Swing constituency
Crypto bros could have an outsized say on the US election
Scaramucci says single-issue voters could hold sway in razor-thin election.
BetConstruct unveils an NFT marketplace.
Appeals court presses SEC on crypto rulemaking.
Stablecoin issuers pay to resolve fraud charges.
You check out guitar George, he knows all the chords.
Crypto manifesto
Working on a dream: SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci has said he and a group of pro-crypto associates are shaping Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s digital asset policies ahead of the November election.
“There’s a group of cryptocurrency advocates, bitcoin advocates etc. that are working alongside her to distance the Democratic Party away from Elizabeth Warren and [Gary Gensler],” he told a panel at the annual TOKEN2049 event in Singapore.
Senator Warren and US Securities and Exchange Commission head honcho Gary Gensler are the crypto sector’s bête noires due to their propensity for backing regulation of the space.
“I believe that we are making progress, and I think it’s going in the right direction,” Scaramucci said.
The vision thing: Yesterday, Kamala Harris outlined her vision for tech and innovation with strong support for both the AI and cryptocurrency sectors. Harris aims to create an “opportunity economy” bringing together small businesses, labor groups and tech innovators.
“We will encourage innovative technologies like AI and digital assets while protecting consumers and investors,” Harris said.
Holding sway: Scaramucci told an Australian Financial Review Crypto and Digital Assets Summit held in Sydney this week that cryptocurrency investors could swing the election and pointed out the Harris campaign would need to “work hard” at wooing the ‘crypto bros’ away from Donald Trump.
“Let’s say there are 40 million digital wallets in the United States, which is a conservative estimate, and 5% of those – 2 million people – are single-issue voters,” Scaramucci told the audience.
“Imagine how important [those votes] could be in a razor-thin election.”
Mountain to climb: But Scaramucci predicted Harris faced an uphill task in swaying a group of voters that was already convinced about Trump’s promises to less heavily regulate the sector.
“I do feel that when I canvass the industry, it’s quite binary… they perceive her as being very negative,” he said.
Scary monster
Super freak: Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson has said the new digital assets platform promoted by Trump called World Liberty Financial could be “scary” for the sector.
WLF has said it will leave behind “slow and outdated big banks” by taking DeFi to the masses.
But Hoskinson said that by making DeFi a partisan issue, the Democrats could “weaponize” the matter.
“That’s scary to me, as an industry,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Department of Justice or [a tax] investigation or the SEC go after them.”
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Loose change
Banged up: Caroline Ellison, the former boss of the trading firm through which FTX gambled billions of dollars in customer funds, has been handed a two-year prison sentence.
The reduced sentence comes after Ellison aided prosecutors in the criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried, who received a 25-year sentence for his part in the fraud.
USDC and EURC stablecoin issuer Circle has launched Compliance Engine, a new platform aimed at simplifying regulatory compliance for businesses using its programmable wallet platform. Circle says Compliance Engine offers customizable, automated compliance checks, streamlining the process for digital asset businesses.
Kraken has acquired Coin Meester (BCM), one of the Netherlands’ oldest registered crypto brokers. The exchange said the move will help bolster its position in the Dutch market and grow its footprint with virtual asset service provider licenses in France and Poland.
Digital asset bank Sygnum has acquired a license to operate as a digital asset services provider in Liechtenstein. The Swiss-Singapore bank acquired the permit via Sygnum Europe AG, its subsidiary operating within the jurisdiction.
Professional what? Sweden’s police force isn’t holding back. In a new report compiled with the country’s financial intelligence unit, officials branded crypto exchanges “professional money launderers.”
“Criminal proceedings from all types of crimes can be laundered via cryptocurrency and the crypto exchange provider is often a sought-after expertise within the criminal economy, usually operating with an international reach,” researchers said.
The findings of the report will be presented to the relevant authorities and other reporting entities, both in Sweden and internationally.
BetConstruct goes NFT
Going on the Ortak: Betting and gaming platform provider BetConstruct has unveiled a new blockchain-powered digital assets platform called Ortak, which it said will integrate NFTs with game development companies and partners such as Pragmatic Play and Evolution.
The platform also offers a calculator to estimate NFT collection outcomes, along with an Ortak index for tracking performance.
Through the marketplace, NFT holders can trade their assets, with transactions involving a 2.5% fee.
Tripling down on the NFT space, BetConstruct has also unveiled a platform called Mutuari, which allows users to borrow and lend using their NFTs as collateral, and Lidus, a platform to enable companies to create their own tokens.
Coinbase vs. the SEC
Two tribes: Coinbase and the US Securities and Exchange Commission have butted heads in a federal appeals court as the exchange pushes the regulator for clarity on digital asset rules.
The exchange sued the agency in 2022, urging it to create new rules and a market framework for cryptocurrencies.
Arguments for both sides were heard, as the judges noted the SEC retains discretion in rulemaking priorities.
However, the court pressed the regulator on why it had eschewed cryptocurrency, and the case continues.
And there’s more: The SEC has several separate ongoing cases against multiple crypto companies, including Coinbase, for listing and trading crypto tokens, which it believes should be registered as securities.
SEC settles
True blue: The SEC has settled with TrueCoin and TrustToken for fraudulent and unregistered sales of investment contracts involving the TrueUSD stablecoin. The agency sued the pair and settled the charges with both on Tuesday after the defendants declined to have the case decided by a judge.
It was alleged that TrueCoin and TrustToken offered and sold unregistered investment contracts in the form of TrueUSD for three years and carried out false marketing by claiming that TUSD was fully backed by US dollars or their equivalent.
In fact, the funds backing the stablecoin had been invested in a risky overseas investment fund, the court heard.
Mango Markets
In my house of straw: Solana-based decentralized exchange Mango Markets wants to pay $500,000 to make an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) go away.
The decentralized exchange is accused of allegedly failing to register as a commodities exchange, illegally offering services to customers in the US and failing to implement proper Know Your Customer controls.
In a statement posted on the exchange’s Discord server, Mango Market’s lawyers suggested offering the money to end the “ongoing and nonpublic” investigation.
Events calendar
Sep 25-26: European Blockchain Convention, Barcelona
Oct 9-11: Permissionless III, Salt Lake City
Oct 14-15: Ripple Swell, Miami
Oct 22-23: Blockchain Life Forum, Dubai
Dec 4-5: India Blockchain Week, Bengaluru
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