If you read Kik’s Wells submission and the SEC complaint against Kik, you’ll see how thorny the issues are. Each side has a compelling argument to make, and they each have a strategy, with Kik challenging the law and the SEC amassing a ton of evidence around Kik’s own actions and statements.
In other news, everyone is bracing for Facebook’s entry into crypto, and it looks like they’ve read the Ethereum/Tezos/ICO playbook (well, except for the fact that they are requiring entities pay $10 million to run a node).
Be sure to listen to this week’s Unconfirmed, which is the first podcast interview with LocalBitcoins, which I recorded last week while at the Oslo Freedom Forum.
And if you’re making your summer plans, be sure to check out the crypto workshop I’m teaching with Meltem Demirors and Jalak Jobanputra at Omega Institute Sept. 20-22.
This Week’s Crypto News…
SEC vs. Kik
And now we get the other side: The SEC finally filed its lawsuit against Kik for its ICO. (If you want to read it with some side commentary, check out Katherine Wu’s version.) While you likely heard a lot about it this week, I thought Coin Center and Matt Levine had some of the best takes. Levine: “If you want to sell tokens to build an ecosystem that no one will own, maybe you should be allowed to. If you want to sell tokens to bring in a lot of money to your corporation, and then build a decentralized ecosystem that doesn’t do much while keeping most of the money for yourself, maybe that is a securities offering and maybe you should get in trouble.“ Jake Chervinsky did a great AMA. Jason Gottlieb of Morrison Cohen did a quasi-flow chart (via tweet storm) that broke out the ways this could go. The Block also looks at data indicating few people are using Kin. And if you missed the podcast with Ted Livingston of Kik in which we broke the news about DefendCrypto.org, be sure to listen now.
Facebook Planning Foundation to Govern New Coin
To be unveiled later this month, the cryptocurrency will have an initial network of about 100 nodes, each costing $10 million to run.
Binance to Launch Stablecoins
This could someday give Tether some competition, though the company is starting with Binance GBP and does not currently have plans to issue a dollar-pegged coin. Meanwhile, Diar and Chainalysis show that the vast majority of demand for Tether comes from China and globally, with only a sliver of demand in the US.
Block.one Aims to Remake Social Media With Voice
Many believe social media is broken, and many have also touted the potential for blockchain technology to revolutionize it. Finally, Block.one is going to attempt to do that, with Dan Larimer perhaps applying lessons learned from his earlier blockchain-based social media network, Steemit.
COO Asiff Hirji leaves Coinbase
Just the latest in a slew of high-level departures over the last year. Emilie Choi is new COO.
Ex-Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu’s New Business
It will center on custody and lending and Bitmain itself will be a prime customer.
MyCrypto SIM Swapping Help Guide
Years after phone hijackings began (and two and a half years since I first reported on them for Forbes), they’re still an epidemic within the community. MyCrypto created a comprehensive guide covering everything from prevention to recovery.
Stats on Social Media Conversations By Coin
Not funny but nevertheless interesting: as expected, Bitcoin gets the most comments, but Monero and Ethereum conversations tend to last longer.
