We’re about to kick off the holiday season, and it’s got me feeling a bit reflective. I’m about to head off to a relaxing time in the Caribbean, powered by uncapped FNCs. Before I leave, I wanted to address the (rather consequential) MS news item du jour and share some things I’m grateful for this year.

A large part of the churning world is collectively holding their breath right now, waiting to see what is going to shake out with a major issuer. I doubt anyone is too surprised by the situation – the clock started ticking on the lifetime of the play the second it was announced. 

There are a lot of opinions out there on how best to deal with the situation. Play it conservatively and (maybe) live to see another day, throw caution to the wind and carry on, or somewhere in the middle. 

Ultimately, you need to decide for yourself how you want to handle it, depending on your own personal circumstance. All of those opinions out there are just that – opinions. 

But if I was weighing whose opinion was most valuable when making the decision, I’d trust the various people in the community who have a direct line to el jefe and not someone in a Facebook group that is LARPing as an insider. 

And if you want my two cents, all I can do is shrug. I had my money on this lasting for six months, so I came up 33% short. This is why I like to bet on both sides when I gamble.

For a classic #chasingcetaceanstherapythought, there’s no use worrying about things you can’t control. There is no takesies-backsies on whatever MS you did with this bank, so consider your situation, drown out the noise, and make the best decision for you. 

Anyway, tomorrow is Thanksgiving for those of us in the states, so I’ll end this doom and gloom with some MS things I’ve been thankful for this year. It hasn’t been a year for the light-hearted, but that doesn’t mean the juice hasn’t been worth the squeeze.

MS things I am grateful for this year, which may or may not be in chronological order:

• Interchange fees (aka the engine of the whole thing, for better or worse)
• Crypto shenanigans
• Old school financial services companies
• Hilton FNCs
• Prediction markets
• Citi’s IT
• Baccarat
• Scenic rides up and down
• My probe group club
• Everyone who has read, commented and been so receptive to this blog

And some things I wish we could leave back in 2025:

• Restrictive crypto charters
• “Questionnaires”
• Payment rail swaps
• BIN blocks
• Shutdown after shutdown after shutdown

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers, and to the handful of you elsewhere, enjoy us not bothering you for a couple of days. Good luck on your Black Friday shenanigans and fingers crossed you come out the other side unscathed. 

ቺርስ!