Edited 4d ago
crypto
Newsletter: As Trump’s web of crypto projects gets tangled up in itself, a regulator warns of “regulatory Jenga” in the crypto sector that echoes the 2008 financial crisis
The TrumpWallet.com website, which was previously hosting a waitlist sign-up for the Trump wallet project, has just gone offline.
This is less than an hour after Bloomberg reported that the World Liberty Financial project sent a cease and desist to both the memecoin project and Magic Eden.
Edited 8d ago
I think this is a more or less up-to-date map of the businesses, LLCs, and people associated with the Trump family crypto projects.
Edited 9d ago
That is fricking scary... by @molly0xfff
Absolute chaos. After my scoop about the upcoming launch of a Trump Wallet by Magic Eden, in cooperation with the $TRUMP memecoin team, Magic Eden pushed out their announcement. Both Eric and Don Jr then repudiated the project, stating they had no prior knowledge.
SCOOP: Trump to launch branded crypto wallet and trading application, encouraging his supporters to purchase his memecoin and other crypto assets.
Representative Raskin cited my analysis in his letter investigating Trump’s memecoin dinner
https://www.citationneeded.news/trump-memecoin-dinner-guests/
It’s been two weeks since Coinbase disclosed its data breach, and so far we’re up to:
• 8 customer class actions against Coinbase
• 1 shareholder class action against Coinbase
• 1 customer class action against TaskUs, a contractor the plaintiffs allege was responsible for the breach.
Crypto industry-funded polls have claimed that as much as 28% of American adults currently owned crypto in 2024. Coinbase in particular loves to throw around claims of 20%.
Federal data has just come out putting the figure at... 8%.
Legislators and regulators are frequently relying on the crypto industry’s own inflated figures to justify their actions, and the crypto industry has used the supposed existence of all these “crypto voters” as a cudgel to threaten legislators.
Edited 16d ago
Given the recent data breach and Coinbase’s user agreement that aims to force customers into arbitration rather than individual or class action lawsuits, it’s interesting to read the outcome of a recent arbitration case against Coinbase.
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69741499/1/coinbase-inc-v-spilker/
![9. On December 17, 2024, Arbitrator Kruze issued an Order Granting Dispositive Motion as to all of Mr. Spilker’s claims. Ex. A at 6 (“Respondent’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. Claimant’s claims against Coinbase are dismissed.”). 10. The Final Award holds: a. Claimant’s EFTA cause of action is time-barred because the “one-year limitations period begins when the first unauthorized transfer occurs, not upon discovery by the consumer, and not when the consumer notifies the defendant of the unauthorized transfer.” Id. at 3, applying 15 U.S.C. §1693m(g) and Wike v. Vertrue, Inc., 566 F.3d 590,593 (6th Cir. 2009). b. “The undisputed facts show that a third party, not Coinbase, caused Claimant’s damages” and that “Claimant’s damages were the result of an intervening and superseding cause: the actions of a third-party scammer. Coinbase, as a matter of law, cannot be held liable for Claimant’s damages.” Ex. A at 4, citing May v. Google, LLC, No. 24-CV-01314- BLF, 2024 WL 4681604, at *10 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 4, 2024). c. The parties’ contract forecloses Mr. Spilker’s causes of action for breach of contract, negligence and tort claims, and claims under Idaho and Oregon law. Ex. A at 5. d. Pursuant to Melchoir v. New Line Prods., Inc., 106 Cal. App. 4th 779, 793 (2003), “Claimant’s cause of action for unjust enrichment fails because ‘there is no [such thing as a] cause of action in Ca](/proxy/post_attachment/505696/c7f061ded0.png "9. On December 17, 2024, Arbitrator Kruze issued an Order Granting Dispositive Motion as to all of Mr. Spilker’s claims. Ex. A at 6 (“Respondent’s Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED. Claimant’s claims against Coinbase are dismissed.”). 10. The Final Award holds: a. Claimant’s EFTA cause of action is time-barred because the “one-year limitations period begins when the first unauthorized transfer occurs, not upon discovery by the consumer, and not when the consumer notifies the defendant of the unauthorized transfer.” Id. at 3, applying 15 U.S.C. §1693m(g) and Wike v. Vertrue, Inc., 566 F.3d 590,593 (6th Cir. 2009). b. “The undisputed facts show that a third party, not Coinbase, caused Claimant’s damages” and that “Claimant’s damages were the result of an intervening and superseding cause: the actions of a third-party scammer. Coinbase, as a matter of law, cannot be held liable for Claimant’s damages.” Ex. A at 4, citing May v. Google, LLC, No. 24-CV-01314- BLF, 2024 WL 4681604, at *10 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 4, 2024). c. The parties’ contract forecloses Mr. Spilker’s causes of action for breach of contract, negligence and tort claims, and claims under Idaho and Oregon law. Ex. A at 5. d. Pursuant to Melchoir v. New Line Prods., Inc., 106 Cal. App. 4th 779, 793 (2003), “Claimant’s cause of action for unjust enrichment fails because ‘there is no [such thing as a] cause of action in Ca")
A Coinbase data breach filing with the Maine Attorney General finally gives us some more detail than Coinbase’s vague “less than 1% of monthly transacting users”. 69,461 people were affected, and Coinbase says the data breach occurred on December 26, 2024.
It took them almost five months between the incident and the incident disclosure, although the company has since admitted it knew customer support agents were suspiciously accessing customer data as far back as January.
Edited 23d ago
Adam Levitin on the GENIUS Act: “[I]n regard to cash deposits, the stablecoin investors will have priority over the claims of ma-and-pa for their bank deposits (and thus over the FDIC's subrogation claim when it pays ma-and-pa). Yes, you read that correctly: Congress is about to put the claims of stablecoin investors ahead of ma and pa's bank deposits. That's just stunning. Now ma-and-pa's deposits are FDIC insured, so they'll be alright, but it means the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund is footing the bill. In other words, the GENIUS Act is subsidizing stablecoin issuance on the back of bank deposits. By subordinating the FDIC's subrogation claim in a bank insolvency to the claims of stablecoin investors, the GENIUS Act is effectively letting FDIC insurance leak out to cover uninsured stablecoins, without any insurance premiums paid.”
Coinbase was aware that support reps were suspiciously accessing customer data when its CEO tweeted that the CFPB should be "deleted". Among other things, the CFPB has pursued legal action against financial companies that failed to secure sensitive customer data.
Newsletter: Coinbase’s substantial data breach coincides with a convenient terms of service update, while the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill regains momentum in the Senate
With 16 Democrats voting in favor, the GENIUS Act stablecoin bill has passed cloture in the Senate.
Alsobrooks (MD), Blunt Rochester (DE), Booker (NJ), Cortez Masto (NV), Fetterman (PA), Gallego (AZ), Gillibrand (NY), Hassan (NH), Heinrich (NM), Lujan (NM), Ossoff (GA), Padilla (CA), Rosen (NV), Schiff (CA), Slotkin (MI), Warner (VA).
Edited 24d ago
In April, Coinbase announced changes to its user agreement that added two clauses limiting class action lawsuits and requiring lawsuits to be filed in New York. The changes apply to disputes initiated after May 15.
On May 14, Coinbase disclosed a data breach.
Five lawsuits have been filed against Coinbase in response to the breach since then: all class action, none before May 15, two outside of New York.
Edited 24d ago
I have been thinking for a while about the issue of anonymity in Web3 (and, more in general, anonymous transactions). The growing realization of the damage caused by decentralized financial technologies is nagging my cypherpunk self, who has been at war for a lifetime against invasive tracking, manipulative marketing, and surveillance capitalism. I collected my thoughts here: https://gagliardoni.net/#20250427_privacy_compliance
Spoiler alert: I'm not endorsing backdoors, but I think some middleground solution must be found.
#horizenlabs #crypto #cryptography #privacy #compliance #aml #kyc #anonymity #web3 #gnutaler #bitcoin #monero #zcash #tornadocash
Coinbase announces it's joining the S&P 500 and then announces a serious data breach two days later
oof
Newsletter: Three major crypto schemes in a single week underscore how aggressively Trump is leveraging the presidency for illegal personal gain. This blatant corruption has sparked Democratic outcry, blockage of a crypto bill, and a Senate PSI inquiry.
Alex Mashinsky has been sentenced to twelve years in prison for his Celsius fraud, which culminated in the mid-2022 collapse of his US-based cryptocurrency lending firm with customers suffering losses of more than half a billion dollars.
The GENIUS Act stablecoin bill has stalled in the Senate with key Democrats — including some of its early co-sponsors — voting against it. Democratic opposition increased after Trump’s World Liberty Financial cryptocurrency platform released its own stablecoin, allowing the president to profit from transactions including a $2 billion deal between the Emirati state-owned investment firm MGX and the Binance crypto platform.
Edited 36d ago
In our magazine, from Candice Bernd: Texas is the national epicenter of #Bitcoin mining, with only about 24 total mines operating outside the state’s borders. Approximately 40 mines are operating in the state, together consuming about 3,200 MWs, enough to power 800,000 homes. https://www.texasobserver.org/the-crypto-racket/
Copublished with our friends at The Nation.
#Texas #politics #energy #ClimateChange #pollution #environment #OilAndGas #crypto #news
Edited 39d ago
Newsletter: Crypto traders are spending millions of dollars on TRUMP memecoins to buy access to the president at an upcoming private dinner, exacerbating existing ethics concerns. 73% of the attendees are likely not American, only adding further concerns over foreign influence.
https://www.citationneeded.news/trump-memecoin-dinner-guests/