tl;dr

• Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, seems to be takin the high road on this whole CZ/Binance debacle• Circle is shifting money into a BlackRock government money market fund and growing the number• OpenSea release a new and confusing royalty policy and a new blacklist feature• Paul Ryan in the latest an...

• Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of FTX, seems to be takin the high road on this whole CZ/Binance debacle
• Circle is shifting money into a BlackRock government money market fund and growing the number
• OpenSea release a new and confusing royalty policy and a new blacklist feature
• Paul Ryan in the latest and biggest ex-politician to join VC firm Paradigm which seems to be racking up a robust bi-partisan set of former politicians
• In a backward move Santander's UK branch is blocking deposits to crypto exchanges

After news of Binance dumping FTT tokens, Sam Bankman-Fried responds. Here is what is on my mind today.

1. Sam Bankman-Fried seems to be takin the high road on this whole CZ/Binance debacle. His only statement this far is to say that he has respect for CZ's contribution to the Cryptoverse, but thinks leaders should build blockchain not war. That is, indeed a shot across the bow. SBF, a billionaire in his own right, seems to be laying down a very subtle hint that the current actions could lead to a more pronounced war between the two men. Definitely more to come.

2. In a smart move Circle does not plan on becoming another failed stablecoin. They have been moving money into a BlackRock government money market fund. More importantly, the company is adding to their cash on hand. I think there are a lot of people that sleep on Circle and USDC, but shouldn't. There are good uses for stablecoins and USDT is one of the strongest.

3. A couple of days ago I reported that OpenSea was experiencing its lowest volume in its history. Now they could be making the wrong moves where NFT royalties are concerned. A lot of marketplaces do not honor royalty fees and OpenSea could be moving in the same direction or making them optional. Creators say OpenSea's new strategy is unclear. One new feature that could actually grow in popularity is the ability for creators to blacklist rival platforms that do not honor royalties. The new plan takes effect tomorrow.

4. Something to keep watch on is a growing list of former politicians joining venture capital firm Paradigm. They are trying to be a big voice in the conversations and policies around crypto. The biggest name and, arguably, the biggest influencer is ex-Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, who joins a bi-partisan group for former politicians already involved.

5. Last month the UK got a new crypto-friendly Prime Minister. Unfortunately, Santander's UK branch is still sour on the new asset class and they are not alone. I asked this question yesterday: how long do you think a traditional financial institution will last with no positive crypto exposure? I even gave out a homework assignment to people to research the top banks and identify which ones don't have that exposure. Those are the ones that will find themselves susceptible to takeover. I said what I said!

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 20 Dec 24
 20 Dec 24
 20 Dec 24