tl;dr
• Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the Sebate Finance Committee, requests financial data from Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Bitfinex, Gemini, and KuCoin, and information on how they each manage customer assets• Are CEXs here to stay or will they be bumped out by DEXs and traditional finance entering the space?...
• Sen. Ron Wyden, chair of the Sebate Finance Committee, requests financial data from Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Bitfinex, Gemini, and KuCoin, and information on how they each manage customer assets
• Are CEXs here to stay or will they be bumped out by DEXs and traditional finance entering the space?
• It turns out Gemini is well financed with $4.6B in crypto assets and $601M in the treasury
• Does jack Dorsey want to rule the crypto world? His latest moves suggest he does
• First it was Rio and now the whole country of Brazil is a hair away from making Bitcoin legalized tender
• Kraken got off light with OFAC because they found the violations and reported it themselves; This could mean trouble for Binance
Brazil is close to making Bitcoin legalized tender while the EU sticks its head in the sand even further. Here is what is on my mind today.
1. I get the US government would like to know more about how Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Bitfinex, Gemini, and KuCoin manage customer assets. But in a lame duck session and an outgoing chairman what does he hope to accomplish with this? At best the request is bluster and only meant to be "on the record" for making the requests following the collapse of FTX. A collapse I see as a failure of the SEC and its Chairman, Gary Gensler.
2. There is broad speculation about the future of the current roster of centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Coinbase, Binance and Gemini. I have long made the point their days are numbered though their demise will be no time soon. I think the space will be taken over by decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and traditional financial institutions like Fidelity and JPMorgan will most likely replace them. As that happens cryptocurrency adoption will soar. We are nearing that space as Fidelity has launched their Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange. I am waiting for JPMorgan to launch their crypto wallet. BlackRock and Grayscale are already in bed with Coinbase.
3. A few days ago I was spoke about how Gemini had exposure to the current Genesis situation since Genesis powers Gemini's EARN staking program. Gemini has responded in a major fashion by releasing their "Trust Center" that displays a breakdown of the funds held by the exchange, $4.6B in crypto assets and $601M in the treasury backing its stablecoin GUSD.
4. Jack Dorsey is on a control kick. Block, co-founded by Dorsey, is threatening to sue Roger Ver’s Bitcoin.com for trademark infringement over the use of the names Verse and VERSE. More from Jack Dorsey is his desire to rule over non-existent "Web5". His TBD project was set to try and trademark the term but caught more than just a little backlash over the move and has backtracked from the idea.
5. On March 28th I reported that Rio de Janeiro had taken steps to make Bitcoin legalized tender in the city. Now the country of Brazil is just a hair away from making Bitcoin legalized tender. The bill still requires approval of the executive branch, which is expected. The bill would give companies 180 days to adapt to the new rules before enforcement of the impending law. Meanwhile, the EU is sticking its head further in the sand with the European Central Bank’s Ulrich Bindseil, Director General for Market Infrastructure and Payments (DG-MIP), saying Bitcoin "should not be legitimized".
6. More on that $362K fine levied by OFAC on Kraken. They got off lightly is because Kraken found the violations and voluntarily notified OFAC. Kraken also had zero violations in the preceding 5 years. In addition to the fine, Kraken will invest another $100K to strengthen their internal controls. Some say this was a shot across Binance's bow since they may be up next with a sanctions case and there may be others even beyond that.