Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.

It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big picture power shifts remaking our world.

What's going on, guys? It is Tuesday, September 24th, and this is SEC Week. Before we get into that,

however, if you are enjoying the breakdown, please go subscribe to it, give it a rating, give it a review,

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You can find a link in the show notes or go to bit.ly slash breakdown pod. Hello friends. Well, as I said, for those in crypto policy,

this is SEC week. It's the final week of the regulator's fiscal year, and the SEC is expected to jam in

a few final enforcement actions to boost their already record numbers. We also have Gary Gensler

facing a pair of oversight hearings on Capitol Hill. Wednesday's Senate Banking Committee

hearing should be a fairly sedate affair,

but all eyes are on the House hearing. All five commissioners are present to give testimony,

giving them an opportunity to speak out against the SEC's crypto strategy.

SEC week got off to a really bad start for the regulator on Monday, as they received another dressing down in federal court. The case involves Coinbase's petition for rulemaking, where they

demanded some clear rules of the road. These petitions are routinely ignored by the regulator, which is the approach they

took way back in 2022 when the petition was originally filed. The court later forced the SEC to

provide a response with the regulator denying the petition. They claim that existing securities law

is perfectly workable when it comes to digital assets. Further, they argued that it's important that the SEC retains discretion around when and how to conduct rulemaking.

Coinbase appealed the SEC's denial, bringing the case to a head and oral arguments on Monday

in front of a panel of three judges. The hearing was livestreamed, giving us an opportunity to listen

in as the lawyers on each side made their case. The thrust of Coinbase's argument was that the SEC had acted in an arbitrary and

capricious manner. They said the current regulations are unworkable and that it was fundamentally unfair

that the regulator had not provided details on how to come in and register. Coinbase has been

...