Chapter 160 – News From The President
(The Benedict with salmon and avocado mousse was wonderful today... Maybe I should ask Mom and Grandma to make something special for dinner, too? Like — Meat rolls with kiwi and nuts?)
After a while, breakfast was over.
Karin and Runo exchanged a glance, stood up, and said they were going to the garden — they planned to replant the bushes and check the irrigation system today.
- (Phoebe). "Phew..."
Phoebe sighed, stretched, and announced that she was going back to her sewing: she still had a few orders that needed to be finished by evening.
Sohen just nodded and stayed seated in the living room.
(Well, now...)
He turned on the TV again.
(There’s going to be a very unusual game today, ha-ha.)
There were just over ten minutes left until the match between the U.S. and North Korean national teams.
(Old friends will meet again in four years.)
The screen showed the usual pre-game studio segment; the experts were discussing something, but Sohen wasn’t really listening.
(Idiots, not experts. Boring...)
He was just about to switch to another channel to kill some time when suddenly a red breaking news ticker appeared on the screen.
"BREAKING NEWS"
- (Me). "???"
The studio had changed.
Instead of soccer commentators, there was a live broadcast from the White House.
On the screen stood an elderly woman with perfectly styled blonde hair, sharp facial features, and a characteristic self-satisfied expression.
She was wearing a tailored red jacket, and the American flag fluttered in the background.
It was the sitting president of the United States, Amelia Trump — whom everyone had come to refer to simply as "President Trump."
She looked straight into the camera and spoke in a sharp, confident voice:
- (Amelia Trump). "My fellow Americans... and the entire world listening to us right now. Today, I am compelled to announce a decision that will forever change the financial system not only of the United States but of the entire planet. Over the past few months, my administration has conducted a thorough investigation. And what we have discovered... is shocking. Most so-called ’decentralized’ cryptocurrencies are in fact controlled by shadowy entities that have been siphoning capital out of the American economy for years, financing hostile regimes, and laundering money on a scale that is hard to even imagine. Butcoin, Eassthereum, and dozens of other coins have turned out not to be a symbol of freedom, but the largest financial pyramid scheme in human history. Therefore, effective immediately, I am declaring a state of financial emergency. All private cryptocurrencies within the United States are hereby outlawed. Within seventy-two hours, every citizen and every company is required to convert their digital assets into the new government-issued digital dollar — the "Trump Dollar." After this deadline, any transactions involving Butcoin, Eassthereum, and other decentralized coins will be considered a federal crime. In addition, we are launching the largest buyback program in history. The Federal Reserve is beginning a controlled buyback of all major crypto assets at a fixed exchange rate, which will be published within the hour. Those who try to move funds overseas or hide them in cold wallets... will be found. I repeat: this is not an attack on innovation. It is a defense of the American people against the greatest financial fraud of the century."
The president paused, looking straight into the camera with that same characteristic half-smile.
— (Amelia Trump). "America is becoming strong again. And this time — for real."
The broadcast cut off.
The screen went black for a second, then exploded with dozens of breaking news tickers.
Butcoin’s price was already plummeting like a waterfall.
Eassthereum was losing several percent every second.
Crypto exchanges began suspending withdrawals one after another.
Sohen sat motionless, staring at the screen.
(...)
What he had just heard was about to destroy the market he’d been working in for the past few years.
No one cared about the match between the U.S. and North Korea anymore.
(This... This... This... Fucking mouth!!!)
Sohen jumped up abruptly from the couch.
He quickly turned off the TV, spun around, and practically ran down the hallway to his room.
(Hurry... Hurry... Hurry...)
The young man opened the door so abruptly that it slammed loudly against the wall.
In one fluid motion, Sohen lifted the laptop lid and simultaneously pressed the power button on the desktop.
While the computers were booting up, he was already sitting in his chair, his fingers drumming on the table.
The screens lit up almost simultaneously.
(If I... If I... If I don’t change anything right now, then... all my money will be gone, damn it!!! A fucking old slut, not the President of the United States. Is she playing some kind of "game" again to enrich herself, her kids, and her friends?)
Sohen immediately opened several tabs: exchanges, cold wallets, DellFi protocols, bank accounts.
The first thing he saw was red candles.
(Damn...)
Butcoin had already lost more than twelve percent in the last four minutes.
Eassthereum was falling even faster.
Several exchanges had already posted warnings about a temporary suspension of withdrawals.
(Shit!!... Okay, then...)
He acted quickly and calmly.
First, he checked all the centralized exchanges.
Where withdrawals were still working, he instantly sent the bulk of his funds to his cold wallets.
Some transactions incurred higher fees — he didn’t haggle with the network; he simply set the maximum gas fee just to get them through.
At the same time, he began converting the riskiest altcoins into stablecoins, which were still holding up relatively steadily.
Withdrawals had already been blocked on one of his accounts.
(Damn...)
Sohen didn’t waste time panicking — he simply opened a backup account and transferred whatever he could still salvage.
Next, he moved on to DellFi.
Things were more complicated there.
(...)
Some pools were already showing abnormal slippage; liquidity was drying up.
Sohen quickly liquidated his positions, closed out his loans, and reclaimed his collateral.
Several times, transactions got stuck — he resubmitted them with a higher fee, never taking his eyes off the screen.
(Managed to save a third; now all that’s left is...)
...
An hour had passed.
- (Me). "Phew..."
Most of his portfolio was already either in cold wallets or converted to stablecoins on more reliable platforms.
He took a quick snapshot: the main amounts were safe, risky positions were closed, and liquidity had been withdrawn.
All that remained were a few small balances in several accounts that he hadn’t had time to process yet.
(That crazy bitch almost gave me a heart attack. I’ve been working here for about eight years. Because of the words of one insane woman, all of this could have turned into... nothing.)
Sohen leaned back in his chair.
His chest heaved heavily.
He ran his palms over his face, then quickly scanned all the open tabs once more.
The market continued to crash.
Butcoin had already lost nearly nineteen percent since the president’s statement.
Eassthereum was breaking through one support level after another.
Chaos reigned on crypto-zitter and Telmegram channels.
(Now all that’s left is to keep an eye on the news and react quickly if the news is bad... With this "information explosion," I’ll have to work almost nonstop. What a pain.)
...
The day flew by quickly and tensely.
Sohen barely left the room.
He kept monitoring the market, checking his wallets, and reading the news and analysis.
The cryptocurrency world continued to be in turmoil: exchanges were restricting withdrawals one after another, prices were fluctuating wildly, and contradictory statements from officials were spreading online.
A few times he went out to the kitchen to drink some water or grab a quick snack, but he immediately returned to his monitors.
Karin and Runo came back from the garden around lunchtime, and Phoebe walked down the hallway a few times with her fabrics, but no one really bothered him.
Everyone seemed to sense that it was better not to distract him right now.
Gradually, it began to get darker outside the window.
(How quickly time has flown...)
The sun set, and the room filled with soft evening light.
- (Me). "..."
Sohen finally looked away from the screens, stretched his neck, and glanced at his watch.
(Damn it...)
The evening had officially begun.
The market had calmed down a bit after the daytime panic, though it remained deep in the red.
The main funds were safe, and for the first time in many hours, he allowed himself to breathe a little easier.
- (Me). "Phew..."
The house had grown quieter.
Muffled voices of women in the kitchen drifted up from downstairs.
It smelled like dinner.
Sohen quickly checked his balances one more time, closed the extra tabs, and slowly rose from his chair.
The day was over.
Evening was beginning.
(I need to have a good dinner, and then sort out one more issue... That message this morning was from... Valkyrie. What does she want to discuss with me?)