Tornado Cash blacklisted

Good morning. Today we've got coverage on the blacklisting of Tornado Cash, a new crypto options trading DEX, and the slow death of Bitcoin maxis. All that and more today?

Market Update (as of 8:37am ET):

My asks from you:
- Forward to your friends, family, and anyone that would be interested (check the Top Sharers leaderboard at the bottom of this email to see where you stand!)
- If you're new, hit that pink subscribe button just below this section
- Send any and all feedback to jmaxxyoungii@gmail.com
- Add us to your Contact List so this newsletter doesn't end up in your spam folder

Top 5:

1. Crypto-mixing service Tornado Cash blacklisted by US Treasury. OFAC! That's what Tornado Cash users are thinking after the Office of Foreign Assets Control added the platform to its Specially Designated Nationals list. The list prohibits all U.S. persons or entities from interacting with Tornado Cash or any of the Ethereum wallet addresses tied to the protocol. Tornado Cash allows users to obscure the source of their funds creating an additional layer of privacy in transactions. It has also helped hackers launder stolen money - most notably Lazarus Group a North Korean crew of hackers. According to the Treasury Department more than $7 billion has been laundered through Tornado Cash since its creation in 2019. After the announcement stablecoin provider Circle blacklisted all sanctioned Tornado Cash addresses freezing around $75,000 in USDC.

2. Crypto options trading on Solana has mostly fizzled. A new DEX has a plan to change that. OptiFi, a new automated market maker protocol on Solana, went live on Monday and provides investors access to decentralized options trading. The protocol also offers portfolio margining, meaning that the holdings in a trader's portfolio are taken into consideration when calculating margin which can significantly cut collateral requirements. OptiFi's team believes by offering portfolio margining they will increase the amount of liquidity in the protocol versus other exchanges and keep spreads tight for AMMs. The platform currently allows options trading for BTC and ETH with support for SOL options coming soon.

3. Celsius wants to sell its mined bitcoin. Texas regulators don’t trust it. In an attempt to fill the $1.2 billion hole in their balance sheet, Celsius proposed to sell bitcoin from their mining operations. That plan is not flying with Texas regulators who asked the bankruptcy court to deny the request. In the formal objection filed with the court, the Texas State Securities Board (SSB) clarified that they were not opposed to the sale of mined bitcoin, but that Celsius' request gave the company "ambiguously broad authority to use these assets" leading to their concern. The SSB also pointed to "problematic asset deployment decisions" in Celsius' past as a big part of the state's objection.

4. Crypto.com buys South Korean startups to Compete with local giants. The Singaporean exchange purchased payment service provider PnLink and digital asset exchange OK-Bit in an effort to grow their footprint and compete in South Korea. Both PnLink and OK-bit hold Electronic Financial Transaction Act and Virtual Asset Service Provider registrations that now transfer to Crypto.com. The company considers South Korea "“tremendously important market for Crypto.com in advancing blockchain technology," and will now compete with the "big four" Korean exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone and Korbit.

5. Bitcoin maxis are a dying breed - @MattCorallo. A thread from Matt Corallo one of the Bitcoin Core Developers. He argues that crypto has evolved beyond the time where "everything except Bitcoin was basically a scam" and that many in the community spend more time criticizing other protocols rather than supporting Bitcoin developments. According to Matt the "us-vs-them" culture surrounding Bitcoin could impact future regulatory lobbying efforts and open the proof-of-work protocol up to even more criticism for its energy usage versus its proof-of-stake peers.

Updates and other stories:
- Crypto miner Marathon Digital posts $192M net loss in Q2...Read More
- Dave Portnoy sued over SafeMoon investment...Read More
- Moonbirds ruffles some holders' feathers with abrupt copyright switch...Read More

Top Sharers of the Crypto Top 5:
1. Donna Y. - Nashville, TN
2. Jake Y. - Greenville, SC
3. Forrest H. - Evansville, IN

External Resources:
1. Cryptopedia from Gemini - if you see a word, acronym, or phrase in this newsletter that you don't understand, there's a good chance you can find an explanation here
2. Crypto Explainer+ - intro level courses on Bitcoin, Ethereum, decentralized finance, NFTs, and more
3. Crypto Jobs! - looking for a new job? Check out this page from Anthony Pompliano with hundreds, if not thousands of listings

Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter shall not be understood or construed as financial advice. I am not an attorney, accountant, or financial advisor, nor am I holding myself out to be, and the information provided is not a substitute for financial advice from a professional who is aware of the facts and circumstances of your individual situation.