Bitcoin's Presidential Shakeup

1️⃣ Presidential Shakeup

Long-time BTC bull Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘paused’ his White House bid Friday and detailed that he was endorsing Donald Trump. Kennedy announced that he would be removing his name from the ballots in swing states and encouraged supporters there to support Trump over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

RFK Jr. made a splash in crypto circles long before Trump signaled a shift in support. Kennedy, whose bid never appeared anything beyond a long-shot, was still polling very well for a third-party candidate, and his dropping out from the race could change the equation in razor-thin swing state polling.

2️⃣ Crypto Awaits Trump’s DeFi Play

While political eyes fell on Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention was minting Harris as the party’s nominee, Trump was posting through the week on his Truth Social account, at one point highlighting a crypto project his sons Eric and Donald Jr. are behind — The Defiant Ones.

“For too long, the average American has been squeezed by the big banks and financial elites.” Trump writes in the message, “It's time we take a stand—together. #BeDefiant.”

Details are limited on what exactly the platform has planned, though it's rumored to be a “digital real estate” play, though whether it leans towards metaverse land parcels or RWAs is unknown.

3️⃣ Rate Cuts Coming

Crypto ended the week breaking out of its consistent $60K range, and it owed the pump to comments made by Fed chair Jerome Powell, which strongly hinted at near-term rate cuts. At this point, traders are feeling near-certain on September cuts, but are less sure about the scale and whether it will be a 0.50% or 0.25% cut.

4️⃣ Judge Doesn’t Toss Kraken Suit

In a Friday ruling, a federal judge refused to dismiss the SEC’s lawsuit against the Kraken crypto exchange. Kraken had argued that the SEC had failed to make a convincing argument that transactions on the platform constituted investment contracts, but it appears the judge, at least in part, disagreed. 

5️⃣ Mango Markets DAO Settlement

The community behind Solana-based exchange Mango Markets has voted to propose a settlement with the SEC over alleged securities violations. As part of the settlement offer, the DAO would pay a $223K fine, destroy its MNGO holdings, and delist the token.