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⌐◪-◪ → Will Trump eliminate crypto taxes?

Former President Donald Trump recently said he was talking with a friend who argued that Bitcoin shouldn’t be taxed, and Trump agreed. More specifically, Trump said, “Bitcoin is money, and you have to pay capital gains tax if you use it to buy a coffee? I don't think that's right. ”

This is one of the most bullish things Trump has said about crypto. For context, here are the promises he’s made to the crypto community so far:

• Protect the right to self-custody

• Protect the right to Bitcoin mining

• Ban the creation of a CBDC

• End the war on crypto and fire Gensler

• Create a strategic Bitcoin “stockpile”

Meanwhile, Kamala’s only concrete policy on crypto is a regulatory framework that protects Black men, which we covered in a previous issue.

It’s great to see bipartisan support for crypto, a huge improvement from the last election cycle — but in a world of Red vs. Blue, there is no denying which party is more pro-crypto.

Meanwhile, the US treasury wants to replace stablecoins with a CBDC. We know where Trump stands here, but what about Kamala?

⌐◪-◪ → Is Polymarket a scam?

Fortune Magazine just published an article claiming Polymarket is “rife with fake wash trading.” The article references research from Chaos Labs and Inca Digital, who claim Polymarket activity shows signs of wash trading.

For those who don’t know, wash trading is when shares are bought and sold repeatedly to create a false impression of volume—a classic trick for memecoin scams. Chaos Labs concluded that about one-third of the $2.8B in presidential election betting volume could be wash trades.

If this is true, it still shouldn’t affect price as there would need to be a directional position. Plus, Polymarket odds are aligned with other prediction markets and bookmakers.

So, while wash trading is possible (Polymarket doesn’t charge trading fees), the odds themselves aren’t “rigged” by wash trading. This just feels like yet another attempt by mainstream media to discredit Trump’s lead in the prediction markets.

As I said in a recent interview with The Washington Post, these markets are huge, and there’s a massive financial incentive to correct any skewed odds.

I remember the first time I learned about Sybil attacks and airdrop farmers.

⌐◪-◪ → Is Mr. Beast sus?

The world’s biggest YouTuber, MrBeast, has been accused of making between $10M to $23M from influencer-driven pump-and-dump schemes.

It all started when MrBeast said he bought a CryptoPunk #939 in 2021, which helped on-chain sleuths identify his main wallet and 50+ others. One example is Ethernity Chain ($ERN), which MrBeast bought in 2021, tweeted about, then dumped for a nice $4.6M profit.

Please note, these are still just allegations—innocent until proven guilty. With that said, it doesn’t look great for MrBeast. Check out this article for a full deep dive on the investigation.

Even if MrBeast is found guilty by crypto Twitter or an actual court of law, his YouTube empire probably won’t crumble. The internet has the memory of a goldfish.

As for whether he’s guilty or not, I’ll wait to see if ZachXBT chimes in.

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