Crypto Weekly 9/2/2023
A weekly summary of the latest crypto news...
Crypto weekly is co-authored by @serdave
PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- BTC ($25,956): -1% / +57%
- ETH ($1,635): -1% / +37%
- SOL ($19.85): -4% / +104%
- UNI ($4.44): -5% / -14%
- MATIC ($0.55): -2% / -28%
MARKET CAP CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($1.04T): -1% / +31%
- BTC Dominance: 48%
- ETH Dominance: 19%
- Tether ($83B): 0% / +25%
- USDC ($26B): +1% / -41%
NFT 3M TRADING VOLUMES
THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- An appeals court ruled that the SEC was wrong to reject Grayscale’s application for a bitcoin spot ETF, citing the fact that the agency had previously approved bitcoin future ETFs. Link. Link. Link. Link. Ruling.
- Shares of Grayscale’s Bitcoin trust jumped 17% following its court victory over the SEC, narrowing its discount to bitcoin spot prices to around 18%. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust holds over 3.4% of all bitcoin, worth over $17 billion. The court’s decision creates a pathway for the trust to convert to an ETF. Link. Link.
- Ethereum NFTs saw $407 million trading volume in August, the lowest in 2 years. Link.
- The SEC delayed making a decision on approving bitcoin spot ETF applications from groups like Invesco and Bitwise, despite a federal appeals court overturning the agency’s rejection of Grayscale’s application to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF. Link. Link. Filing.
- Republican lawmakers claim recent guidance from the Federal Reserve effectively prevents banks from issuing stablecoins and undermines progress being made on a new stablecoin bill. Link. Letter to Fed Chair. Federal Reserve Guidance.
- A federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit against decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap. The plaintiffs in the case allege they had lost money on scam tokens that were purchased through Uniswap. The judge compared the claims to “hold[ing] an application like Venmo or Zelle liable for a drug deal that used the platform to facilitate a fund transfer”. Link. Link. Ruling.
- Crypto asset firms in the UK will have to collect information on cryptoasset transfers to and from the UK, and create a means to delay, reject or block transfers that are noncompliant with AML and KYC regulations. Link.
- Ripple asked a federal judge to deny the SEC’s request to appeal a ruling that cryptocurrency is not a security when sold to the public on exchanges. The SEC had requested an appeal based on the ruling’s implications in other enforcement actions brought by the agency. Link. Filing.
- Global financial network Swift successfully completed a digital assets pilot with Chainlink that tested interoperability between traditional financial institutions like Citi and BNY Mellon and blockchain networks. Link. Link.
- Online brokerage Robinhood and market maker Jump Crypto ended their partnership. Jump Crypto has reportedly been pulling back from the US amid the government’s crackdown on crypto and allegations that the firm made more than $1 billion in May 2021 when TerraUSD depegged from the US dollar. Link.
- Crypto exchange Coinbase is adding support for PayPal’s recently launched stablecoin, PYUSD. Link. Tweet.
- Elon Musk denied that X (formerly Twitter) would be launching a native cryptocurrency. X was recently approved for money transmitter licenses, fueling speculation that the platform could begin supporting crypto payments. Link. Musk Tweet.
- Robinhood spent $606 million to buy back 7% of its outstanding shares which it had sold to Sam Bankman-Fried in May 2022. Link. Link.
- Crypto startups received $500 million in venture funding in August, the lowest in two years. Link.
- The SEC brought its first enforcement action against an NFT project for selling unregistered securities. Impact Theory had raised around $30 million from its NFT sales and agreed to pay more than $6.1 million in penalties and turn off royalties on secondary sales. Link. Link. Press Release.
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin sold his stake in MakerDAO, worth roughly $580,000, after MakerDAO CEO outlined long-term plans to relaunch the project on a fork of the Solana blockchain. Link. Blog Post.
- Yuga Labs is launching an open beta test for its Legends of the Mara game experience in September. Link.
- Disney is releasing a 15-piece NFT collection called “Micky and Friends” with web3 startup Cryptoys. Link.
- Crypto payments company MoonPay launched an investment arm that will use balance sheet assets to invest between $100,000 to $1 million in seed and Series A startups in web3, gaming, and fintech. MoonPay Ventures has already invested in 25 companies. Link.
- Social media app friend.tech saw a significant decline in trading volumes and activities, just weeks after it launched on Coinbase’s new layer-2 Base. Link.
- Binance is allowing users to exchange Binance’s BUSD stablecoin for First Digital’s FDUSD stablecoin on a one-to-one basis without incurring any trading fees. Binance plans to end support for BUSD by February 2024. Link. Blog Post.
- A recent FTX filing shows that company funds were used on internal cash payments to executives and personal perks. This includes over $900 million in cash payments to Sam Bankman-Fried as well as $2.5 million to purchase a yacht to ex-Alameda co-CEO Samuel Trabucco, who had resigned from the company a few months before it collapsed. Link. Filing (PDF).
- Stablecoin issuer Tether added Bahamian-bank Britannia to process dollar transfers. Link.
- Crypto venture firm Paradigm said its CFO and General Counsel are departing the firm in mid-September. Link.
- The CEO of web3 gaming startup Gala Games is suing the company’s co-founder for allegedly stealing $130 million in GALA tokens in 2021. Link.