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Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee sent a letter criticizing Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler and his repeated entreaties to crypto companies to “come in and register” moments before a congressional hearing on his agency.

After yesterday’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit named Algorand’s token as a security, commentators on crypto Twitter were quick to jump on a video of Chair Gary Gensler describing the blockchain as a “great technology.”

With Algorand getting a namecheck in the SEC’s case against crypto exchange Bittrex, several prominent Twitter accounts pointed to comments Gensler made in a previous life when a lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. 

Gensler’s 50-minute lecture from April 2019 is a wide-ranging talk on topics from the disruptive potential of fintech to large financial firms’ adoption of crypto. Yet it was his remarks, in response to an audience question, that Algorand founder Silvio Micali “has a great technology, the best performance, you could create Uber on top of it” that prompted multiple accusations from Twitter cognoscenti that he was “shilling” the token.

The SEC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Gensler’s actions against crypto firms

Gensler has become a bogey man for many in the crypto industry since taking on the role of SEC Chair in 2021. On his watch, the regulator has brought cases against crypto firms including Terraform Labs and Paxos and celebrities like Kim Kardashian and who received payment to promote crypto projects. 

Gensler will face questions from the House Financial Services Committee today on his approach to regulation.

The SEC’s suit against Bittrex and its co-founder and former CEO William Shihara, unveiled on Monday, accuses it of operating as an unregistered securities exchange. It cites internal messages detailing the delisting of tokens and removal of marketing statements in an effort to cover up that Bittrex helped sell tokens it knew could qualify as security investments under U.S. law.

Algorand is a proof-of-stake Layer 1 blockchain that pitches itself as “the leading smart contract platform where sophisticated dApps are built on top of a fast, secure, scalable and sustainable platform.” 

Algorand’s price is down 1.4% to $0.224 over the past 24 hours, according to Coingecko data. 

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Blockdaemon Wallet aims to help institutions and crypto custodians live up to the “not your keys, not your crypto” adage.

Solana-based DeFi lender marginFi has a new chatbot called Omni.

The Series B fundraise comes about five months after the company cut 15% of its staff amid the pressures of crypto winter.

Starbucks is launching another NFT collection on the Polygon network.

The world’s largest coffeehouse chain’s new “The Starbucks First Store Collection” features art that recalls the company’s first location, which opened in 1971 in Seattle’s Pike Place Market.

“People from all over the map come to see this historic landmark for themselves, experiencing a sense of nostalgia and being part of something bigger,” Starbucks said in its sales pitch on the Nifty Gateway NFT marketplace. “With the Starbucks First Store Collection, you can own a piece of history.”

There will be 5,000 “The First Store Collection Stamps” on sale on Wednesday, each priced at $100. Those who own two or more unique “Journey Stamps,” Starbucks’ previous foray into NFTs, will get early access to the First Store collection at 9 a.m. PDT. The general sale will start at noon PDT, and there is a limit of one stamp per person for all collectors.

The move comes a day after another iconic retail brand made its push into crypto. Nike announced its first “digital-creation collection” on its .Swoosh blockchain platform yesterday. Much like the athletic apparel giant and a host of other brands, Starbucks is mostly shying away from the NFT term in favor of “collection” or “stamp.”

Starbucks expanding web3 initiatives

The coffee giant first announced its plans to enter the web3 space in May 2022 when it said on an earnings call that it would launch its own NFT collection later that year to give users access to exclusive content experiences and other benefits.

“We are creating the digital third place,” Starbucks Chief Marketing Officer Brady Brewer said on the call at the time. “To achieve this, we will broaden our framework of what it means for people to be a member of the Starbucks community, adding new concepts such as ownership and community-based membership models that we see developing in the web3 space.”

Last September, Starbucks announced Odyssey, an extension of Starbucks Rewards that sought to expand brand loyalty in the virtual world. In December, the coffee giant launched a beta test of Odyssey, allowing members to participate in interactive journeys like games and virtual tours related to coffee education and Starbucks history and earn Odyssey Points that can be exchanged for rewards or “Journey Stamp” NFTs that can be collected and traded. At the time, Starbucks also announced its partnerships with Nifty Gateway and Polygon.

The Siren collection

Last month, Starbucks launched its first paid collection of NFTs, called “Siren Collection,” which reportedly sold out in under 20 minutes. The 2,000-item collection featured a version of the company’s Siren logo, with the stamps priced at $100 each.

The current floor price, or the lowest price, of the Siren stamps stands at around $495. That’s a nearly 400% gain.

The floor prices of Starbucks’ Journey Stamps, which were offered for free as rewards, are also trading higher in the range of $70-$1,000 each.

© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Cubist also announced that Web3 staking provider Ankr is its first key management customer.

Luno has informed the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) that it is withdrawing its license application.

The latest price moves in bitcoin (BTC) and crypto markets in context for April 18, 2023. First Mover is CoinDesk’s daily newsletter that contextualizes the latest actions in the crypto markets.