Coinbase vs SEC on DeFi, Over 1,200 Funds Hold BTC ETFs, Dubai Recognizes Crypto as Salary, Binance Executive's Health (#184 - 18 Aug 2024)

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1. Coinbase Urges SEC to Abandon Its DeFi Exchange Stance?

Crypto exchange Coinbase submitted a supplemental comment letter to the SEC this past week on its definition of "exchange."

Fundamental to Coinbase’s argument is the SEC’s continued refusal to concede that decentralised exchanges (or DEXs)—which are run by smart contracts with no human involvement are by definition incapable of complying with rules and standards designed for traditional securities exchanges like the NYSE or NASDAQ.

The arguments that Coinbase is making are very valid, and the letter is worth a read for anyone following this debate.

But whether this will change the SEC's stance remains to be seen.

2. Around 1,200 Funds and Institutional Firms Hold BTC ETFs in the U.S.

According to the latest 13F regulatory filings, around 1,200 funds and institutional firms hold BTC ETFs in the U.S., or ~ 20% of the total? BTC ETF AuM.

It is likely that a large number of these are holding the ETF simply for pure arbitrage opportunities with the underlying spot Bitcoin and not because of a directional view on Bitcoin.

However, this is still important as these firms got the approval from their various risk, compliance or other departments like their investment or risk committees to actually touch the asset class. And that is already a big milestone.

NEWSLETTER CONTINUES BELOW

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3. Dubai Court Recognizes Crypto as Valid Salary Payment?

A court in Dubai recently recognized crypto as a valid salary payment.

This is important as many people in the crypto industry who work for web3 projects get paid in tokens from the various token projects for which they provide a myriad of services, from development work to marketing and community management.

Whilst most projects will respect their commitments to such contractors or employees (the crypto industry is a small world after all), some don’t, and this should help such individuals or firms, at least in Dubai and the UAE.?

We should expect more such cases globally in the coming months.?

4. Health of Binance Executive Tigran Gambaryan Deteriorating as He Remains Hostage in a Nigerian Prison?

As many in the crypto ecosystem are on their summer holidays, it is important not to forget our friend Tigran Gambaryan, who is being held hostage in a Nigerian prison just because he flew there at the request of his employer and local Nigerian officials to deliver crypto training.

He has not seen his wife and kids for months now, and his health is rapidly deteriorating as he is being denied basic medical care.

Anyone at Binance or in the crypto ecosystem could have been in his shoes. I have personally delivered dozens of such trainings around the world in the past decade.

The solution to this problem at this stage is a political one between the White House and Nigeria, as the recent events with hostages in Russia have shown.

The one thing you can do now is to share such posts and continue keeping Tigran Gambaryan in the news.?

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Henri Arslanian

*Please note that this newsletter reflects Henri’s personal views and not those of any organisation he is involved with. This newsletter is for educational purposes only, and none of its content should be construed as investment or financial advice of any kind.?

Who is Henri?

Henri Arslanian is the co-founder and managing partner of Nine Blocks Capital Management, an institutional-grade hedge fund focused exclusively on digital assets, with a market-neutral crypto fund focused on generating alpha from inefficiencies in crypto markets using relative value, arbitrage, and quantitative strategies.?

Henri was previously a partner and global crypto leader at PwC. In that role, he advised many of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, investors, financial institutions, and tech firms on their crypto initiatives and numerous governments, regulators, and central banks on crypto regulatory and policy matters.

With over 500,000 LinkedIn followers and 60,000 newsletter subscribers, Henri is a global keynote speaker, a best-selling published author, and is regularly featured in global media, including Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and the Financial Times.?

Henri was named by LinkedIn as one of the 2022 global Top Voices in Finance and is the host of the CryptoCapsules? social media video series as well as The Future of Money podcast and newsletter.