Hey there, PoI readers! 💫

It's your favorite crypto connoisseur, Mochi, back with another serving of tantalizing tech and web3 news that's hotter than a GPU mining farm in summer! From Bastion's mega funding backed by tech titans and CFTC chair drama involving crypto billionaire twins, to the Senate finally talking crypto taxes and Microsoft's AI love triangle, we've got a deliciously chaotic mix to unpack. So buckle up and get ready for a wild ride through the wonderland of digital assets and regulatory soap operas!

INTEL BRIEF

🟧 Bastion secured $14.6M in funding led by Coinbase Ventures to expand its white-label stablecoin infrastructure platform, with backing from tech giants Sony and Samsung.

🟧 Trump's original CFTC chair pick Brian Quintenz faces an uncertain future as the Winklevoss twins reportedly influenced delays, with at least three other candidates now being vetted.

🟧 The US Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing next week featuring Coinbase and crypto tax experts to discuss how digital assets should be taxed under current regulations.

🟧 Microsoft is integrating Anthropic's Claude AI models into Copilot, giving business users choice between OpenAI and Anthropic's AI for different tasks, marking another step away from Microsoft's exclusive OpenAI partnership.

Big Tech Goes All In on Stablecoins as Bastion Bags $14.6M From the Heavy Hitters

Coinbase Ventures led this funding parade, Sony (yes, the PlayStation people), Samsung (your phone's probably made by them), Andreessen Horowitz (a16z for the cool kids), and Hashed.

Bastion isn't trying to create the next USDC killer. Nope, they're playing a different game entirely. Think of them as the "white-label everything" shop for companies who want to dip their toes into stablecoin waters without getting their hands dirty with pesky things like licenses and compliance nightmares.

CEO Nassim Eddequiouaq (try saying that five times fast) claims they're "meeting significant demand from some of the world's largest enterprises." And honestly? The timing couldn't be better. We're seeing everyone from PayPal expanding across eight new blockchains to Deutsche Bank backing euro stablecoins. Even Kazakhstan's central bank is getting frisky with Solana and Mastercard!

Bastion's pitch is simple but genius: they'll handle all the Web3 infrastructure headaches so businesses can focus on building "stellar experiences" instead of crying over smart contract bugs. With $40 million raised total, they're clearly onto something that makes traditional finance giants go "take my money!"

Bastion raised $14.6M from Coinbase, Sony, Samsung & a16z for white-label stablecoin infrastructure

Company provides turnkey stablecoin solutions without clients needing licenses or custom tech builds

Corporate stablecoin adoption is exploding with PayPal, Deutsche Bank, and even central banks jumping in

CFTC Chair Drama Unfolds When Crypto Billionaire Twins Play Political Puppet Master

Brian Quintenz, Trump's original pick to chair the CFTC, is reportedly stuck in nomination limbo while the Winklevoss twins are allegedly pulling strings behind the scenes like some sort of Bitcoin-powered puppet masters.

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (yes, the Facebook lawsuit duo turned crypto moguls) apparently went full crypto Karen on Quintenz after dropping a cool $21 million in BTC to support Trump's campaign. Word on the street is they're not exactly thrilled with the original pick and have been allegedly whispering sweet nothings into Trump's ear about alternative candidates.

The drama reached peak reality TV when Quintenz himself dropped some nuclear-level receipts on social media – actual text message screenshots with the Winklevoss brothers! The messages supposedly show Gemini fishing for "certain assurances" about CFTC enforcement actions.

Meanwhile, the CFTC is basically running on fumes with just acting chair Caroline Pham holding down the fort since September.

Josh Sterling (former CFTC director turned law firm partner), Mike Selig (SEC crypto task force chief counsel), and Tyler Williams (Galaxy Digital alumni) are all reportedly being vetted as potential replacements.

The whole situation is believed to be a masterclass in how $23 million in crypto donations can potentially shake up regulatory appointments. Who knew that buying Bitcoin could come with a side of political influence?

Winklevoss twins allegedly influencing Trump's CFTC pick after donating $21M+ in Bitcoin to his campaign

Quintenz's nomination stalled with three other candidates now being considered for the chair position

CFTC operating with skeleton crew as political drama unfolds over crypto regulatory leadership

Senate Finally Ready to Talk Crypto Taxes And It's About Damn Time

US Senate is finally sitting down to have "the talk" about crypto taxes! Next Wednesday, the Finance Committee is hosting what's basically a crypto tax therapy session, and honestly, it's long overdue.

Chair Mike Crapo is bringing together the dream team of tax nerds: Coinbase VP of Tax Lawrence Zlatkin (because who better to explain crypto taxes than someone who deals with millions of confused users daily), Coin Center's Jason Somensatto (the policy whisperer), Annette Nellen from the American Institute of CPAs, and Andrea Kramer from ASKramer Law.

This hearing is reportedly following the White House Digital Asset Working Group's July recommendations, which basically said "Hey Congress, maybe treat crypto like the new asset class it actually is?" Revolutionary thinking, truly! The report suggested that if lawmakers don't get their act together with proper legislation, then the Treasury and IRS should at least issue some guidance so people stop crying into their tax forms every April.

IRS currently treats crypto like property, which means every single transaction – yes, even buying that $5 coffee with Bitcoin – can trigger a capital gains event.

Senator Cynthia Lummis has been the hero we didn't know we needed, fighting against what she calls "unfair tax treatment" of crypto miners and stakers who get hit with the dreaded double taxation – once when they earn rewards, and again when they sell. She's been pushing to make America the "world's Bitcoin and Crypto Superpower," though her sneaky attempt to slip mining tax relief into Trump's budget bill got the legislative equivalent of "new phone, who dis?"

Senate Finance Committee hearing next week with Coinbase VP and crypto tax experts discussing digital asset taxation

Current IRS rules treat crypto as property, making every transaction potentially taxable as capital gains

Senator Lummis pushing against "double taxation" of crypto miners and stakers who pay taxes twice on earnings

Microsoft Goes Full AI Polyamory as Claude Crashes the OpenAI Party

Microsoft just pulled the ultimate "it's not you, it's me" move on their supposedly exclusive relationship with OpenAI by sliding into bed with their biggest rival, Anthropic. Starting Wednesday, Copilot users get to play matchmaker between AI models like they're swiping on a dating app for robots!

Copilot business users can now choose between OpenAI's deep reasoning models and Anthropic's shiny new Claude Opus 4.1 and Claude Sonnet 4 depending on what kind of digital wizardry they need. Different tools for different jobs, but both equally capable of either solving your problems or creating entirely new ones.

Claude Opus 4.1 is reportedly the heavyweight champion designed for complex reasoning, coding that doesn't make senior developers cry, and deep architecture planning that actually makes sense. Meanwhile, Claude Sonnet 4 is the reliable workhorse perfect for routine development tasks, processing massive data dumps without having an existential crisis, and churning out content.

This move comes just weeks after Microsoft already started flirting with Anthropic in Office 365 apps like Word, Excel, and Outlook. At this point.

The slow disentangling between Microsoft and OpenAI continues, and honestly? Competition breeds innovation, so maybe we'll finally get AI assistants that don't hallucinate about things that never happened or confidently give us recipes for concrete smoothies.

Microsoft integrating Anthropic's Claude models into Copilot alongside existing OpenAI models

Business users can choose between AI models - Opus 4.1 for complex tasks, Sonnet 4 for routine work

Another step away from Microsoft-OpenAI exclusivity as competition heats up in enterprise AI space

And that's a wrap, my lovely PoI readers! 💎 I hope this edition left you feeling informed, entertained, and maybe even a little bit richer (in knowledge, of course). From stablecoin infrastructure getting the royal treatment to AI models playing musical chairs at Microsoft, it's been quite the journey through today's tech landscape!

Remember to stay curious, stay informed, and keep spreading the love. Until next time, this is Mochi, signing off with a virtual high-five!

P.S. Don't forget to share your thoughts, questions, and favorite crypto puns with us. very voice matters in the PoI community! 📣❤️ Share the newsletter

🍨📰 Catch you in the next issue! 📰🍨