Trump launches meme coin, Crypto Crime drops to 0.04%, SEC reined?in,?Polymarket?banned in more markets, NYAG targets thieves via NFT(#201 - Jan 19)

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1. Trump launches meme coin

The $Trump coin was launched on Friday evening and has already hit over $6b in valuation.

There was no mention of this coin beforehand and it seems that various insiders made significant amounts of money. 80% of the token supply is also owned by entities linked to Trump entities.

Interestingly, it was launched on Friday night when the who’s who of the U.S. crypto scene were in Washington at a crypto gala to honor Trump.

If Trump and his son Eric had not tweeted and celebrated this coin, this would be simply disregarded as it has all the features of a scam. For example, a DJT coin was launched in the past by Martin Shkreli. But with the data available now (including tweets by Trump and his son) it seems that this was genuinely launched by Trump. The official website is here

This has created a debate within the crypto community. Some see this as a rug pull and a show of force done by Trump and his entourage.

Others see serious legal violations.

In addition to the clear insider trading allegations, this may violate protections in place to avoid foreign interference as any foreign national can now buy this Trump coin.

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2. Illicit volumes of crypto represent 0.4% of total crypto volume

In 2024, crypto transaction volume grew to over USD 10.6 trillion, up 56% since 2023. In contrast, illicit volume dropped to USD 45 billion, down 24% since 2023.?

This represents 0.4% of overall crypto transactions, and marks a 51% decrease from 2023.?

In 2024, the largest percentage of illicit crypto activity occurred on the TRON blockchain (58% of illicit volume) — followed by Ethereum (24% of illicit volume), Bitcoin (12% of illicit volume), Binance Smart Chain (3% of illicit volume), and Polygon (3% of illicit volume). This reflects a continued preference for blockchains that have low transaction fees, smart contracts, and popular stablecoins.

This data is consistent with what we have seen with other traceability firms. Both the relative and absolute amounts are very minor compared to the level of money laundering that occurs via other methods, which is estimated to be between $800b-$2 trillion per year.

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3. US Fed Appeals Court Tells SEC: “Co-operate”

A panel of federal appeals judges dealt another blow to the SEC.?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled? in favor of Coinbase, which sued the SEC last year over the agency’s refusal to explicitly lay out its crypto policy.

Whilst Coinbase didn’t entirely win (it was asking the court to force the SEC to issue crypto specific rules) the court seriously reprimanded the SEC which will need to change its approach.?

The court wrote::

“Because we believe the SEC’s order was conclusory and insufficiently reasoned, and thus arbitrary and capricious, we grant Coinbase’s petition in part and remand to the SEC for a more complete explanation.”

This is another positive win for the crypto industry.

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4. Polymarket banned in Singapore and Thailand due to licensing issues

Was this expected? Yes, as many governments make sizable revenues from gaming and gambling via taxes and often have the monopoly in the provision of such activities. Having a decentralized competitor that can take away such revenues and is not regulated is never welcomed. Many will use the argument of customer protection and whilst that is true and very valid, the loss of tax revenues is also a big factor.?

Now will this work? No, as anyone who really wants to access such platforms can easily do so via a VPN as these platforms are decentralized.?

We should expect similar bans of Polymarket (and any other similar decentralized gaming/prediction market platform that gets traction) by others in the coming months.?

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5. NYAG to serve crypto thieves via NFT

The NY Attorney General became the first U.S. government regulator to provide notice of litigation by depositing an NFT into the wallets used to steal the victims’ crypto.?

Service by NFT will provide the scammers with notice of the litigation by giving them a link to an OAG website containing all of the pleadings. No other state or federal regulator has served a lawsuit using this method before.??

How people get served for legal action has evolved over the years and this is just another example.?

Whilst this is a first, we should expect to see similar actions more frequently moving forward.?

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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.