What's Happening With Binance.US? 👀

In today's edition: 🎙️ New episode on the SEC, Coinbase, and Binance, ❌ Binance.US cuts dollar deposits, 💸 BitGo's acquisition, 🤑 Vitalik's donation, and more!

June 09, 2023

What’s Poppin’?

Binance.US will soon become ‘a crypto-only exchange’ as banking partners cut its access to U.S. dollar payment rails.

The SEC’s habit of naming tokens as securities in lawsuits in which the token issuers are not named as defendants is “not fair,” according to Davis Polk partner Robert Cohen.

BitGo has signed a term sheet to acquire Prime Trust, a crypto infrastructure provider that had clients including FTX, Binance.US, and Celsius.

Another former CFTC commissioner joins another crypto firm as Heath Tarbert becomes Circle’s new chief legal officer.

Kraken NFT Marketplace’s public launch extends blockchain support and expands its NFT offerings.

Amid escalating regulatory tension, Dorsey ignites a heated debate by claiming ETH is a security. 

Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin and Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal will donate $100 million to Covid-19 research projects.

On the Pod…

On Monday, it was Binance. On Tuesday, Coinbase. Electric Capital General Counsel Emily Meyers joins the show to read between the lines of an action-packed week for Gary Gensler’s SEC. Meyers lends her lawyerly eye to the key differences between the two lawsuits, the SEC’s potential strategy, and whether federal legislation will beat the courts in providing clarity.

Daily Bits…✍️✍️✍️

  • 📜 U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen requested the Department of Justice to investigate crypto exchange Binance, alleging it may have misrepresented the independence of its U.S. affiliate to lawmakers.

  • 📣 In a speech, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said that crypto assets or exchanges hold no special status and can't use the utility of their tokens as a shield against regulatory scrutiny.

  • 📝 In an internal memo, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao cautioned employees to be careful about their communications, emphasizing that their words could potentially be disclosed in a legal proceeding or online.

  • 🏛️ The Solana Foundation contested the U.S. SEC's categorization of its SOL token as an unregistered security, following recent lawsuits filed against crypto exchanges Binance.US and Coinbase.

  • ⚙️ Ethereum developers finalized comprehensive changes for the forthcoming "Dencun" upgrade, featuring the EIP-4844, or proto-danksharding, aimed at enhancing data storage and reducing fees.

  • 🇭🇰💱 The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is set to commence in-depth investigations and trials for the creation of a digital version of the Hong Kong Dollar, known as "e-HKD," according to a recent report.

  • 🔄 A developer of Optimism, a layer-2 Ethereum network, told CoinDesk that ether (ETH) is now treated as a native token, alongside its own OP token, following the implementation of its "Bedrock" upgrade.

  • 🔥 OKX, a crypto exchange, executed a record burn of OKB tokens worth $258 million between March and May, leading to a slight increase in the token's value.

Today in Crypto Adoption...

  • 💱 Circle announced its USDC stablecoin support on Arbitrum, enabling businesses with Circle accounts to easily swap USDC across compatible chains.

The $$$ Corner…

  • 💰 Taiko Labs, a crypto startup aimed at scaling Ethereum's blockchain, garnered $22 million through two funding rounds, led by Sequoia China and Generative Ventures respectively.

  • 💸 Lens Protocol, a decentralized social media platform developed by Aave, secured $15 million in funding to expand its Web3 'social layer', with notable investors including the CEOs of Uniswap and OpenSea, and Polygon's cofounder.

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📈 Your Market Update 📉

  • BTC is up .7%, trading at $26,622

  • ETH is flat, trading at $1,843

  • BTC dominance: 44.84%

  • Crypto market cap: $1.15 trillion

*All data as of today, 7:20 am ET

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