17th June 2026 > > Crypto rogues.

tl;dr

A veritable rogues’ gallery of bad actors, bad products, and bad policy.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

As oil continues to drop and equities push on to ever greater heights, crypto markets remain disconnected as capital rotates out of BTC and into AI.

Curious Cryptos’ meme corner

h/t The Milk Road

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Bye Bye

Sam Bankman-Fried, fraudster, con artist, and scammer who stole money from investors on a grand scale, has just had his appeal against his rightful conviction turned down:

What excellent news. But why is there always someone who sees conspiracies wherever they can:

I feel I need to repeat this truism once more – all algorithmic stablecoins are destined to burn and die one day during a period of severe market stress, causing the maximum amount of pain to as many people as possible. No sensible regulation would ever allow for an algorithmic stablecoin to exist. No sensible person would ever use one.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Binance

Blimey, Binance has done the right thing.

Famously, the EU stole a march on all other major economies with the creation of MiCA, allowing crypto firms to become licensed within the EU. This came despite fierce opposition and much gnashing of teeth from Convicted Criminal Christine Lagarde.

MiCA is so effective at nurturing the crypto revolution that the UK’s ongoing EU reset specifically excludes any consideration of MiCA. But that isn’t the only proof of its success – Binance has applied for registration.

Historically, under the guidance of man-child Changpeng Zhao, Binance publicly flouted its opposition to regulation, claiming that as it had no head office, it could not be regulated. Since his short stay in prison (a suspiciously short sentence given his personal transgressions of US securities laws), Binance has been clearing up its act, and rightly so:

Of course, not everyone agrees with me:

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Illinois

Regular readers already know that Illinois was planning on adding a “privilege tax” to crypto transactions (https://www.curiouscryptos.com/post/11th-june-2026-the-uk-illinois-the-eu-russia). Well, the Illinois legislature has only just gone and done it.

One finds it hard to argue with these statements of the blindingly obvious:

“This will create an unprecedented tax regime that disproportionately burdens Illinois residents for simply using digital assets and will drive innovation and builders out of the state.”

“There is effectively no comparable state financial transaction tax on stocks, bonds or derivatives anywhere in the country.”

“Taxing a transaction based on the medium through which it happens to occur on a blockchain is akin to taxing correspondence because it is delivered by email rather than by post.”

“The tax will discourage the use of digital assets at the very time when financial services are moving to the blockchain, freezing Illinois residents out of progress and innovation and pushing the existing IL blockchain and crypto companies out of the state.”

“Rather than embracing innovation and the cost efficiencies blockchains can deliver for ordinary people in Illinois, the state is poised to punish its entrepreneurs and citizens that want to use crypto.”

For the naysayers, does any of that make it any clearer as to why you have it so wrong? And for those who push for ever-increasing, productivity-destroying excessive regulation and taxation in all other areas of our lives, might there be a lesson or two for you as well? Just curious, that’s all.