Government Transfers $2B in Silk Road Bitcoin

The Breakdown First Five - Tuesday, July 30, 2024

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. Bitcoin Research Institute Founded

Bradley Rettler and Andrew Bailey have founded the Bitcoin Research Institute to be operated out of the University of Wyoming. The BRI is the first purpose built Bitcoin academic institution and will seek to raise the bar on Bitcoin research. Bitcoin scholars can access a network of mentors and supervisors, enabling Bitcoin research to become more than just a side project. 

4. SEC Backs Off On Binance 

The SEC is seeking to revise their complaint against Binance, drastically limiting the scope of the lawsuit. After a court ruled that secondary sales of BNB were not subject to securities law, the SEC has now abandoned their claim that Solana, Cardano, Matic and several other tokens are securities. This doesn’t mean the SEC has changed their mind, just that they don’t want to be forced to argue this point in court. 

3. Stabenow Bill Postponed

Democrat Senator Stabenow has abandoned plans to markup her crypto regulatory framework bill this week after support collapsed. The bill would have brought crypto markets under the jurisdiction of the CFTC, but had sparked numerous concerns across the industry. GOP Senator Boozman withdrew his support to push the bill forward, while Politico reported that Democrat support was also insufficient. Crypto legislation might be done for the year. 

2. Frye and Mann Sue SEC

Eccentric performance artist Brian Frye and crypto favorite Song-a-day Mann are suing the SEC. They claim their NFTs are not securities, but allege that the SEC has been waging a campaign to regulate digital art. The pair have often lampooned the SEC’s view on NFTs, with Mann writing “This Song is a Security” last year. The pair are seeking a declaratory judgment from the SEC explaining that digital art is not under the regulator’s jurisdiction. 

1. More Government Sales?

Fresh off the back of Trump committing to “never sell” the government’s Bitcoin, $2B worth of confiscated Silk Road coins are on the move. The government transferred the Bitcoin to a pair of unknown wallets. One address now holds exactly 10,000 Bitcoin and is presumed to be the USG’s new Coinbase custody wallet. We don’t know for sure that the government is selling, but that would be a strange way for the administration to “reset” industry relations.