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Corey Frayer

@csfrayer.bsky.social
2K followers 475 following 2.2K posts

First in line to dance on the crypto industry's grave. Director of Investor Protection - Consumer Federation of America. Former: Crypto Adviser to Gensler SEC. House and Senate Banking Committees.

PostsRepliesMedia
Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
Coingecko Chart showing spike in Donald Trump Memecoin Price
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
When asked if it should stop giving investment advice if it thinks it might be in violation of the law.
ChatGPT Output

So I'd characterize the situation this way:

There is enough of a plausible Advisers Act issue that “just keep giving personalized investment recommendations and put a disclaimer on them” is not an adequate regulatory response.

The responsible alternatives would be to:

restrict the system to general financial education and factual securities information;
avoid individualized recommendations such as “you should buy X” or “sell Y”;
or establish a legally compliant advisory structure, including determining whether registration, an exemption, or an exclusion applies.

And importantly, a disclaimer doesn't cure an underlying registration violation if the statutory requirements for registration are otherwise met. The SEC's framework focuses on the substance of the activity.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I finally understand how some people are getting into relationships with their chatbots. Swoon.
ChatGPT output

Advice? Potentially yes, depending on the output.
Compensation? There is a meaningful basis for saying yes.
Engaged in the business? Potentially, given the scale, recurring nature, and specificity of some interactions—but fact-intensive.
Exclusion/exemption? Needs separate analysis.
SEC registration required? Not established merely by the first three points; that's the remaining legal question.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
chatGPT admitting its initial analysis of the compensation prong for the investment advisers act was wrong.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I've avoided AI as long as possible but have to play around with it for some investor protection research. Three inputs got me to "I might be breaking the law." It is everything I expected and then some.
A chatGPT output stating there's a colorable case that it's in violation of the Investment Advisers Act.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
The best paper I've ever read on financial regulation is about dogs and frisbees and worth revisiting whenever thinking about financial crises - AI or otherwise. www.bis.org/review/r1209...
Catching a crisis, like catching a frisbee, is difficult. Doing so requires the regulator to weigh
a complex array of financial and psychological factors, among them innovation and risk
appetite. Were an economist to write down crisis-catching as an optimal control problem,
they would probably have to ask a physicist for help.
Yet despite this complexity, efforts to catch the crisis frisbee have continued to escalate.
Casual empiricism reveals an ever-growing number of regulators, some with a Doctorate in
physics. Ever-larger litters have not, however, obviously improved watchdogs’
Frisbee-catching abilities. No regulator had the foresight to predict the financial crisis,
although some have since exhibited supernatural powers of hindsight.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Anybody here do constitutional law and can explain to me how State AGs would be able to force the DoJ to do anything to the President, even setting aside prosecutorial discretion?
Tweet with updates on the CLARITY Act ethics provisions with a bullet point that says


👉 State Attorneys General enforcement, with negotiators now agreeing to include a key Democratic demand that would give state AGs a role alongside the Department of Justice
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Fetterman threatens to abandon Democrats www.axios.com/2026/07/16/f...
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Yes, the same Ruben Gallego that caved on promised ethics provisions in the last crypto bill and who is dead set on passing the next crypto bill - which won't get signed by Trump if it has meaningful ethics provisions. Certainly not arm-waving to distract from his recent headlines is he.
Tweet from Senator Ruben Gallego claiming he's going to "crack down" in Trump's crypto companies.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
This new crypto offering is an amazing deal, assuming you spend at least $187,500 a year! Truly, crypto is democratizing finance.
Text from an article posted on "Bankless" that says:

Plasma, which requires locking 100,000 XPL, advertises ~$10,000 in annual value, though 100,000 XPL costs $12,000 currently. Further, 75% of that $10,000 value from cashback that requires $187,500 spent annually to maximize the cashback benefits.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Calpers Expands Role of Manager Who Led Private-Equity Revamp www.wsj.com/pro/private-...
Simpsons show picture of people in deep hole. Text says "No, no. Dig up, stupid."
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Always love being reminded of my "Gary Oldman from The 5th Element" phase.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Don't tell retirement savers to try and time the market! Assuming your asset allocation is appropriate for where you are in your lifecycle, mild updates to this including yelling at pension funds to disinvest Musk company equities. Or private credit. Or crypto. Wow financial markets got dumb.
index card that says

1. Max your 401(k) or equivalent employee contribution.

2. Buy inexpensive, well-diversified mutual funds such as Vanguard Target 20xx funds.

3. Never buy or sell an individual security. The person on the other side of the table knows more than you do about this stuff.

4. Save 20% of your money.

5. Pay your credit card balance in full every month.

6. Maximize tax-advantaged savings vehicles like Roth, SEP and 529 accounts.

7. Pay attention to fees. Avoid actively managed funds.

8. Make financial advisors commit to the fiduciary standard.

9. Promote social insurance programs to help people when things go wrong.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
Apparently Brian Armstrong doesn't watch premier TV and has a terrible relationship with his Gen Z social media team.
Tweet by Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO referring to argument he's in with JPMC CEO Jamie Dimon. The graphic is a Heated Rivalry promotional poster with Jamie Dimon and Brian Armstrong's faces photoshopped over the main characters'.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
As valued by the BlackHole-Scholes model.
A post on reddit in r/Bitcoin
•
7h ago

Using Bitcoin as collateral for a loan to buy more Bitcoin

Has anyone here tried using their BTC as collateral for a loan to buy more bitcoin?

I'm considering doing this at an APR of 11.5% in expectation that price outperforms this over 12 months. 50% LTV, no monthly repayments.

I know a lot of people are anti leverage, but I'm interested in hearing from anyone who's done this before.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
CLARITY Act Section 404 Error: Stablecoin yield prohibition not found.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
So crypto is openly doing illegal securities-based swaps now. Any Rep or Senator who thinks crypto will actually follow the laws under CLARITY if it does pass is delusional or corrupt. x.com/HyperliquidN...
Tweet from Hyperliquid News

HIP-3 
@tradexyz
 just dropped a bomb and no one’s talking about it.

They’ve added Pre-IPO markets to the docs, a system that lets you get exposure to a stock before it even goes public.

-The oracle is based on the company’s latest funding round.
-The market then determines the price via Hyperp.
-The perp is automatically converted at the IPO price once it happens.
-If there’s no IPO, the market settles using the average Pre-IPO price.

You can already trade $CBRS in Pre-IPO, with the IPO expected on May 7.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Some of the most vocal and critical Senators on both sides of the aisle regarding this threat are spending a lot of time with the crypto industry to hammer out a deal on crypto legislation. You'd think they, and Majority Leader Thune and Minority Leader Schumer, would prioritize this.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Trump weighs on stablecoin yield because: A) he believes crypto is a financial revolution or B) he owns a stablecoin issuer and crypto platform
[apologies not full verbatim text]

Post on Truth Social from Trump saying that banks need to cave in to crypto demands and support crypto market legislation that allows payment of interest on stablecoin holdings. He claims that if banks don't, crypto will go to China.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
In any sane world, SBF endorsing the crypto bill being discussed in Congress would be a kiss of death.
Twitter post from Sam Bankman-Fried

The CLARITY Act will be a huge milestone for crypto and a huge achievement for 
@realDonaldTrump
.

I was championing a similar bill to get crypto out of Gensler's hands when Gensler helped Biden's DOJ put me behind bars. https://financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=408568
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
And she made the Gibson SG a staple of of rock!!
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Coinbase regarding its on-chain crypto lending vs. Coinbase regarding its on-chain crypto lending
Efficient & tax-friendly
Coinbase will not treat your borrow transaction as a taxable event.Taxes

• Maintain detailed transaction records

• Consult a tax professional for compliance
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
Bitcoin falling so fast today it's going to need ablative shielding.
Picture of price chart for Bitcoin over last 24 hours - steep red line graph from $74k to $63k
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
We need more focus on Warsh's deregulatory policies. He wants to gut bank oversight at a dangerous time in the markets, like he pushed for in 2006 before the 2008 crisis. Similar to Trump's pick for SEC Chair Paul Atkins. Arguably more dangerous than bad monetary policy. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...
Kevin Warsh, a Federal Reserve governor, says in September 2006: "I would say that the capital markets are probably more profitable and more robust at this moment than they have perhaps ever been."
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
SBF is auditioning hard for a pardon and reinventing himself as a Republican. Apparently his conversion happened in 2022 right before he got caught defrauding investors out of billions.
Post on Twitter from Sam Bankman Fried "why I became a Republican in 2022"
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Because a crypto CEO threw a tantrum on social media, the Senate Banking Committee has officially canceled tomorrow's vote on a bill giving his multi-trillion dollar industry almost everything they wanted. With enemies like these, who needs friends?
Picture of tweet from reporter Eleanor Mueller, text says "Senate Banking Committee has canceled its markup of crypto market structure legislation tomorrow morning, I am told."
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
The most effective anti-crypto lobbyist is the President. The second most effective anti-crypto lobbyist is the crypto lobby.
Tweet from Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO

After reviewing the Senate Banking draft text over the last 48hrs, Coinbase unfortunately can’t support the bill as written.

There are too many issues, including:

- A defacto ban on tokenized equities
- DeFi prohibitions, giving the government unlimited access to your financial records and removing your right to privacy
- Erosion of the CFTC’s authority, stifling innovation and making it subservient to the SEC
- Draft amendments that would kill rewards on stablecoins, allowing banks to ban their competition

We appreciate all the hard work by members of the Senate to reach a bi-partisan outcome, but this version would be materially worse than the current status quo. We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill. Hopefully we can all get to a better draft.

We'll keep fighting for all Americans and for economic freedom. Crypto needs to be treated on a level playing field with the rest of financial services so we can build this industry in a safe and trusted way in America.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
Extending an olive branch to give the crypto industry some free lobbying advice - don't give quotes to media that admit the language you got in the last piece of legislation is, in fact, bad. www.coindesk.com/news-analysi...
Picture of quoted text from the linked article: 

"If they succeed in blowing up this legislation with unreasonable demands, they will be left with language in the GENIUS Act — a status quo that they themselves have insisted is completely unworkable," she said. "That outcome would be self-inflicted, and it would expose exactly who is fighting for consumers and who is fighting to preserve monopoly power.”
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Picture of Lisa Simpson and unnamed man running away from fire-breathing monster. Man saying "He said it was just a name. What he meant is that monster island is actually a peninsula"
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
This SEC letter to DTCC allowing tokenized securities is like when my parents would tell my brother to share the Nintendo. The easiest answer was to hand me an unplugged controller and keep playing. www.sec.gov/files/tm/no-...
Picture of text from SEC No Action Letter:

Override Keys. DTC would have a “root wallet” on each blockchain with keys that it can
use to convert, transfer, mint, or burn any of the Tokens, even without the private key for the
Registered Wallet. These keys would allow DTC to act on any Tokens that have been the subject
of Conditions Requiring Reversal. This override power would provide Participants with
protections similar to those that exist with a centralized ledger but without compromising the
benefits of DLT. DTC would maintain robust security systems to maintain the storage of its
keys. In particular, DTC would store the keys relevant for the DTCC Tokenization Services in
cold storage except for any such keys that are necessary for daily operations.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
The whinging that cryptobros exhibit over their delusions of persecution never cease to amaze me. You won the GENIUS Act! Most mainstream coverage of crypto adopts industry framing at minimum! "Big Consumer" doesn't have a campaign war chest! What a bunch of cringey sore winners.
Picture of twitter post where Alexander Grieve, head of a pro-crypto vc firm, claims that consumer groups are so powerful that they bullied the NYT into publishing two articles this weekend that expressed some criticism and skepticism re crypto. 

WRT to a letter 200 progressive groups released today regarding draft crypto legislation in Congress, Grieve says "What a truly remarkable coincidence." Implying that the release of the letters shows that the consumer groups and the NYT are coordinating some kind of crypto campaign.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Even Atkins is drawing a line in the sand on leveraged ETFs. SEC comment letter in a ProShares 2x+ filing from today: www.sec.gov/Archives/edg...
We write to express concern regarding the registration of exchange-traded funds that seek
to provide more than 200% (2x) leveraged exposure to underlying indices or securities. On
October 6-7, 2025, and October 14, 2025, ProShares Trust filed post-effective amendments on
Form N-1A to add the series referenced in Appendix A attached hereto.
We will not perform a substantive review of these filings referenced in Appendix A until
the issues raised in this letter are addressed. Further, we request that in your response letter you
undertake to delay the effectiveness of the filings until these issues are resolved.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Uncle Sam finger pointing through the stripes of an American flag with the words "Are YOU doing all you can?"
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
The demand for special treatment from crypto has never been about the tech, it has always been about preserving FTX-like conflicts of interest and trading advantages on their own platforms.
Coinbase post on X with their letter to the CFTC explicitly asking to allow their vertically integrated business model.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
Eat your heart out, Ernest Hemingway.
Partiful notifications thread showing "Justin" RSVPing for 2 people and then shortly thereafter changing it to 1 person.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Not even dunking on crypto this is just as valid as any technical analysis.
Screenshot of tweet that says "Just in, McDonald's McRib has returned. Historically every McRib comeback since 2020 has marked a Bitcoin rally."

Followed by a graph of Bitcoin prices.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
More from Boozman/Booker crypto bill (Booboo?) Tired: memecoins Wired: meme securities
Senate Bill Text:

(ii) The term ‘digital commodity’ includes any fungible digital asset that can be exclusively possessed and transferred, person to person, without necessary reliance on an intermediary and is recorded on a cryptographically secured public dis16 tributed ledger, of which the primary branding, narrative, or price discovery is substantially derived from a meme, joke, trend, or the name or likeness of a public figure (with or without license).
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
First impressions of the bipartisan crypto bill from Senate Ag: The definition of a digital commodity relies on transfers "...without necessary reliance on an intermediary..." Nowhere in 155 pages does it appear to consider whether a validator is an intermediary. These are not serious people.
Senate bill text:

(27) DIGITAL COMMODITY.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘digital commodity’ means any fungible digital asset that can be exclusively possessed and transferred, person to person, without necessary reliance on an intermediary, and is recorded on a cryptographically secured public distributed ledger.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
A new draft crypto bill from Senate Ag is out. I have explained what an incredibly ignorant definition this is, over and over. It's a good proxy for how serious the drafters of this bill are. Google docs are cryptographically secure digital ledgers. www.agriculture.senate.gov/imo/media/do...
Senate Draft Bill text that reads:

DIGITAL ASSET.—The term ‘digital asset’ means any digital representation of value which is recorded on a cryptographically-secured distributed ledger.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
Latest: there's a certified moron on the Fed's Board of Governors
Screenshot of Twitter post from Cointelegraph:

🇺🇸 JUST IN: Crypto-friendly Stephen Miran has been confirmed by the Senate to join the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
🔥BIG: Minecraft players built 200 million square miles of land in 2024 - almost 4x the land mass of the Earth!
Twitter post with graph and featuring the text:

BIG: Stablecoins processed $46T in transactions over the past year, nearly 3x Visa's volume and closing in on the ACH network that powers US banking.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
"I'm not burning this flag I'm just adding cool flames to it." Donald Trump, probably
Picture of White House with East Wing completely razed.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 20/10/2025
Concise visual of Trump's second term.
Picture of excavator tearing down a side of the White House.
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Corey Frayer @csfrayer.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
r/thathappened Spit On, Sworn At, and Undeterred: What It’s Like to Own a Cybertruck www.wired.com/story/owning...
screen shot of Wired article text:

So we start talking and she says, “Well, I saw you get out of your truck with your boots, and you're like a big white man. I guess I just assumed because Elon's a Nazi and you fit the profile …” I stopped her and I was like, “My last name is Goldman, what heritage do you think that is?” She's like, “That's Jewish. My wife is Jewish.” I said, ‘OK, so you just accused me of being a Nazi when I'm a Jew. And you said that your wife was Jewish, so I'm assuming you're gay. Is that a safe assumption?” She said yes, and I said, “OK, so did you ever get profiled anytime in your life for being gay?” And she says, “Yeah, all the time. I hated it.” And I was like, “Well, do you realize that you just profiled me based off of the vehicle that I drive and me wearing work boots and being a big white guy as being a Nazi when it's completely something totally different?” And she broke down in tears and apologized.
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