The Breakdown First Five - Tuesday, October 22, 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. Bitcoin for Cruz

Crypto mining sponsored Bitcoin Voter PAC has run the first Bitcoin focused campaign ad. The ad is in support of Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who says he “wants Texas to be the oasis on planet Earth for Bitcoin and crypto." The ad sets an orange-tinged Cruz against the black and white image of JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, presented as a villain. Previous crypto-sponsored ads have largely focused on attacking disfavored candidates on unrelated policy issues. 

4. Japanese Police Trace Monaro?

A single line in a Japanese police report suggests law enforcement have managed to trace Monero. 18 alleged scammers were arrested after using Monero to launder money. Police said they tracked the men down after analyzing their Monero transactions. We’ve heard whispers for several months that Chainalysis have been snooping on the network and figured out how to trace transactions. This news suggests there might be some credibility to that rumor. 

3. Armstrong Endorses

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has given a personal endorsement of two Republican Senate candidates. Despite Coinbase providing campaign funds and logistics, Armstrong has been relatively silent so far. He is endorsing Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania and Crypto Lawyer John Deaton. Deaton is viewed as an extremely long shot to defeat Elizabeth Warren, but it’s good to see industry figures get behind the first Bitcoiner running for office. 

2. Coinbase Files More FOIAs

Coinbase is determined to get to the bottom of Operation Chokepoint 2.0, filing another batch of FOIA requests to the FDIC. The crypto firm is asking for documents related to a 15% cap on crypto customers that was rumored to have been instituted in 2022. Coinbase has existing FOIA’s already in court, but this round is a little more specific. Everyone expects the government to continue stonewalling. 

1. Transak Data Breach

A second data breach from a KYC provider in recent months has raised questions about security commitments. On and off-ramp Transak have confirmed a breach that impacted 93,000 users. Identity documents, selfies and personal details were stolen, but no email addresses, bank account information or social security numbers were accessed. Hackers gained access by phishing an employee's laptop, raising questions about why so much data was remotely accessible.