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2/20/25: Coinbase CEO Warns Of Insider Trading šŸ¤«šŸ›ļøšŸ”“

Top News

  1. Coinbase CEO warns against insider trading with memecoins

  2. SEC withdraws appeal to regulate DeFi

  3. Trump orders audit of Fort Knox gold reserves

Specsā€™ Insights

1. Coinbase CEO warns against insider trading with memecoins

āŒā—Ŗ-ā—Ŗ ā†’ Baldy has spoken, be wary of memecoins.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong just weighed in on the memecoin mania, calling out the rampant insider trading and outright scams flooding the space. While heā€™s not anti-memecoin, he made it clear that some people are playing a dangerous gameā€”one that could land them in prison.

Armstrong even took it a step further, saying that, in a way, Bitcoin itself is a memecoin, and that the U.S. dollar has been one since it left the gold standard. Heā€™s challenging our entire perception of moneyā€”reminding us that value is often based on faith and collective belief, not intrinsic fundamentals.

At the same time, heā€™s making it clear that memecoins are starting to go too far. Hayden Davisā€™ $LIBRA fiasco is a perfect example of how greed and bad actors are poisoning the well.

Meanwhile, some folks like Nic Carter, believe the memecoin bubble is popping, while othersā€”like Krakenā€”say new traders are pouring in. Personally, I think as long as greed exists and regulations are loose, memecoins arenā€™t going anywhere.

That said, I wouldnā€™t be surprised if we see an eventual crackdown on blatant insider trading and rugs. The real question isnā€™t if memecoins will surviveā€”itā€™s how they evolve.

Just like the end game for NFTs isnā€™t profile pictures, I donā€™t think the end games for memecoins are its current form.

2. SEC withdraws appeal to regulate DeFi

āŒā—Ŗ-ā—Ŗ ā†’ The SEC just put itself in the back seat.

The SEC has voluntarily withdrawn its appeal in a case that aimed to force DeFi protocols to register as securities dealers. This follows a Texas court ruling that called their move ā€œunlawful.ā€

This is huge. For years, the SEC has been overreaching, trying to cram DeFi into its outdated securities framework. Now theyā€™re backing off. Hereā€™s why this matters:

  • Less SEC interference means more DeFi innovation

  • This solidifies DeFiā€™s legal standing, making it harder to target in the future

  • Itā€™s yet another signal that regulation is shifting pro-crypto under new leadership

Weā€™ve already seen the SEC scale back crypto enforcement, reassigning 50+ lawyers and forming a new Crypto Task Force to actually work with the industry instead of fighting it.

With Ethereumā€™s Pectra upgrade around the corner and DeFi about to get more breathing room, the golden era for ETH could be coming sooner than people think. Iā€™m still stacking.

3. Trump orders audit of Fort Knox gold reserves

āŒā—Ŗ-ā—Ŗ ā†’ Trump is ready to crack open the piggy bank.

President Trump just announced plans to audit the gold reserves at Fort Knox, amid discussions with Elon Musk.

For context, the U.S. claims to hold $425B worth of gold, but it hasnā€™t been officially audited in decades. Hereā€™s why this matters:

  • Some believe the gold isnā€™t even there

  • Others speculate thereā€™s more gold than recorded, possibly acquired in unethical ways

  • Either way, the lack of transparency is a major red flag

This is why blockchain matters. We first saw this when Bitcoin ETFs publish their wallet addresses, letting anybody validate their holdings in real time. Imagine if you could do that with Fort Knox or U.S. government spending. instead of relying on slow, corruptible audits, weā€™d have a public, verifiable ledger.

The old way of financial reporting is dead. The future of government is on-chain ā€” a piggy bank built of glass, not porcelain.

Eventually, the truth always comes out.

Everything Else

ā›“ļø Crypto & DeFi

šŸ¦ Wall Street & VC

  • Nasdaq proposes new rule for listing digital asset-based investments

  • Wintermute to open a New York office and expand in the U.S.

  • Bitcoin ETFs saw $38.7B in institutional inflows, 3x previous quarter

  • Microsoft unveils a quantum chip powered by a new state of matter

  • Institutional interest in MicroStrategy surged in Q4, with $37B options traded

  • Bernstein analysts see a ā€œperfect stormā€ for stablecoin regulation in 2025

  • Fidelity sees BTC Lightning Network strengthening its investment thesis

  • Fold Bitcoin rewards app debuts on Wall Street

  • Fluent Labs raises $8M to build a blended execution network

šŸ›ļø Legal & Regulatory

šŸŒŽ Rest Of The World

  • Franklin Templeton launches tokenized treasury fund in Europe on Stellar

  • Binance sued in Nigeria for $81B in economic losses and back taxes

  • Brazil set to launch the worldā€™s first spot XRP ETF

  • eToro secures MiCA license to offer crypto services across the EEA

  • UK police charge two in connection with a six-figure crypto scam

  • Iranians flocked to crypto as exchange outflows surged 70% to $4.2B in 2024

  • Czech central bank chief continues making the case for Bitcoin

  • Metaplanet buys 68.5 Bitcoin, expanding holdings to 2100 BTC

šŸ–¼ļø NFTs & Metaverse

  • Telegramā€™s Zoo game airdrop begins ahead of TON token launch

  • Mark Cuban shelves meme coin plans, saying ā€œa lot has to changeā€

  • MYRIAD partners with Paris Blockchain Week for startup competition

  • Community Gaming launches CGX airdrop and prediction market on Ronin

  • Valko continues to post about kings and castles

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