG.  The company listed over 100,000 creditors in a massive  bankruptcy filing, with aggregate liabilities ranging from $1.2 billion to $11 billion dollars, according to bankruptcy documents.  How much money will Connecticut Taxpayers lose due to this bankruptcy?  Apparently, new and extremely questionable investments by Oak HC/FT were made right before the bankruptcy of Genesis in a major capital infusion of $25 million dollars to the bankrupted DCG on December 1, per reliable industry sources.  This happened one day after withdrawals were stopped from the Genesis "Crypto Bank" by DCG. Isn't limiting a depositor while using cash to benefit others a violation of what securities laws are supposed to be for?  Why was this done and how is this legal according to my limited understanding of SEC and banking laws?  Is there not a grave conflict of interest with a Democrat Governor who earned $54 million dollars in income (of which no one is allowed to see its source) having his family's hedge invest in companies that received Connecticut Taxpayer funding, especially at the onset of a bankruptcy?  

There is a huge ostensible disconnect in our political system.  Connecticut is a good example of the disconnect and reveals a gaping lack of transparency and any credibility in state government especially when looking at the finances of Democrat Governor Ned Lamont.  Connecticut taxpayers still have no clue how he made a mere $54 million dollars in income as Governor.  I truly wonder how much was made from companies that Connecticut Taxpayers were forced to invest in that are owned by his family's hedge fund?  I wonder how much was made by his investments in cryptocurrency during this FTX/Digital Currency debacle.  I also wonder how much money Connecticut Taxpayers have lost by investments made both in public and in secret by the Connecticut Department of Economic Community Development ("DECD"), Why isn't this information made public in a state as small as Connecticut that has over $150 billion dollars in short and long term debt along with unfunded liabilities? Why does no known political figure whatsoever call for dissolving DECD? In my opinion DECD is just as corrupt as Governor Ned Lamont, and should be shut down.   

The seeds of economic discontent are constantly sown for Connecticut taxpayers who must shoulder the economic burden of this political corruption that is a given daily event.  Think about your hard earned tax dollars being given free of charge to the DCG and others like SEMA4 and the infamous "First Five" that will never be seen again.  Think about the continuing silence from Connecticut's state run media on these dealings.  And yet think about how true the truths of 1776 resonate louder than ever in Connecticut at this time with all of its filth, waste and deception that is proudly called state government. 

Nothing Has Changed From Last Night. The Democrat Party Owns Crisis After Crisis.

 Nothing has changed in America since last night.  Americans on a daily basis deal with multiple crises that the Biden Administration and his Democrat Party have created and nurtured over many years now, that continue to damage both our society and economy.  

Americans deal with runaway energy prices due to the manufactured Democrat Party energy crisis.  In addition, the closing of American sources of energy by the befuddled and economically incoherent Biden Administration in the name of green energy, defies logic.  Because of their actions, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been drained to dangerously low levels, diesel fuel/heating oil has tripled in prices in some cases and is in short supply, electricity costs especially in Connecticut, have gone up over 50% in some areas and green energy is still not an affordable alternative for the country.  We must remember that during the Trump Administration that we had stable, low energy prices and were energy independent.  We are now energy dependent on a ruthless dictator's oil for survival.  What is the point of green energy anyways?  Electric cars still need to be charged with a base source of power that involves fossil fuels.  By making fossil fuels too expensive for the working middle class as in the example of $6 a gallon home heating oil how does this help our economy?  Can a Democrat explain this to me? 

Americans deal with a massive loss of economic wealth as a Biden-induced economic recession, coupled with runaway inflation intensifies in our economy on a daily basis.  Americans also deal with a daily supply chain crisis especially for food, that continues to grow with the lack of response by the Biden Administration. No matter which way the Biden Administration tries to spin the "lack" of inflation in the economy and/or the economically illogical reasons why inflation is occurring in our economy, inflation is damaging our economy daily.  And inflation is causing a massive loss of personal wealth for economic classes especially those citizens who are retired and living on a fixed income.  Why are there shortages of baby formula, food and medicines in the richest economy in the world?  In my economic opinion we would not be having a recession at this time in our economy if we had a cogent and orderly immigration policy and not the border crisis that the Biden Administration is responsible for.  We also would not be having supply chain issues if the Biden Administration did not reward non productivity in our economy through their massive debt fueled spending programs that yield little (if any) economic value to our economy.  We also would not be having a recession if we did not have the incomprehensible energy policies force fed to us by the Democrat Party.

Americans deal with a rampant crime crisis in our country on a daily basis thanks to the muddled legal system that protects the criminals and treats crime victims as the criminal.  Personal property rights seem to be disregarded by our legal system and by liberal District Attorneys who feel that they create laws, and not enforce them.  Law enforcement and the respect of our police men and women whose job it is to protect us from crime has become a farce in our country due to the Democrat Party's hatred of rules, laws and law enforcement for some incoherent liberal reasoning.  Crime and murder does not go away by not enforcing laws.  Crime and murder does not go away by eliminating the bond system.  Americans should not be living in fear when they go to a grocery store and or when they need to buy gasoline for their vehicles.  Americans still have private property rights, contrary to what the Democrat Party wants.

Democrat President Biden along with his amateurish, helpless and unqualified Administration have created these crises that Americans, especially in Connecticut, must now deal with on a daily basis.  Whether it is runaway inflation, a massive national debt crisis, a massive loss of personal wealth, an energy crisis, a border crisis, an illegal drug crisis, a crime and murder crisis, and or a total lack of good/effective government crisis at a local, state and federal level, the Democrat Party owns these failures.  Americans need and deserve a much better economy, government and crime free society for the enormous amount of local, state and federal taxes that they must pay to keep these incompetent,  inefficient and useless government officials employed who have in essence ruined our economy and country.  Truly we are reliving history as it is 1776 all over again for America or what is really left of it.  Enough is enough.

The Democrat Party Cryptocurrency Crisis

 To me it is fascinating to me see how much money was spent in this past 2022 Midterm election by political parties, special interest groups and a host of committees.  In my opinion all of this money can be viewed as both productive and non productive.  It is economically productive in the view of the printing companies who print signs, campaign literature and the like.  It is especially productive for media outlets and political consultants who sell advertising and "advise" candidates on what they should or should not do, regardless of the disastrous results in many cases.   It is non productive in my opinion because it seems that the candidates with the greatest amounts of cash and or personal wealth are now the perpetually elected officials that Taxpayers are stuck with each election.  A great example of this was the battle of the millionaires for Connecticut's Governor; Democrat millionaire Ned Lamont and Republican millionaire Bob Stefanowski with the incumbent millionaire winning.  Each candidate poured millions of their own cash into their campaigns to buy the office.  It is also non productive because it seems that people who are the remaining working middle class of America have little if any representation in any level of government due to the amount of cash that is being used to buy political offices since many offices are held by individuals with incredible wealth.  These same office holders have little if any concept of what it is like for the working middle class to raise a family, not have their children brainwashed in public schools, work hard for a living with few if any raises, and struggle to survive because of the incoherent economic and social policies these same paid-for millionaire elected officials dictate to them.

Even more troubling has been the recent disclosures of former cryptocurrency giant FTX and its founder Samuel Bankman-Fried who gave a mere $70.1 million dollars to mainly Democrat Party causes in the 2022 Midterm races.  FTX was the third largest campaign contributor in this election.  (opensecrets.org) FTX recently filed for bankruptcy losing an estimated $30 billion dollars plus of investors cryptocurrency.  For those who do not understand cryptocurrency (which are many) one must use a fiat currency such as the United States Dollar or Euro to buy this concept or digital currency that only has value by the non- governmental authority issuing it.  You may wonder as I do, why you would take a legitimate currency you use every day and give it to a centralized authority (that many have no idea who or what it is) to get this digital currency that has no assurances that it will be operational from day to day and has limited use in buying items and or services in our everyday economy.  My question is them how did Bankman-Fried lose all this digital currency?  Did some computer somewhere blow up and eliminate it?  How did he gain all of his wealth to spend on this past election cycle? It seems all this is happening out of thin air.  And since I am an economist who still does not buy into the concept of cryptocurrency, why are some governmental and state pension funds invested in it?  What happens to this money?  Do the same working middle class Taxpayers now get to bail out Bankman-Fried and his Democrat friends? 

Connecticut Democrat Governor Ned Lamont seems to be invested heavily in cryptocurrency.  The State of Connecticut was very generous with Connecticut taxpayers monies by giving $5 million dollars to Digital Currency Group to fictionally "move" 300 jobs to Stamford, CT.  The Digital Currency Group now has many issues to deal with due to the implosion of FTX.  In my opinion, they will be bankrupt very soon.  The Lamont family Hedge Fund (Oak HC/FT) was an early investor in Digital Currency Group but Lamont maintains they divested of the investment before this sweetheart deal took place, even after trade-source verified multi-million dollar investments were uncovered by said fund immediately after the election!  And why is Connecticut's state run pension invested in cryptocurrency in the first place?  Is this not an enormous risk now with the meltdowns of the cryptocurrency markets?  How many other elected Democrat officials are invested in FTX?  How many government run pension funds are invested in the cryptocurrency markets?  Once again Tony De Angelo in his weekly segment on the Lee Elci show on WJJF 94.9 was the first to disclose these most recent stunning Lamont connections to cryptocurrency.  

Regardless, since the crypto-fueled Democrat Party is now broke, it could have fundraising bake sales at the empty retail storefronts they helped to put out of business during their Covid-19 crisis?  Or maybe it could sell Dutch Tulip Bulbs at incredible prices like they did in the 1600's?  Or better yet maybe it could create something out of nothing, which is nothing and trade the nothing on a daily basis?  Or even better it can double down on pensioners and taxpayers stakes in cryptocurrency while it is collapsing?  One can argue they was a great deal of money wasted in this last election that could have been spent solving many of the issues the political system has created for our economy.  For example, how about helping people who are being bankrupted by excessive Affordable Care Act medical bills?  Or maybe helping the thousands of family run businesses bankrupted by incoherent and draconian decrees of the never ending Covid-19 crisis?  

Maybe the election of 2024 should be one of no more money spent for campaigns for any elected office.  Each candidate would need to publish at their own expense their stances on all issues that impact their district and or state.  That might help the serial fraud that seems to take place each election. The greater fraud in my opinion is what our political system has evolved into.  Buying of political power each election cycle.  It has reached a point of no return.  Sort of like the point of no return for cryptocurrency.  Oh well, no big thing.  Just make taxpayers pay for the financially elites ineptitude, incompetency, excesses and power.  Like in Connecticut, and so many other Democrat enclaves in our country.  The seeds of economic discontent are sown and are growing quickly for the taxpayers who must shoulder the economic burden of this political corruption.  And yet again the truths of 1776 resonate louder than ever in our country at this time.