The Biggest Day Ever in Crypto Law?

Plus the Get Gensler Outta There Bill

Author

Nathaniel Whittemore
June 13, 2023

The Breakdown First Five - Tuesday June 13, 2023

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. Biggest Day Ever in Crypto Law

Today on the Court docket we have the release of the Hinman emails in the Ripple case, the filing deadline for the SEC’s response in the Coinbase rulemaking case, and of course Binance US will defend against the SEC’s asset freeze. The events of today could determine the direction of the industry for years or even decades.

4. SEC Clarity I.E. Get Gensler Outta There Bill

Congressmen Davidson and Emmer have launched another bill, this time aimed at firing Gary Gensler. The SEC Clarity Bill would restructure the regulator, adding an additional commissioner to divide decision making evenly between parties as well as removing the position of Chairman in favor of an administrative Executive Director. “The time to restore sanity to the SEC is NOW”

3. Chinese Digital Bonds

The Bank of China will experiment with tokenized securities, issuing $28M worth of structured notes through its investment banking arm. Unlike other experiments with blockchain bonds, which have generally been issued on Polygon, the BOC will use Ethereum. The tokens will be issued through Hong Kong, which is being pitched as a global Crypto hub. This is perhaps the most clear indication to date that China is softening in its outlook on the Crypto industry.

2. Untrue USD

Justin Sun backed stablecoin TUSD came off its peg yesterday on Binance after Prime Trust halted minting and redemption. The stablecoin was promoted by Binance early this year and rose to become the fifth largest stablecoin currently. While the depeg was only by 1 cent, the loss of Prime Trust as a partner could represent larger problems going on under the surface.

1. Binance Hearing

The Binance US emergency asset freeze hearing will take place today at 2pm. The company says an order against them would “effectively end” the business. Their defense is centered around the idea that there is no emergency as the exchange has been operating for years without complaint. They also claim the SEC failed to show BNB is a security.

Bonus: Long Among Innovators of the Year

Congratulations to Custodia Bank CEO Caitlin Long, who has been named one of the top three innovators of the year by American Banker magazine. The award comes on the back of a win in Court for Custodia last week, with the Federal Reserve losing on its motion to dismiss. This means the Fed will need to answer for its rejection of Custodia for a master account in a full hearing.

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Thanks for reading -NLW