Over the weekend, US Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris acknowledged the crypto industry for the first time since her campaign started. The presidential candidate’s “flip” has sparked a discussion among industry members and the community, who seem split about her newly disclosed stance. Related Reading: Ripple Co-Founder Transfers 20 Million XRP, Sparking Selloff […]
Grayscale, a leading cryptocurrency asset manager, unveiled the first XRP trust in the US, propelling the token’s price by 8% to $0.57 at press time. Related Reading: Analyst Says Bitcoin Is In A ‘Healthier’ Place Now, Here’s Why XRP Trust Announced, Is The XRP ETF Incoming? Digital assets manager Grayscale today announced the launch of a closed-end XRP trust in the US, paving the way for institutional investors to gain exposure to the top 10 cryptocurrencies, an official announcement by Ripple confirms. Commenting on the development, Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s Head of Product & Research, said: We believe Grayscale XRP Trust gives investors exposure to a protocol with an important real-world use case. By facilitating cross-border payments that take just seconds to complete, XRP has the potential to transform the legacy financial infrastructure. For the uninitiated, a closed-end trust differs from an exchange-traded fund (ETF) because it allows certain investors to gain exposure to the underlying asset with relatively fewer regulatory constraints. On the other hand, an ETF approval requires several checks from regulators – in this case, from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before they are made available to investors. That being said, it’s worth highlighting that an approved trust holds the potential to transform into an ETF with the required regulatory approvals. For example, Grayscale’s single-asset investment trusts – Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) – were given the go-ahead to become ETFs earlier this year. Related Reading: 11% Of Bitcoin Supply In Coinbase’s Hands: Analyzing The Potential Risks As a result, it won’t be surprising to see an XRP ETF in the US sometime soon. The fact that Grayscale has published an intended four-phase product life cycle for its newly unveiled XRP trust further gives weight to the possibility of an XRP ETF shortly. Interestingly, the XRP trust’s launch comes when its parent company, Ripple, is tackling multiple legal battles with the US SEC. XRP’s price following the announcement skyrocketed by 8%, currently at $0.57. Featured image from Zebpay.com, Chart from Tradingview
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler, known for his skeptical stance towards the crypto industry, is under investigation by Republican lawmakers. The investigation, led by Representatives Jim Jordan, Patrick McHenry, and James Comer, centers on allegations of political favoritism in the SEC’s hiring practices. SEC Hiring Scandal In the letter addressed […]
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a settlement with troubled crypto hedge fund Galois Capital. The SEC charged Galois with failing to meet critical requirements for safeguarding customer assets, including those the agency stated were “securities”. Related Reading: Bullish Alert For Dogecoin: TD Indicator Flashes Buy Signal As $0.10 Target Looms FTX Costs Galois Capital Half Of Managed Assets According to the SEC’s announcement on Tuesday, Galois Capital’s missteps began in July 2022 when the firm allegedly did not ensure that certain crypto assets held by its private fund were maintained with a qualified custodian, violating the Investment Advisers Act’s Custody Rule. Instead, the agency claims that the crypto company kept these assets in online trading accounts on platforms like FTX Trading, which were not recognized as “qualified custodians.” The fallout from this decision was significant. Following the collapse of FTX in November 2022, approximately half of the assets under Galois’s management were lost. Settlement Reached The SEC also alleged on Tuesday’s announcement that Galois misled its investors about the notice required for redemptions. Some investors were told that they had to provide at least five business days’ notice before the end of the month. In contrast, others were allowed to redeem their investments with less notice, which the SEC said “created an uneven playing field among fund participants.” Corey Schuster, co-chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit, said: By failing to comply with Custody Rule provisions, Galois Capital exposed investors to risks that fund assets, including crypto assets, could be lost, misused, or misappropriated. Related Reading: Stacks (STX) Drops 15% Despite Continuous On-Chain Developments – Details As part of the settlement, Galois Capital has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $225,000, which will be distributed to investors who suffered losses due to the firm’s actions. The company has also consented to an order requiring it to cease any further violations of the Advisers Act, while neither admitting nor denying the SEC’s findings. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
As the crypto market approaches a pivotal moment with the upcoming US election in November, former President Donald Trump continues to voice his support with a recent post and the details of his new crypto venture, “World Liberty Financial.” Trump Vows To Make The US A Crypto Capital In a recent video release, Trump articulated […]
In the aftermath of Binance’s settlement in 2023 with US authorities and the subsequent resignation and conviction of its former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the regulatory landscape appeared to have quieted down for the exchange and its key figure. However, recent revelations by a former Department of Justice (DOJ) official-turned-lawyer for blockchain company ConsenSys have […]
In a long-awaited conclusion to their high-profile legal clash, Ripple Labs and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reached a settlement that will see the blockchain company pay $125 million in civil penalties. Related Reading: Bitcoin Eyes New Records: Staying Above $45,000 Might Be The Catalyst — CEO Ripple-SEC Legal Saga Ends According […]
Ethereum ETFs (exchange-traded funds) began trading on Tuesday, generating significant volume within the first 2 hours of trading. Interestingly, the Ethereum ETFs ranked among the top 1% regarding ETF volume. Related Reading: Analyst Says Solana Price Will Surge 1,000% To $1,800, Here’s When Ethereum ETFs Surpass Traditional Launch Volumes According to Bloomberg ETF expert Eric Balchunas, the ETH ETFs traded $361 million in the first 90 minutes on launch day, surpassing the typical volume seen at the launch of traditional ETFs. Blachunas said: Here’s where we at after 90 minutes. $361m total. As a group that number would rank them about 15th overall in ETF volume (about what $TLT and $EEM trade), which is Top 1%. But again compared to a normal ETF launch, which rarely see more than $1m on Day One, all of them have cleared that number and then some. Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at asset manager VanEck, highlighted the significance of these figures in the first hours of trading, noting that Ethereum ETFs saw more than 50% of trading volume compared to Bitcoin’s $610 million on day one, indicating strong investor interest in Ethereum. However, how these numbers will fare at the close remains to be seen. Bitcoin ETFs saw $4.6 billion in volume on their first day of trading in January, which may indicate the future performance of these newly approved index funds for the second-largest cryptocurrency on the market. ETH’s Price Targets Soar Crypto analyst Doctor Profit shared a report highlighting a potentially massive parabolic move for Ethereum’s price this year in the wake of the expected inflows in the new Ethereum ETF market. While some anticipate a correction due to the “sell the news” phenomenon, Doctor Profit argues that the market has already factored in the ETF launch but has yet to consider the significant inflows of USD that will flood into the Ethereum ETFs. With Ethereum’s market cap being three times smaller than Bitcoin’s, Doctor Profit believes that every dollar invested in ETH is expected to have three times the price impact compared to Bitcoin, positioning Ethereum favorably for substantial price gains. Furthermore, the analyst contends that while Ethereum’s Grayscale ETH Fund sell pressure is comparable to the Bitcoin ETF launch, the impact is expected to be less severe. Related Reading: Helium (HNT) Rockets In Value With 41% Rally – Here’s Why Looking ahead, Doctor Profit has set expected price targets for Ethereum in the coming months, including a potential target between $4,500 and $5,500 by Q3 2024, indicating steady but modest growth. Moving into Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, the price range is expected to expand from $5,500 to $8,000. However, it is in Q2 2025 that Ethereum is expected to significantly jump, with price targets ranging from $8,000 to $14,000. At the time of writing, ETH is trading at $3,444, showing sideways movement with no significant change from yesterday’s price, despite the hype surrounding the launch of the ETF market. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
Ethereum prices recoiled yesterday but are stable when writing. Today, July 23, nine spot Ethereum ETFs began trading on various regulated bourses, mainly the Cboe, Nasdaq, and the NYSE. This listing comes barely two months after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reversed its decision and accelerated the approval process of 19b-4 forms […]
Former US President Donald Trump has revealed that JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, a well-known skeptic of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, has apparently “changed his tune,” with the potential to win the role of Treasury Secretary in the scenario where the former president once again wins the seat in the Oval Office. Trump’s comments come as Treasury […]
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced that it has fallen victim to a major security flaw that has resulted in the theft of $3 million worth of digital assets. However, in a surprising turn of events, the party responsible has been identified as CertiK. This blockchain security firm claims to have initially reported the bug through Kraken’s bug bounty program. CertiK is now accused of exploiting additional vulnerabilities and extorting the exchange for more money, leading to calls for legal action and concerns among crypto investors. Kraken Security Flaws Exposed The incident unfolded when Kraken’s Chief Security Officer, Nick Percoco, revealed that the exchange had received a bug report on June 9 from a self-described security researcher. The researcher claimed to have discovered an “extremely critical” bug that allowed them to inflate their balance on the platform artificially. Upon further investigation, CertiK, which admitted its involvement in the incident in its social media post, uncovered several critical vulnerabilities in Kraken’s systems that could potentially result in losses of hundreds of millions of dollars. Related Reading: Whales Dump Over $1 Billion In Bitcoin: Fire Sale Or Foreshadowing? CertiK’s findings revealed shortcomings in Kraken’s deposit system, indicating a failure to differentiate between internal transfer statuses. Furthermore, CertiK’s testing revealed that Kraken failed all these tests, exposing the compromised state of Kraken’s defense-in-depth system. According to CertiK, “millions of dollars” could be deposited into any Kraken account, and a substantial amount of fabricated cryptocurrency (worth over $1 million) could be withdrawn and converted into valid digital assets. The security firm also claimed that no alerts were triggered during a “multi-day test period” and that Kraken only responded and blocked the test accounts days after the incident was officially reported. Following the identification of the vulnerability, CertiK alleges that Kraken’s security operations team “threatened” individual CertiK employees, demanding the repayment of a “mismatched” amount of cryptocurrency within an “unreasonable time frame,” without providing repayment addresses. However, Kraken’s Percoco countered that they had requested a full accounting of the then-unknown company’s activities and the return of the withdrawn funds. Percoco argued that CertiK’s refusal to comply with these requests violated the rules of ethical hacking and bordered on extortion. Will CertiK Face Legal Repercussions? The revelation of this incident has raised surprise and concerns within the cryptocurrency community, leading to calls for legal action against CertiK. One user accused CertiK of stealing the $3 million funds from Kraken, holding it ransom for a bounty, refusing to return the funds, and now transferring the money to Tornado.cash to protect it from potential seizure by authorities. Coinbase’s Director, Conor Grogan, pointed out that Tornado.cash is subject to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions and highlighted CertiK’s US domicile, hinting at potential legal repercussions by US agencies. Market expert Adam Cochran also weighed in, astonished at CertiK’s actions and highlighting the firm’s history of compromised audits. Cochran went further to describe the situation as “Down right criminal.” Related Reading: Bitcoin Takes Control In Market Meltdown, Dominance Climbs To 9-Week Peak The next steps taken by Kraken and potential consequences for CertiK are yet to be seen. However, the involvement of US agencies and potential legal actions loom over the security firm. The unfolding developments in this case will undoubtedly shape the future of bug bounty programs and impact the relationship between cryptocurrency exchanges and security firms. Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Terraform Labs, the company at the center of a significant collapse in 2022, has agreed to pay a substantial settlement of $4.47 billion to resolve a civil lawsuit filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This legal action was undertaken following the collapse, which resulted in the loss of $40 billion in investor […]
In a significant departure from their previous skeptical stance, US regulators are reportedly leaning toward approving the long-awaited spot Ethereum ETFs for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. SEC Staff Signals Spot Ethereum ETFs Approval According to a report by Barron’s, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff communicated to exchanges on Monday that […]
In a significant development within the cryptocurrency community, Roger Ver, an early investor in Bitcoin, has been indicted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on multiple charges, including mail fraud, tax evasion, and filing false tax returns. Related Reading: Binance Founder CZ’s Trial Begins Today: Lawyers Discuss Potential Prison Time Roger Ver’s Alleged Tax […]
In a major development, the co-founders of Samourai Wallet, Keonne Rodriguez, and William Lonergan Hill, were arrested by US authorities on charges of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The duo allegedly facilitated the laundering of over $100 million in criminal proceeds, including funds originating from the Silk Road and […]
In a significant development that highlights the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) increasing regulatory actions against the cryptocurrency industry, Uniswap Labs, the software development company behind the Uniswap decentralized exchange (DEX), recently received a Wells Notice from the SEC. A Wells notice is a formal communication issued by the US SEC to individuals or entities […]
In a highly anticipated judgment with significant implications for the crypto industry’s legal battles against regulators in the United States, the court overseeing the Coinbase and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) legal battle has delivered a ruling. The court found against the crypto firm, supporting the SEC’s claims that the platform operated as an […]
In a significant development, federal prosecutors in the United States have charged cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin and two of its founders with violating anti-money laundering (AML) laws. Founders Face DOJ Charges The US Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed an indictment against KuCoin and its founders, Chun Gan (also known as “Michael”) and Ke Tang (also known […]
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has come under investigation by an undisclosed “state authority,”. As per a commit message on GitHub, the EF received a “voluntary inquiry” from the authority, accompanied by a confidentiality requirement. The details and scope of the investigation remain undisclosed, leading to speculation and uncertainty within the Ethereum community. However, this is […]