In good faith: Robinhood defends crypto biz
Robinhood’s SEC warning shot, Stake’s LatAm plans, Chiliz-Azuro deal, meme coin index
Robinhood takes SEC crypto threat in its stride.
Stake.com establishes an operational hub in Bogatá, Colombia.
Chiliz partners with on-chain prediction markets liquidity provider Azuro.
VanEck launches meme coin index.
When the nightmares come, I will try to be fun.
Robinhood’s crypto defense
BAU buns: Robinhood brushed off the threat posed by the SEC issuing a so-called Wells Notice of impending action and said it was “business as usual” for the company’s crypto-based trading. While saying the move was “disappointing,” CFO Jason Warnick said the company had “operated our crypto business in good faith.”
“We’ve been very conservative in our approach in terms of coins listed and services offered,” he added.
“We’re a highly regulated company and have applied the same legal and compliance standards we use for our brokerage to the way we run our crypto business.”
Join the love train: Vlad Tenev, CEO, said Robinhood “firmly” believed US consumers should be on a “level footing with people all over the world” in having access to the asset class. “And at the end of the day, we’re going to defend the firm and continue to advocate for our customers,” he added.
Crypto booster: The pair were speaking after the consumer-facing financial trading firm released its Q1 report showing crypto-based transaction earnings rising 232% to $126m, helping to push total revenues up 40% to $618m.
Notably, assets under custody also increased 65% YoY to $129bn, helped by higher cryptocurrency valuations.
Warnick said the company has seen “strong trading” in crypto continuing into the current quarter.
Me, worry? Investors in Robinhood appeared unconcerned about the news of the Wells notice, with the shares effectively moving sideways over the course of the past week, up less than 2% as of Tuesday’s close.
🤷 Robinhood investors have heard it all before
Further reading: ‘The absence of a market spasm is telling.’ The FT on Robinhood’s investors failing to be shocked by the SEC’s move.
Crypto education and media customized for you.
Bite-sized learning you can apply straight away in real life. Learn the fundamentals and master crypto while processing through LearnCrypto’s learning program, gain practical skills and explore content that is relevant to you.
Navigate crypto with confidence.
Loose change
Wisconsin buys in: The state pension fund of Wisconsin has become the first such institution to buy a chunk of the BlackRock Bitcoin ETF via the purchase of $100m. Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, posted on X that “normally such big fish institutions” don’t buy into new funds for a year or more.
“Good sign, expect more, as institutions tend to move in herds,” he added.
You again: Binance has been fined $4.38m by Canada’s anti-money laundering watchdog. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada said the fine was handed down after the exchange blew several deadlines to register as a foreign money services business.
Somebody to watch over me: In the US, meanwhile, Justice Department officials have appointed international consultancy firm Forensic Risk Alliance as a monitor to ensure Binance complies with regulatory requirements over the next three years.
The agreement was part of the crypto giant’s plea deal in November 2023, after it pleaded guilty to money laundering and copped a record $4.3bn fine.
Turkey is developing new laws to regulate crypto assets. The legislation aims to align the country – currently on the Financial Action Task Force gray list of jurisdictions with major money laundering weaknesses – with international standards.
The proposals would introduce a licensing scheme and oversight from Turkey’s banking regulators, marking a complete turnaround from the previous hardline anti-crypto stance.
What we’re reading
“Get into the DWF Lambo.” A delve into the trading practices of Binance, including a look at trading-and-investment firm DWF and their ‘colorful’ Russian owner. A WSJ investigation.
“So FTX was… illiquid but solvent?” Bloomberg’s Matt Levine on the full recovery-plus payout for FTX creditors.
Annals of gambling crypto
Easy come: The company behind Stake.com, as well as Carrot Gaming, Twist Gaming, Massive Gaming and the streaming platform Kick.com, has announced the establishment of an operational hub in Bogatá, Colombia.
Easygo said the move underscores its commitment to delivering gaming experiences tailored for the Latin American market.
Easygo and Stake established a foothold in Colombia via the acquisition of Betfair’s betting and gaming operating license in November last year.
Launchpad: Brais Pena Sanchez, chief strategy officer at Easygo, said the bolstering of the Colombian operation presaged moves into other LatAm markets. “Latin America represents a burgeoning market for the online gaming industry and our presence in Bogotá positions us to better serve our expanding player base in the region,” he said.
Pena Sanchez noted that Stake.com has applied for a license in the Peruvian market via a strategic partnership with TG Lab as its platform partner in the country.
He added that the company has also secured market access in Mexico and Paraguay.
Hub and Stake
A declaration of love: Malta-based crypto-friendly gaming aggregator Hub88 has signed a major partnership agreement with Stake that will see the latter become the preferred partner for all forms of iCasino games and content, including live casino. Alongside games, Stake will also be able to access Hub88’s banking and crypto payments offerings.
Mark Taffler, commercial director of Hub88, said that “fundamentally” Hub88 and Stake.com “come from the same place, as crypto is at the heart of what we both do.”
Ed Craven, Stake.com co-founder and CEO, said Hub88 was “genuinely an extension of our own business” and was a trusted and well-established partner.
Separately, last Monday, Hub88 launched a new live casino offering called Live88.
Red and black
Serie A’s AC Milan and Telegram-based crypto casino operator TG.Casino have signed an agreement that will see the latter become the official iGaming partner for the club. The press release spoke about TG.Casino being at the forefront of Gamefi.
It quoted Dean Akinjobi, CEO of Football Media, which brokered the deal, as saying TG.Casino is “growing at a phenomenal rate.”
Prediction markets
Out of the blue: Socios.com parent Chiliz has partnered with on-chain prediction markets liquidity provider Azuro to collaborate on the build of a sports prediction market on the Chiliz platform.
The integration will enhance the capabilities of Chiliz developers within sports-focused prediction apps.
Chiliz said both new and existing builders using Azuro’s infrastructure will now be able to connect their apps to the Chiliz Chain and facilitate transactions using the blockchain’s native token, CHZ.
Azuro raised $11m via a funding round led by SevenX Ventures and Arrington Capital in April and including the participation of Fenbushi Capital, Polymorphic Capital, Red Beard Ventures, Dewhales and G1 Ventures.
The new cash will be used to further accelerate ecosystem development and intensify marketing efforts in the decentralized prediction market space.
Azuro has plans to drop a token, AZUR, which Rossen Yordanov, core contributor at the company, said would be “at the heart” of what it was building.
Can you Thiel the force? Meanwhile, crypto-based prediction market provider Polymarket has raised $45m in a Series B round led by Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and with the participation of Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, 1confirmation, ParaFi and Dragonfly Capital. The company has now raised $70m in total.
Polymarket is the most successful attempt to build prediction markets on crypto infrastructure.
Further reading: In Compliance+More this week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission moves to ban event contracts tied to political outcomes.
VanEck meme coin index
Flippin’ Eck: ETF funds provider VanEck has launched a Meme Coin Index – which trades under the symbol MEMECOIN – that tracks the top six meme tokens, namely Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Pepe, dogwifhat, Floki Inu and BONK.
The index tracks nearly $45bn of meme coin market cap compared to a total meme market cap of $51bn.
That’s entertainment: In its tracker definition, VanEck noted “meme coin refers to crypto assets often named after characters, individuals, animals, artworks or other memetic elements.”
“Initially supported by enthusiastic online traders and communities, these coins are intended for entertainment purposes,” it added.
VanEck is in deep with crypto and coin-related trackers. It already offers Bitcoin and Ethereum benchmark indices as part of its Market Vector range.
Meme stock redux
Back in the game(stop): One tweet from Keith Gill, aka ‘Roaring Kitty’, a major protagonist of the original meme stock craze in late 2021, sent GameStop shares flying earlier this week. As Matt Levine from Bloomberg wrote, the full extent of Gill’s intervention was a single posting on X.
It was, Levine noted, “just a drawing of the guy leaning forward” but it was enough to see GameStop more than double on the day.
Events calendar
May 21: Crypto Expo Dubai 2024
May 27: BlockSplit 2024, Croatia
May 28: Blockchain Week Rome 2024
June 6: Crypto Valley Conference, Switzerland
June 19: Nordic Blockchain Conference 2024, Copenhagen
An +More Media publication.
For sponsorship inquiries email scott@andmore.media.
