The Breakdown First Five - Friday, June 21, 2024

Welcome back to The Breakdown First Five — the 5 most interesting and/or important stories in bitcoin, crypto, and markets to start your day.

5. Kraken Struggles to Dismiss

A California court was unimpressed by Krakens argument to dismiss an SEC lawsuit. The judge refused to entertain major questions doctrine arguments and seemed comfortable with the SEC’s ‘ecosystem theory’ that secondary sales of crypto tokens are securities transactions. The judge did not rule from the bench, but suggested he was leaning towards denying the motion to dismiss. He expects discovery to take a year as the case moves to trial. 

4. UK Crypto Bust

UK financial regulators have arrested two suspects for operating an illegal crypto exchange. The FCA claims the platform traded over $1.2B worth of crypto. The suspects and the exchange were not named. The FCA said the investigation and are claiming the offense relates to a lack of registration and AML compliance. Critics suggest it’s impossible to know how dirty the exchange was from these facts as the FCA has refused 86% of license applications.

3. Solana ETP Filed

Investment firm 3iQ has filed for the first spot Solana ETP in Canada. If approved, the fund would trade under the ticker QSOL. No estimated timeline is available on when the product could go live. The application has proposed staking their assets. The product would trade on the Toronto stock exchange, home to many high quality companies as well as a never ending list of junior gold miners. 

2. CFTC Investigating Jump

The CFTC has launched an investigation into Jump trading with a specific focus on their trading activities. Jump claimed to be stepping back from their crypto activities within the US last year. The firm was tangled up in a string of controversies during the last cycle, including backstopping Luna and Wormhole. Jump is also deeply involved in Solana infrastructure and is expected to launch the Firedancer validator later this year. 

1. Winklevi Back Trump

The Winklevoss twins have thrown their lot in with Trump, backing his campaign directly with $1M each. The Gemini founders and cover band frontmen had already spent big on the 2024 elections, giving $2.7M to the Fairshake crypto SuperPAC. Tyler complained that the Biden administration had “weaponized multiple government agencies to bully, harass, and sue the good actors.” This donation could shift the overton window on overt Trump support.