September 27, 2021       /       Unchained Daily       /       Laura Shin

Daily Bits ✍️✍️✍️

  • Kentucky issued a cease and desist order against Celsius Network regarding the lender’s “Earn Interest Accounts.”

  • Next year, Netflix will feature a documentary on the $250 million QuadrigaCX scandal (recently covered on Unchained).

  • Yearn.Finance creator Andre Cronje launched a new NFT marketplace on Fantom dubbed Artion.

  • Crypto exchange FTX has begun relocating its headquarters from Hong Kong to the Bahamas.

  • Cardano announced partnerships with Dish Network and Chainlink.

What Do You Meme?

What’s Poppin’?

In an announcement on Friday, the People’s Bank of China issued a new document revealing tougher measures on crypto trading. Essentially, all services that allow fiat to crypto or crypto to crypto trades are now being treated as illegal. Anyone facilitating such trades would be subject to prosecution, including of-shore over-the-counter trading services like Huobi, OKEx, and Binance — some of China’s more popular crypto exchanges. Additionally, China also deemed all crypto derivatives trading illegal.

While this is not the first time China has come out with a crackdown on crypto, Friday’s ban is the most serious yet. According to CoinDesk, ten agencies were involved in the notice, while previous bans were only signed by seven.

The move sent ripples through the crypto community. Here are three tailwinds you should be following:

  • Roughly $50 million in BTC was liquidated in three hours on Friday morning following the publication of a People’s Bank of China regulatory notice.

  • Huobi Global, the third-largest exchange by volume, announced plans to suspend all China-based accounts later this year. The exchange’s token, HT, has dropped15% since the news broke on Sunday, falling from $9 to $7.50 in roughly 24 hours.

  • US Senator Pat Toomey believes that China’s decision to crackdown on crypto is good for the US. He wrote on Twitter: “China’s authoritarian crackdown on crypto, including #Bitcoin, is a big opportunity for the U.S. It’s also a reminder of our huge structural advantage over China. Beijing is so hostile to economic freedom they cannot even tolerate their people participating in what is arguably the most exciting innovation in finance in decades. Economic liberty leads to faster growth, and ultimately, a higher standard of living for all.”

  • Uniswap and SushiSwap, the two largest DEXs on Ethereum, are up 15% between Saturday and Sunday afternoon, which some analysts believe is a direct result of China’s ban. For example, Synergia Capital’s Denis Vinokourov told CoinDesk, “The great rotation into everything decentralized is upon us and all thanks to the latest and undoubtedly most aggressive crypto ban by China.”

Recommended Reads

  • Our Network’s Spencer Noon on who to follow on Twitter:

  • CoinDesk’s Michael Casey on why El Salvador should BUIDL rather than HODL:

  • a16z’s Chris Dixon on Web 3:

On The Pod…

How SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s Views on Crypto Have Changed Since His MIT Days 

 

Nik De, managing editor for global policy and regulation at CoinDesk, stops by Unconfirmed to discuss the current state of crypto regulation, including recent comments by SEC Chair Gary Gensler on stablecoins and why Coinbase decided to sideline its Lend product. Highlights:

  • Nik’s biggest takeaway from Gary Gensler’s interview with the Washington Post
  • why Nik thinks Gensler has escalated his rhetoric regarding stablecoins and DeFi
  • how crypto exchanges are currently regulated and how that might change
  • what it would take to convince crypto exchanges to register with the SEC
  • whether the SEC has the purview to regulate stablecoins
  • Nik’s thoughts on Coinbase’s Lend product and the SEC’s stance on lending products
  • what the overall picture of crypto lending is in the US
  • whether the SEC will go after DeFi protocols
  • what to expect from the SEC going forward, especially with the end of its fiscal year coming up next week

Book Update

My book, The Cryptopians: Idealism, Greed, Lies, and the Making of the First Big Cryptocurrency Craze, is now available for pre-order now.

The book, which is all about Ethereum and the 2017 ICO mania, comes out Jan. 18. Pre-order it today!

You can purchase it here: http://bit.ly/cryptopians