The Breakdown First Five - Friday, September 20, 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. Blackrock: Bitcoin Fixes This

Blackrock has published a brief, 9-page summary of the Bitcoin investment thesis. The paper covers US debt, limitations of fiat money, geopolitical risk and the way Bitcoin has performed in times of crisis. They present Bitcoin as a risky risk-on asset, but a “unique diversifier”. It’s Bitcoin 101, but having a sharp and to the point resource will be crucial as their army of investment advisors sell the world on Bitcoin. 

4. Consensys Lawsuit Dismissed

Ethereum Infrastructure firm Consensys have seen their lawsuit against the SEC thrown out of court for lack of ripeness. The judge recognized that the SEC is no longer investigating Ethereum and has filed charges alleging that Metamask is an unregistered broker. That means the lawsuit has no content and is moot. Taking it a step further, the judge noted that mere SEC investigations can never be challenged in court, crypto firms need to wait until an enforcement action is filed. 

3. Bitcoin Loves Cuts

Following the Fed’s jumbo rate cut, risk markets are flying and Bitcoin is leading the charge. Bitcoin was up as much as 6% yesterday, touching $64,000 for the first time in over three weeks. Standard Chartered believes that this cutting cycle will be good for Bitcoin, citing favorable macroeconomic conditions. They said that macro is overtaking the election as the biggest driver of Bitcoin’s price. 

2. Silvergate Bankruptcy Revelations

Silvergate Bank has filed for bankruptcy 18 months after the bank run that crippled them. Although, that’s not what the documents suggest. For the first time Silvergate executives have spoken out about Chokepoint 2.0. They claim the bank was never insolvent and that tough regulatory limits forced them to wind down operations. The filings explain in immense detail exactly how regulators forced the debanking of the crypto industry. 

1. Two Charged For $230M BTC Heist

A pair of crypto fraudsters have been arrested in relation to a $230M Bitcoin theft. The suspects seem to have obtained the details of the solitary victim from Genesis bankruptcy filings. On-chain data suggest the victim was an OG Bitcoiner who was storing his fortune using a single key to access a Bitcoin core wallet. The good news, to the extent there can be any, is that on-chain sleuth ZachXBT tracked down the perps in record time. Less than a month from theft to arrest.