Austin Campbell
@CampbellJAustin
Zero In Newsletter: https://zero-in.beehiiv.com/ Teaching @NYUStern Prev @jpmorgan, @citibank, Paxos, Stone Ridge Stablecoin & blockchain expert (?!) 🇺🇲
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In today’s Odd Lots newsletter, I wrote about our chat with @CampbellJAustin, and I offered up some unsolicited advice for the crypto industry.
The prosecutor interjects at 1:30 by the way Actually fucking surreal
UPDATE in US v. STORM: IRS blockchain tracer Stephan George today testified that he traced 9.7 ETH derived from the defrauding of Hanfeng Lin to Tornado Cash using Chainalysis and TRM Labs tools. Also, prosecutors indulge in some light heckling of @davidzmorris.
This case has been so sloppy by the government so far it that it really calls into question if our agencies and law enforcement personnel even have the talent required to handle this space? I wonder if something happened in the last four years to turn the entire space against…
I don’t know what verdict the jury will return. But I do know that juries deserve the truth. We can’t find any evidence that in this attack this witness’s funds were sent to a Coinbase account. The government needs to acknowledge error or explain what’s been missed— now.
You don't get to pretend you are a firefighter when you were the one who started the fire, Graham.
Oh?
This is the problem when the DOJ decides to get creative with a legal theory on something like 18 USC 1960 - the DOJ shoots an arrow and then paints the target around it, trying to fill in shoddy evidence after the fact. The real tragedy is that the accused is always starting…
This first witness in Roman's trial immediately caught my attention bc the victim was a classic Pig Butchering case. The only issue is....uh.....those scammers don't use Tornado Cash? And they never have? So, like, wtf?
Update from U.S. v. Storm with @davidzmorris. Roman Storm's defense team has raised the spectre of a mistrial after an FBI tracing expert failed to confirm that the prosecution's first witness' stolen funds had in fact been sent to Tornado Cash.
Read that again. In ten years, the average age of the viewer went up by eight years. That means that there are almost no net new TV watchers. We are witnessing the slow-motion death of TV and traditional media.
When Colbert took over for David Letterman in 2015, the average viewer was 60 years old. CBS hoped that Colbert would attract younger viewers Ten years later, Colbert’s average viewer is **68 years old** That’s simply unsustainable as a business model
Today I am learning that censorship is when you can't keep your $20mm per year job while your show loses $40mm per year but not when the government forces your bank to close your accounts because a senator doesn't like something you said or your (legal) business. #OCP2
Journalistic Malpractice Does anyone remember Chick Tracts? You know, the hardcore religious extremist cartoons with plots so out of bounds you had to laugh hysterically because the only other option was the cold embrace of the void? For those who didn't see them, I'll…
Trump signs Genius! Grateful for @CampbellJAustin's tireless work championing sensible regulation for stablecoins and blockchain technology. As a longtime friend and recently his partner at Zero Knowledge over the past year, I've had the privilege of working alongside him while…
The Genius act has passed. 306-122 with 4 NV remaining on the R side. 102 Democrats in favor after also bringing in massive support from the Democratic side in the Senate. This is the most important piece of bipartisan financial legislation since Dodd-Frank. A new era begins.
With the oncoming explosion of stablecoins, those who can interoperate between traditional finance and blockchains are going to be among the winners. It's not about crypto natives. It's not about tradfi natives. It's about being a bridge between worlds.
USTB now backs @Perena__ , a new stablecoin built on @bralelabs’ infrastructure. Superstate brings the collateral, Brale brings the rails. Quality meets scale.
This first witness in Roman's trial immediately caught my attention bc the victim was a classic Pig Butchering case. The only issue is....uh.....those scammers don't use Tornado Cash? And they never have? So, like, wtf?
The first witness in Roman Storm's trial was fascinating for many reasons. A Taiwanese American who works as a court translator, Prosecutors walked "Katie" Lin through her communication with a scammer who contacted her through WhatsApp and ultimately talked her out of $190k. 🧵
The Genius act has passed. 306-122 with 4 NV remaining on the R side. 102 Democrats in favor after also bringing in massive support from the Democratic side in the Senate. This is the most important piece of bipartisan financial legislation since Dodd-Frank. A new era begins.
A great argument in favor of regulation, as regulated stablecoins under the NYDFS have had zero stability problems and can always be redeemed for coin on old rails. Glad to see Brad support Genius.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Congressman Brad Sherman says crypto stablecoins are "not stable" and "not a coin."
One of the most disappointing parts of crypto has been watching Elizabeth Warren evolve from the champion of the little guy to a defender of rent-seeking intermediaries and an active purveyor of misinformation to achieve their corrupt goals.
JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Senator Elizabeth Warren says crypto could "blow up" the entire US economy.
Currently, there is a bit of chaos in the House of Representatives around the Genius, Clarity, and anti-CBDC bills that are passing through Congress. I wanted to take a moment to frame both what is at stake and some of the moving parts here, and what the optimal path forward is…
I agree with @neha that this language bans the current Fed system for tracking bank reserves. Since I have said in the past that I am sympathetic to the goal, let me propose the following: The language should read that the Fed shall not directly issue digital money to…
Uh ok I read this though and it *does* ban digital central bank reserves? Great job guys. Good bill.
What will be most important here is actually crafting anti-CBDC language well, if they try. This is a complex subject, and blocking dollars on digital ledgers could break the current Fed systems or, hilariously, cripple stablecoins and banks! Craftsmanship matters.
It looks like some of the 12 Republicans who voted no yesterday — but flipped to yes after meeting with Trump last night — did so on the promise that strong anti-CBDC language would be added to CLARITY, since GENIUS isn’t open for amendments. This afternoon, several of those…
False. This is the opposite of what’s likely to happen. And I say this as someone who got in trouble at Citi talking about stablecoins as far back as 2018. (I was also on calls with Circle management where various bank MDs mocked the very idea of a tokenized dollar). Fraser is…
🚨 BREAKING: Citi unveils it's stablecoin strategy. And it's GENIUS (😁). Circle spent years fighting for regulatory clarity. Guess who benefits when the Genius Act passes? The banks. Here's what most people missed: