GM friends.
Gary Gensler just testified before the US Senate Banking Committee.
Given his statements, he’s either not reading the courts’ decisions or has a head made of steel and a will of iron!
Pour that fresh morning cup because here comes your mid-week crypto update. ☕️📰
Here’s what’s in today’s issue:
- David & Sam share their thoughts on Gary Gensler sticking to his guns, Bitcoin turning into a global payment network, don’t buy the iPhone 15 with BTC, someone paying $500K to transfer BTC, an update on the Vitalik hack, FTX’s upcoming asset liquidation, the CFTC targeting DeFi, the SEC vs Ripple battle & Ripple acquiring Fortress.
- This Week On Chain.
- Rekt Capital has the latest technical analysis for you on the market.
- This week’s trending coins by Rebecca
- Erik has a report for you on digital identity protocols for humans and bots.
- Defi Dad has a tutorial for you on how to earn LP yields, and farm a potential PRISMA Airdrop.
- Jesse has a ton of hot new airdrops for you.
For any crypto related questions please comment on the website.
Thanks to Phemex for sponsoring today’s newsletter.
Trade on Phemex to participate in the xPT Pre-mining event. Mint your Phemex Soul Pass (PSP) today and when you start trading receive an airdrop of Phemex tokens based on your trading activity.
Gensler Unrepentant at Tuesday’s Senate Banking Committee Hearing
SEC Chairman Gensler testified in front of the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.
Many crypto players were paying close attention, given the agency’s aggressive actions against the industry, the multiple pending spot bitcoin ETF applications, and the agency’s two recent court losses against Ripple and Grayscale.
If you were hoping that Gensler broke into tears, confessed his sins, and turned towards the light, then I’ve got bad news. The man is singing the exact same tune as he was a year ago.
“The vast majority of crypto tokens likely meet the investment contract test.” “I’ve never seen a field that’s so rife with misconduct.” “Given this industry’s wide-ranging noncompliance with the securities laws, it’s not surprising that we’ve seen many problems in these markets.”
Did Gensler just once acknowledge that maybe the SEC had applied the wrong legal framework to crypto tokens, or that perhaps they’d been inconsistent in approving bitcoin futures ETFs while rejecting spot applications?
Nope! For Gensler, it’s as if the SEC just won their court battles.
And what of the senators?
Well, if you pay attention to US politics, then you won’t be surprised to know that praise and criticism of Gensler split along party lines.
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who serves as the committee’s chairman, amplified Gensler’s sentiments about crypto being full of hucksters and fraudsters, while senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Katie Britt (R-AL) accused the SEC chair of pushing anti-business rules and regulations.
Given Gensler’s statements, I’m not expecting a big change in how the SEC treats crypto under his tenure (which ends in 2026).
Substantial legislation can alter the agency’s course, but given the partisan gridlock, this seems unlikely unless voters make some changes at the ballot box.
Finally, if…
