The Breakdown First Five - Thursday, September 5, 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. Harris Campaign Kind of Accepts Bitcoin

For a moment, it seemed as though the Harris campaign would be accepting Bitcoin donations. During an event on Wednesday, Coinbase CFO Alisia Haas said they were processing crypto donations for the campaign. A Coinbase spokesperson immediately walked back the comments, explaining that it was actually a Harris-aligned PAC that had signed up with Coinbase. Many seem to be looking to crypto donations as a sign of the Democrat crypto pivot, which still hasn’t arrived.

4. Chokepoint Continues

The Fed has cracked down on another crypto-friendly bank, issuing a cease and desist order against United Texas Bank. The Fed alleged “significant deficiencies” in board oversight of compliance and required an overhaul of procedures along with more customer due diligence. This is the second crypto-friendly bank to face the same order over the past month, suggesting we are in the midst of another wave of Operation Chokepoint 2.0. 

3. Ripple Won’t IPO

During a fireside chat at Korea Blockchain week, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said he had “no interest” in taking the company public in the US. He blamed the frosty regulatory conditions and advised crypto founders not to incorporate in the US, adding “You're just asking for more legal bills.” Garlinghouse also flagged the launch of Ripple’s stablecoin, expected in “weeks, not months.” He hopes the stablecoin will compete with heavy hitters USDC and Tether. 

2. VCs Subpoenaed

A16Z and Union Square have been subpoenaed by the New York Attorney General in relation to Uniswap. No details on exactly what this is about, other than regulators piling on the DeFi protocol. The venture firms declined to comment officially, but one anonymous source said “Letitia James seems to be following in the footsteps of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, using crypto as a political punching bag."

1. Uniswap Settles with CFTC 

Uniswap has settled with the CFTC for a trifling $175,000. The allegations related to leveraged BTC and ETH tokens that had been blocked on the platform last year and closed the book on a fairly minor issue. The enforcement action still garnered a scorching dissent from Commissioner Mersinger, who thinks the CFTC should be making rules rather than engaging in a needless and costly campaign of regulation by enforcement.