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  • šŸ„› The SEC just got roasted šŸ”„

šŸ„› The SEC just got roasted šŸ”„

PLUS: this guy is turning used vegetable oil into Bitcoin šŸ‘€

Todayā€™s edition is brought to you by Rocketplace, creators of the RP50 - the easiest way to diversify your crypto portfolio.

GM. This is Milk Road. We add so much color & flavor to daily crypto news you might just taste the rainbow.

Hereā€™s what we got today:

  • Gensler gets roasted by Congress šŸ”„ 

  • This guy is turning used vegetable oil into Bitcoin šŸ‘€

  • Kraken is moving into U.S. stock trading šŸŖ

GARY GENSLER GETS ROASTED BY CONGRESS šŸ”„

Yesterday, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing.

It was titled Oversight of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

Itā€™s like a performance review for work.

Except instead of getting grilled by HR, you get roasted by a group of Congress members - all while being live-streamed on the Internet.

The man of the hour: Gary Gensler.

Now, I doubt Gary had ā€œget cooked into a Congressional kebabā€ on his to-do list yesterday, but thatā€™s exactly what happened.

The hearing lasted over 5 hours, but weā€™ve rounded up all the best moments:

1/ Congressman Tom Emmer calls Gary out for being loyal to large institutions rather than American citizens.

Mr. Emmer is known for calling Gary an ā€œincompetent cop on the beatā€ during the last Congressional hearing.

Hereā€™s what he said this time:

ā€œIt cannot be understated that a common theme throughout your career, sir, is relentless loyalty to the largest financial institutions at the clear expense of innovation, competition, and everyday Americans. ā€œ

Boom. Roasted.

2/ Congressman Ritchie Torres questions Gary on the difference between trading Pokemon cards and ā€œtokenizedā€ Pokemon cards.

This was probably the biggest ā€œgotchaā€ moment in the entire hearing.

Mr. Torres asked a few basic questions about investment contracts.

Gary (the guy whoā€™s supposed to know basic questions about investment contracts) struggled to answer.

Then Gary was asked two simple questionsā€¦

Question 1: ā€œIf I purchase a Pokemon card, is that a security transaction?ā€

Garyā€™s answer: ā€œThatā€™s not a security.ā€

Question 2: ā€œIf I purchase a tokenized Pokemon card via a blockchain, is that a security transaction?ā€

Garyā€™s answer: ā€œIā€™d have to know more.ā€

Mr. Torresā€™ response after the hearing: ā€œChair Genslerā€™s answer to my questions were as incoherent as his overall approach to regulating crypto.ā€

Boom. Roasted.

**static noise**

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**static noise**

Okay, now back to the roastingā€¦

3/ Congressman Warren Davidson introduces a bill to fire Gary Gensler.

Congressman Warren Davidson is the guy who introduced the SEC Stabilization Act to fire Gary Gensler and restructure the agency.

Hereā€™s what Mr. Davidson said to Gary yesterday:

ā€œYouā€™re front-running Congress. Youā€™re front-running the courts. Youā€™re front-running even your own administration. And no one has held you to account for that. I wish the Biden administration would say ā€˜youā€™re firedā€™, [...], but Congress hopefully will.ā€

Boom. Roasted.

4/ Congressman Andy Barr (my new hero) calls Gary the ā€œTonya Harding of securities regulationā€

This was hands-down the milkiest quote of the day. (in the rap game, this is called a ā€œbarā€.)

It came from none other thanā€¦ Andy Barr. He was born for these moments.

Hereā€™s what Mr. Barr said:

ā€œWith all due respect, Mr. Chairmanā€¦ if the U.S. capital markets are a gold medalist, you are the Tonya Harding of securities regulation, because you are knee-capping the U.S. capital markets with the avalanche of red tape coming out of your commission.ā€

Boom. Roasted.

Now, in case you donā€™t know who Tonya Harding is:

  • She was a famous figure skater in the 90ā€™s.

  • She was a two-time Olympian and two-time Skate America Champion.

  • In 1994, she was stripped of her medal after she got caught hiring a few men to attack and break her competitionā€™s leg before the finals.

  • Tonya was banned from the U.S. Figure Skating Association for life.

And comparing Gary Gensler to Tonya Harding was the **chefā€™s kiss** of the entire hearing.

Milk Roadā€™s Final Take: There were a few big takeawaysā€¦

1/ If you ever want to cut someone off from talking during an argument, just yell ā€œI reclaim my time!ā€.

2/ Andy Barr could be Drakeā€™s ghostwriter.

3/ Some of these Congress members would crush in a ā€œYo Mamaā€ roast battle.

Okay, all jokes asideā€¦ the biggest takeaway is that this was a HUGE win for the future of crypto regulation in the U.S.

  • Members of Congress showed they want to regulate crypto, but they donā€™t want to kill it.

  • They want to keep crypto companies in the U.S.

  • Gary Genslerā€™s days as Chairman of the SEC might be numbered.

Weā€™ll cheers to that.

ā€œAlexa, play ā€˜It Was A Good Dayā€™ by Ice Cube.ā€

THIS GUY IS TURNING USED VEGETABLE OIL INTO BITCOIN šŸ‘€

Check it out. This was the coolest thing I saw all dayā€¦

  • A guy named Eliazar is turning used vegetable oil into energy to power a Bitcoin mining operation in his community in Guatemala.

  • The used vegetable oil usually gets thrown away, but now itā€™s being reused to mine Bitcoin.

  • The mining operation yields ~$300/month in Bitcoin.

$300/month might not sound like a lot, but in Guatemala, thatā€™s more than half of the average monthly wage (!!).

You know what they sayā€¦. ā€œone manā€™s trash is another manā€™s treasure.ā€

BITE-SIZED COOKIES šŸŖ

Kraken is exploring the option to offer stocks and ETFs for trading. Itā€™s reported the service could launch as soon as 2024.

Coinbase is rolling out perpetual futures trading to non-U.S. retail investors. The crypto exchange secured approval from the Bermuda Monetary Authority and will launch the product ā€œin the coming weeksā€.

Sam Bankman-Fried gets approval to wear a suit and use an ā€œair-gappedā€ laptop during his trial. Get your popcorn ready, the trial is scheduled to start on October 3.

The SEC has delayed the deadline for a handful of Ethereum spot ETF filings. The new date is set for December 26. Fingers crossed we get a Christmas Miracleā€¦

Facebook teased the launch of new smart glasses, A.I. chatbots, and a new VR headset. Weā€™ll be diving deeper into this tomorrow, but ladies & gents, we just got one step closer to the *metaverse*.

MILKY MEMES šŸ¤£

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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.

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