Tether Still Making Loans

Plus Coinbase Token "Not Ruled Out Entirely"

Author

Nathaniel Whittemore
September 22, 2023

The Breakdown First Five - Friday September 22, 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. SBF Will Stay Locked Up

Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal for release has been rejected by a panel of three judges. They wrote that there was probably cause to believe that Sam attempted to tamper with two witnesses. Arguments that free speech rights extend to his conduct fell on deaf ears, with the court stating that witness tampering “falls outside the zone of constitutional protection.” Out of options, Sam will likely remain behind bars during his trial which is set to begin in 11 days.

4. Binance Files to Dismiss

Binance.US and CZ have filed a motion to dismiss the SEC’s case against them. They claim the regulator hasn’t “plausibly alleged” securities law violations and lack jurisdiction over digital assets exchanges. The filing points out that Congress have repeatedly considered legislation and declined to give authority to the SEC, raising a similar ‘major questions doctrine’ argument to Coinbase filings.

3. UK FCA Final Warning

The UK financial regulator has given crypto firms a final warning to comply with new advertising standards. The new regime has strict requirements on client signups and waiting periods for new customers. The FCA is willing to push back enforcement until October 8 for firms that apply for leniency, but few overseas firms have egnaged. Breaches of the regulations can carry a criminal penalty and unlimited fines. The regulator may move straight to enforcement.

2. Wen Coinbase Token

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal has said a token for the firm’s Base blockchain is not “ruled out entirely”. The Ethereum layer 2 launched without a token with most suspecting the legal risks were overwhelming. Grewal added that there are no current plans for a Base token during his interview at the Mainnet conference. He also continued to push for legal clarity from Congress.

1. Tether Still Making Loans

The Wall Street Journal reports that Tether has increased its stablecoin loans to $5.5B after stating it was planning to stop. The stablecoin issuer claims loans are secured but pledged to wind down the scheme this year. The companies latest financial update showed $200M in additional loans as of June 30. A Tether spokesperson said they had a “few short-term loan requests from clients with whom we have cultivated longstanding relationships.”

.Thanks for reading -NLW