NEW BUSINESS: Binance.US, the American arm of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, hired its first lobbying firms last month, newly filed disclosures show, as policymakers in Washington face calls to rein in the rapidly growing and mostly unregulated industry. Hogan Lovells’ Ivan Zapien, a Democratic lobbyist who previously was chief of staff to now-Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and former House GOP aides Aaron Cutler and Chase Kroll will lobby for the exchange.
Meanwhile, there has been plenty of speculation that bitcoin’s big rise may have been due to a pump-and-dump scheme. One theory that the U.S. Justice Department is reportedly looking into is that the digital coin Tether (which is supposedly pegged to the U.S. dollar to make for a less volatile cryptocurrency) was used to manipulate the bitcoin market and cause a large run-up in price. This theory stems from an academic paper, which cast Tether in a very damning light. And it also led many to believe that the initial bitcoin craze was manufactured and destined to bust.

“Some people just didn’t like it, and I understand that,” Karony said in the interview. “The points that I wanted to come across, we just weren’t able to actually tell people in a structured manner.”
But whatever new products are produced, they will now have a harder time struggling with acceptance. Whether we like it or not, message and image are important.