There have been some seismic shifts in the financial world.

The giants of traditional finance are on the march, and you’re never going to believe their destination… right into the arms of crypto.

Crypto meeting TradFi is the ultimate case of “will-they-won’t-they.” They break up, talk trash, and the next thing you know they’re hooking up in Europe.

We thought it was over. We thought they were through. But this romance just got very steamy.

Get ready to hop in with the strangest bedfellows: TradFi and DeFi.

Espresso Shots

☕️ Crypto.com’s Troublesome Trading 🪙 😔

Crypto.com is under fire after a Financial Times report indicated that Crypto.com’s staff may be trading… their own tokens.

Though this may seem like a conflict of interest if not flat-out insider trading, Crypto.com assured everyone that’s not the case.

"While we do have some market making activity, for example, we have internal market makers for our CFTC-regulated product Up/Downs in the United States," said Crypto.com in an email to Decrypt.

"This market making activity is a regulated practice, as long as there is a level playing field, i.e. all market makers have to follow the same ruleset, that assures market fairness & integrity,” read the email.

Crypto.com recently announced that it was ceasing American operations due to "limited demand from institutions in the U.S. in the current market landscape."

In America, Crypto.com’s market-making will have to be limited to the fake Miami Heat jerseys sold outside the Crypto.com arena.

☕️ Binance vs. Binance Ltd. 🪙 🗙 🪙

Binance has issued a cease-and-desist against Binance Ltd., a U.K.-based entity unaffiliated with Binance.

Binance was forced to act after a Reddit post claimed “[t]he billion dollar crypto company, Binance, has a utility closet listed as an office in the UK.”

This is Binance’s second cease-and-desist in just a week. The first was against Binance Nigeria Limited, a scam company soliciting Nigerian investors.

As if Binance didn’t already have enough problems, it would appear that malicious imposters are popping up all over the globe.

Though usually when you meet your undiscovered British twin, you immediately begin conspiring to get your divorced parents back together.

☕️ Fake Trezor App in Apple Store ❌ 🍎

A fake Trezor Wallet app has appeared in the app store, posing a serious security risk to Trezor users.

The discovery was made public on Twitter by crypto lawyer Rafael Yakobi.

Going by the name “Trezor Wallet Suite,” the fraudulent app asks for users’ seed phrases and then drains their crypto.

At the time of writing, the malicious program is still available in the app store.

It goes back to those urban legends about Halloween Candy, give any suspicious-looking wrappers to your parents and always check the Apples for straight Trezors.

Spilling the Beans

Wall Street Is All-In On Bitcoin??! 📈 🐂

Traditional Finance, or “TradFi,” is crypto’s jilted lover.

TradFi was incredibly excited about crypto’s money-making potential.

The two were in a honeymoon phase until some bad actors and market volatility convinced TradFi that crypto wasn’t grown up enough for a serious relationship.

But it looks like TradFi may be willing to give crypto another shot.

Last week, BlackRock openly declared its feelings for crypto with an application for a Bitcoin spot trading ETF.

But like being the first to jump in the pool at a house party, BlackRock may have started a movement. And it’s in good company.

On an international or macro-level, the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are discussing crypto as a potential alternative to the U.S. dollar. It could even become the currency of choice for their budding bloc.

The bloc is considering releasing its own, multinational cryptocurrency in an effort to weaken the USD’s hold on the global economy and divest from the potential risks of exposure to America’s massive debt.

Those talks are still underway, but in the short-term, one country that may be all-in on crypto is Germany.

Deutsche Bank, the preeminent (and largest) bank of Germany, has applied for a digital asset custody platform license with Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin.)

That’s huge. In American terms, this would be the equivalent of Bank of America applying for a direct crypto-trading license with the SEC.

And when we talk about TradFi’s total turnaround on crypto, Deutsche Bank checks all the boxes.

As recently as 2021, a Deutsche Bank research note argued Bitcoin’s value was “based entirely on wishful thinking,” but a more recent research release in 2023 details Deutsche Bank’s about-face.

“Only children believe in fantasy beings like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. Eventually, they wake up and reali[z]e it was just wishful thinking. In a similar way, we have reached a point in the development of cryptocurrency, the metaverse, and NFTs,” the release read, “where we must move past wishful thinking and begin to ask what technological developments they might bring.”

But it seems instead of abandoning those fantasies, Deutsche Bank wants to make them a reality.

Similar conceits across the U.S. once held by crypto skeptics are waning as EDX Markets, a crypto exchange backed by companies such as Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Paradigm, and Sequoia Capital, began operations on Tuesday.

This project hopes to merge the best traits of TradFi with the opportunities and securities afforded by DeFi.

Currently, the exchange offers only four cryptocurrencies, it has already announced plans to open EDX clearing, an additional trading house, to help settle trades on the platform.

The release of a Wall Street-backed exchange just goes to show that everyone’s a critic until there’s money to be made.

Even the old guard of finance can only turn their back for so long before FOMO kicks in, and now TradFi and crypto may be on the road to reconciliation.

But the question remains: is this for keeps, or are financial hearts about to be trampled?

Well, we can count on one thing.

Crypto’s mom may feign warmness, but she’ll never forgive TradFi for dumping her baby.

Meme of the Day

So much for Apple app store apps being “safe”. 🙄

Crypto 101

TradFi: A term that refers to the long-established financial institutions that have been in existence for decades, including banks, the stock market, Wall Street, and established venture capital firms.

On the other hand, Crypto, or DeFi (decentralized finance), represents the new frontier in finance.

The Last Sip

A missing Titanic tourist submarine has captured our hearts and minds and has us counting how long we can hold our breath.

There are (or were) five people on board, including the CEO of the submarine company, a hyper-rich Pakistani businessman and his son, and a British aviator and adventurer.

By the time you’re reading this, the sub will have less than 40 hours of its initial 96-hour oxygen supply, and while we don’t want to make any assumptions about the success of the search efforts, the ordeal has inspired us to compile a list of the three of the worst ways elite pleasure-seekers have died.

3. On Safari. If you’re able to afford a safari to Africa, we don’t have to feel bad if you’re the one tourist who is killed every year by wild animals.

2. Suffocated aboard a submarine touring the shipwreck of a different nautical disaster born out of hubris.

1. Drowning or succumbing to hypothermia along with over 1,500 other passengers and crew in the sinking of the O.G. Titanic.

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

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DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.