Sydney Sweeney, Mamdani, Zcash Moons
496: Alt Coin Pumps, Cultural Turning Points
Happy Friday kings
Welcome to all new subs.
Quite the week as we wait for brighter days in crypto and pray that equities are not about to have the floor fall out with lofty AI name levels, tech sputtering, and uncertainty about the labor market.
Global indices are sliding as yields grind higher and traders unwind crowded longs. Breadth is collapsing, the few leaders still standing are the same over-owned mega-caps that have carried this market all year. The illusion of strength might be fading, and underneath it all, liquidity might be quietly drying up for NOW.
If you missed this week’s paid posts you can find them below, one on crypto’s recent sell off and one on the replacement of jobs by AI. I recommend the crypto one since we are seeing some mind bending pumps from alt coins previously written off entirely. This shift could mark the beginning of a new big narrative in crypto.
A handful of alts we covered weeks ago in Arb Letter are turbo pumping today.
Your window for being early to the next leg up by longing on this pullback is narrowing in my opinion.
Survive The Crypto Bloodbath - Crypto picks, tips, and morale boosts
How to Avoid Being Replaced - AI resistant jobs, layoff trends
Let’s start off today with a big W to get the people going.
Sydney Sweeney Goes Full Based Chad Mode
It’s rare nowadays that you get people who face the woke mob with absolutely zero f*cks, particularly if they are in the public eye.
In an interview with GQ magazine, Sydney Sweeney America’s resident bombshell walked into a classic game of liberal journalist “gotcha”.
Except she didn’t fall for anything, she absolutely mogged (as the kids say) questions aimed at taking her down over this year’s earlier American Eagle Jeans campaign. This campaign which fired up the left (because they hate everything beautiful) drew cries of white supremacy and elitism from the mainstream media and leftist pundits.
The journalist asked her:
The criticism of the content, which was basically that, maybe specifically in this political climate, like, white people shouldn’t joke about genetic superiority, like that was the criticism broadly speaking, and since you are talking about this I just wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about this specifically……..
You’ll notice a bunch of things. Chiefly, it’s the classic HR woke speak of framing things, that is, Sweeney is guilty of wrong speak. The implication of course is, Sydney Sweeney is guilty of being pro-white or worse, a white supremacist genetic hitler nazi apostate in woke speak.
The interviewer is skilled in trying to subtly “get her” and frame the question as if she is already guilty, as if she NEEDS to atone for a crime she never committed.
Sweeney has a great reply, basically batting this train of questioning down entirely:
I think that when I, have an issue that I want to speak about, people will hear….
The exchange went turbo viral on X last night, with 95% of people absolutely applauding Sweeney for her refusal to play the game. Which is great since to this day there’s no evidence that the commercial ever intended to make a gene/jean joke.
Even if they did so intentionally, Sydney Sweeney DOES have great jeans lol.
Why is that so offensive to these people?
Why do they feel the need to make such an issue anytime a white person is involved?
Communists hate beauty and nature. So it all tracks, but it certainly does get exhausting.
Turns out Sweeney does more than rock insane dresses, she’s quite the political opponent in an interview as well.
Markets
The calm is breaking. After months of melt-up complacency, equities are finally getting slammed. What started as quiet rotation out of small caps and cyclicals has turned into a broad selloff across sectors and regions.
Momentum names that once looked invincible are bleeding, and the “AI forever” narrative is starting to wobble a bit.
Nancy Pelosi announced that she will not seek reelection, marking the end of her long and historic run in Congress and her prolific insider trading career. Her retirement arrives as renewed attention focuses on ethics and the stock-trading activity of her household, which has drawn persistent criticism from both parties.
While Pelosi has not been accused of any formal wrongdoing, the perception of insider advantage continues to shadow her legacy. Her exit closes one of the most influential chapters in modern U.S. politics and signals a generational handoff within the Democratic Party.
Some speculate her net worth is close to $413M.
Politics pays.
President Trump announced a $100 billion trade deal with Uzbekistan
Trip Advisor to eliminate 20% of its workforce (MacroEdge)
Palmer Luckey, the head of Anduril, said on a recent podcast that the H-1B program is a program set to replace US workers with “slave labor”
RockStar Games has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto VI will now release on Thursday, November 19, 2026 $TTWO stock is down almost 20% on the news
US small businesses shed -10,000 jobs in October, according to the ADP Employment Report (Kobeissi Letter)
DoorDash $DASH cratered almost 18% on worries about softening demand and shrinking margins, the latest casualty of the post-growth reality hitting Silicon Valley
$NVDA is down nearly 12% this week
Crypto - Alt Coins Moving?
Amid the crypto softening of the last two weeks, some odd narratives are emerging that are typically things we see BEFORE the top of a given cycle.
Zcash has ripped after we plugged it on the heels of a mention by Naval.
The privacy token has seen an explosive rebound over the past three weeks, surging from the low hundreds to well above $600 as of this morning. The rally has been fueled by renewed enthusiasm for privacy-focused tokens and increased attention on Zcash’s shielded-transaction technology.
Even as broader crypto markets waver, Zcash has dramatically outperformed, though the pace of the move leaves it vulnerable to sharp profit-taking if momentum cools.
Some are predicting it runs to $10,000+ eventually. I wouldn’t hop in just yet, but will be watching it. It is worth mentioning the majority of crypto twitter considers this to be a “scammy” type coin that only pumps when markets are topping.
Is this time different?
Even Filecoin (FIL) is getting in on the action, up almost 100% in the last 24 hours while the broader market is trading down. $NEAR looks solid as well.
FIL and NEAR are at least partially benefitting from AI narratives.
Some random corners of the market choosing to rip when sentiment is down, but I will take it as we hold FIL and NEAR.
I bought Ethereum and Bitcoin on the recent dip we saw as well as some more LINK.
Make sure to check out the recent sell off post if you want my detailed thoughts on timing, what is going to happen next, and when we might see the next up trend begin.
Not much has changed. I will be monitoring these alt bounces this weekend as they are interesting to say the least.
I expect more volatility but a nice short term bounce would be likely on government re-opening news.
ALSO
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Literally free money.
US News & Geopolitics
I dropped Episode 43 of Risk On last night covering Zohran Mamdani’s recent win in the NYC mayoral race over Cuomo and Sliwa.
In it, I talk about socialism, communism, the mandate set out by Mamdani, how immigration is changing the United States, and what we can expect in New York City in the coming months.
Pretty wild that the financial and economic capital of the US and arguably the world, has openly chosen socialism. And not just some American bred socialist like Bernie Sanders, but a Muslim socialist who’s originally from Uganda. A guy whose own mother says he is not pro American. A man who posed for a photo with a World Trade Center bombing co conspirator who was never indicted. A guy who has supported Hamas in the past.
All of this is true. You can look it up for yourself.
He wants to make public transit free, cut 25% of NYPD funding, resist legal deportations from ICE in NY, and tax the rich to redistribute wealth.
It will all be a disaster for NYC.
“I speak of Yemeni bodega owners and Mexican abuelas!”
“Senegalese taxi drivers and Uzbek nurses!”
“Trinidadian line cooks and Ethiopian aunties!”
Zohran Mamdani in his Victory speech
Now. That being said (and I touch on this briefly on the podcast) one cannot ignore WHY there is such mounting support for socialism in the US.
You can blame lax immigration, you can blame college professors, you can even blame the subversion of US culture — and all of those are major contributors. But you also need to consider the economic environment we find ourselves in presently. Young people cannot get jobs, college grads are jobless, the median age for first time home buyers is now 40.
The top 1% of U.S. earners now have more wealth than the entire middle class (BarChart).
Many are hopeless. Many are tired of existing options, and because of that they are turning to more radical solutions. Neil Howe talks about this phenomenon in his book the Fourth Turning. It is a well documented historical trend, even in the US.
Anyways I won’t bore you with my whole rundown, check out the latest episode of Risk On if you want my full thoughts.
3 more Chinese researchers at University of Michigan were charged by the DOJ over alleged effort to smuggle biological materials
The FAA issued a Ground stop for LaGuardia Airport in New York this week due to staffing issues (Unusual Whales)
The U.S. Senate voted last night with a 51-49 result against a bipartisan measure that sought to block President Donald J. Trump and his administration from launching strikes inside of Venezuela (OSINT Defender)
A bipartisan group in the Senate introduced new measures to restrict exports of advanced AI chips to China, escalating Washington’s effort to curb Beijing’s access to frontier tech
The Treasury Department outlined plans to refund roughly $100 billion in outstanding notes and increase short-term debt issuance to stabilize liquidity ahead of year-end
When it comes to the counter argument of “ThiS WaS a NatiON BuiLT oN ImmiGranTS” I would point people to a famous excerpt from Teddy Roosevelt. The dominant issue in the US and the West these days is fragmented loyalties.
It’s one thing to be an immigrant and come here with good intent, to assimilate, and make a better life for yourself.
It’s entirely different to be anti-American, to come here with the intent of dismantling existing systems, refusing to assimilate, and holding another country/culture in higher regard than the one that you now live in.
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”
That’s all for today.
Before I entirely revamp the Arbitrage Andy store I will likely do one more holiday run for merch and fresh designs with our current provider. Let me know if there’s anything you want me to add to the store by next weekend.
See you guys next week, have a great weekend and don’t forget to touch some grass, noise levels are at all time highs right now and sometimes all we need to do is take a moment and wait for the smoke to clear.
Andy
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Disclaimer - I am a former trader, enterprise sales rep, and current entrepreneur with a monkey brain. Nothing I say should be considered formal financial advice or life advice, these are my opinions - always do your own research and diligence before
Brilliant. Thank God for Sydney Sweeney and Arb Andy!
Are you planning to do a gift guide this year?