Hot on the heels of the SEC regulatory crackdown on crypto, Blackrock has filed paperwork for a Bitcoin ETF, with Coinbase custodying. The SEC has never approved a spot Bitcoin ETF, and is embroiled in a lawsuit with Grayscale about rejecting their attempt at a Bitcoin ETF. (A ruling in that case is expected later this year.)
Controversial stablecoin Tether has dropped its objection to a CoinDesk Freedom of Information lawsuit in such a way that I’m like 👀👀👀:
Tether has nothing to hide and we hold utmost confidence in the accuracy of our financial figures. While the sensitivity that we had to a government agency releasing confidential data—at least as it pertains to Tether’s reserves—is lower now than it was in 2021, we remain vigilant about customer data. While we cannot count on fair coverage from CoinDesk, which often misrepresented Tether’s position in the market in favour of its main competitor, we call upon them to set their bias aside and to not publicly share any past or current customer names and not to thereby put anyone in the community at physical or digital risk.
This is an unjustified smear of great journalists. I wonder what Tether is afraid of.
[Tether, Tether Gold]
The spreading AI tools in hospitals are making it harder for nurses to do their jobs well:
Before giving the oxycodone, Beebe scanned the bar code. The system denied permission, adhering to the doctor’s earlier instructions to begin the longer-acting pain meds five hours later. “The computer doesn’t know the patient is in out-of-control pain,” she said.
Still, she didn’t act. “I know if I give the medication, I’m technically giving medication without an order and I can be disciplined,” she said. She watched her patient grimace in pain while she held the pain pill in her hand.
A brief guide to the politics behind the Binance and Coinbase SEC cases.
We’ve talked before about setting one’s Venmo to private, but even that won’t help if you’re an idiot. This story is about a black market in human body parts:
Between Sept. 3, 2018, and July 12, 2021, Taylor made 39 electronic payments, totaling $37.355.56, to a PayPal account controlled by Denise Lodge, the indictment said. A memo attached to a transaction on May 19, 2019, read, “head number 7.”
Another transaction was labeled, “braiiiiiins.”
Before the Binance and Coinbase cases, the big crypto v SEC case was Ripple. Anyway they’ve released some EMAILS around a speech given in 2018 by William Hinman, which suggests that perhaps Ethereum is not a security, and looooooooooool:
“As written, the language remains vague as to whether ETH is a security. If you want to make an affirmative statement that it is not a security, the language could be stronger (i.e., just say it). If you don’t want to take an affirmative stance, we suggest using language similar to what you used for Bitcoin re. the disclosure regime to make it more consistent,” wrote former SEC Director of Trading and Markets Brett Redfearn on June 12, 2018.
Redfearn left comments in a proposed draft of the speech further emphasizing that point, saying parts of it “appear likely to create more confusion about the status of ETH.”
Ripple has a perspective, of course.
That’s not all. There may be some hiccups for the SEC:
She also expressed skepticism about the S.E.C.’s use of its enforcement powers to regulate the crypto world, calling it “inefficient and cumbersome.”
[The New York Times]
Whittaker is impressively direct — whether she’s talking about the AI hype cycle (with bonus warning letters!), Google’s history with ethics, and the UK’s online safety bill.
Isn’t this interesting, though:
You’ve threatened to pull Signal from the UK if the online safety bill currently making its way through parliament is passed.
I’ll repeat what I said, which wasn’t quite the headline. We will never undermine our privacy promises. We will never adulterate our encryption, we will never participate in any regime that would enforce breaking those promises.
Did you know: Kyle Davies and Su Zhu are surfing and painting still lifes? Also, apparently Davies is thinking about AI. If you are curious about what Davies and Zhu are up to now, the answer is: having a nice time.
If you are more interested in the details of the Three Arrows Capital business and bankruptcy, you might check out a YouTuber instead: Hugh Hendry, whose interviews of Davies get into the guts of the firm.
[The New York Times]