On The Brink with Castle Island Weekly Roundup 01/16/26 (CLARITY problems, InfoFi Dead, CA Wealth Tax, Kontigo) (EP.696)
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Jan 16, 2026 The hosts dive into the delayed Clarity market structure bill and Coinbase's withdrawal, highlighting the bank lobby's machinations. Sanction violations surrounding Kontigo raise eyebrows, while X's blocking of InfoFi's API aims to combat spam. California's wealth tax backlash is discussed alongside BitMine's hefty investment in MrBeast’s company. They also debate the merits of tokenized deposits versus stablecoins and share insights on emerging institutional ETF filings and the Ledger data breach.
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Champion Quality Rulemaking Over Quick Laws
- Prefer strong regulator rulemaking over a rushed, flawed statute when possible.
- Fight for durable, well-crafted rules from the SEC/CFTC rather than accepting a harmful compromise bill.
Removing API Access Kills InfoFi Spam
- InfoFi leaderboards created financial incentives for low-quality, AI-driven spam on X.
- X revoked API access for those InfoFi apps, which immediately reduced spam incentives.
Wealth Tax Proposal Backfires Quickly
- California's proposed retroactive 5% wealth tax misreads control as ownership and triggered an exodus.
- The likely fiscal and trust consequences already harmed state revenue and migration decisions.