tl;dr
Robinhood takes another step in its ambition to become an everything app. World Liberty Financial appears to have some more alleged dodgy dealings up its sleeve.
Market Snap
Market Wrap
Five consecutive days of inflows last week to the spot BTC ETFs for a total of over $850mm is exciting. Long may that last!
On Wednesday, CPI for July will be revealed, a potential market-moving event.
Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – Robinhood
After recently launching Robinhood Chain allowing retail investors to trade traditional stocks 24/7, to the chagrin of all TradFi incumbents, Robinhood is now adding the functionality of trading more than fifty cryptocurrencies through its main investing app in the UK. Execution is routed through the exchange Robinhood bought last year, Bitstamp, which is registered with UK’s regulatory authority as a cryptoassets service provider.
Jordan Sinclair, President of Robinhood UK Ltd and GM of Bitstamp UK Ltd, explains:
“A new wave of UK investors sees (sic) digital assets as an important part of a diversified portfolio. With today’s launch, we're taking another major step toward becoming the all-in-one investment platform for the UK.”
It is no coincidence that both Robinhood and Coinbase are positioning themselves as “everything apps” while also developing their own Ethereum Layer-2 networks. The competitive risk to TradFi is real, which is why so many lobbying dollars are being spent on trying to delay the regulatory framework for cryptos for as long as possible.
Despite this, Robinhood Chain has already generated $18bn in DEX trading volume and has over $840mm TVL with 150 million transactions and counting. Those are impressive numbers given it was launched only on the 1st of July this year. The pace of product innovation in this space is only going to accelerate.
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For disclosure purposes, both HOOD and COIN are core holdings for the CC Treasury portfolio.
Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – World Liberty Financial
The list of alleged improprieties of the Trump family’s main crypto vehicle World Liberty Financial continues to grow.
From high-profile presidential pardons given to investors in its token WLFI, to offers of in-person events to other investors in the same token, to the seemingly shady though somehow legal relationship between World Liberty Financial and both DT Marks DEFI LLC and Alt5 Sigma (https://www.curiouscryptos.com/the-alleged-grift-behind-wlfi/), the perception of potential conflicts and corruption is pervasive.
It now transpires that Guren “Bobby” Zhou, the businessman linked to Aqua 1’s $100mm purchase of WLFI, was arrested in the UK in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering and, according to reporting, remains under investigation. He has not been charged. Two former long-time employees have been charged in the case, and one defendant has pleaded guilty.
The relationship between World Liberty Financial and DT Marks means that of this $100mm investment by Zhou via Aqua 1, reporting indicates that as much as $75mm of the purchase flowed to entities controlled by the Trump family and affiliates of WLF co-founder Zach Witkoff. Trump’s latest personal financial disclosure reported more than $1.4bn of income from crypto ventures, including more than $550mm from WLF token sales.
I don’t think anyone would be surprised to wake up one day and hear that Zhou is the beneficiary of a presidential pardon for all past and future transgressions in the US.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren, a denier of freedom, privacy, and liberty, has long been the main obstacle to regulatory progress for cryptos in the US. As her anti-crypto army diminishes in size, her threat does too.
However, the activities of World Liberty Financial are easily weaponised by her, becoming one of the main reasons why we will not see the successful passage of the CLARITY Act in the Senate.