Coinbase serves U.S. gov’t
Coinbase may be defending itself against complaints of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the regulator’s reluctance to offer any rules on digital assets, but that doesn’t mean other areas of the U.S. government aren’t interested in doing business with the cryptocurrency platform.
From the company blog, Coinbase said yesterday that “…After a comprehensive process, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, selected Coinbase Prime as its partner to safeguard and trade its ‘Class 1’ (large cap) digital assets.” Read more.
more tips:
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- USMS awards Coinbase Prime a multi-million dollar contract – Blockworks
what you should know: The Marshals Service needs an exchange it can use to custody digital assets confiscated from criminals as well as turn those digital assets into U.S. dollars. If U.S. regulated “TradFi” banks were allowed to hold and trade digital assets today, they’d likely be a potential solution for USMS, too. But the SEC’s SAB 121 doesn’t allow them. So, Coinbase says, “Thank you very much.” With little competition, Coinbase likely enjoys fatter margins.
hearing next week
Politico reports that Senate Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow (D, MI) is moving ahead with a hearing on digital assets regulation next week – July 11 – featuring her former senior counsel, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Behnam.
The last time Chair Behnam appeared in front of the Senate Agriculture Committee regarding digital assets was the December 2022 hearing looking at crypto platform FTX’s implosion as the Committee tried to resuscitate the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA) [S.4760].
This new hearing is potentially an effort by Senate Democrats to shed light on a rumored “DCCPA 2.0” and answers the bell rung by the Republican-led House Agriculture and House Financial Services Committees with their Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT 21) [H.R.4763].
what you should know: This new Senate Ag bill, assuming there is one, is also about making the case with digital asset interests (voters, Super PACs) that Democrats care about creating a digital assets regulatory framework in spite of Dem leadership’s positioning for most of the 118th Congress. Democrats may ultimately be concerned that their campaigns are feeling the negative effects of crypto industry, campaign donations.
use case – prediction market
Analysts at Wall Street research firm Bernstein are impressed by the prediction markets of Polymarket in that market participants aren’t even aware the service operates on a blockchain.
The Block reports, “Bernstein analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra said it was impressive that Polymarket abstracts away the complexity of the blockchain user experience, making it more similar to a traditional tech product. Polymarket odds are now being quoted as the ‘default’ by the media in calling election dynamics.” Read the article.
more tips:
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- Peter Thiel Invests In Polymarket Political Betting Platform—But The Future Of Gambling On Elections Remains Unclear (May 2024) – Forbes
what you should know: Goodbye, polling. Hello, prediction markets? The road ahead for prediction markets which includes U.S. participants remains murky, but doesn’t mean prediction markets can’t flourish outside the United States.
stablecoins
Crypto firm Circle gets approval to issue stablecoin in EU under bloc’s strict rules (yesterday) – CNBC
Europe’s stablecoin laws are going live — here are six key concerns as MiCA rolls out (last Friday) – DL News
MiCA’s Stablecoin Regime and Its Remaining Challenges: Part 1 – Chainalysis
campaign trail
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- “Forever politicians like Sherrod Brown and Joe Biden don’t understand the first thing about crypto and are totally unqualified to regulate it…” – U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Moreno (R, OH) on Fox News on Saturday (via X)
still more tips
Marine Le Pen’s Far-Right National Rally Party Leads in First Round of French Election; Read about the Possible Effects on Crypto Policy – CoinDesk
Sony reveals it owns a crypto exchange, renames it to S.BLOX – Ledger Insights
Bahamas pushes banks to offer its central bank digital currency – Reuters
Coinbase Files Lawsuit Against SEC and FDIC; Administrative Proceedings Limited by Supreme Court; Motions for Summary Judgement in LEJILEX – DeFi Education Fund