What I Read This Week
What I read this week with a bit of commentary
Welcome to this first issue of “What I read this week”. I’ve always liked this format of sharing interesting links. Since I consume a lot of content, I figure it’s a useful exercise to give a bit of commentary around it too.
Inside SBF’s Campaign for a Presidential Pardon From Trump (WSJ)
Summary: Former FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is orchestrating a media campaign from prison that appears aimed at securing a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. After his conviction for fraud and 25-year sentence, he's given interviews claiming his political views have shifted rightward and expressing support for Trump administration initiatives. His efforts coincide with Trump's evolution from crypto skeptic to supporter, including hosting the first White House crypto summit. Bankman-Fried and his parents have reportedly been consulting with a lawyer who worked for Trump's 2016 campaign about seeking a pardon since January.
RR: I don’t see any path in which this works. Trump would win no favors w/ the crypto industry by pardoning SBF. Ryan Salame on the other hand, much more fits the narrative of someone who could be pardoned and IMO was unfairly targeted by prosecutors for his support of Trump.
World’s ‘largest online black market’ loses banking license (Radio Free Asia)
Summary: Huione Pay, the banking division of the Huione Group, has lost its banking license from Cambodia's central bank due to regulatory non-compliance. The company is part of a larger conglomerate that operates a Telegram marketplace identified by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime as a major channel for illicit commerce in Southeast Asia, reportedly handling up to $24 billion in illegal transactions
RR: I came across Huione recently from an Elliptic investigation. Like many, I’m fascinated by criminal underworlds and the fact that Huione seems to be operating (relatively speaking) within the traditional system with offices and banking relationships has shocked me. They do seem to have connections to the government, with one of Huione Pay’s directors being a cousin of the Cambodian PM.
Buy Infowars for the Memes (Matt Levine, Bloomberg)
Summary: An AI entertainment company, WOW.AI LLC, has asked a Texas bankruptcy court to reopen the sales process for Alex Jones' Infowars media company, offering 3.5 million in cash plus 51% of a newly created memecoin.
RR: Arguably the most interesting use of a memecoin I’ve come across. That said, is it really a memecoin?
DeFi is turning into a privatized centralized market, managed by a few risk curators (@ivangbi_, X.com)
Summary: Commentary on the fact that w/ the rise of protocols like Morpho and Euler, the “balance of power” in lending markets shifts a bit towards “curators”, rather than governance (at a place like AAVE or Compoun).
RR: Hope to write more on this at a later time.