Sunak praises a16z’s UK expansion, Winklevoss twins warn ‘war on crypto’ hurts Democrats

Andreessen Horowitz to expand to London, PM Sunak issues warm welcome

US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz announced Sunday that it will expand its $7.6 billion crypto operations to the UK, amid last week’s wave of enforcement in its home country.

The firm’s new London office will have a crypto focus, with aims to bolster the UK’s fintech community through its Crypto Startup School program.

The move has been in the works for around six months.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak — who has expressed positive ambitions for crypto in the UK — said he is “thrilled” at Andreessen Horowitz’s arrival in the country.

The comments come amid moves by UK banks to stifle crypto usage this year.

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Winklevoss twins warn that ‘war on crypto’ will hurt Democrats in 2024

Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss predict that the “war on crypto” waged by Democrats will cost them the 2024 election.

Cameron Winklevoss said efforts from Senator Elizabeth Warren and Securities Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler will “alienate an entire generation of would-be Democrats,” referring to younger demographics that he claims are largely pro-crypto.

Tyler Winklevoss followed up with a comparison to the controversial overturn of abortion case Roe v. Wade, which the billionaire stated “cost Republicans the midterms.”

The SEC issued a lawsuit against Gemini in January, on the basis that its Earn product constituted an unregistered offer and sale of securities.

It’s an allegation the agency has levied against other major firms including last week’s actions against Binance and Coinbase.

NOW READ: How the SEC’s showdown with Coinbase will change the crypto market for everyone

Crypto firms Solana, Polygon shoot back at SEC on security allegations

Major crypto firms Solana and Polygon shot back against the US Securities Exchange Commission over the weekend, after the agency made allegations that the firms’ respective SOL and MATIC tokens are securities.

Polygon Labs, which operates both the Polygon layer two network on Ethereum as well as its own native Polygon blockchain network, stated in a Saturday tweet that the firm neither originated in nor specifically targeted the US market.

The Solana Foundation said it “disagrees with the characterisation of SOL as a security” and urged for legal clarity from US regulators.

The SEC named some 12 cryptocurrencies in its June 5 lawsuit against leading global exchange Binance, among them SOL, MATIC, and Cardano’s ADA token.

CFTC wins victory against Ooki DAO, sets possible precedent for DeFi regulation

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission won a precedent-setting victory against decentralised autonomous organisation Ooki DAO on Thursday, when a federal judge ruled in favour of the agency on grounds Ooki DAO offered the sale of unregistered commodities.

US Judge William H. Orrick ordered Ooki DAO to pay $643,542 in fines, and to cease operations and shutter its website.

The move is a major enforcement milestone against a DeFi organisation, against a backdrop of litigation targeted towards largely centralised entities such as Binance and Coinbase.

It remains to be seen how the Judge Orrick’s orders will be enforced, as Ooki DAO did not partake in or acknowledge the lawsuit — though it did restrict US internet activity to the site.

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Stablecoin issuer TrueUSD halts TUSD minting on Prime Trust platform ahead of acquisition

Stablecoin issuer TrueUSD paused minting of its TUSD stablecoin on crypto infrastructure provider Prime Trust’s platform until further notice on Friday.

The pause precedes digital asset trust company BitGo Holdings’ acquisition of Prime’s parent company, Prime Core Technologies.

TUSD will still be available to mint through other platforms, according to TrueUSD.

Judge orders FTX customer list sealed from the public

A judge ruled Friday to keep bankrupt exchange FTX’s customer list private ahead of a potential sale or revival of the company.

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The ruling was sought by FTX’s lawyers, who contended the list would be a key selling point to future investors, and would also protect creditors from incurring additional losses due to trade secret leaks.

US bankruptcy authorities as well as news organisations had argued that the list should be made publicly available, to facilitate bankruptcy proceedings and better inform the public of details of the case.

More web3 news from around the web…

Dems press Treasury, IRS to crackdown on crypto wash trading — Blockworks

Minecraft still hasn’t officially banned NFTs—but it’s coming — Decrypt

Millions in Polygon’s MATIC tokens were sent to Binance and Coinbase ahead of 30% slide, data shows — CoinDesk