Thoughts tagged "crypto"

Short thoughts, notes, links, and musings by . RSS

The Clarity Act cloture vote has failed by a 49–50 margin; well short of the 60 votes needed. No Democrats crossed over to vote for the bill, and three Republicans voted against.

Senator Collins’ (R-ME) NO vote on Clarity was the most surprising today. She was defending the bill to constituents as recently as last week. My guess is she did not believe the bill had a chance to pass, and was more worried about defending a yes vote as her re-election prospects look slimmer.

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025.I appreciate your taking the time to do so.The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 17, 2025, and a companion bill in the Senate received bipartisan approval from the Senate Banking Committee on May 14, 2026, advancing toward a full Senate vote. Both bills seek to create a regulatory framework for digital commodities, prohibit the Federal Reserve banks from offering certain services directly to individuals, and forbid the use of central bank digital currency.Proponents believe that the bills create a clear regulatory framework for digital assets, the rules and regulations of which are currently determined by a series of regulatory actions and court decisions.I recognize the need to provide regulatory clarity with how the digital assets should be treated by regulatory authorities.Any actions taken should be for the benefit of the general public and strengthen the overall health of our regulatory system.Congress first addressed digital assets with the GENIUS Act, passed by the Senate and subsequently signed into law by the President on July 18, 2025. The new law provides clarity on stablecoins, a particular type of digital asset.After the bipartisan passage of the GENIUS Act, members of the House and Senate have expressed interest in further addressing digital assets, including cryptocurrency. As the Senate continues to work on digital asset market structure legislation, I will keep your perspective in mind.Again, thank you for contacting me.Sincerely,Susan M. CollinsUnited States Senator

Senators Hawley (R-MO) and Moran (R-KS), neither of whom are up for re-election, were the other NOs. They had already pledged to vote against the previous version of the bill, citing concerns from farmers over loan availability from local banks competing with stablecoins.

This article is a great deep dive into some of the shady characters behind World Liberty Financial — Justin Sun among them, despite his recent efforts to distance himself from the project. (He likely hoped this interview would help, and it is a little friendly, but rightly points out his shadiness.)

“Justin Sun Is Blowing the Whistle on Trump's World Liberty”.
Jen Wieczner in Intelligencer.
World Liberty Financial has put $800 million in the president's pocket. Justin Sun made a huge investment — and was shocked by what he saw, reports Jen Wieczner.

Mapping Trump’s crypto empire on Last Week Tonight

My newest Citation Needed project made an appearance on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver! It’s a work in progress, but you can see the new interactive version of my map of the Trump family’s crypto ventures at map.citationneeded.news.

John Oliver speaking on Last Week Tonight, gesturing to an overlay of my web of the Trump family’s crypto businesses. The subtitles say “keeping track of them have wound up making diagrams like this”.

The map contains hundreds of business entities and links to the Trump family (with more being added!), augmented with data from the president’s most recent financial filings to estimate how much money is flowing in. It will be queryable by other researchers and journalists.

Click any node or connection in the Trump crypto empire map to open its panel and view explanatory annotations and citations. Toggle the income overlay to see financial-disclosure figures from the most recent filings. Search for entities, or filter by category.

A screenshot of the map, with a side panel open showing Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Side panel contents: Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust Intermediary Entity When Walter Shaub, then Director of the Office of Government Ethics, called on President Trump to divest from the Trump Organization during his first term, Trump instead transferred his operating businesses to the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. Many had urged him to use a blind trust. Critics argued the DJT Revocable Trust fell far short of that standard: Trump remained the sole beneficiary, his son controlled the assets, and Trump could revoke the arrangement at any time. Shaub later commented that the arrangement was “meaningless from a conflict of interest perspective” and that “setting up a trust to hold his operating businesses adds nothing to the equation. This is not a blind trust—it’s not even close.” Established 2014 Sources ↗ Stenglein, Christine, "OGE Director warns Trump’s business plan insufficient", The Brookings Institution, January 11, 2017 ↗ Craig, Susanne, and Eric Lipton, "Trust Records Show Trump Is Still Closely Tied to His Empire", The New York Times, February 3, 2017 ↗ Kravitz, Derek, and Al Shaw, "Trump Lawyer Confirms President Can Pull Money From His Businesses Whenever He Wants", ProPublica, April 4, 2017 ←controlled by Donald Trump Jr. According to a 2024 regulatory filing, Donald Trump Jr. "is the sole trustee and has sole voting and

Subscriber support is what makes data projects like the Trump empire map and Tech Influence Watch possible — work that goes beyond the newsletter itself. You can join them!

Just had to patch a bug on the Tech Influence Watch Michigan House District 13 election page, stemming from Shri Thanedar reporting -$1.1 million in receipts.

Why is Thanedar reporting negative receipts? He put $3.7 million of campaign funds into crypto.

“Two-Thirds of Shri Thanedar's Campaign Cash Came Through AIPAC as He Lost Over $600K”.
Akela Lacy in The Intercept.
Two-thirds of the Michigan congressman's campaign cash last quarter came from AIPAC bundlers after he invested millions in crypto.

fascinating economic discovery from Fidelity: houses actually are cheaper now than in 2020!*

* if you denominate them in an arbitrary asset that has appreciated over that time frame

The average U.S. home has appreciated by over $100,000 since 2020, reflecting the broader inflationary environment across fiat-denominated assets. However, when priced in bitcoin, the average home has declined significantly in value, becoming approximately 10 times less expensive over the same period. This divergence raises a key question: Is housing becoming more expensive, or is the purchasing power of fiat currency steadily eroding?
Chart showing average home prices in dollars from 2020–2026 (rising about $100k over that period), and on the second axis the price in bitcoin (dropping by about 50BTC)

next up from Fidelity: groceries aren't getting more expensive**

** if you denominate their price in World of Warcraft gold

Dear Judge Kaplan: I am writing to respond to your Memorandum Order of march 23, 2026, requesting me to state whether an attorney wrote either my rule 33 motion or supporting memorandum "in whole or in substantial part." (I am assuming that the inclusion of Mr. Chapsky's accompanying Affidavit was inadvertent, as I neither wrote nor purported to write that.) I conceived of the Rule 33 Motion, formulated the arguments, drafted multiple versions of it myself, and did the bulk of the legal research while I was at MDC Brooklyn and had better access to legal materials as well as a word processor. You asked about the three attorneys of record in other stages of this case; none of them had any significant input into the Rule 33 Motion. I have not discussed it with them or shared any drafts with them. Mr. Mukasey and Ms . Young only represented me in the sentencing phase, and no longer do so . While Ms. Shapiro is still representing me on my appeal, she is not representing me on this matter and I have not consulted her on it. I also shared drafts with my parents, Barbara Fried and Joe Bankman. They made editorial and organizational suggestions, some of which I incorporated into the motion. They also helped print it, as I no longer had access to a word processor. I also shared earlier drafts with a New York attorney who was originally hired to represent me on the Rule 33 Motion before I decided to represent myself; they had no significant input into the ultimate motion. I am the ultimate author of the documents and wrote the bulk of them myself, but can't comment on how you will ultimately interpret the standard in practice. As I have had to focus on responding to these questions rather than drafting a response to the prosecution's opposition, and because I do not believe I will get a fair hearing on this topic in front of you, I am now requesting to withdraw the Rule 33 motion, without prejudice to renewing it after my direct appeal and the related request for reassignment have been ruled upon. Finally, I am the author of this letter, but did consult with my parents about it, since it concerns both of them . Isl Sam Bankman-Fried prose 2026-04-13 Lompoc, CA

Sam Bankman-Fried’s affidavit has arrived. He says his attorneys of record had no input into his motion for a new trial, but that he shared drafts with his parents (both attorneys). “They made editorial and organizational suggestions, some of which I incorporated”

He also writes “As I have had to focus on responding to these questions rather than drafting a response to the prosecution's opposition, and because I do not believe I will get a fair hearing on this topic in front of you, I am now requesting to withdraw the Rule 33 motion” (for a new trial)