Hodler’s Digest, Sept. 15 – 21 – Cointelegraph Magazine

Top Stories of The Week

Donald Trump uses Bitcoin to buy burgers at NYC bar

The U.S. Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump appeared at Pubkey, a New York City bar and restaurant famous for accepting Bitcoin, becoming the first former United States president to use the cryptocurrency in a transaction. 

According to a Sept. 18 post on X by Pubkey, Trump used Bitcoin to purchase hamburgers at the NYC bar. BTC advocate and Professional Capital Management CEO Anthony Pompliano was in attendance at the campaign stop, which was also reported on Trump’s Truth Social account.

The event came less than two days after the Republican nominee announced the launch of a token through the World Liberty Financial crypto platform, which is run by members of his family. Despite once calling Bitcoin a “scam” and crypto “based on thin air,” Trump has advocated for BTC miners as part of his 2024 campaign and spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

US lawmaker accuses SEC of ‘enforcement abuse’ against crypto firms

A Republican lawmaker chairing a House subcommittee overseeing digital assets heavily criticized the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its chair, Gary Gensler, for “insert(ing) politics” into regulating crypto firms.

In a Sept. 18 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion, Arkansas Representative French Hill claimed that Chair Gensler’s approach to digital assets had led to “confusion and uncertainty” in the markets. 

At the Dazed and Confused: Breaking Down the SEC’s Politicized Approach to Digital Assets hearing, the subcommittee chair suggested alternative regulatory routes for crypto, such as the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century (FIT21) Act currently moving through Congress.

“The pro-FIT21 and pro-regulatory framework views of the majority and many bipartisan does not mean we’re against the SEC going after bad actors or modernizing existing rules to incorporate digital asset securities and other unique instruments,” said Rep. Hill. “We’re against SEC enforcement abuse and making it hard for legitimate actors who are trying to follow the rules to do a fine job and bring innovation and technology to our markets.”

Fed rate cut may be politically motivated, will increase inflation — Arthur Hayes

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes believes the United States Federal Reserve’s recent rate cut was likely politically motivated and could impact markets and inflation. 

Speaking to Cointelegraph at Token2049 in Singapore on Sept. 18, Hayes shared his thoughts on the Fed’s recent action, speculating it could be part of an effort to bolster support for the Democratic Party: 

“I have a macro view that Jerome Powell (Federal Reserve chair) and Janet Yellen (Treasury secretary) want to juice financial markets to help Kamala Harris win the election.”

On Sept. 18, the Fed cut U.S. interest rates by 50 basis points in a move widely anticipated by investors and analysts. Hayes said this could have significant implications for both traditional and crypto markets and potential long-term consequences for inflation and economic stability.

He pointed out a disconnect between the rate cut and current economic indicators, stating that the U.S. economy shows strong gross domestic product growth while unemployment remains low according to historical standards.

Binance CEO says task force is working ‘across the clock’ to free exec in Nigeria

Binance CEO Richard Teng says his team has been working “across the clock” to bring Tigran Gambaryan home to the United States as the executive’s health declines daily: 

“We have appealed to the Nigerian government repeatedly to release Tigran (…) so that he can go home and get the proper medical treatment that he needs.”

“There’s no need to hold our staff. He’s held unjustly, unfairly,” Teng told Cointelegraph at the Token2049 conference in Singapore on Sept. 19.

“It is distressing for all of us,” said Teng. “Especially for the families. For us at Binance, this is a top priority for us. We have a task force internally working across the clock, looking at different avenues from legal to political.”

The Binance CEO hopes the U.S. can designate Gambaryan as unlawfully detained to speed up that process. He added that Binance has also tried to appeal to the Nigerian government to release Gambaryan on humanitarian grounds. 

Solana unveils new Seeker device, says it’s not just a ‘memecoin phone’

Solana has just revealed its newest, shiniest smartphone called Seeker — it’s half the cost of its predecessor and, according to the team, won’t just lean on free memecoins.

Saga, the smartphone’s predecessor, was launched to little fanfare in May last year. Initially buffeted by poor reviews from tech pundits and crypto users alike, Saga was arguably saved by a sudden 1,000% rally in the price of a memecoin called Bonk in December, causing the device to sell out on Dec. 16.

And Solana seemingly hasn’t forgotten about it. 

For its new version, Solana is looking to offer access to similar rewards to 140,000 users who have already paid between $450 and $500 to pre-order Seeker. 

Speaking to Cointelegraph at Token2049 in Singapore, Emmett Hollyer, general manager at Solana Labs, said Seeker would be a “rewards magnet” for users but stressed that it wouldn’t just be the “memecoin phone.”

“Seeker, just like Saga, will be a rewards magnet, but also, it’s a huge opportunity for teams to build totally new experiences,” said Hollyer.

Winners and Losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $63,127, Ether (ETH) at $2,559 and XRP at $0.58. The total market cap is at $2.20 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Sui (SUI) at 44.76%, Celestia (TIA) at 33.66% and Fantom (FTM) at 29.04%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week are Helium (HNT) at 10.67%, KuCoin Token (KCS) at 9.04% and SATS (1000SATS) at 8.71%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“It’s bullish for the U.S. that Trump wins. It’s maybe short-term bearish for everyone if Harris wins. (…) If you’re not an American, you support Harris because then you have more crypto business outside of the U.S.”

Alex Svanevik, CEO of Nansen

“We have appealed to the Nigerian government repeatedly to release Tigran (…) so that he can go home and get the proper medical treatment that he needs.”

Richard Teng, CEO of Binance

“While I think a lot of people are looking forward to a rate cut, meaning that they think the stock market and other things are going to pump up the jam, I think the markets are going to collapse a few days after the Fed’s rates.”

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX

“Both the style and approach taken show the cultural challenges that legacy jurisdictions like the U.K. face in effectively regulating market participants who place huge value on decentralization and autonomy.”

Ali Khan, tech lead at AS Legal Consultants

“Crypto is behaving like any other risk asset right now, which is a testament to the maturity of this market versus a year ago, two years ago even.”

Bobby Zagotta, CEO of Bitstamp

“Bitcoin fundamentally rejects inflation, and I fundamentally reject aging. We basically accept these slow boil deaths, and we both reject the slow boil death.”

Bryan Johnson, founder of Blueprint

Prediction of The Week

Ethereum is a ‘contrarian bet’ into 2025, says Bitwise exec 

Ether price has struggled to gain upside momentum since the start of 2024. Is Ether really a contrarian bet for 2024, or could it still stage an upside rally?

According to Matt Hougan, Bitwise Asset Management’s chief investment officer, Ethereum could be the underdog headed into 2025.

Hougan noted that Ether has been struggling, particularly after ETH hit an over 42-month low against Bitcoin on Sept. 16.

While he remains optimistic about Ether, he noted that price action may remain sluggish for the rest of the year. Hougan wrote in a Sept. 17 blog post:

“From my seat, none of Ethereum’s challenges seem existential, and its opportunities are brimming. I suspect the market may reevaluate Ethereum as we get closer to the November elections and any regulatory clarity that emerges. For now, it looks like a potential contrarian bet through the end of the year.”

FUD of The Week

Supreme Court of India YouTube channel hijacked to shill XRP

Cryptocurrency hackers have taken over the Supreme Court of India’s official YouTube channel to run a Ripple and XRP scam.

On Sept. 20, the official YouTube channel of the Supreme Court of India, with over 217,000 followers, was rebranded into a Ripple-themed account to run a cryptocurrency scam.

The hackers used the channel to play a fake livestream video featuring Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse. It also urged potential victims to invest in the scam, promising unrealistic returns. 

In addition, the hackers renamed the channel, changed the URL and deleted all the previous videos uploaded by the account’s original owner. 

However, YouTube later had to delete the compromised channel, citing, “This channel was removed because it violated our Community Guidelines.”

SEC seeks sanctions against Elon Musk over Twitter investigation

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that it is seeking monetary and legal sanctions aimed at compelling billionaire Elon Musk to appear for a scheduled testimony after the entrepreneur allegedly failed to appear and provide testimony to the financial regulator about the $44 billion purchase of the Twitter platform in 2022.

More specifically, the SEC intends to file sanctions against Musk, ordering him to “Show Cause (for) why he should not be held in civil contempt” for allegedly violating the original terms of the agreement stipulated in the May 2024 order, which established the Sept. 19 date for the testimony.

The SEC also seeks monetary relief to recoup travel costs lost by Musk canceling the meetings and “all other relief” the court may grant the SEC.

According to court documents, the meeting was originally slated for September 19, 2024, and representatives for Musk purportedly sought to have the date rescheduled several times.

Do Kwon’s extradition case goes back to Montenegrin justice minister

Montenegro’s Ministry of Justice could decide whether to extradite Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon to the United States or South Korea after a decision from the country’s Supreme Court.

In a Sept. 20 notice, the Supreme Court of Montenegro said it had submitted Kwon’s case to the justice minister after ruling on a request for a protection of legality. According to the high court, South Korea and the U.S. had met the conditions for applying for Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro to face criminal charges.

The Terra ecosystem collapsed in 2022, one of the first dominoes to fall in a series of bankruptcies affecting crypto firms, including Celsius, FTX, and BlockFi. U.S. and South Korean authorities filed charges against Kwon and some of his associates for their alleged role in the platform’s downfall, but the Terraform co-founder’s whereabouts were largely unknown until he surfaced in Montenegro in 2023.

Top Magazine Stories of The Week

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VonMises bought 60 CryptoPunks in a month before the price spiked: NFT Collector

Ex-TradFi guy VonMises has built up one of the best NFT collections on the planet by selling when he can, not when he has to.

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Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.