16th May 2025 > > Nakamoto The SEC & Coinbase.

tl;dr

The next SEC roundtable builds tension and excitement. We are all Ukrainians now.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

ETH’s recent rally is spilling over into other alts, suggesting to me that confidence in the crypto markets might be quietly building a head of steam. Coinbase shares have taken a small hit from the hacking breach to which it has robustly defended itself. The CC Treasury has recently embarked on a revitalised Coinbase share buying programme, switching out of crypto related euro-area ETFs and some of the underperforming miners. The Coinbase story gets ever more compelling (https://www.curiouscryptos.com/post/13th-may-2025-nakamoto-holdings-inc-coinbase-inc).

Curious Cryptos’ meme corner (h/t Mira)

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – SEC roundtable

The latest instalment of the SEC’s series of roundtables took place Monday with the title “Tokenization - Moving Assets Onchain: Where TradFi and DeFi Meet”. The final one is scheduled for the first week of June. All eyes will then be on the SEC to provide some concrete and specific guidance and proposals for crypto regulation.

Meanwhile, the new chair Paul Atkins took the opportunity to further flesh out his approach to cryptos having briefly spoken at the previous roundtable immediately after his confirmation hearing. You can read his speech in full here:

https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/atkins-remarks-crypto-roundtable-tokenization-051225

There is some stirring stuff that Warren, Gensler et al will be most displeased to read:

“A key priority of my Chairmanship will be to develop a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets that establishes clear rules of the road …”

“It is a new day at the SEC. Policymaking will no longer result from ad hoc enforcement actions.”

“For too long, the Commission has been plagued by policymaking siloes. The Crypto Task Force exemplifies how our policy divisions can come together to expeditiously provide long-needed clarity and certainty to the American public.”

…

Paul focuses on three key areas that trouble him the most.

Firstly, issuance:

“In the past few years, the SEC first pursued what I call the “head-in-the-sand” approach – perhaps hoping that crypto would go away. Then, it pivoted and pursued a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later approach of regulation through enforcement.”

Paul has begun the conversation about which characteristics of cryptos are relevant for securities laws, and how deep safe harbours should be. He says himself that “I believe that the Commission has broad discretion under the securities acts to accommodate the crypto industry, and I intend to get it done.” I don’t think it gets much clearer than that.

Secondly, custody, a topic very familiar to all of our readers. The disgraceful and discredited SAB 121 has been jettisoned, thus allowing TradFi regulated firms to provide custodial solutions to their clients, a key prerequisite for increased institutional adoption of cryptos. Paul described SAB 121 as “a grave error” that “created needless confusion and went far beyond the jurisdiction of the SEC in its effects.” May we never see the like of it again.

Finally, trading, and specifically the blurring of the distinction between registered broker-dealers and alternative trading systems, a blurring made necessary by the provision of centralised cryptocurrency trading services. Paul states explicitly he sees no legal or regulatory impediment, but merely confusing rules enforced under previous management. His enlightened approach will undoubtedly benefit the bigger players such as Coinbase, who will be able to extend their offering into more traditional products, whilst also encouraging TradFi securities platforms into adding cryptos into the mix.

I become ever more confident that the US regulatory framework is very soon to undergo a revolution that will provide huge impetus to the crypto industry. The second half of 2025 is shaping up to be very exciting indeed.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Ukraine

We already know that Ukraine is one of the world’s forces for good, fighting the murderous territorial ambitions of Putin whose tyrannical desire for control over other people knows no bounds.

The Ukraine parliament intends to burnish its truly liberal reputation by taking the obvious next step with a draft bill to add BTC to its strategic reserves, with not a CBDC in sight:

Note that man-child Changpeng Zhao is no longer associated with Binance, possibly suggesting that the source above is less than reliable. However, privately, Yaroslav Zhelezniak, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy, has confirmed that the bill is in the final stages of preparation.

Sovereign adoption of cryptos is a story that is not going away anytime soon.