SEC Crypto Chief Exits Amid Regulatory Chaos

Plus Trumpcoin Rumors Spark Frenzy in Crypto Circles

Author

Nathaniel Whittemore
June 18, 2024

The Breakdown First Five - Tuesday, June 18, 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.

SEC Crypto Chief Exits Amid Regulatory Chaos

5. Neverending Outflows

Bitcoin ETFs lost another $145M on Monday as the outflows continue. Last week was the second largest outflow for the products, almost as bad as peak outflows in March. Fidelity continues to bleed the worst, losing a further $92M after $140M across last week. 

4. ZKeets Out

According to Nansen data, 41% of the top ZK airdrop wallets have already sold off all of their coins. The data covers the top 10,000 addresses out of the 695,000 who received the airdrop. The token has plummeted 34.5% over the past day amid the massive selling. Selling pressure was enough to disrupt chain functioning. The ZK airdrop was notable for rejecting the popular trend of sybil filtering in favor of a “unique airdrop design.” 

3. Miners Running Hot

A new report from JP Morgan highlighted US-listed Bitcoin miners on a hot streak in June. The sector has massively outperformed Bitcoin in the first half of the month. Core Scientific is up 117% on the back of an AI deal with Coreweave. TeraWulf and IREN are both up more than 70%. US based miners have grown as a percentage of overall hashrate amid the post halving decline, suggesting that large miners were outsized beneficiaries. 

2. Trumpcoin Mania

Rumors of an official Trump memecoin triggered a wave of speculation across crypto twitter. So far all we have to go on is reporting from Mike Solana and a string of Trumpland influencers pushing the story. Martin Shkreli also says the coin is legit. Major questions were raised about high ownership concentration and contract structure. Prominent Trump boosters claim to have contact with the dev and suspect a Fed psyop. Just another normal day in crypto. 

1. SEC Head of Crypto Resigns

The head of crypto enforcement, David Hirsch has stepped down from the SEC after 9 years with the agency. Despite a viral rumor, he is not joining pump.fun to sling memecoins. This is the second crypto leadership departure from the regulator so far this year. The SEC has had terrible staff retention under Gensler’s tenure and it seems as though the brain drain is continuing.