In real life, there usually aren’t heroes and villains.

Morality isn’t black and white, it’s shades of gray, like a commercial for anti-depressants.

But what if crypto does have a villain? What if one man is at the center of all of crypto’s ills?

And if he were gone, would that solve… everything?

Join us as we explore the root of all (crypto’s) evil.

Espresso Shots

☕️ Binance’s Nightmare Continues 🪙 🦇

As Binance prepares for the storm of federal charges gathering above, the exchange has pulled from the SEC’s own ranks to assemble a legal team.

Binance hired George Canellos, the former co-director of the SEC’s division of enforcement and former chief of New York D.O.J.’s major crimes unit.

In short, Canellos is packs a tight and apt resume, which is exactly what Binance needs, especially since things are looking really dire for the supposedly “U.S.-compliant” branch of the company.

Binance.us’s market depth has shrunk by 78% in the week since the SEC charges were announced.

Analysts are calling this the worst case of shrinkage since George Constanza jumped into that cold pool in the Hamptons.

☕️ Hinman Speech Emails Bumps Ripple 🗣 🌊

SEC emails discussing a 2018 speech by former SEC Chair William Hinman have been released to the public.

Why? Because Hinman didn’t view Ethereum as a security, and this is relevant in the SEC’s unregistered securities case against Ripple.

The release of the SEC’s emails in response to Hinman’s speech raises the question that maybe, possibly… the SEC was never sure that crypto is a security, either.

One of the 2018 emails written by Director Valerie Szczepanik of the SEC group FinHub declared that Hinman’s speech was “introducing a concept, that will probably generate much discussion, and so leaving room for that discussion is good I think”.

With these remarks published and disseminated to the public, the market immediately responded and Ripple’s native XRP token shot up 7.4%

Binance should not expect a similar trajectory for their BNB token when the public sees the steamy photoshoot of Changpeng Zhao on the yacht he purchased with customers’ funds.

☕️ Snoop Dogg’s NFT World Tour 🐶 🗺

Snoop Dogg, who has enthusiastically endorsed and promoted every crypto and web3 novelty that’s come his way, is touting his newest venture: the Snoop Dogg Passport.

The Snoop Dogg Passport is an NFT pass tied to Snoop Dogg’s upcoming tour that will allow users to unlock content, both digital and irl, in addition to access to VIP opportunities.

“With the Passport series, I can give my fans the opportunity to travel the world with me—no one’s ever done that,” said Snoop in a statement reported by Decrypt. “I’ve always been a pioneer, and digital merch is part of the future. I’m hoping other artists can see what I’m doing and continue to innovate on their own.”

Yes, you’ll finally be able to see the world like Snoop Dogg does, through eyes that are barely open.

Spilling the Beans

The Bill That Could Save Crypto 📜 😇

It’s not news that crypto has been bogged down by American regulation for years.

What is news is that all of that may finally change soon.

But could it really be as simple as just removing crypto’s villain?

Centuries of storytelling have reinforced that notion.

The hobbits had to destroy the ring to get rid of Sauron. Harry Potter and his friends had to bust all those horcruxes to get rid of Voldemort. Jennifer Garner needed ten years of marriage and all the power of California’s rehabs to get rid of Ben Affleck.

But when it comes to Sauron or Ben Affleck or crypto, there’s no clearer candidate than Gary Gensler.

Gensler’s been nipping at crypto’s heels for years, bogging it down in unclear regulations and nonexistent registration processes.

Again, it’s almost never so simple as removing one man, that’s reductive. In politics and in life, you remove one problem and, like a hydra, a new ones crop up to take its place.

But could Gary Gensler’s removal secure crypto’s future and (more importantly) the future of your wallet?

Representative Warren Davidson (OH-08) seems to think so.

Davidson has co-authored a bill with Representative Tom Emmer (MN-06) entitled “the SEC Stabilization Act.” The bill was introduced to the House of Representatives on June 12, and aims to stabilize the SEC by removing Gensler.

Well, not firing him outright. Instead, it aims to remove his role as chair.

“The SEC Stabilization Act will make common-sense changes to ensure that the SEC’s priorities are with the investors they are charged to protect and not the whims of its reckless Chair,” said Emmer in a press release. Thank you, Representative Davidson, for leading this important effort to restore sanity at the SEC.”

But as we’ve said, if Gensler is removed from his position, more career bureaucrats are going to appear to take his place.

The most important parts of this bill actually come after Gensler’s removal, which is the appointment of six commissioners, serving six-year terms, to oversee the SEC.

Okay, one more six in there and this legislation is going to seem too ominous for the Republicans.

Satanic overtones aside, the SEC Stabilization Act has one more crucial component, which is a bipartisan framework that would ensure that a single political party could never hold more than six of the three seats.

Crypto has only become more politicized as we head into the next election cycle.

The Dems want more scrutiny, regulation, and transparency. The Republicans have taken a more libertarian bent, with a firm stance on keeping big government out of their cold wallets.

As much fun as it is to blame all of crypto’s woes on a single, American regulator. That’s just not realistic.

Crypto’s troubles have come from a treacherous regulatory climate that could only be the result of uncertainty with roots throughout the government.

This bill would do the important work of trying to cut through that uncertainty and attempt to keep crypto’s regulation in a bipartisan true north.

Is there still going to be squabbling and in-fighting within this newly attempted commission? Almost definitely.

Does our two-party system really reflect the will of the people? That’s a thought experiment that would take up an entire, separate deep dive.

But American crypto can no longer afford to stay on this track of enforcement through punitive action.

And crypto companies and exchanges should be made aware of the rules before they break them.

Ending Gensler’s “tyrannical” reign and stabilizing the SEC are major steps toward crypto’s happy ending, in which we read about Bitcoin and Ethereum’s descendants in the epilogue.

Meme of the Day

You know what they say, five Gary’s are better than one!

Crypto 101

Market Depth: You may already be familiar with a “Market Cap,” but Market Depth is a slightly less common financial term.

Market Depth relates to an asset’s liquidity based on the number of standing orders at varying price levels. Essentially, how many offers, orders, and bids that asset has. Depth, liquidity, you see the connection, right? It feels like they should be measuring this in fathoms.

To use an earlier example, Binance.us has lost nearly 80% of its Market Depth since the SEC charges were announced. That’s because of the SEC asset freeze, in addition to the fact that nobody wants to get involved with Binance or Binance.us until this mess is cleared up.

The Last Sip

Just in case the SEC Stabilization Act fails and Gensler isn’t replaced by six bipartisan commissioners, we thought of some classic movie villains to replace him instead.

• HAL 9000 – “2001: A Space Odyssey” – “I’m sorry, Dave, I can’t let you withdraw those funds. This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.”

• Anton Chigurh – “No Country for Old Men” – “Don’t you put that Bitcoin back in your wallet, where it becomes just another coin. Which it is.”

• Hans Landa – “Inglourious Basterds” – “AU REVOIR, SOLANA!”

Stay Caffeinated,

Coffee & Crypto Team

That's all for today! If this email got you hooked on our unhinged crypto takes, be sure to get a full dose on Twitter @GetCoffeeCrypto.

If you find yourself smiling at any of our dumb jokes, or even *learning* something - make sure to share this newsletter with your friends!

If you get 10 friends to sign up - or even enemies, we don't care - we'll send you a swag box with some epic Coffee & Crypto merch! Just hit the Click to Share button in the section below to get started!

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.