Coinbase, the “largest cryptocurrency exchange” in the U.S., revealed on Wednesday that SEC officials are threatening to sue it “over a proposed financial product that would let customers earn interest on digital asset deposits” based on concerns that the product (dubbed “Lend”) could violate securities laws - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and TechCrunch and Law360

Your opening statements-day dispatch from the hotly anticipated trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who (along with onetime “business and romantic partner” Ramesh Balwani) faces criminal fraud charges related to their work at the ill-fated blood testing company - NYTimes and WSJ and Bloomberg and Law360

NY Fed President John Williams gave the central bank some cover in the event that it starts to taper its massive bond-buying efforts “even if the job market grows at a lackluster pace in coming months.” Williams’ discussion of tapering comes in the broader context of the Federal Reserve trying to find a goldilocks solution to managing easing its extraordinary stimulus measures without disrupting markets or its twin mandates of max employment and 2% average inflation - NYTimes and MarketWatch

A day after El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as a national currency went sideways and sent its value plummeting, the cryptocurrency found its footing and pared some of Tuesday’s losses - WSJ and Bloomberg

This week’s launch of the Whoop fitness tracker is notable not only for its related products (that include tracking strips “stitched into the fabric of clothes”) but for its Sila-built battery, which “provides 17 percent greater power density” than the battery used in an earlier tracker iteration—an important development with broad applications as “all aspects of life . . . become more electrified” - NYTimes

Despite the surging Delta variant, U.S. job openings hit a new record of nearly 10.9 million in July, up 700k from an “upwardly revised 10.2 million in June.” Actual hiring, however, is more of a mixed bag - Bloomberg and Marketplace

A Delaware Chancery Vice Chancellor decided  this week that Boeing’s board “must face a shareholder lawsuit claiming directors failed to properly monitor safety matters before two 737 MAX jets crashed” and then “’publicly lied’ about their oversight of management,” a major blow to the company, which had sought to dismiss the case in its earliest stages - WSJ

Drugmaker Perrigo announced plans to acquire health product and drug company Hera for $2.1 billion “in a merger that would help cement Perrigo’s shift to focus on nonprescription drugs” - WSJ

Getting a bit philosophical—Covid style—about what it means to work at a job when you never actually met anyone there in person - NYTimes

Stay safe, and get vaxxed,

MDR