Hackers' Pub

Syntax	Description	Examples
`"` keyword `"`	Finds the string within quotes, including spaces. Case-insensitive. (Escape quotes inside with `\"`)	`"Hackers' Pub"`
`from:` handle	Finds content written by the specified user.	`from:hongminhee` `from:hongminhee@hollo.social`
`lang:` ISO 639-1	Finds content written in the specified language.	`lang:en`
`#` tag	Finds content with the specified tag. Case-insensitive.	`#HackersPub`
condition condition	Finds content that satisfies both conditions on either side of the space (logical AND).	`"Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
condition `OR` condition	Finds content that satisfies at least one of the conditions on either side of the OR operator (logical OR).	`#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
`(` condition `)`	Combines the operators within the parentheses first.	`(#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" OR "Hackers Pub") lang:en`

Molly White @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

1/19/2026, 5:40:32 PM

Public

Newsletter: Coinbase calls the shots in the Senate, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams faces rug pull allegations, and a crypto executive is breaking up with Trump

https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-99/

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Issue 99 – They’ve bought themselves a Congress

Coinbase calls the shots in the Senate, former New York City Mayor Eric Adams faces rug pull allegations, and a crypto executive is breaking up with Trump

www.citationneeded.news · Citation Needed

Link author: Molly White@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

Molly White @molly0xfff@hachyderm.io

1/19/2026, 5:42:25 PM

Public

The crypto lobby wrote their dream bill. Senators proposed some amendments. Coinbase tweeted their disapproval, and Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott immediately canceled the markup. When you spend $130M, you expect to get exactly what you want.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #USpol #USpolitics #CitationNeededNewsletter

Last Wednesday afternoon, Coinbase withdrew its support for the Senate’s draft market structure bill, citing concerns about limits on tokenized stocks and stablecoin rewards, burdensome requirements for defi protocols, and excessive authority granted to the SEC.1 Within hours, Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) canceled the markup hearing scheduled for the following day.

While mainstream news sources are often hesitant to draw cause and effect between two suspiciously timed events, it was too overt even for them, with the New York Times writing that Coinbase had “scuttled” the vote.2 Coinbase further emphasized its degree of control over the Senate when CEO Brian Armstrong stated in an interview with CNBC, “We’ve got a chance to do a new draft and hopefully get back into a markup in a few weeks” — speaking as if Coinbase, not Congress, controlled both the drafting process and legislative calendar.

This is nothing new — just the latest demonstration of the crypto industry’s power over Congress after it spent over $130 million installing allies in the 2024 election. Within weeks, House Agriculture Committee Chair GT Thompson (R-PA) made the new power dynamic explicit when he said how crypto legislation was being drafted in “tripartisan” fashion, with the crypto industry forming the new third political wing of Congress [I76].

In an alternate universe, Congress might be focused on passing laws that don’t elevate the interests of corporations and oligarchs above the everyman. Ones that ensure the stability of the American financial system, protect consumers, address officeholder ethics concerns, and prevent financial crimes. Sadly, in this universe, lawmakers are primarily concerned with satisfying the demands of their newest and most generous campaign contributors. Senate Banking Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told Politico, “These are folks who think that when they’ve bought themselves a Congress, then they expect it to behave the way they say.”3 After a year of this Congress, it would be hard to argue they’re wrong.

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