<p><i>Episode 18</i><b><i> </i></b><i>of Season 5 of The Scoop was recorded remotely with <strong>The Block's Frank Chaparro and Kraken's Chief Legal Officer Marco Santori.</strong></i></p> <p><i>Listen below, and subscribe to The Scoop on </i><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-scoop/id1460134454"><i>Apple</i></a><i>, </i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7qwrgTJ5CYDXAaVILNZuEd"><i>Spotify</i></a><i>, </i><a href="https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vdGhlYmxvY2stdGhlc2Nvb3A?sa=X&amp;ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwionbSO9fbxAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg"><i>Google Podcasts</i></a><i>, </i><a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-block-2/the-scoop-4"><i>Stitcher</i></a>,<i> or wherever you listen to podcasts. Feedback and revision requests can be sent to podcast@theblockcrypto.com.</i></p> <p><iframe frameborder="0" height="200" src="https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=BLOCK2547145245" width="100%"></iframe></p> <hr /> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Marco Santori is the Chief Legal Officer for Kraken — the crypto exchange recently </span><a href="https://www.theblock.co/post/210408/secs-targeting-of-kraken-staking-program-sends-shockwaves-through-industry"><span style="font-weight: 400;">charged</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> by the SEC for failing to register the offer and sale of its "crypto asset staking as-a-service program" in the U.S.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode, Santori explains how recent regulatory actions in the U.S. have caused banks to become hesitant to accept crypto companies as new clients, and how this favors 'incumbent' crypto players in the U.S., such as Coinbase and Kraken.</span></p> <p><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">During this episode, Chaparro and Santori also discuss:</span></i></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">'Operation Choke Point 2.0'</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Kraken's efforts to establish a bank</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style="font-weight: 400;">How regulators view DeFi</span></li> </ul> <hr /> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>This episode is brought to you by our sponsors <i><a href="https://www.circle.com/">Circle</a>, <a href="https://railgun.app.link/thescoop">Railgun</a>, <a href="https://flare.network/?utm_source=TDE&amp;utm_medium=Podcast&amp;utm_campaign=TheBlock">Flare Network</a></i><em><br /> </em></b><strong><br /> About Circle<br /> </strong><em>Circle is a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed. Our mission is to raise global economic prosperity through the frictionless exchange of value. Visit <a href="https://www.circle.com/">Circle.com</a> to learn more.</em></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>About Railgun<br /> </strong><em>Railgun is a private DeFi solution on Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum and Polygon. Shield any ERC-20 token and any NFT into a Private Balance and let Railgun’s zero-knowledge cryptography encrypt your address, balance and transaction history. You can also bring privacy to your project with Railgun SDK, and be sure to check out Railgun with partner project <a href="https://railway.app.link/thescoop">Railway Wallet</a>, also available on iOS and Android. Visit <a href="https://railgun.app.link/thescoop">Railgun.org</a> to find out more.<br /> </em></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: georgia, palatino, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>About Flare<br /> </strong><em>Flare is an EVM-based Layer 1 blockchain designed to allow developers to build applications that can use data from other blockchains and the internet. By providing decentralized access to a wide variety of high-integrity data from other blockchains and the internet, Flare enables new use cases and monetization models. Build better and connect everything at <a href="https://flare.network/?utm_source=TDE&amp;utm_medium=Podcast&amp;utm_campaign=TheBlock">Flare.Network</a>.</em></span></p><br /><span class="copyright"><p>© 2023 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.</p> </span>