Hong Kong is Open for (Crypto) Business

Plus Coinbase responds to SEC lawsuit response

Author

Nathaniel Whittemore
May 24, 2023

The Breakdown First Five - Wednesday May 24, 2023

5. Binance hit piece of the week

Reuters reported that Binance was comingling funds in an article riddled with disclaimers. The article repeated claims of poor governance and misleading practices, but across 3000 words failed to come up with a smoking gun. There have obviously been serious issues at Binance, but continually limp hit pieces only serve to numb readers to the problems.

4. Ledger will open source

Ledger’s CTO has committed to open sourcing their much maligned Ledger Recover service so we can all see how it works. The increased transparency should help the brand recover trust but security absolutists are concerned the service still poses a confiscation risk. The service will be delayed, so for now your Grandmother will need to continue trusting Coinbase instead of taking a step towards self-custody.

3. Greenidge is the place to be

It turns out local residents are actually in favor of Greenidge’s mining facility on the finger lakes. Coindesk uncovered this scoop by simply driving upstate and talking to people. A local mayor said none of the plethora of activists, journalists or politicians that have dealt with the issue had ever attempted to ask the locals before campaigning to shut down mining in the region.

2. Coinbase returns serve

Coinbase replied to the SEC, pushing the regulator to just tell us if they’ll consider making Crypto rules. The brief accused the regulator of “talking out of both sides of its mouth”, with SEC lawyers claiming to the court they haven’t made up their minds while, on the same day, Gensler said the “rules have already been published”. So… which is it?

1. Hong Kong open for business

Hong Kong laid out its Crypto regulations and is accepting license applications ahead of a June 1 launch. Traders rejoiced at the idea that retail traders will get access to markets, but seem to have missed that a grand total of zero exchanges have been approved to offer trading next week. Either way, strap in for the Hong Kong narrative.

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Thanks for reading -NLW