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This week, markets were at the mercy of macroeconomic factors as some at the Fed have indicated another rate hike is due next month. Crypto was also subjected to intense scrutiny by regulators in both the U.S. and EU. Bitcoin and Ethereum led the downturn, with similar seven-day losses of over 10% impacting many leading cryptocurrencies.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) crackdown on crypto made headlines on Monday when the regulator sued yet another big crypto business for alleged failure to comply with securities laws, Seattle-based exchange Bittrex. Delphi Labs’ Gabriel Shapiro was outraged by the agency’s description of the Dash (DASH) token as a security.
I just read SEC's case against Bittrex & am floored...more aggressive than could've been imagined and goes directly against Dash's no-premine model, saying DASH is a security despite the fact that the devco is funded by validators out of block rewards... pic.twitter.com/McpZEYTK1O
— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) April 17, 2023
On Thursday, The European Parliament passed the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill with 517 votes in favor, 38 against, and 18 abstentions. The legislation now gives the bloc’s 27 constituent states a unified approach to crypto. Rebecca Retig, Chief Policy Officer at Polygon Labs, wrote a thread on Monday arguing that the bloc still needed to tweak its data act, which she described as “overbroad” and “likely unenforceable in decentralized systems.”
1/ 🚨Today @0xPolygonLabs published an open letter to the EU on Art. 30 of the #DataAct, which could have serious consequences for permissionless smart contracts. @Ledger has joined in proposing amendments to narrow Art. 30 to protect decentralized software development. Read 👇 pic.twitter.com/AZHGCm14sQ
— Rebecca Rettig (@RebeccaRettig1) April 17, 2023
Institutional Bitcoin whale Michael Saylor complained about all the sats he was receiving on Tuesday.
So @MicroStrategy converted my corporate email address into a #Lightning⚡️ address and people keep sending me 21 sats...🧡 pic.twitter.com/FHde6RtA6N
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) April 17, 2023
Crypto lawyer Rodrigo, who tweets under the handle @RSSH273, tweeted a lengthy legal objection to the sanctioning of crypto privacy mixer Tornado Cash by U.S. authorities.
We filed an amicus in the suit that 6 Tornado Cash users brought against the unprecedented sanctions of TC open-source code
Our argument is simple: Sanctions only apply to “people” or “entities,” and their “property.” TC fits none of those definitions—it is just open-source code pic.twitter.com/oCKuRpIFyZ
— Rodrigo (@RSSH273) April 17, 2023
Coinbase CEO Brian Amstrong flexed his diplomatic muscle in London on Tuesday. Later in the week the exchange announced extensive expansion plans, a maneuver to counteract the increasing assertiveness and aggressiveness of U.S. regulators towards the exchange and industry in recent months.
Great meeting today with UK Economic Secretary and City Minister @griffitha.
The UK is moving fast on sensible crypto regulation to both drive economic growth AND consumer protection. Excited to keep investing in the UK. 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/478PQSLmDe
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) April 17, 2023
Twitter user @Tayvano_ flagged a multimillion dollar wallet draining operation that has been active since December.
For the past 48hrs I've been unwinding a massive wallet draining operation 😳😭
I don't know how big it is but since Dec 2022 it's drained 5000+ ETH and ??? in tokens / NFTs / coins across 11+ chains.
Its rekt my friends & OGs who are reasonably secure.
No one knows how. pic.twitter.com/MafntG7RkP
— Tay 💖 (@tayvano_) April 18, 2023
Republican Tom Emmer’s appearance at a hearing in Washington on the oversight of the SEC made the rounds on Twitter with an eminently quotable soundbite. At the hearing, Emmer grilled SEC chair Gensler and said, “You’ve been an incompetent cop on the beat,” before claiming the SEC chair was pushing American firms into the “hands of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party).”
And he’s pushing innovation into the hands of a communist country, the United States’ number one adversary: pic.twitter.com/lE0Q4TuhYa
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) April 18, 2023
Blockchain sleuth @ZachXBT on Wednesday compiled a long list of scams that rapper Soulja Boy has shilled since he got involved in crypto.
1/ In recent weeks influencers have given @souljaboy praise for new NFT projects in hopes of clout.
In reality he has been one of the most shameless promoters in the crypto space.
In my research I observed 73 promotions & 16 NFT drops done by him. Many of these were scams. pic.twitter.com/8xRDN79S5t
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) April 19, 2023
Do the “hiccups” referred to in writer and lawyer @NYCSouthpaw’s tweet refer to blanket refusals from mama and papa Bankman-Fried to have their phones compromised in such an intrusive manner? Likely!
One of SBF’s bail conditions is his parents have to have cell phones that automatically snap photos of the user every couple minutes, and they’re having some hiccups setting it up. https://t.co/i8NHWcb1qH
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 19, 2023
On Thursday, news hit Twitter that Tornado Cash developer Alex Pertsev, who was arrested by Dutch authorities in August for allegedly facilitating money laundering, is getting released next Wednesday so he can prepare for his trial at home.
tornado cash dev alex pertsev reportedly released just now pic.twitter.com/Lg1s01VaRP
— banteg (@bantg) April 20, 2023
Gabriel Shapiro that day pitched his idea of a BORG. An abbreviation for “cybernetic organization,” the BORG is a “new middle” between the decentralized and autonomous principles of DAOs and the legal entitlements and compliant structures of traditional business entities.
BORGs merge traditional business entities with smart contracts, offering a new path for DAO legal structuring. They are the culmination of years of my thinking on how to bridge meatspace corporate law & the on-chain world. pic.twitter.com/gaME7yXdvh
— _gabrielShapir0 (@lex_node) April 20, 2023
Finally, Dogecoin creator turned-nocoiner Billy Markus still thinks crypto is a lunatic’s game.
investing in crypto is literally just investing in mental illness
which i suppose is on the rise, so…
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) April 22, 2023