Crypto’s Appetite for Legal Battles Is Growing

Custodia Bank has sued the Federal Reserve.

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ABOUT

This episode is sponsored by Nexo.io, NEAR and FTX US.

There is a growing appetite among crypto companies to avail themselves of the legal system to fight for what they believe. This week, Custodia Bank (formerly Avanti), run by Caitlin Long, filed suit against the Federal Reserve for failing to process the bank’s master account application. Grayscale, meanwhile, has hired President Obama’s former Solicitor General, Donald B. Verrilli Jr., to have legal resources to mount a challenge depending on the results of their application to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund.

“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features Nathaniel Whittemore aka NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell, research by Scott Hill and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Jared Schwartz is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsors is “Catnip” by Famous Cats and “I Don't Know How To Explain It” by Aaron Sprinkle. Image credit: Vasil Dimitrov/Getty Images, modified by CoinDesk. Join the discussion at discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8.

CORRECTION (June 14, 2022 18:40): Grayscale hired former Obama administration Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr., not Neal Katyal, who was an acting Solicitor General during the same administration.

HOST

Nathaniel Whittemore

NLW is an independent strategy and communications consultant for leading crypto companies as well as host of The Breakdown – the fastest-growing podcast in crypto. Whittemore has been a VC with Learn Capital, was on the founding team of Change.org, and founded a program design center at his alma mater Northwestern University that helped inspire the largest donation in the school’s history.