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Crypto PACs invest $4M in candidates ahead of Aug. 6 primaries

Missouri, Washington and Michigan residents will be able to vote in primaries for specific candidates backed or opposed by crypto interest groups.

After pouring millions of dollars into races to support and oppose candidates from both major political parties, the Fairshake Super political action committee (PAC) and its affiliates await the results as registered voters in Missouri, Michigan, and Washington go to the polls.

On Aug. 6, residents of Missouri, Michigan, and Washington will vote on which Democrats and Republicans will go on to face each other in a November election for seats in the United States House of Representatives and Senate. At the time of publication, the polls had not closed, and no media outlets had announced clear primary winners in any district. Kansas will also be conducting party primaries on Aug. 6, but it did not appear that any crypto-focused candidates were running for House seats.

According to data from the Federal Election Commission, Fairshake spent roughly $1.4 million on a media buy to oppose incumbent Democrat Cori Bush in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, where she has served since 2021. The Defend American Jobs PAC, a Fairshake affiliate, spent more than $250,000 on a media buy to support Republican candidate and former state senator Bob Onder in Missouri’s 3rd Congressional District after Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer announced his retirement.

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

Industry responds to Kamala Harris’ VP pick despite no clear crypto platform

Crypto users recognized that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz was a relative unknown on crypto policy, but many expressed concerns about his general approach to regulation.

Neither Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris nor her recently announced vice presidential pick Tim Walz has a clear policy position on regulating digital assets and blockchain, but crypto users and industry leaders have been quick to weigh in on the ticket. 

In an Aug. 6 announcement, Vice President Harris said Minnesota Governor Tim Walz would be her running mate going into the 2024 presidential election, facing off against Republican nominee Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick, Ohio Senator JD Vance. The stark ideological differences between the two campaigns have elicited reactions on social media, with many crypto proponents expressing concerns about the potential impact picking Walz may have on the industry.

“Tim Walz hasn’t yet nailed his colours to the mast in terms of Bitcoin and crypto in general,” said Darren Parkin, editorial director of The Digital Commonwealth, in an Aug. 6 X post. “However, he’s a stickler for regulation. Make of that what you will.”

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

Kamala Harris chooses Minnesota Gov. Walz as US presidential running mate

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has previously advocated for more stringent crypto regulations to ensure the stability of the legacy financial system.

Kamala Harris, the vice president of the United States, has revealed her running mate for the 2024 US presidential election.

Harris has reportedly chosen Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her vice presidential pick, four unknown sources familiar with the matter reportedly told CNN.

Walz previously served for over 12 years in Congress and is currently in his second term as Minnesota governor.

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

Trump cautions current administration not to sell Bitcoin

The former president continues to stress that if the United States does not innovate in the digital asset sector, other countries will.

In a recent interview with streamer and influencer Adin Ross, former president Donald Trump cautioned the current administration against selling the United States' Bitcoin (BTC) holdings.

The 2024 presidential candidate reiterated his stance that if the United States does not innovate on the digital asset front, other countries will, noting that China, the United States' most significant geopolitical rival, is already making advances in the cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence sectors. Trump then turned his attention to praising the virtues of the Bitcoin industry.

The 2024 GOP frontrunner steered the conversation surrounding Bitcoin mining and artificial intelligence toward the energy generation that underpins both activities.

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

Swan Bitcoin cancels conference amid staff reduction, mining shutdown

According to Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten, “it just doesn’t feel like the right time for a festival” after the firm announced staff cuts in July.

Financial services firm Swan Bitcoin has canceled a cryptocurrency conference it planned to host in California in October.

In an Aug. 5 X post, Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten announced that the company would not hold the Pacific Bitcoin Festival in 2024. The event, initially planned to be held in Santa Monica, California, from Oct. 18 to Oct. 19, was roughly two months away at the time of cancellation.

“We’re fully focused on [Swan Bitcoin’s] core business right now, and after going through a staff reduction last month it just doesn’t feel like the right time for a festival,” said Klippsten.

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

US government transfers 300 ETH — Arkham Intelligence

The 300 Ethereum coins were transferred from a wallet identified as “Noman Seleem Seized Funds” by the onchain analytics firm.

According to Arkham Intelligence, a wallet believed to be controlled by the United States government transferred 300 Ether (ETH), valued at approximately $699,000, to a wallet address ending in “d46” on Aug. 5.

The onchain analytics firm also claimed that the funds within the wallet, which now shows a balance of $0, resulted from a US government seizure.

This reported transfer of ETH by the United States government follows days of disappointing price action following the highly anticipated launch of Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States.

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

Europe’s fourth largest hedge fund put nearly $500M in Bitcoin ETFs — Filing

Other hedge funds are also reporting sizable positions in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

According to public disclosures filed on Aug. 5, Capula Management, Europe’s fourth-largest hedge fund, invested nearly $500 million in Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds. 

The hedge fund, which is based in the United Kingdom and manages upward of $30 billion in investor assets, holds shares in Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT).

According to the filing, Capula owns shares worth more than $464 million in total, reflecting its portfolio as of June 30. The filings do not indicate that Capula owns any other crypto assets.

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

Bitcoin ETF trading volume tops $1B amid crypto crash — Galaxy

Galaxy’s head of research expects the funds to see inflows as investors buy the dip.

Trading volumes for Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surged past $1 billion at the start of trading on Aug. 5, as crashing markets triggered “extremely elevated” trading activity across crypto, Alex Thorn, head of research at asset manager Galaxy Digital, said in a post on the X platform. 

After only 20 minutes of trading, Bitcoin ETFs have clocked more than $1.3 billion in trading volume, with iShares Bitcoin Trust seeing the highest churn at upward of $875 million, according to the post.

Thorn expects BTC ETFs to see net inflows from “dip buying” as investors clamor to take advantage of a roughly 8% drawdown in spot BTC prices since Aug. 4. The downturn was led by Ether (ETH), which dropped upwards of 21% after funds including Jump Trading and Paradigm VC sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Ether, according to an Aug. 5 report by QCP Group.

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

Crypto products shed $528M amid recession fears — CoinShares

As Bitcoin dropped below $50,000, analysts expect more outflows that would potentially drive prices down to $42,000.

Cryptocurrency assets started seeing significant outflows last week amid growing fears of a recession in the United States and geopolitical concerns, according to a new report by the crypto investment firm CoinShares.

The week of July 28 to Aug. 3 saw digital asset investment products posting outflows for the first time in four weeks totalling $528 million, CoinShares reported in its latest digital asset fund flows report published on Aug. 5.

CoinShares noted that the latest crypto sell-off is believed to be a reaction to fears of a recession in the US, geopolitical uncertainty and consequent broader market liquidations across the majority of assets.

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move

Ex-Binance adviser to join Kamala Harris campaign: Report

The prospective Democratic nominee’s position on crypto and blockchain was still unclear, but officials connected to the industry are reportedly getting on board.

David Plouffe, who worked as an adviser for Alchemy Pay and cryptocurrency exchange Binance, is reportedly joining  Democratic candidate Kamala Harris’ 2024 United States presidential campaign.

According to an Aug. 2 Politico report, the Harris campaign onboarded several senior advisers, including Plouffe. A former campaign manager and senior adviser for US President Barack Obama, Plouffe made forays into the crypto space after leaving the White House in 2013. He joined Binance’s Global Advisory Board in 2022 — reportedly later disbanded — and was a global strategic adviser for Alchemy Pay in 2023.

It’s unclear whether Plouffe’s reported role will involve advising the campaign on crypto and blockchain. On Aug. 2, the Democratic National Committee announced that Vice President Harris had secured enough delegates to become the party’s official candidate in 2024, but she would not accept the nomination until “next week.”

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$500M WBTC Burned in the Wake of Coinbase’s Delisting Move