The Breakdown First Five - Wednesday May 24, 2023

5. Kwon stays locked up

Do Kwon has been refused bail on charges of traveling on falsified papers. On appeal, the Montenegro High Court found Kwon’s statement that he has millions worth of property to support bail unconvincing, finding that the lower court had accepted ‘just trust me bro’ as proof. Kwon will be back in court on June 16. Still no word on extradition to the US or South Korea.

4. Tornado Cash dev will question Chainalysis

Tornado Cash developer Alexey Pertsev has been granted permission to cross-examine Chainalysis about their on-chain evidence. Pertsev was arrested in the Netherlands days after sanctions were applied on Tornado Cash. The cross-examination will query the methods of Chainalysis and whether their conclusions stand up to scrutiny.

3. Debt Ceiling Downgrade

As debt ceiling negotiations continue going nowhere fast, Fitch warns it may downgrade US debt. The last time this happened in 2011 markets did not respond well, so hold onto your hats. Both Biden and McCarthy are blaming the other side for the impasse, accusing each other of failing to negotiate. Yellen has said there’s only a week left to get it done.

2. Trezors Hacked

Security firm Unciphered has claimed to have hacked a Trezor. Put away the hammers though, the exploit requires physical access to the device and is technically complex, so likely doesn’t represent a threat on a broad scale. Trezor says the attack vector looks similar to one disclosed in early 2020 and hasn’t presented as a major issue. Is it too much to ask for a FUD-free hardware wallet?

1. DeSantis wants you to “Do Bitcoin”

Ron DeSantis launched his Presidential candidacy on Twitter spaces yesterday and presented clear, pro-Bitcoin policies. The Florida governor said “You’ve got every right to do bitcoin”. The policy was focused on the right to transact in and hold whichever asset you choose, without government interference. We now have two major Presidential candidates who have taken the orange pill.

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Thanks for reading -NLW