Crypto Weekly 9/15/24
A weekly summary of the latest crypto news...
Crypto weekly is co-authored by @serdave
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($2.2T): +8% / +23%
- BTC ($59,839): +10% / +41%
- ETH ($2,382): +5% / +4%
- SOL ($133): +3% / +30%
- UNI ($6.69): +6% / -8%
- POL* ($0.40): +6% / -59%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($119B): +1% / +30%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($35.7B): +2% / +46%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 54% / 13%
*ex-MATIC
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- The SEC said it “regrets” referring to crypto tokens themselves as securities, according to a filing in its case against Binance. Link. Filing (pg. 24, footnote 6).
- A recent enforcement action indicates the SEC no longer considers ethereum to be a security. Crypto trading platform eToro agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine for operating as an unregistered trading platform, and will cease trading on all cryptoassets except for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, and ether. Link. Link.
- Decentralized prediction market Polymarket has received nearly $900 million in bets for the winner of the US 2024 presidential election. Link.
- Crypto social network Friend.tech shut down just a year after launching. The startup had raised capital from Paradigm and generated over $90 million in fees since launch. Link.
- Top memecoins are down 63% YTD on average. Link.
- A federal judge restricted the CFTC’s oversight of electoral betting markets, potentially opening the door for prediction markets such as Polymarket to operate in the US. Link. Link.
- The UK government introduced a bill that would give digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and NFTs the legal protections of “personal property”. Link. Link.
- Russia’s central bank announced the country’s largest banks and businesses would need to be able to support many digital ruble operations including transfers of money, by July 1, 2025. Link. Press Release.
- Singapore saw $1 billion of stablecoin volumes in Q2 according to a new report from Chainalysis, with $161 million coming from merchant transactions. Link. Report.
- Visa released a dashboard for monitoring stablecoin volumes and transactions. Link.
- Financial messaging network Swift is piloting support for stablecoins and crypto assets. Link. Tweet.
- Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried requested a new trial, claiming the federal judge overseeing his original trial was biased and prevented him from mounting a proper defense. SBF is currently serving a 25 year prison year sentence for his role in the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in 2022. Link. Link.
- Enterprise software maker MicroStrategy purchased 18,300 Bitcoin for around $1.11 billion, bringing its total bitcoin holdings to $14 billion and roughly 1% of current bitcoin supply. Link.
- Utah-based tZero became the second firm after Prometheum to receive a special-purpose broker-dealer license from the SEC and FINRA to custody and trade digital assets. Link.
- Three major Japanese banks will trial a cross-border stablecoin transfer platform, aimed at offering faster international settlement for enterprises. Link.
- PayPal and Venmo users can now use ENS names (like “xyz.eth”) to transfer crypto assets. Link. Link.
- The House Financial Services Committee held its first ever DeFi hearing, with Republicans praising its potential and Democrats raising concerns about its role in illicit finance. Link. Hearing Video.
- The FBI reported a 45% uptick in fraud losses related to crypto from 2022 to 2023. Link. Report.
- CryptoPunk #2386, one of 24 with the ape trait valued at 600 ETH, was acquired for just 10 ETH due to a buyout triggered through a now-defunct fractionalization platform. Link.
- US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris faced off in their first debate but neither candidate mentioned crypto. The official Democratic Party platform also makes no mention of blockchain while the Republican Party platform has multiple proposed policies for the industry. Link. Link.
- Stablecoin volumes on ethereum hit a new high of $1.46 trillion, led by DAI with $960B of volume. PayPal’s PYUSD grew from $500 million to $2.4 billion. Link.
- Ethereum Foundation researcher Danny Ryan is stepping away from the blockchain after seven years of contributions. Ryan served as lead coordinator for Ethereum’s shift to proof-of-stake. Link. Announcement.
- Representative John Rose introduced the BRIDGE Digital Assets Act, a joint committee between the SEC and CFTC to provide a regulatory landscape for digital assets. Link. Link. Draft Bill.
- Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, is seeking a sentence of time served for her role in FTX's collapse, citing her cooperation with the government and the FTX bankruptcy team. Ellison, who testified against Sam Bankman-Fried and pleaded guilty to fraud, will be sentenced on September 24. Link. Filing.