The Breakdown First Five - Wednesday, June 26, 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. Record Outflow Streak

The pain continues for the Bitcoin ETFs, hitting a record seven days straight of net outflows. Around $1.1B has been redeemed from the funds during that period, with Fidelity suffering the brunt of the outflows. The good news is that inflows resumed on Tuesday, with $31M added to the funds. Fidelity made up some lost ground with a $49M inflow, leading the day.

4. Gaetz wants the IRS to Accept Bitcoin

Republican firebrand Matt Gaetz has introduced a bill that would see the IRS accepting payment in Bitcoin. He said the policy change would promote innovation, increase efficiency, and offer more flexibility to US citizens. The law isn’t expected to go anywhere and no one is asking for this. Bitcoin tax payments weren’t used when introduced in Colorado. Still, the bill shows that getting a Bitcoin headline is now valuable to Republicans heading into the election.  

3. Bowman Bounced

Anti-crypto lawmaker Jamaal Bowman has been defeated in a landslide, losing his New York candidacy to career politician George Latimer. The Democrat primary was the most expensive congressional primary in history. Crypto SuperPAC Fairshake committed $2M to defeat Bowman, but this was eclipsed by a pro-Israel SuperPAC spending $14M to ouster Bowman. 

2. Politics Aside, Gensler Struggles

During a Bloomberg event, Gensler was asked to reflect on his agency’s lack of progress and the political fallout surrounding the crypto crackdown. He avoided politics, “I don’t speak about elections.” On the crypto industry, Gensler noted that most of last cycle’s shining stars are now heading to prison. When the crowd laughed, Gensler insisted “this is a serious thing … it’s not ticky tacky.” On a brighter note, Gensler said the ETH ETF applications are “going smoothly.”

1. Trump at Bitcoin 2024?

According to Axios reports, Trump is in talks to speak at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville next month. The conference will be held the week after the Republican National Convention, where Trump will presumably be named as the presidential candidate. The conference is already heavy on political speakers, with RFK Jr and Vivek Ramaswamy slated to appear. Bitcoin Magazine, the organizers of the event, were tight lipped on the situation.